Lars Larson Live Stream

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Reign with Him above, their profit and their joy,
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To know the mystery of His love.
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The cross He bore His life and health, Through shame and death to Him.
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His people's hope, His people's wealth, Their everlasting
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King. If our disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
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It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the
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Holy Spirit distributed according to His will. For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.
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It has been testified somewhere, what is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for him?
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You have made him for a little while lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.
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Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
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But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely
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Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
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For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
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For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.
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That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, saying, I will tell of your name to my brothers.
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In the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise. And again, I will put my trust in him.
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And again, behold, I and the children God has given me. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
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For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
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For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
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Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank
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You for this passage of Scripture that so clearly reveals the work of Christ, that reveals what
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Christ did on our behalf, how He suffered so greatly. And Lord, we know that ours is a path of suffering.
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And we can suffer joyfully because we know that Christ suffered joyfully. And Lord, we ask for Your strength.
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We ask for Your guidance. We ask for wisdom in how we navigate the trials and the difficulties of this life.
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Lord, we pray that we would look to Jesus Christ, the author and the founder of our faith, the perfecter of our faith.
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We thank You, Lord, that through His power we are able to please You. We are able to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called.
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So Lord, we exalt Jesus Christ. We are so thankful for His work. And we pray,
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Lord, that we would live our lives in gratitude to Him. Lord, help us now as we learn more about His life and His ministry,
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His work. Help us, Lord, to understand these truths so that we can apply them to our lives in order to please
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You in everything that we do, in everything that we think, in our motives, in our actions.
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Lord, to You be the glory and honor. Thank You, Lord, in Jesus' name, Amen. I'm really enjoying the study of John's Gospel myself.
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I'm profiting from it. And I just pray that the Lord helps me to be able to communicate the richness of this
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Gospel before us. I'm somewhat frustrated in my inability to do so to the degree we want.
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Today we arrive at the seventh chapter of John's Gospel. And it's our intention today to address verses 1 through 13.
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As I was considering my completed notes today, I'm thinking there wasn't a lot of practical counsel or instruction for how we live in the light of this.
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But I believe that this matter of presenting and seeing Jesus Christ is itself intensely practical and transformative.
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And that the Holy Spirit uses our perception of who we see
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Jesus to be, who He is, to do a great work of grace in us.
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And so although we may not be able to specifically sit down and write one, two, three lessons that I learned today from this passage, that doesn't mean that it's not practical or applicable.
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I believe it is. It's the knowledge of Jesus Christ that ultimately is transformative, isn't it?
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Well, here we read of the conflict between Jesus and His half -brothers.
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And we may consider the great difference between Jesus and His brothers as really a conflict or clash between two different worldviews and how they basically saw the world and interpreted from that worldview how they should live.
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And so really we have a clash here, a conflict between the worldview of fallen man and the worldview of God Himself, of course, as Jesus Christ viewed the world.
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And so His brothers assessed, saw and assessed circumstances differently than did
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Jesus. And so they preferred a course of action for Him as contrary to His own determination to take.
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And so we read that His believers at this point were unbelievers. His brothers were unbelievers.
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And therefore they were incapable of understanding why Jesus could have ministry among the
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Jews in the way that He did. And we also see that even blood relation may not be the context in which true family relationships may be experienced and enjoyed.
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The fact is true family fellowship, a kindred spirit, may be enjoyed among brothers and sisters in Christ because of their common blood, but the common blood that's that of Jesus Christ.
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And so we have a relationship and communication with one another as Christians that in many ways surpasses that of blood relations, or at least many of us could express that we've experienced that.
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And so here we may see, as one put it, ironically when the world or even our biological families begin to hate us on account of Christ, it is then that we know that we are home residents in the family of God.
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And this is borne out in this passage. Now of course these verses, verses 1 through 13, are really establishing a setting for an event that is going to occur later on in the chapter, an event that John has described as a sign.
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There are a number of signs in John's gospel. And so a sign is often presented and then that sign sets the stage for a discourse of Jesus.
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And so in John 7 we have this discourse, and in this discourse there's more interaction between Jesus and those with whom he's speaking as they ask questions and make comments as to what he teaches.
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But the larger episode we should keep in view even as we consider these first 13 verses as introductory.
