John 7:1-9

As he's carried along by the Spirit, is to present Jesus as the Christ, the promised Messiah who would come to deliver his people from the domain of the enemy, the power of sin and death.

We will not unpack the first six chapters. We don't have nearly enough time for that. But be reminded, this is what he is pressing upon his readers.

It is not difficult for us to arrive at this conclusion. He tells us, John chapter 20, verse 30 and 31.

John 20:30

Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book.

But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name.

As he unfolds his telling of Jesus' works, he also repeatedly juxtaposes those who reject Jesus as the Christ and those who receive Jesus as the Christ.

You see this over and over again, rejection and receipt.

This thematic element is established at the outset of John's writing.

Chapter 1, verse 9 and following.

The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Now, I am grateful for the way in which we carefully set ourselves to work verse by verse through books of the Bible.

If we didn't think this practice, and if we didn't find it to be profitable,

we would stop and we would begin to preach God's Word in a different way.

From time to time, we do that very thing.

However true this may be, this is a good practice, right?

However true this may be, we must be careful that we do not lose the forest for the trees.

This reject-slash-receive theme carries the narrative along,

and as we will see in the coming months, it intensifies in John's narrative.

John MacArthur wrote in his commentary on this passage that we'll look at today,

chapters 7 and 8 usher in a new, more volatile section of John's Gospel,

as the smoldering resentment that Jesus encountered in chapters 1 through 6

finally bursts into a blazing inferno of hatred.

And we know this leads finally to Jesus' crucifixion.

In fact, we will see in chapter 8, the very end of it, a failed attempt to kill Jesus.

Jesus undoubtedly came to die.

We know this to be true.

But we have seen that he always submitted himself to the divine timeline.

There was a plan for when and how this death was to take place.

Let me note a couple of places for you that we see this.

John chapter 2, verse 1 and following.

John 2:1

On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee.

And the mother of Jesus was there.

Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.

When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him,

they have no wine.

She knows who he is.

She knows what he can accomplish.

And Jesus said to her, we have a record.

Woman, what does this have to do with me?

My hour has not yet come.

And then in chapter 5, in verse 19, Jesus says,

Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord,

but only what he sees the Father doing.

For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

Always submitting himself to the divine timeline.

In the build-up for what will happen at the conclusion of the Feast of Booze,

we see this same submission to the Father's perfect will,

to his perfect timing.

So our text for today is John chapter 7.

John 7 · chapter mention

We'll look at the first nine verses.

Join me in a word of prayer as we open it together.

Father, we ask that you would help us this day as we take up your word together.

We humbly come to you knowing that we can't do this well.

We can't understand it as we should.

We can't give it the application for our lives without the help of your Spirit.

We ask that you would work in us mightily this morning,

both in delivery and in receipt of your word.

That it would be for your glory and for our good.

We want to believe its promises.

We want to obey its commands.

We want to have affection for you, its author.

So we pray this.

We pray it for the glory of Christ.

Amen.

John chapter 7, beginning in verse 1.

John 7 · chapter mention

After this, Jesus went about in Galilee.

He would not go about in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

Now the Jews' Feast of Booze was at hand.

So his brothers said to him,

Leave here and go to Judea that your disciples also may see the works you are doing.

For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly.

If you do these things, show yourself to the world.

For not even his brothers believed in him.

Jesus said to them,

My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.

The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.

You go up to the feast.

I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.

After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

Now at the very outset, you may be wondering,

Why verses 1 through 9?

I don't know.

If you're like me, I have already scanned on beyond.

I'm wanting to see where the rest of the text goes.

And you might be thinking,

Why stop at 9?

No one that I have read concerning this chapter divides it this way,

except for one.

You may be able to guess, if you know me, who that one is.

Because they most regularly end this section at verse 13.

The ESV, translation of the Bible that I study from,

doesn't have a subtitle break until the end of verse 24.

I point this out simply to say that the division is not inspired.

And so we just want to take up the text and consider it in the most helpful way.

And this seems good to me.

I get to practice a little bit of prerogative as I'm prepping these outlines for the text.

There are, of course, other good ways to do so.

So, why then like this?

And it's because verses 1 through 9 are a chiasm.

Yep, you got it.

They're a chiasm.

