New Life Bible Fellowship Church
11-17-24

      • Ephesians 6:5–8ESV

      • Bible Trivia
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      • Psalm 46:8–11NKJV

  • Here I Am to Worship
  • I Am His And He Is Mine

      • Psalm 113NKJV

  • Introduction:

    We saw last week that as Jesus wraps up his teaching on the cost of discipleship that it was a defining moment in Jesus' ministry when His followers grappled with the weight of His challenging teachings that called for radical commitment to Him. Many disciples, unable to accept the difficulty of His words, choose to abandon him, portraying the pivotal choice between convenience and conviction in one's discipleship journey.
    This morning, we will continue to see how Jesus positions himself to complete all that the Father had given him to do. Not only to teach, but also to rely on the timing of God’s plan even in opposition to what would have been a great marketing strategy to boost his popularity. We will look carefully at this passage in Jesus Journey to Jerusalem in John 7:1-13.

    Text: John 7:1-13

    John 7:1–13 ESV
    1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers believed in him. 6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee. 10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

    Main Idea: Since Jesus was committed to accomplish all that the Father had given him, he was not distracted by the superficial demands of people.

    We will begin this morning in what has been entitled…

    I. Jesus’ Retirement Ministry (1)

    (1) After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.
    After this Jesus [went about] (peripateo [imp, act, ind] - to walk about) in Galilee.
    Note: There is about six-months gap between chapters 6, and 7 except for 7:1, which is a little connecting link.
    In Matthew, Mark, and Luke we have the detailed account of the happenings which belong to this half-year of Christ’s ministry. We may call it the Retirement Ministry in Galilee (to the regions of Tyre and Sidon, to Decapolis, and to Caesarea Philippi). This ministry is also called “the Ministry of Withdrawals.”
    What characterizes the period is that to a large extent Jesus withdrew himself (hence, Retirement Ministry) from the Capernaum multitudes, to be with his disciples
    He would not [go about] (peripateo [pre, act, inf] - to walk about) in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.
    Here is a continuation of the plot which was mentioned for the first time in John 5:18 following his healing the invalid man at the pool of Bethesda,
    John 5:18 ESV
    18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
    Now although the Lord had come from heaven for the very purpose of laying down his life, he knew that the exact moment when in accordance with the eternal counsel of God this must take place had not yet arrived. Hence, he remained in the northern regions of the country during this period.
    It is also true, of course, that a positive motive guided the steps of the Master: he wanted to reveal his glory unto the salvation of sinners in this northern territory, and he desired to avail himself of this opportunity of relative retirement to instruct his disciples with reference to his coming suffering.
    In the midst of this plan by Jesus, his biological brothers had their own plan…

    II. Brothers Strategic Unbelief (2-9)

    A. Feast of Booths (2)

    (2) Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand.
    According to Lev. 23:33–44 and Numbers 29, it is the longest festival of the Jewish year (lasting seven days), from the fifteenth to the twenty-first or twenty-second day of the seventh month, which approximates our October. It was a feast of thanksgiving for both the harvest and a joyful commemoration of the divine guidance granted to the forefathers in their wilderness-journey.
    Following hard upon the day of Atonement (10th day of the seventh month), the idea of joy after redemption was naturally very prominent. In a decreased daily scale a special sacrifice of seventy bullocks was made (starting with 13 on the 1st day, down to 7 on the 7th day). The temple-trumpets were blown on each day.
    There was the ceremony of the outpouring of water, drawn from Siloam, in commemoration of the refreshing stream which had come forth miraculously out of the rock at Meribah (Ex. 17:1–7), and in anticipation of blessings both for Israel and for the world. There was the illumination of the inner court of the temple, where the light of the grand candelabra reminded all of the pillar of fire by night which had served as a guide through the desert (Num. 14:14). There was a torch-parade.
    And above all, everywhere in and around Jerusalem, in the street, the square, and even on the roofs of the houses booths were erected. These leafy dwellings provided shelter for the pilgrims who came from every direction to attend this feast. But most of all they too were reminders of the wilderness-life of the ancestors (Lev. 23:43).
    John’s purpose for mentioning this feast becomes apparent as he is about to report certain sayings of Jesus that were connected with its ceremonies (7:37; 8:12; 9:7), which we will look at after our advent series which begins in two weeks.

    B. His Brother’s Request (3-5)

    (3) So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.
    his brothers (cf. Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3) are best understood to be other naturally born, biological sons of Mary, for that is the ordinary and natural sense of the Greek adelphoi (“brothers”).
    “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. - it’s like they are saying, “Let’s take this show on the road…you need a great marketing strategy, and we are here to help you…” Their explained logic for this is what they say next…
    (4) For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.”
    For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. The unbelief of Jesus’ brothers shows itself, ironically, in their quest for publicity.
    If you do these things, show yourself to the world - What bothered them was that Jesus often urges silence on those whom He heals, as one who brings justice and hope quietly and gently (Matt. 12:15–21, citing Is. 42:1–3).
    (5) For not even his brothers believed in him.
    So real and genuine was Jesus’ humanity, and so well hidden was his deity before he began his earthly ministry, that even those who had lived in the same house with him for nearly 30 years and ate and slept in the same rooms as the eternal Son of God, did not know it.