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And so the entire episode is rather lengthy. It encompasses the entire chapter. Chapter 7 begins here with verse 1 and is completed at the last verse of chapter 7, which is verse 53.
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Then I might just interject at this point with John 8, verse 1, you have the account of the woman caught in adultery.
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And after that episode, John actually goes back and ties into this discourse as well, but we'll consider that when we arrive, which will be in a few weeks,
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I believe. And so let's read the first 13 verses of this chapter, John chapter 7, and this is from the
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New King James Version. After these things Jesus walked in Galilee, for he did not want to walk in Judea, because the
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Jews sought to kill him. Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was at hand.
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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.
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For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.
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If you do these things, show yourself to the world. And then
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John provides this explanation. For even his brothers did not believe in him.
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And Jesus said to them, My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I testify of it that its works are evil.
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You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.
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And when he had said these things to them, he remained in Galilee. But when his brothers had gone up, then he also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
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And then the Jews sought him at the feast and said, Where is he? And there was much complaining among the people concerning him.
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Some said, He is good. And others said, No, on the contrary, he deceives the people.
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However, no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews. Now, here in this account of John 7, we're going to see our
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Lord traveling to Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Tabernacles, even though he sent his brothers on ahead of him.
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This Feast of the Tabernacles is a week -long festival observed in the fall, the autumn of the year, which culminated in the
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Jewish New Year and the Day of Atonement, which is commonly referred to as Yom Kippur.
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Sometimes the Feast of Tabernacles is called also the Feast of Booths, and that's what the tabernacle is, a temporary dwelling place made from leafy branches, whatnot.
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And this Feast of Tabernacles was a commemoration on the part of Israel of the 40 -year wilderness wandering of Israel through their exodus from slavery in Egypt onto their entrance into the promised land under Joshua.
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And so during this seven -day festival, the Jews would fashion booths or tabernacles, and they'd sleep out of doors.
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They'd camp outside. What they're doing so is not simply to commemorate their wilderness wanderings, although it was that.
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The primary idea was that during those 40 years, God himself had begun to dwell and tabernacle with them.
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Moses and Israel built the tabernacle. God dwelt there among his people in the middle of the camp, of course.
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The shekinah glory of God, pillar of fire by night, cloud by day, was the physical and visible presence of God dwelling among his people.
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And then they were dwelling in these temporary dwellings as well in the wilderness.
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And so the Feast of Tabernacles was really to reminisce that God had been dwelling with them as God's people during that period of time as they enjoyed his protection as well as his provision, feeding them, bringing them water.
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And in time after Israel had entered the promised land, this festival of booths also became associated with the end of the growing season in the autumn, culminating in their gratefulness expressed to God for the bountiful harvest that they had taken in.
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But this festival was not only, not only did it have a remembrance of what had once taken place, but it was a feast that also anticipated what
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God promised they would yet experience. It suggested a future realization of God's promises to his people.
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After all, while in the wilderness, their dwelling in booths was due to the fact that they were on a journey to their promised land in which they would enjoy the full blessing of God's blessing and provision in their lives.
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This event of the Feast of the Tabernacles was regarded by some as the greatest festival of the year for the
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Jews. Josephus, in his writings, declared that that was their assessment of it.
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It was particularly for this feast that Jews from the nations of the world would arrive and dwell in the streets and on the housetops and also in the fields, of course, and the environs around Jerusalem.
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And so it must have been quite an amazing experience to participate in this festival. And I thought about Alfred Edersheim, who lived in the 19th century, who wrote a wonderful two -volume book, you know,
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The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. And he had a gift of describing the setting of the ancient world and what it was like and what they heard, what they saw, what they smelled.
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And I came across this rather prolonged description of what would have been observed by Jesus and his disciples in Jerusalem at this festival of booths.
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And so I wanted to share this with us. It sets the atmosphere of this, what was going on to Jerusalem.
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And so Edersheim wrote, It was kol ha -moed, as the non -sacred part of the festive week.
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The half -holy days were called. Jerusalem, the city of solemnities, the city of palaces, the city of beauty and glory, were quite another than its usual aspect, other even than when its streets were thrown by festive pilgrims during the
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Passover week or at Pentecost, which would have been six months before in the springtime. For this was preeminently the feast for foreign pilgrims coming from the farthest distance, whose temple contributions were then received and counted, despite the strange costumes from Media, Arabia, Persia, or India, and even further, or the
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Western speech and bearing of the pilgrims from Italy, Spain, the modern Crimea, and the banks of the
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Danube, if not from yet more strange and barbarous lands, it would not be difficult to recognize the liniments of the
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Jew, nor to perceive that to change one's clime or setting was not to change one's mind.
