The Book of John - Chapter 7 (Part 1)

Hello Everyone!

Today we are moving forward in our study on the book of John. Last time, we finished up John 6 when we discussed the different people that were a part of the crowd after Jesus had fed the 5000. In chapter 7, there is a little bit of space in time where Jesus stays in Galilee. The beginning of this chapter, we are faced with a reality of our faith that we all must recognize and remember in our time of need. Let's jump into the text!

John 7:1-10

As discussed earlier, Jesus was in Galilee until the feast of the tabernacles. Before we get into the main point, I would like to highlight what exactly the feast of the tabernacles was. This was and even that was and still is meant to celebrate the provision of God in the wilderness while traveling back to the promised land from Egypt. This was established by God in Leviticus 23:33-44. The concept was to build "booths" outside of your homes to experience what it was like to live in similar condition to those that actually traveled from Egypt to the promised land.

Q: What is something that we can learn from the feast of tabernacles even though we are not specifically called to celebrate it?

We see that Jesus's half brothers come and essentially taunt him. We see that they believe Jesus's motives for performing the miracles that he could perform in verses 3-5. I found this quite interesting. Sometimes we hear people say that they would certainly believe in Jesus if they lived when he lived, but here is an example of people who knew Jesus better than most people who did not believe in Jesus. Jesus's brother would have seen all the miracles from the beginning, and surely would've known that Joseph was not his true father, but they still did not believe that Jesus was acting out God's will. The thing we must realize about our faith (obvious alert) is that it is not driven by sight. If our feeling of faith diminishes or even grows based on blessings or miracles or prayers answered, it is not as strong as it could be. Our faith is and should always be rooted in the person of Christ and the promises of the Bible. This is how our faith stays steady when all hope is lost.

In response to his brother's lack of belief, he responds kindly with an explanation of why he cannot go with them to the feast. He tells them that they cannot come in a public manner because he is already hated by the people that are there. He also makes sure to mention that they can be saved at any time by saying that there time is always ready!

Now you might ask, why does he flat out tell them that he's not going and then go? I think the main reason is the intent behind his statement. The brothers were trying to entice him to make a big public showing of his arrival to the feast, but that is not what Jesus is going to the feast to accomplish. I believe that Jesus was going simply to be in obedience to God's law and to worship God the Father along with his fellow believers. Rather than go openly and causing a scene and taking away from the time of worship, he allows for God the Father to get the glory he deserves by means of the quiet entry to the feast. It is not for himself that he gives a quiet entrance to the feast, but for the people there that would be hindered by the Jewish leaders response to a grand entrance.

I hope this lesson was a blessing for you all!

Thanks

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