So, my intention is for us to follow the chiastic structure of the book of John all the way through.

It's really brilliant.

I'm not going to spend a bunch of time trying to convince you that that's the case.

It just is.

And I hope you'll catch up to that if you haven't already.

So, I put in your notes for you this morning that chiastic structure so that you could see it.

First things corresponding to the last things and so forth.

It's stepping in to a central interpretive point.

It's not always the most important thing being said, but it's trying to help us to understand the rest.

And so you look at verse 4 and 5.

For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly.

If you do these things, show yourself to the world.

For not even his brothers believed in him.

It helps us to see that what John is doing here is he's drawing our attention to this fact.

They're asking him to do something which on the surface can seem like a good thing to request of him.

But, this insertion of his, not even his brothers believed in him.

We'll address more what that means later.

So, I think it helps us as we take the text up.

And I hope it will continue to help us as we study it.

Together.

I have a very simple and brief three-point outline for our consideration.

Number one, let's look at the setting of what's happening here.

Verses 1 and 2 and then verse 9.

After this, Jesus went about in Galilee.

After this, sometime chronologically after.

It doesn't necessarily mean immediately following.

But we should be reminded of what was going on previously.

John chapter 6 and verse 66.

John 6 · chapter mention

After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

It's following a hard saying.

It's something difficult that he said as he taught in the synagogue of Capernaum.

And what we often call the bread of life discourse.

If you weren't here for our study of that, I encourage you to go back and study it.

Listen to Francis.

Francis did a wonderful job of unpacking that text for us in two weeks before Christmas.

Really helpful.

And this huge following he has suddenly disperses.

And he turns to the apostles and he says, are you also going to go?

And Peter says, to whom will we go?

Right?

You have the words of life.

It's after this takes place.

So that's what's going on in the life of Jesus.

He's remaining in Galilee, which is a rural area outside of the region of Judea,

which is where Jerusalem is located.

So he's staying out on the outskirts.

And to be sure, this is a largely Jewish population that lives in this pretty remote area.

And so we're going to see that he wouldn't go to Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

And we know that.

We mean that to understand the Jewish elite, those in power who could put this execution into place.

So he's in Galilee.

And you may recall in chapter 5, John records a trip Jesus takes to Jerusalem.

And he heals a man on the Sabbath.

In verse 16 and following of John 5 records for us.

And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus.

Because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

But Jesus answered them,

My father is working until now, and I am working.

And then verse 18 says,

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.

Because after this episode that he goes back to Galilee,

and he's yet to return to Judea, to this region.

And we'll see him later in the chapter do this very thing.

He's outside in Galilee, not going to Judea,

because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

And we're going to see later in this chapter that this is not about fear.

This is all about timing.

It wasn't yet the right time.

Jesus submitting to the divine timeline that is laid before him.

Verse 2 tells us that the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand.

It sets it in the last part of the year, September into October.

The Feast of Booths, or the Feast of Tabernacles,

is instituted in Exodus chapter 23.

Exodus 23 · chapter mention

Restated, Leviticus 23, Deuteronomy 16.

We're going to talk more in the coming weeks about details concerning this feast

as those details become more relevant.

So, I'm going to begin reading in Exodus chapter 23, verse 14,

Exodus 23:14

down through verse 17.

Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me.

You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread.

That's the first one.

As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days

at the appointed time in the month of Abib,

for in it you came out of Egypt.

None shall appear before me empty-handed.

You shall keep the, second one, feast of harvest,

of the first fruits of your labor,

of what you sow in the field.

You shall keep the, third feast,

the feast of ingathering.

And this is, this is an insertion on my part,

this is the feast we are seeing in our text today.

It's also called the Feast of Booths,

or the Feast of Tabernacles.

And we're going to spend some time in the future proving that,

that this Feast of Ingathering is the Feast of Booths.

Back to the text.

At the end of the year,

when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.

And verse 17 says,

three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God.

That's the detail that I want you to note.

The men, Jewish men, were expected to go.

Even those who had been dispersed,

there was an expectation.

I doubt that they all did,

but that's what they were supposed to do.

Attending this feast,

where temporary structures or booths,

would be set up and lived in for seven days,

was part of the normal societal expectation.

which means that huge crowds would have gathered for this extended time in Jerusalem.

This is a massive, massive crowd.