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In other words, it would have clearly a Jewish flair. As the Jerusalemite would look with proud self -consciousness, not unmingled with kindly patronage on the swarthy strangers, yet fellow countrymen, or the eager -eyed
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Galilean curiously stare after them, the pilgrims would in turn gaze with mingled awe and wonderment on the novel scene.
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Here was the realization of their fondest dreams ever since childhood, the home and spring of their holiest thoughts and best hopes, that which gave inward victory to the vanquished and converted persecution into anticipated triumph.
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They could come at this season of the year, not during the winter for the Passover, again six months before, nor yet quite to readily in summer's heat for Pentecost, that would have been at the beginning of the summer, but now in the delicious cool of early autumn, when all harvest operations, the gathering of luscious fruit, the vintage were passed, and the first streets of gold were tinting the foliage, strangers from afar off, and countrymen from Judea, Berea, and Galilee would mingle in the streets of Jerusalem under the ever -present shadow of that glorious sanctuary of marvel, a reference to the temple.
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Cedarwood and gold up there on high Moriah, in Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount, symbol of the infinitely more glorious overshadowing presence of Him, who is the
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Holy One in the midst of Israel. How all day long, even till the stars lit up the deep blue canopy overhead, the smoke of the burning, smoldering sacrifices rose in a slowly widening column and hung between the
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Mount of Olives and Zion. And how the chant of Levites and the solemn responses of the
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Hillel, it was common that the Jewish pilgrims would pray verbatim
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Psalms 113 through Psalm 118, and that's called the
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Hillel, and he's making reference here of hearing the pilgrims reciting this prayer, were born on the breeze, or the clear blast of the pre -silver trumpet seemed to awaken the echoes far away.
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And then at night, how all these vast temple buildings stood out, illuminated by the great candelabras that burned in the court of the women, and by the glare of torches, when strange sound of mystic hymns and dances came floating over the intervening darkness.
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Truly well might Israel designate the Feast of Tabernacles as the feast, in other words, the number one feast, and the
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Jewish historian described it, that would be Josephus, as the holiest and greatest.
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Early on the 14th of Tishri, that would be the name of the month according to the lunar calendar, corresponding to our
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September, early October, all the festive pilgrims had arrived. Then it was indeed a sense of bustle and activity.
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Hospitality had to be sought and found, guests to be welcomed and entertained, all things required for the feast to be got ready, and above all, booths must be erected everywhere, in court, on housetop, in street and square, for the lodgement and entertainment of that vast multitude, leafy dwellings everywhere, to remind of the wilderness journey, and now of the goodly land.
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Only that fierce castle, Antonia, that was a Roman castle that was built just outside the wall of the temple, and it was higher than the temple and the temple courts, and so the
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Romans were watching all the time, and it just irritated the Jews to no end, and he's making reference to it here.
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Only that fierce castle, Antonia, which frowned above the temple, was undecked by the festive spring into which the land had burst.
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To the Jew it must have been a hateful sight, that castle, which guarded and dominated his own city and temple, hateful sight and sound, that Roman garrison, with its foreign heathen, reballed speech and manners.
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Yet for all this, Israel could not read on the lowering sky the signs of the times, nor yet knew the day of their merciful visitation, in other words, that the
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Messiah was coming among them, and this, although of all festivals, that of Tabernacles should have most clearly pointed them to the future.
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Indeed, the whole symbolism of the feast, beginning with the completed harvest, for which it was a thanksgiving, pointed to the future.
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The rabbis themselves admitted this. The strange number of sacrificial bullocks, 70 in all, seven bulls were sacrificed, one for each of what they believed were the 70
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Gentile nations of the world. They regarded it as referring to the 70 nations of heathendom, the ceremony of the outpouring of water, which was considered of such vital importance as to give the whole festival the name of House of Outpouring, was symbolical of the outpouring of the
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Holy Spirit. As the brief night of the great temple illumination closed, there was solemn testimony made before Jehovah against heathenism, in other words, against those wicked
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Gentiles. It must have been a stirring scene when out of the mass of Levites with their musical instruments, who crowded the 15 steps that led from the court of Israel to that of the women, stepped two priests with their silver trumpets.