    C. Jesus’ Response (6-9)

    (6) Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.
    My time (kairos) in John probably refers to all those events the lead to the cross. Jesus speaks at a deeper level that is misunderstood by his brothers.
    Your time (kairos) then refers to “your time to go up to the feast with the crowds who are going to Jerusalem.”
    Note: the greek words chronos and kairos are both important to understand in God’s concept of time:
    chronos means definite time, with the emphasis on quantity. We see this used in Galatians 4:4
    Galatians 4:4 ESV
    4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
    kairos means time that is suitable, right, or opportune, or a season, with the emphasis of quality.
    It’s like saying, chronos would look at the 13 individual weeks of summer from the middle of June through the middle of September, setting specific dates for activities, whereas, kairos would look at the season of summer emphasizing its warmth, thus allowing us to swim and boat.
    Therefore, Jesus is saying that the season of the events that lead up to my crucification has not yet arrived, but when it does, I will go.
    (7) The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.
    The world. Humanity in its opposition to God and His purpose (15:8). The world cannot hate Jesus’ brothers because they themselves belonged to the world; they did not yet believe in Jesus.
    but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil - Jesus gives the reason why in contrast the world hates him.
    (8) You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”
    Jesus does indeed later go to the feast. His brothers have asked Him to present Himself openly to the crowds. But Jesus asserts that He is “not” yet ready to appear in such a public way (v. 10).
    Jesus’ statement, “I am not going up to this feast,” can legitimately have the sense and be translated, “I am not now going up to this feast,” indicating that Jesus did not go up to the feast in the way the brothers suggested, for they wanted Jesus to manifest himself to his contemporaries for secular reasons.
    for my time (kairos) has not yet fully come. - the season of his arrival has not yet come…there was no anxiety as he waited on the Father for this timing.
    (9) After saying this, he remained in Galilee. - thus he remained in Galilee until it was time. But when that time (kairos) did come, we see Jesus…

    III. Movement to Jerusalem (10-13)

    A. Jesus Arrives at the Feast (10)

    (10) But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. - Jesus arrives at the feast but not as his brothers had hoped, he remained incognito until it was time to reveal himself.

    B. Jewish Opposition Responds (11-13)

    (11) The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” - this inquisition was not because they desired to see him, but sought to oppose him and thought that surely as a male Jew he must be here.
    BTW, It was only logical that they would expect him to come since the Feast of Booths was one of the three feasts required annually for all males to attend. Moses tells us this in Deuteronomy 16:16
    Deuteronomy 16:16 ESV
    16 “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.
    (12) And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.”
    The much muttering about him among the people resulted in two prevailing opinions:
    He is a good man - this is a statement that could be associated with Jesus being God
    Luke 18:18–19 ESV
    18 And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
    leading the people astray. Jesus was a deceiver.
    The same truth prevails today, Jesus is either all that he said he was, or he is a deceiver, there is no middle ground.
    (13) Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
    for fear of the Jews. This is not a reference to all those who are natural descendants of Abraham. Rather, in this gospel the term often refers specifically to Jewish officials who are hostile toward Jesus (see 9:22).

    So What?

    Do we understand that God’s timing is always perfect, it was for Jesus, and it is for the followers of Jesus?
    We live as the scriptures say, in the last days. Many of us would love to know the exact time (chronos) that Jesus will return but we are to live in this season (kairos) of the last days in expectation of his return at any moment.
    Many of you are going through severe seasons (kairos) of testing and want to know when (chronos) this will end. We must be like Jesus and place that exact moment in the hands of the sovereign God, trusting his timing as perfect, and his presence as inevitable.
    Are we afraid to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior before the world because we fear the world’s persecution?
    Because God’s timing is perfect, we will not always be persecuted and therefore must live in the reality that all evil will be destroyed and somehow view the present reality through the lens of eternity.

      • John 7:1–13ESV

      • John 7:1ESV

      • John 5:18ESV

      • John 7:2ESV

      • John 7:3–5ESV

      • John 7:6–9ESV

      • John 7:10ESV

      • John 7:11ESV

      • Deuteronomy 16:16ESV

      • John 7:12ESV

      • Luke 18:18–19ESV

      • Luke 18:18–19ESV

      • John 7:13ESV

  • In His Time
New Life Bible Fellowship Church
dick.bickings@gmail.com
(302) 945-8145
https://newlifebfcde.org
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