What Do You Think About Jesus?
John 7:1-13
Dr. James Boice, the late pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, tells of when the staff of his radio program went out on the streets of Philadelphia to ask people, “Who is Jesus Christ?” Sometimes they asked, “Do you think Jesus Christ is God?” The answers they received revealed the confusion that many have with regard to those crucial questions.
One young woman responded, “Jesus Christ was a man who thought He was God.” Another young woman, a biology student, replied, “Jesus Christ is pure essence of energy. God to me is energy, electric energy because it’s something that’s not known.” A man answered, “I think that’s something you have to decide for yourself, but He had some beautiful ideas.” Others replied, “He is an individual who lived 2,000 years ago who was interested in the betterment of all classes of people.” “He was well liked; He meant well; He was a good man.” But most people were just confused. They answered, “I haven’t any idea…. I don’t know.” [James Montgomery Boice. “The Gospel of John.” (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1985] 5-vol in one., p. 471]
It’s extremely sad that in a country like ours, where one has multiple opportunities to hear about Jesus Christ, there could be so many people who don’t know who He is. Obviously if a person does not have a basic knowledge of who Jesus is, then he cannot trust in Him as Savior and Lord. He would be believing in a Jesus of his own imagination. A correct knowledge of who Jesus is must underlie saving faith in Him. And so, as John labors to make clear in his Gospel, the crucial question for every person to answer correctly is, “Who is Jesus Christ?” You need to get that one right!
But this is also an important question even for those of us who have already believed in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Just as in human relationships such as marriage there is always room to grow to know the other person more deeply, so it is in our relationship with Jesus Christ. At least 25 years after his conversion, the apostle Paul said that his aim was still, “that I may know Him” (Phil. 3:10). The more deeply we know Jesus Christ for who He is, the more quickly we will submit to Him as the Lord of our every thought, word, and deed and the more readily we will trust Him in all the daily matters of our lives.
“After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. (2) Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.”
As we pick up in the text in chapter 7 verse one, six months’ time has passed from the events at the end of chapter six and the Feast of the Tabernacles at the beginning of chapter seven. There were three great feasts at which all the adult (over age of thirteen – Bar Mitzvah) male Jews who lived with 15 miles of Jerusalem were required to gather (Deut. 16:16). In the Spring was the Feast of Unleavened Bread which was at the beginning of the barley harvest and remembered the exodus from Egypt and the blood of the lamb that caused the Gods’ wrath to pass over (Deut. 16:1-2). In the summer was the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost when the first fruits of wheat harvest were offered to the LORD (Deut. 16:9-12). The third great feast was the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles which marked the completion of the harvest season (16:13-15).
Christians ted to think of the Passover as the most significant for the Jews, but it was Tabernacles that was the greatest. It speaks of this feast as “the” feast not just “a” feast (v. 2). It is both a celebration of a successful harvest and it commemorated their exodus experience. It was a joyful, weeklong celebration when families camped out in temporary shelters to remember God’s faithfulness to Israel in the wilderness on the way from Egypt to Canaan under Moses. (Leviticus 23:40-43) It was the equivalent of a national campout.
[Richard Philips. “John” Vol 1. John 1-10. Reformed Expository Commentary (Philipsburg, NJ, 2014) p. 451]
First, The Earthly Family Of Jesus. (7:3-5)
Jesus had an earthly family made up of children born to the union of Mary and Joseph after the birth of Jesus. The Catholic Church believes that Mary was a perpetual virgin, but the biblical evidence is against that view. This passage destroys the teaching of the perpetual virginity of Mary.
Jesus’ earthly family is seen in several places. Mark 3:31-35 tells of a visit from “his mother and his brothers” Matthew 13:55 gives us the names of his brothers; James, Joseph, Simon and Juda (Jude). In Matthew 13:56, the sisters of Jesus are mentioned but not named.
• Their Advice (vv. 3-4)
“His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. (4) For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."(5) For even His brothers did not believe in Him.”
We cannot say for sure what motives lay behind the brothers’ comments. Some say that they were sarcastically advising Jesus: “You want to prove yourself to be the Messiah you must perform on a bigger platform, Jerusalem – the center of Judaism.”
Or, they could have been motivated by family pride: Jesus, at first popular, was now losing disciples. If He went up to Jerusalem for this big feast, perhaps He could gain back some of them and save the family name. The brothers say, “…go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.” (v.3) Since it is improbable that the brothers have seen miracles (works) performed that the Disciple had not, then perhaps they are implying that they know Jesus better than the Disciples did. The sad fact was that should have known him best did not believe in Him. Apart from His mother Jesus had no believers in His own family. Just as many Christians today have the burden of being the first believers in their family.
At any rate, at best, they were offering sincere, but worldly advice: “If you want Your Messianic claims to be made known, You need to go prove Yourself to the religious authorities in the capital city.”