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As the first cock crowing intimated the dawn of morn, they blew a threefold blast, another on the tenth step, and yet another threefold blast as they entered the court of the women.
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And still sounding their trumpets, they marched through the court of the women to the beautiful gate. And here, turning round and facing westwards to the holy place, they repeated,
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Our fathers who were in this place, they turned their backs on the sanctuary of Jehovah and their faces eastward, for they worshipped eastward.
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Speaking of that generation of Jews who had apostatized from God and began to worship idols, and the result was their
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Babylonian exile. And so they're repudiating them, and worshipped eastward the sun, but we, our eyes, are toward Jehovah.
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We are Jehovah's. Our eyes are toward Jehovah. Yea, the whole of this night and morning scene was symbolical.
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The temple illumination of the light, which was to shine from out of the temple into the dark night of heathendom.
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In other words, the glory of God to shine forth into the Gentile world. And then at the first dawn of morn, the blast of the priests' silver trumpets of the army of God as it advanced with festive trumpet sound and call to awaken the sleepers, marching on to quite the utmost bounds of the sanctuary to the beautiful gate, which opened upon the court of the
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Gentiles, and then again facing round to utter solemn protest against heathenism and make solemn confession of Jehovah.
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That gives you the setting of the city at this time. Quite an amazing description, I think.
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Now during this festival of booths or tabernacles, there were two prominent symbolic actions that were performed.
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First, there was a public drawing of water from a pitcher, with a pitcher, from the pool of Siloam, I believe, which pointed to God's provision of water for Israel in the wilderness throughout their desert wanderings.
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The account of this provision of God is set forth in Numbers chapter 20, verses 2 and following.
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Now this was back during the days of Moses when Israel was wandering in the wilderness, traveling from Egypt to the
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Promised Land, which took 40 years. Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying, if only we had died when our brethren died before the
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Lord. Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, and we and our animals should die here?
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And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place?
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It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there any water to drink.
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So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. They fell on their faces, and the glory of the
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Lord appeared to them. And then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Take the rod, you and your brother
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Aaron, gather the congregation together, speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water.
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And thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and drink to the congregation, and give drink to the congregation, their animals.
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And so Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock.
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He said to them, Here now, you rebels, must we bring water for you out of this rock?
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And then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.
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And so this event, the publicly pouring out of water in the Feast of the Booze, was a commemoration of God providing water, but it was when this event took place, the pouring out of this water in the temple, that gave
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Jesus the occasion to stand forward and make this declaration, which we'll consider later in John chapter 7, verses 37 and 38.
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On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying,
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If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the
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Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. And so there you have the future aspect pointing to the pouring out of the
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Holy Spirit by King Jesus upon his people. He said this, of course, in anticipation of the day of Pentecost, when the
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Holy Spirit would come upon the church. A second public action took place during this festival.
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It was the formal, celebrative, ceremonial lighting of a lamp.
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This symbolized the manifestation of the glory of God to his people, this kind of glory, which was the visible presence of God who tabernacled with his people in the wilderness, wandering.
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The initial appearing of the glory of God is described in Exodus 40, and this is what happened after Moses completed erecting the tabernacle, or the tent structure, where God promised to dwell.
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And so we read of this in Exodus 40, 33 and following.
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And Moses raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar and hung up the screen of the court gate, so Moses finished the work.
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And then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
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And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the
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Lord filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go forward, or onward in all their journeys.
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But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the
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Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, and the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys."
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In other words, that 40 -year wilderness wandering. And this event, the
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Shekinah glory of God, protecting, providing, leading the people of God, was seen through this symbolic public action of the festival in lighting a lamp.
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It symbolized the manifestation of the glory of God to His people, the Shekinah glory, which was the visible presence of God who tabernacled with His people during their wilderness wandering.
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The initial period of this glory is described again in Exodus 40, which we read. Well, when they lit this lamp there in the temple, it gave occasion for Jesus to stand forward once again.
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And we'll read of this not until John chapter 8, verse 12. And then we read that Jesus spoke to them again, saying,
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I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.
