Galilee
Lesson: Jesus Rejects Brother’s Advice
John 7:1-9
1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.
2 Now the Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.
3 His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.
4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.
5 For neither did his brethren believe in him.
6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.
7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come.
9 When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.
The event in this passage took place in Galilee, at the Sea of Galilee; but before that, Jesus had been in Jerusalem where there had arisen the controversy concerning Him at the pool of Bethesda. This event took place in April, about one year before the Cross. During the last year of His ministry, Jesus confined Himself to Galilee because of a Jewish plot to kill Him. It says that He walked no longer in Jewry; that means Judea, because the religious rulers there had plotted to kill him. Jesus is following a divine schedule which His Father had given Him. These men could not touch him until His time had come.
Verse 1 tells us that a storm is gathering around the person of Christ. Soon the storm will break in all its fury upon Jesus on the Cross. There is more difference of opinion about Him than any other person that has ever lived. They cuss at Him and say the worst things about Him that has ever been said. He’s just as controversial today as He was then. Although the storm is gathering, Jesus chose this time to abandon His method of staying away, and He went up to Jerusalem because it was the Feast of Tabernacles. Verse 2 points that out.
Now the Jew’s feast of tabernacles was at hand (John 7:2).
There were three feasts which every male Jew was required to attend in Jerusalem. Our Lord kept the Law; He had to go up to Jerusalem during the Feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles is described in Leviticus 23. This was a feast of great joy to celebrate Israel’s wonderful deliverance out of the land of Egypt. It was also called the Feast of Ingathering, and it lasted seven days. The celebrations included the ingathering of crops. Participants made booths or “tabernacles” of tree branches. These booths represented shelter and protection. The Israelites lived in these booths throughout the festival period in order to remember their fathers who, when they left Egypt and journeyed in the wilderness, had lived in similar structures. Because they had lived in tents during the wilderness journey, this was a feast of tents, or booths, as they called them. They didn’t have campers, you see, but they did have booths. Do you want to know what went on during this holiday? There was the blowing of trumpets and seventy bullocks were offered. There was the pouring out of water in the temple, with a double portion on the last day of the feast to remind them that God gave them water from the rock in the wilderness. They brought the water from the pool at Siloam and poured out literally barrels of water. During this festival, they illuminated the inner court with a regular torch parade. This was commemorating the pillar of fire that guided the children of Israel by night as the wandered in the wilderness. Now we can understand that the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire that lead the children of Israel were both pictures of our Lord Jesus Christ.
All the feasts of Jehovah in the Old Testament have been fulfilled except the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be fulfilled when our Lord returns to earth. Thus, it symbolizes the great Joy of that time.
3 His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.
4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.
5 For neither did his brethren believe in him
His brethren are not His disciples but are His half-brothers. Their names are given to us in Matthew 13:55: James, Joses, Simon, and Judas. His half-brother James, is the one who wrote the epistle of James; His half-brother Judas, probably is the one who wrote the Epistle of Jude. That was much later, of course, and at this point His brothers do not believe in him. They are giving Him advice that He can’t use at all. They were just like everyone else, they wanted someone who would unite the Jewish people and establish a kingdom. But that’s not why He came. He came to seek and save those who were lost.
6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready.
His brothers are advising Jesus out of their unbelief, but Jesus does not take their advice. He is moving according to a schedule, but it is His Father’s schedule. He knew that if He would go to the feast, the Jews would kill Him, and that time had not yet come. He is not following the wisdom of the world, nor did He ever appeal to his own mind—it isn’t that He doesn’t think it is the right time to go. He is on a definite schedule from the Father; He is doing the Father’s will.
Notice the little word yet in “My time is not yet come.” Jesus did not say He would not go down to the feast, but He was not going down with them publicly to win public favor by doing something spectacular, or whatever they wanted Him to do. He would go at His Father’s appointed time and in His Father’s way.
7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come.
9 When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee.
Christ’s time to go to Jerusalem and be crucified had not yet become full. He had no desire to gain popularity and influence people with His works.
The world is hostile to Christ. The reason is that our Lord Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. He turns on the light, and that light reveals everything that is wrong; it reveals sin. He condemns sin. That is the reason He is hated even today. He condemns sin by His very presence, by His very life. This raises hostility in man, because the heart of man is evil. Christ went to the Cross because He loved the human family. Redeeming love is what has broken the heart of hostile man.
We see this so clearly in the life of Saul of Tarsus. He was breathing out threatenings. He hated the Lord Jesus and anyone who followed Him. But when he came to know the Lord Jesus as his Savior, it broke his heart, and he could say, “He loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 3:20).
6/12/12 Something caught my eye this morning as I watched the news on my laptop. There was a "Gay celebration," and I believe it was in Washington DC. A brave pastor was preaching to them about what the Bible says about Homosexuality; the gays shoved him, cursed him and God, and acted out various homosexual acts. It was disgusting, but I believe that Jesus was sometimes treated as poorly. He was taunted by the Pharisees, Sadducees, Satan, demons, and the people, but He never held back on doing His father's will. Praise His wonderful name!!!