John clarifies whatever the motives of the brother’s of Jesus were it was not faith. (v. 5) “For even His brothers did not believe in Him” v. 5. Remarkably, at least to our reasoning, the brothers of Jesus never seemed to be supportive of His ministry before His death and resurrection. Yet after the resurrection Acts 1:14 lists Mary and Jesus’ brothers as being among the early believers after the resurrection. James is believed to be the head of early church in Jerusalem and author of the New Testament book of James. Jude, probably the youngest, wrote the book of Jude.
The brothers’ advice to Jesus was similar to the temptation that Satan put before Jesus to jump off the pinnacle of the Temple and let the angels carry Him safely to the ground so that everyone who saw it would be astonished and bow before Him as the Son of God (Matt. 4:5-7; Luke 4:5-8). The brothers here are saying, “Go up to Jerusalem and do a few more spectacular miracles and everyone will follow You.” It was a worldly-wise publicity and marketing strategy, but it was satanic at its core.
Second, The Response of Jesus. (7:6-9)
“Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. (7) The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.(8) You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."(9) When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.
Jesus explains using a series of contrast, first, “my time” versus “your time.” (v. 6) We have to acknowledge that God’s time is different from our time. It is questionable whether one can really use the word “time” in reference to the workings of God. God is outside of time.
There are two words for time in Greek (chronos) time as a sequence of events and (kairos) a word that has the idea of the right time. Nothing hindered his brothers from going to Jerusalem. He however has an appointed time to fulfill God’s prophecy. Every move that Jesus made was in accord with the Father’s will.
Secondly, Jesus speaks of the reception given to Him versus reception given to them (v.7) - the world “cannot hate you” does “hate me.” The brothers live their lives in the same general fashion as the world and since they share the world’s viewpoint the world does not hate them. They proved this in the worldly advice that they had given in verses 3 & 4.
Jesus however would be hated by the world because of the His testimony that the ways of the world are evil. Jesus boldly confronted sin and was therefore the target of much hatred.
Third, “my path” versus “your path” (v. 8)
Third, The Disagreement about Jesus.
(7:10-13)
“But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.”
Jesus did not go with His brothers in one of the large processions of travelers from Galilee to Jerusalem at feast time. After Jesus’ brothers depart for Jerusalem, Jesus goes up as well. He does not do so as His brothers challenge Him to do—to make a very public display of His “powers” in the hope of gaining a following. Instead, Jesus He went after them, traveling alone – almost “as it were in secret.” This seems to be just the opposite of what His brothers urge Him to do. It probably means traveling by less-used roads perhaps traveling without His Disciples, at night. All of this enables Him to keep a “low profile,” avoid undue conflict.
Verse eleven and twelve.
“ Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"(12) And there was much complain-ing among the people concerning Him. Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people. (13) However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.”
John uses the term “the Jews” in several ways sometimes it is in a good sense, sometimes in a neutral sense of the Jewish people as a whole and sometimes as He does here to denote those who were hostile to Jesus especially the Jewish religious leaders (7:1, 11, 13). The text says that they were seeking Jesus, but not so they could learn from Him and believe in Him, but so they could kill Him (7:1, 19, 25, 30, 32, 44; 8:37, 40, 59). They perceived Jesus as a threat to their authority, which they used to control the people through fear (7:13).
Verse twelve says that the crowd is “complaining” (gongysmos) about Jesus a word that reminds us of the earlier “murmuring” recorded in 6:41. They complained because they wanted Jesus to fulfill their wishes for the Messiah, and to fulfill them now – when they wanted them.
This discussion reveals the confusion and unbelief of the people. 1. Some were for Him because of His miracles; Some were opposed to Him because he broke the Sabbath laws; Some waited to see what their leaders would do; and the leaders wanted to kill Him. Some felt He was a good man, others a deceiver; Some felt He was demon-possessed, others an ordinary man; Some felt He was a prophet, others the Messiah.
By “the Jews” John means, “the Jewish religious leaders.” The multitudes were divided into two camps, both of which were wrong. Some said, “He is a good man.” That was true as far as it went, but it didn’t go anywhere near as far as it should, as John’s Gospel demonstrates. Napoleon said, “I know men and Jesus is more than a man” (Barclay)
John Stott points out that if Jesus was not God in human flesh, His claims would have meant that He was not a good man, but a very self-centered man. He was always talking about Himself and telling people that they should believe in Him as the only way to have eternal life. He claimed that the Old Testament was written about Him (5:39, 46). He claimed to be the bread of life, who could satisfy the hunger of all who come to Him (6:35). He claimed that whoever believes in Him would have rivers of living water flowing from his innermost being (7:38). He claimed to be the Light of the world (8:12). He claimed that before Abraham was born, He existed (8:58). No good man, who was not God in human flesh, could say such things without being consider-ed a deluded megalomaniac. (John Stott. Basic Christianity [Eerdmans], rev. ed., pp. 23-26)
People today still disagree about three important beliefs about Jesus. There are three questions about Jesus that every person must answer.