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And so the Lord Jesus came to this festival of booths, and He used the two great symbolic actions to set forth
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Himself and His own ministry as the Messiah, as the manifestation of God to His people.
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However, there's a larger picture being portrayed in this episode than what we've already considered. The Holy Spirit, through the pen of the
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Apostle John, is setting forth that actually the Lord Jesus is the true tabernacle.
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They're all dwelling in little booths, tabernacles that they erected. It was through the tabernacle that God dwells with His people, those who know
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Him and believe on Him. And it's through Jesus Christ that God actually dwells among His people, those who know
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Him and believe on Him. He is the one through whom God satisfies the spiritually thirsty by giving them the blessed, life -giving, life -empowering
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Holy Spirit. And He is the one through whom God provides clear insight as to who
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He is and how He would have His people live before Him. He is the light of the world. As one succinctly described
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Jesus set forth for us in this chapter, Jesus is the true tabernacle, the fulfillment of the world's hopes and joys, whose faithful obedience to the
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Father is the source of true brotherhood in the family of God. In Jesus the good things of God are being expressed as grace replacing grace.
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And what is meant by that is that God was very gracious to Israel in the Old Testament times and now
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He's replacing that even with greater grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. And then
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Leon Morris expressed this same truth in different words. I included this for clarification, enhancement of our understanding.
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The Feast of Tabernacles was a feast of thanksgiving primarily for the blessings of God and the harvest.
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But it was observed with special reference to the blessings received during the wilderness wanderings, the time when
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God was pleased to manifest Himself in the tabernacle. It may be this which gives significance to John's recording of the happenings in this chapter.
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Neither in the tabernacle in the wilderness nor in the temple which replaced it was God fully manifested.
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The final and perfect manifestation of God was in Jesus whose ministry would result in God's dwelling neither in a tent nor a temple but in men's hearts by His Spirit.
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And so you can see that this passage is just seems to be widening for us, isn't it?
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And that it presents and displays Jesus Christ before us. Well with that little bit of introduction let's begin to work through these verses now and understand what's being stated.
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First we see Jesus purposely initially initially purposed to remain in Galilee.
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And in verse 1 we read of the increasing danger that was being posed to Him. After these things
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Jesus walked in Galilee for He did not want to walk in Judea because the Jews sought to kill
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Him. The verse opens with a vague reference to time after these things and probably a significant amount of time transpired between the end of the events of John chapter 6 and the opening here of John chapter 7.
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Jesus did not want to walk in Judea, that would have been down south not because He was afraid to do so of course but because it was not wise for Him to do so.
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Our Lord was never characterized by fear but rather of power and of love and of a sound mind.
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That we should characterize each of us as Christians. It is not said as Matthew Henry wrote
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He dared not but He would not walk in Judea. It was not through fear and cowardness
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He declined it but in prudence for His hour had not yet come.
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He was never terrified He never acted out of fear but rather He of course was full of courage and confidence.
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The verb in this verse after these things Jesus walked in Galilee, the verb walked in the
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Greek is actually an imperfect tense and what that tense conveys is the idea of continual walking.
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He was walking about Galilee as it were. He did so because He knew
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His life was in danger in Judea to the south. Again there's no suggestion that the events of chapter 5 occurred immediately after those of chapter 4.
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D .A. Carson suggested the events of chapter 5 occurred about 6 months after the events of chapter 4 and he's probably right.
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What we have is a record of increasing hostility toward Jesus that of course will eventually reach
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Zenith in Jerusalem of Judea. Back in John chapter 5 verse 18 we read that the murderous intention of the
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Jewish leaders therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him because He not only broke the
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Sabbath but also said that God was His Father making Himself equal with God. But now they're ramped up in their hostility and their anger they wanted to kill
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Him. The gospel reveals the hostile opposition to Jesus was increasing as Jesus ministered among the people.
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His greatest opposers were the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem the Sanhedrin that leading body of 70 men who ruled the nation of Israel really at the permission of Rome.
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They were allowed to have some measure of authority over Jewish affairs. But Galilee was quite a distance off maybe 90 to 100 miles north of Jerusalem and it was separated of course by the region of Samaria and so our
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Lord Jesus continued His public ministry in Galilee but here we read He made an excursion into Judea to Jerusalem because the feast of the tabernacles was at hand.