Of course his brothers were going.

Of course he should go.

I cannot overemphasize at this point how central Jerusalem was to first century Judaism.

This is where it was happening.

Pilgrimage was normal and it was expected.

That sets the stage for us.

And then we see in verse 9,

after his interaction with his brothers,

it says,

after saying this,

he remained in Galilee.

Now he won't stay there,

and we'll get into it next week.

But at this time,

in this episode,

it's all set here

in Galilee.

Now the second point,

a request is made of him,

we see this in verses 3 through 5,

by his brothers.

So his brothers said to him.

Now his brothers here are understood,

I think rightly so,

to be the other male children of Joseph and Mary.

They would have been Jesus' half-brothers.

Right?

We get their names in Matthew chapter 13,

Matthew 13:55

verse 55.

James,

Joseph,

Simon,

Judas,

who I think takes on

the abbreviated version Jude,

because the name Judas

became very unpopular.

It's these brothers, right?

It's his earthly family brothers

is who we are talking about here.

And they say to him,

leave here,

leave Galilee,

go to Judea.

Right?

Go to this feast,

so that your disciples

also may see the works

you are doing.

And we have to do a little bit of thinking here

to understand

what it is that they

may mean

by this request.

They clearly

had seen his works.

Right?

We know that they were present

at the Cana wedding,

chapter 2,

verse 12.

We know that his disciples

had seen his miracles,

which makes this statement

possibly confusing.

What does he mean

that your disciples

also may,

as if the disciples

hadn't seen the works

and they need

to see

the works.

And I want to offer to you

two probable possibilities

and maybe the two of them

are both true

at the same

time.

First,

they may

have been aware

of the vast number

of disciples

who had abandoned Jesus

recorded in chapter 6.

After this,

many disciples

abandoned Jesus

and they want him

to perform

more miracles

to satisfy them

before all is lost.

Before all is lost.

The momentum

of his movement

from their perspective

may have been

waning

waning

and this was

an opportunity

to breathe

some life

back into it.

Go to this place.

Those who

were once

your followers

will be there

and perhaps

they'll see

some more

of your works

and re-engage

in what you're up to.

Secondly,

they may have had

in mind

future disciples.

They may have had

out there

some other disciples.

a vast number

of Yahweh worshippers

would have been here.

They would have been there

from all sorts

of nations.

Verse 4,

they say,

if you do these things,

show yourself

to the world.

This is likely

what they mean

here.

But there is a

fundamental

misunderstanding

about who

the Christ

would be

in this day

and certainly

in the minds

of his

brothers.

They thought

the Messiah,

the Christ,

was going to come

as a military ruler.

They looked at

the oppression

that the Old Testament

talked about

as merely

temporal.

It was about

the Roman oppression

that they were

experiencing

and they were

looking for somebody

to rise up

and be a king

like David

in the land.

It was all temporal.

It was all about

what was happening

right then,

geopolitically,

in their

day.

They failed

to understand

who the Christ

truly

is.

Not even

his brothers

believed

in him.

They certainly

knew that he

existed.

They didn't have

to have some

mental assent

to the historical

Jesus.

People today

say that they

believe that Jesus

was a real man

who really

existed.

The historical

evidence

weighs in,

yes,

he existed.

They knew

that.

They grew up

with him.

They lived

in a home

with him.

Shook their

fists at their

perfect older

brother,

I'm sure.

What is it

that it's saying

here?

John is saying

for not even

his brothers

believed in

him.

Believed that

he was the

Christ.

Believed all

that he had

already taught

to be true

about what

it is

that he came

to do.

the fact

that his

discipleship

group,

this band

of fickle

followers

had dispersed

was concerning

to them.

They thought,

ah, we

thought he

was the

guy.

And here

they are

now,

scattering

all over

the place.

Perhaps

we can

make a

suggestion

to him

that will

rally

everybody

back

together.

The fact

that John

includes

for not

even his

brothers

believed

in him

suggests

to me

that they

were setting

him up

even for

failure.

You're not

really who

you say

you are.

Let's just

go see

what happens

when you

go and

you don't

work in

secret but

you seek

to be

known.

Will you

manage to

pull together

the following

that we

expect the

Messiah

would have?

And so

this is the

request.

It is not

rightly

motivated.

