Jesus' Brothers Get It Wrong Series

Today, we’re continuing in our series ‘Encounters with Jesus in John’s gospel.’ I’m going to focus on the first eight verses of John 7. These tell us about an encounter Jesus’ brothers had with him. As usual, I’ll try to give the context. Then we’ll look at what happened. After that, we’ll think what we can learn from it.

CONTEXT

We’ve looked at five passages in John’s gospel so far.

In a small town called Cana, in the north of Israel, Jesus turned water into wine.

One night, a Jewish ruler called Nicodemus visited Jesus. Jesus told him he needed to be born again.

At a deserted well in Samaria Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for a drink.

In each case, the things Jesus did and said surprised people. But they didn’t make people angry.

But in the next encounter, Jesus went to Jerusalem, to a pool five minutes’ walk from the temple. He healed a paralysed man. But he did it on the Sabbath. He broke the Sabbath rules. Now, things start to get messy. The religious Jews challenged him. He told them: ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working.’ Jesus was calling God his father! That got the Jews REALLY annoyed. From that point on, they want to kill Jesus.

Very sensibly, Jesus left Jerusalem and headed back to Galilee.

Last Sunday we looked at another encounter. A large crowd followed Jesus into a desolate place. They came to hear him teach and because he was healing people. At the end of the day, he fed 5,000 people. It was an awesome miracle! After Jesus worked the miracle, he drew out a spiritual lesson. He said, ‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh’ [6:51].

Now, Jesus’ own followers said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’ …. And we read that ‘many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him’ [6:61,66].

Both in Jerusalem and in Galilee, Jesus had said things that were hard to swallow. This was the result. Humanly-speaking, Jesus’ ministry was going nowhere.

Was Jesus’ ministry truly off-track? The prophet Isaiah had prophesied, ‘He was despised and rejected by men’ [Isaiah 53:3]. What was happening was only what Isaiah had prophesied.

Enter Jesus’ family. They think Jesus is off-track and they’re going to help.

FAMILY TO THE RESCUE!

Jesus is back in Galilee, and his brothers, who are from that area, pay him a visit. Next to the word ‘brothers’ the ESV has a footnote: ‘Or brothers and sisters.’ I’m not going to spend time delving into this. Let’s just accept that here, the word brothers can mean ‘brothers and sisters.’

Do we know anything about Jesus’ brothers and sisters? A little. We know that Jesus had four brothers and we know their names. And we know he had at least two sisters. While Jesus was alive there’s nothing to suggest that Jesus’ brothers and sisters had put their faith in him. But after Jesus was raised from the dead, they are part of the original group of 120 [Acts 1:14] and later, two of them have significant roles in the early church.

So Jesus’ brothers, and perhaps his sisters too, come along to give him some advice, to help him get his ministry back on track.

Do you have brothers or sisters? I have two brothers. My dad passed away about two and a half years ago. Before he died, the three of us would be constantly in touch about my dad’s care. After he died, we talked about his funeral arrangements, his estate and so on. I imagine that’s normal. Brothers and sisters have a special relationship and we expect to give and receive advice.

Jesus’ brothers and sisters no doubt had a similar view. Jesus was their brother; they could give him advice. Maybe they thought Jesus’ ministry was running out of steam – and they knew what was needed. ‘Go public!’ they urged him. ‘The feast is about to start in Jerusalem. Go down there! Show some miracles! Don’t hide yourself away up here in Galilee!’

John then adds an intriguing comment. Look at verse 5. John writes, ‘For not even his brothers believed in him.’ That, in John’s view, is why Jesus’ brothers suggested he go down to Jerusalem. Because they DIDN’T believe in him! It sounds very strange, doesn’t it? I’ll come back to this.

Jesus told his brothers that he wouldn’t go. Later, however, he did go to the feast, but secretly.

APPLICATION

I think we can learn from what Jesus’ brothers got wrong and from what Jesus got right.