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And we read that statement in verse 2. Now the Jews feast of tabernacles was at hand.
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This was one of three annual Jewish feasts that all Jewish males were required to travel to Jerusalem to observe.
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The first this is stipulated by the way first in Exodus 23 14 through 17
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Three times you shall keep a feast to be in the year you shall keep the feast of unleavened bread you shall eat unleavened bread seven days as I commanded you at that time appointed in the month of B for in it you came out of Egypt none shall appear before me empty that would have been
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Passover in the early spring of the year and the feast of harvest the first fruits of your labor which were sown in the field that would have been
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Pentecost at the beginning of summer and the feast of in gathering at the end of the year and the
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Jews observed a lunar calendar not like our calendar and the end of their year would be in the fall in the autumn at the time of harvest when you've gathered in the fruit of your labors from the field three times in the year all your mail shall appear before the
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Lord God more detail of this is given in Leviticus 23 also the 15th day of the seventh month when you've gathered in the fruit of the land that harvest you should keep the feast of the
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Lord for seven days on the first day there shall be a Sabbath rest on the eighth day of Sabbath rest you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees branches of palm trees the bows of leafy trees willows of the brook and you shall rejoice before the
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Lord your God for seven days you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year it shall be a statute forever in your generations you shall celebrate it in the seventh month you should dwell in booths for seven days all who are native
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Israelites shall dwell in booths that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when
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I brought them out of the land of Egypt I am the Lord your God 40 years later with a new generation about ready to enter the promised land this feast is also described in Deuteronomy 31 so Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priest the sons of Levi who bore the ark of the covenant and to all the elders of Israel and Moses commanded them saying at the end of every seven years at the appointed time in the year of release at the feast of tabernacles when all
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Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which he chooses you shall read this law before all
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Israel in their hearing and so they would observe the feast of tabernacles annually every year of the fall but every seventh to read publicly the entire law of God now
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Moses gave this instruction originally in the wilderness later they would travel to Jerusalem of course that was centuries later it was just declared that you shall observe this feast in the place that God appoints for you and when they came into the promised land they first set up the tabernacle at Shiloh or Gibeon I believe and then
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Shiloh and so they would go to these two places for this feast of tabernacles but later on when
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Solomon built the temple and they dedicated in Jerusalem thereafter they observed the feast of tabernacles in Jerusalem now let's look at verses 3 and 4 of John 7 here we read of Jesus his brothers urging him to travel to Jerusalem to advance his cause now in that this feast required all
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Jewish males to make their journey to Jerusalem we read in verses 3 and 4 the brothers of Jesus saw this as a great opportunity for Jesus to advance himself to promote his name so John wrote 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 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 it seemed to be a reasonable thing from their perspective but then we read
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John's explanation for them speaking to Jesus in this way verse 5 even his brothers did not believe in him in other words their recommendation, their suggestion was so contrary to the nature of Jesus' mission and the will of God it just reflect the fact that they were not true believers and so here we read interestingly of Jesus' brothers the brothers of Jesus this is a verse this is a verse which is a real problem for Roman Catholicism their official doctrine is that Mary was a perpetual virgin that though she was married to Joseph they remained celibate throughout their married life she lived her entire life as a virgin according to Rome of course the
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Bible doesn't teach this in Matthew 1 after Joseph was informed by the angel of the condition of Mary as his betrothed we read when
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Joseph woke from sleep he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him he took his wife but knew her not until she had given birth to a son and he called his name
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Jesus but again Rome teaches that Mary remained a perpetual virgin however
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Rome is not alone in this belief interestingly Eastern Orthodoxy teaches it
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Eastern Orthodox Church now it's the Russian Orthodox Church teaching may also be found quite early in the
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Christian era I was surprised at how early this doctrine emerged the famous preacher and he was a very good man by the way
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John Chrysostom believed and taught the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary, Augustine did also and he gave a number of arguments supporting the doctrine and he became established teaching through the centuries advocated before the
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Western Church, Rome separated from the Eastern Church in Constantinople when it was a unified movement or Christendom they embraced this teaching of the perpetual virginity of Mary it was only with the
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Protestant Reformation when a return to the scriptures alone resulted in the doctrine being called into question but even then interestingly
