John Chapter 7 Part
1
Love “does not demand its own way”
Humility in the Face of Adversity Continues as Jesus Returns to Jerusalem
WHAT MAKES JESUS TICK? - He always exemplifies the LOVE OF GOD.
John 7 starts where Jesus is in Galilee with Mary and His siblings. Other than Mary, they
did not yet understand who Jesus really is. They try to coax Him to go to
Jerusalem with them to the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) so that His fame would increase. They couldn’t have known
their brother very well to have made the comment below.
John 7:2 But
soon it was time for the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles,
3 and
Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers
can see your miracles!
4 You
can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things,
show yourself to the world!”
In verses 6-9 we
see that Jesus begged off, knowing this was not going to be a picnic in
Jerusalem.
John 7:6 Jesus replied, “Now is not the right time for
me to go, but you can go anytime.
7 The
world can’t hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of doing evil.
8 You go
on. I’m not going to this festival, because my time has not yet come.”
9 After
saying these things, Jesus remained in Galilee.
He knew the evil
intents of the Jewish leaders and He knew He still had to prepare the disciples
for what was to come. He also had a lot to teach, multitudes of people to
reach, prophecies to fulfill and miracles to happen before the crucifixion. Nor
did He want his siblings to get caught up in the controversies He would face
when He got to there.
Jesus could care
less about making himself famous. His will was always to only do what the
Father had in mind. That intent is always to reveal Himself and the principles
of the Kingdom, that is to say, John 3:16. Matthew Henry’s commentary defined
the Master’s response to His sibling’s urging Him to go with them:
“The prudence and
humility of our Lord Jesus, which appeared in his answer to the advice his
brethren gave him, John 7:6-8. Though there were so many base insinuations in
it, he answered them mildly…
If the providence
of God casts persons of merit into places of obscurity and little note, it must
not be thought strange; it was the lot of our Master himself…
Note, Even that
which is said without reason should be answered without passion; we should
learn of our Master to reply with meekness even to that which is most
impertinent and imperious, and, where it is easy to find much amiss, to seem
not to see it, and wink at the affront.”
These 3 verses
describe the scene Jesus was walking into at the feast:
John 7:
10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He
also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
11 Then
the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?”
12 And
there was much complaining 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.
Jesus
intentionally went alone so as not to draw undo attention to Himself. If He
went with His carnal brothers they would have created some fanfare. The right
crowd would come to Him without that. There were two very different groups of
people looking for Him at the feast:
Ø The miracle
seekers and those curious as to He was on, the one hand. and
Ø The Jewish
authorities who felt threatened by His words, His actions and the crowd’s
reaction to Him. Thus,
John 7:14 Now
about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the Temple and taught.
Jesus
demonstrates the highest level of humility as He simply, lovingly, obediently
goes about His Father’s business. In the previous chapters of John we have seen
Jesus taking the conversation from the carnal to the Kingdom realities. He
continues that in the next few versus as He gives us an object lesson of how
believers should speak.
John 7:
15 The people were surprised when they heard
him. “How does he know so much when he hasn’t been trained?” they asked.
16 So Jesus told them, “My message is not my
own; it comes from God who sent me.
17 Anyone
who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is
merely my own.
18 Those who speak for themselves want glory
only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him
speaks truth, not lies. [NLT]
Verse 18 is something every believer needs to take to heart; a reminder of the necessity of always walking in the Spirit (with humility) and not the flesh (motivated by pride or seeking personal glory). My mouth (or things I put in social media) gets me in trouble sometimes. Is your response to that statement “Amen” or “oh, me!”? It is so easy to flesh out some dumb, un-thought out statement that is a not so nice emotional sting to someone we love. Saying the only the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, consistently, is beyond my natural ability (and I suspect most who read this.) BUT ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD.
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye
shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
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