It is a

misunderstood

request that

they are

making of

Christ.

And John

leaves no

doubt of

that for

us in

verse 5.

And so

Jesus responds

to the

third point,

the response.

Jesus says

to them,

my time

has not

yet

come,

but your

time

is always

here.

Now it's

of interest.

The use

of the

word

time

in

Greek

versus

the

use

of

the

word

we

have

translated

hour

in

Greek.

So I

read to

you already

from John

John 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

This is

again verse 4.

This is at

the Cana

wedding.

Jesus said

to his

mother,

woman,

what does

this have

to do

with me?

My

hour

has not

yet

come.

And then

we'll see

later in

John chapter

John 8 · chapter mention

8 and

verse 20.

no one

arrested

him

because

his

hour

had not

yet

come.

And then

much later

in John

John 12:23

chapter 12

verse 23,

the hour

has

come.

glorified.

But here

John uses

a different

word,

time.

I have to

tell you I

was humbled

this week

trying to

track D.A.

Carson's

explanation

of the

difference

between the

two.

I read

and re-read

and re-read

the pages

that he

wrote on

these two

Greek

words.

I think

the summary

goes something

like this.

I'm going to

try to

dispel it

for you.

I believe

Carson

would probably

go,

ah,

you missed

my point.

But I

think this

is what

he was

trying to

communicate,

that John

is using

the word

for hour

to refer

to Jesus'

crucifixion

and the

word for

time

in reference

to the

details

leading up

to that

hour.

Perhaps

we can see

some clarification

in the phrase

in verse 8.

For my

time

has not

yet

fully

come.

My time

has not

yet

fully

arrived.

The hour

isn't

here.

The point

is,

Jesus

recognizes

that the

Father

has a

divine

timeline.

That he

is sovereign.

That he

reigns

over

all

things.

And he

is

perfectly

submitted

to that

timeline.

God

is working

out

a

perfect

plan.

You see

this picture

of this

as Jesus

submits.

He

recognizes

that the

Father

knows

best.

He's

ordaining

all the

steps,

even

the wicked

condemnable

steps,

to accomplish

his perfect

plan.

I hope

that brings

you comfort

as I say

it.

Peter

acknowledges

this in his

sermon in Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

verse 21

and following.

He says,

And it

shall come

to pass

that everyone

who calls

upon the

name of

the Lord

shall be

saved.

Men of

Israel,

hear these

words.

Jesus

of Nazareth,

a man

attested

to you

by God

with mighty

works and

wonders and

signs that

God did

through him

in your

midst,

as you

yourselves

know.

This

Jesus

delivered up

according

to the

definite

plan

and

foreknowledge

of God.

God

ordained

that a

thing

would

happen

and

Peter

does

not

let

them

off

the

hook

for

being

the

ones

who

carried

out

the

evil

action.

Praise

God,

verse 24,

God

raised

him up,

loosing

the pangs

of death

because it

was not

possible

for him

to be

held

by it.

The

coming

of

Christ

was

not

plan

B.

The

death

of

Christ

not

then

plan

C.

As if

God

is reacting

to us

all the

time.

He

is an

eternal

purpose

for

his

people.

And

Jesus

fully

recognizes

this.

Submits

himself.

My

time

has

not

yet

come.

He

says,

but your

time

is always

here.

Why?

Because

his

brothers

were not

concerned

about

submitting

themselves

to the

timeline

of God

the

Father.

God

is

what

he's

communicating

there.

I'm

submitting

myself

to

the

divine

timeline

and

you

are

not.

Go

whenever

you

want

to.

I'm

constrained

to

go

when

I'm

sent.

He

helps

us to

understand

that

with

verse

seven.

The

world

cannot

hate

you,

but

it

hates

me

because

I

testify

about

it

that

its

works

are

evil.

Why

has

his

time

not

come?

Because

if

he

were

to

go

when

they

wanted

him

to

go,

he

would

have

been

seized.

The

Jews

were

seeking

to

kill

him

and

it

wasn't

time

yet

for

him

to

die.

They

could

go

with

no

concern

for

time

or

for

their

safety

because

the

world

cannot

hate

them.

Why?

Because

they

are

of

the

world.

Jesus

says

later,

John

said,

it

hated

me

before

it

hated

you.