• People disagree about the Origin of Jesus.
The first question had to be decided is: “Where did Jesus come from?” And in John 6 Jesus made another amazing statement. Jesus said, “For I came down from heaven, not to do my own mine will, but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38) In the last chapter the people said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he says. I came down from Heaven?” (6:42)
How you answer this question determines what you believe about the Deity of Christ. Is Jesus God? So, here are your choices: Do you really believe that Jesus existed with the Father from the beginning of the beginning as part of the eternal Godhead? Or you believe that He was just a man born like everyone else with two human parents. How you answer that question will determine your eternal destiny.
What is under consideration here is the importance of the virgin birth of Jesus. If Jesus was just the son of Joseph, then He was born with a sin nature just as we are! If that were the case He could not pay for our sin because He would have to pay for His own sin, with His own life. Therefore, there would be no redemption through His blood, and we are still lost in our sins.
• People disagree about the Authority of Jesus.
To put it in the form of a question, you must decide: “What right does He have to say these things?” At the second Temple cleansing (Matt 21:23)the religious leaders asked Jesus, “What is your right to do this” Jesus answered by saying, “First you tell was John the Baptist or God or not.” They had no answer, so Jesus gave no answer. Here’s however Jesus answered the question. In John 7:15-16 we read: “Then the Jews were amazed and said, “How is this man so learned, since he hasn’t been trained?” Jesus answered them, “My teaching isn’t mine but is from the one who sent me. (John 7:15-16) Jesus didn’t teach like the other rabbis. The rabbis back then (and still today) are careful to say something like, “The Torah says” or “The Talmud says” or “Rabbi So-in-so” says. But Jesus was different because over and over again He said, “Truly, truly, I say unto you.” Jesus never attended school for rabbi’s or had formal theological training. But at age 12 He was amazing the elders in the Temple. Jesus claimed to be speaking the very words of the One who sent Him, His Heavenly Father.
Every person must decide for themselves, “Can I trust the words of Jesus found in the Bible?” The answer is, ABSOLUTELY you can trust the word of God. But there are many today who still disagree.
• People disagree about the Character of Jesus.
People disagreed about His character 2,000 years ago just as they do today. So, what are some of the accusations; some were saying, “He’s a good man.” Others were saying, “No, on the contrary, he’s deceiving people.” He is deceiving people only if what He says in not true.
Some of the people said, “He must be a good man. He healed that paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda, and that guy had been there 38 years!” (John 5:1-15) Others would say, “But he is teaching people to break the Sabbath laws. He can’t be good!” Later in Chapter seven some even said, “This man is demon-possessed!” (v.20)
I’ve quoted C.S. Lewis many times on this issue, but it fits so well I am going to repeat it. “You must make a choice. Either this man was, and is the Son of God: or else a madman or some-thing worse, You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call Him Lord and God, But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us, He did not intend to!” [ C. S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity.” (New York: MacMillan, 1958) p, 41]
Occasionally you will hear someone say, “Jesus never claimed to be God.” To say that you have to be completely ignorant of Scripture. He did indeed, claim to be God. Later in this chapter He yelled to the crowd, “If any person is thirsty, let him come unto me and drink. The person who believes in me will have springs of living water flow out of him.” (vv. 37-38) That’s a bold claim! So, there are only three options. Either Jesus claimed to be God and knew He wasn’t— then He wouldn’t be a good man, He would be a liar. Or the second option is that He claimed to be God and really thought He was—but He wasn’t. That’s not a good man, He is insane. Plenty of patients in psychiatric wards have claimed to be Jesus. The third option is that He claimed to be God—and He really was. So, the options are: Was He a Liar, Lunatic, or Lord?
Regardless of what they thought about Jesus they agreed on one thing it was not safe to speak too loudly either way “no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.” (6:13) The authorities did not wish him to be discussed at all, and anyone who ignored their wishes was likely to feel their anger.
What Do You Think About Jesus?
John 7:1-13
First, The Earthly Family Of Jesus. (7:3-5)
• Their Advice (vv. 3-4)
Second, The Response of Jesus. (7:6-9)
Third, The Disagreement about Jesus.
(7:10-13)
People today still disagree about three important beliefs about Jesus.
• People disagree about the Origin of Jesus. “Where did Jesus come from?”
• People disagree about the Authority of Jesus.
• People disagree about the Character of Jesus.
What Do You Think About Jesus?
John 7:1-13
First, The ____________ Family Of Jesus. (7:3-5)
• Their Advice (vv. 3-4)
Second, The ____________ of Jesus. (7:6-9)
Third, The _______________ about Jesus.
(7:10-13)
People today still disagree about three important beliefs about Jesus.
• People disagree about the _______ of Jesus. “Where did Jesus come from?”
• People disagree about the ________ of Jesus.
• People disagree about the ________ of Jesus.