If

you

were

of

the

world,

the

world

would

love

you

as

its

own.

That's

what he's

saying here

to his

brothers.

The world

cannot hate you

because you

belong to

the

world.

Hates

Jesus

because he

testifies

about it

that it

is

evil.

He

condemns

the evil

of the

world

and therefore

the world

hates him.

And if we

pick back up

in John

John 15:19

15

verse 19

he says

to the

disciples,

but because

you are

not of

the world

but I

chose

you

out

of

the

world

therefore

the

world

hates

you.

So

brothers,

you go

whenever

you want

to

because

it

doesn't

really

matter

but

it

matters

for

me.

Verse 8

you go

up to

the

feast.

I am

not

going

up to

this

feast

for

my

time

has

not

yet

fully

come.

Now

as a little

anecdote

we'll get into

some application

some translations

you may have

one in front

of you

that says

I am

not

yet

going

up

to

this

feast

for

my

time

has

not

yet

fully

come

and

if

you

care

to be

nerdy

like

me

I

sometimes

am

about

Greek

and

textual

criticism

and

original

manuscripts

some

people

believe

that

some

of

the

early

manuscripts

the word

yet

was added

in there

to bring

some

clarity

it doesn't

really matter

that much

either way

he says

I am

not going

up to

this

feast

and

some

people

are

concerned

because

then he

does

go up

to

the

feast

and

they

suggest

they

reconcile

it

by

inserting

the

word

yet

either

way

we

will

see

in the

following

verses

that he

does

in fact

go

he

says

to

his

brothers

you

go up

to

the

feast

I

am

not

going

up

to

the

feast

for

my

time

has

not

yet

fully

come

I

submit

myself

to

the

divine

timeline

of the

father

a

couple

three

quick

applications

and I'll

close

in a

word

of

prayer

first

I

just

want

to

say

believe

that

Jesus

is

the

Christ

if

you

have

yet

to

do

this

take

up

and

read

this

is

the

son

of

God

the

one

who

came

lived

the

life

that's

demanded

of

you

you

could

not

live

you

have

broken

God's

law

and

you

desperately

need

someone

who can

step

in

for

you

and

grant

to

you

righteousness

need

someone

who

died

in

your

place

to

bring

you

the

forgiveness

for

your

sins

and

one

who

is

raised

and

alive

that

you

might

have

life

in

him

we

see

in

this

moment

these

brothers

that

do

not

believe

and

we

don't

know

the

total

story

of

all

four

of

them

but

we

do

know

that

James

and

Jude

both

after

Jesus

resurrection

placed

their

faith

in

him

they

penned

books

in

our

bibles

James

became

one of

the

leaders

of

the

church

in

Jerusalem

believe

it's

not

too

late

it's

a record

of

the

brothers

perhaps

working

for

his

good

temporal

kingdom

building

perhaps

that's

what

they

wanted

perhaps

they

were

looking

for

his

condemnation

to

make

him

to

look

a

fool

we

find

them

believing

later

that

he

is

in

fact

the

Christ

secondly

just

marvel

at

the

perfect

submission

of

God

the

son

to

God

the

father

the

way

in

which

he

submits

himself

to

this

divine

timeline

the

mystery

of the

incarnate

Christ

is on

display

here

and

I

don't

think

we

do

well

to

try

to

wrap

our

minds

around

the

exact

nature

of

the

son

obedience

to

the

father

it's

very

hard

to

understand

but

we

do

well

to

be

astounded

by

it

and

to

take

a

lesson

from

it

God

the

son

perfectly

submitting

to

God

the

father

in

all

things

may

we

be

more

like

him

thirdly

here's

the

lesson

submit

yourself

to

God's

perfect

timing

we

do

not

have

time

to

speak

of

all

the

negative

and

positive

implications

of

the

fact

that

there

exists

a

divine

timeline

I

will

suggest

to

you

that

your

job

is to

always

know

exactly

what it

would be

does God

give direction

to his

people

he most

certainly

does

all

trying to

get

to

work

all

stuff

we're

dealing

with

day

in

and

day

out

he's

working

in

those

tiniest

of

details

for the

glory

of his

name

and for

the

good

of his

people

you know

what we

call that

we call

it

providence

we call

it

providence

let's pray

together

as