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Martin Luther held to the perpetual virginity of Mary throughout her life and also by the way
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John Wesley the founder of Methodism advocated the perpetual virginity of Mary and although in the writings of John Calvin he seems somewhat sympathetic to this idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary he gave a number of arguments why she would not have remained celibate in her marriage and so in his commentary on Luke 134 that describes
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Mary and her relationship to Joseph it's claimed by Rome that there
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Mary makes a vow of perpetual celibacy and Calvin basically said that this was an unfounded and altogether absurd idea or belief that Mary had made a vow of perpetual virginity and so Calvin wrote this, the conjecture which some have drawn from these words that she had formed a vow of perpetual virginity is unfounded and altogether absurd she would in that case have committed treachery by allowing herself to be united to a husband and would have poured contempt on that holy covenant of marriage which could not have been done without mockery of God although the papists in other words the
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Roman Catholics have exercised barbarous tyranny on this subject yet they've never proceeded so far as to allow the wife to form a vow of continence at her own pleasure, in other words the wife was never given the authority or recognition to make this kind of vow
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I'm going to be celibate in our marriage and then Calvin wrote besides it's an idle unfounded supposition that a monastic life existed among the
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Jews, no example of it in ancient literature, well what then do these people do with verses like this in John 5 or pardon me
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John 7 like verse 3 his brothers therefore said to him depart from here and go into Judea John chapter 2 verse 12 we already came across this, after this
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Jesus went down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples and they stayed there for a few days
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Luke 8 19 and 20 then his mother and his brothers came to him but they could not reach him because of the crowd and he was told your mother and your brothers are standing outside and Matthew 13 55 and 56 the opposers of Jesus said is this not the carpenter's son, is not his mother called
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Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas and his sisters are they not all with us, where then did this man get all these things in other words his knowledge and his insight well how do they deal with these verses, well some argue these were children of Joseph in a previous marriage before he married
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Mary and so they weren't related to Jesus in any way whatsoever I don't know where they get that you know it's not stated in scripture but they're doing that to keep or maintain the perpetual virgin doctrine of Mary others say that they were cousins of Jesus and the word translated brothers sometimes is translated as cousins and so they would argue they were not his actual half brothers and sisters who were born to Joseph and Mary after Jesus was born the point is this however, there is no biblical reason that Mary must have remained a virgin after giving birth to Jesus the doctrine is born out of the perceived need to elevate
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Mary beyond the status of a godly and pure virgin whom God chose to be the mother of the
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Savior in his human nature Joseph and Mary had a normal healthy and probably model marriage after their first born son
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Jesus was born into the world, they had sons and daughters born into a family in which
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Jesus was the elder half brother Mary being his mother, his father being
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God himself of course now what was it that Jesus' brothers wanted him to do this is explained by John by the fact that they were unbelievers again verses 3 and 4 his brother therefore said to him depart from here go into Judea that your disciples may also see the works that you're doing 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 for even his brothers did not believe in him first let's consider the nature of their request they said to him depart from here and go into Judea that your disciples also may see the works that you're doing question might be asked didn't his disciples already see the works that he'd been doing and of course they had actually there are several different ways that people interpret the statement made by the brothers first some argue that these brothers of Jesus had witnessed the defection and departure of these many disciples in John 6 they got offended by Jesus' words turned and no longer followed
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Jesus and that his brothers are basically saying start doing miracles before all these ones departed and maybe they'll come back that's a possibility others say secondly that his brothers were urging
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Jesus to assume the role of the Messiah that was popularly expected and anticipated by the people as one explained one explanation of their advice to Jesus is that there is a spirit of revolt in the air in Galilee as well in Jerusalem the brothers were aware of it and expected that it would manifest itself in Jerusalem during the festival they therefore urged
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Jesus to go to Jerusalem to take charge of the revolt and turn it into a liberation movement if he was indeed the
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Messiah that was the kind of action which was popularly expected from the Messiah and that's a quote from the commentary by F .F.
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Bruce a very good commentator but then he and he was listing the different opinions of what was meant after he stated this one he declared but there's insufficient support for this idea in the present context it's really reading into that it would seem that the best explanation is thirdly his brothers were urging him to promote himself through performing miracles in order to gain a following in Jerusalem the center of the
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Jews religion and their national identity make yourself popular gain a following and do it by performing miracles you have the ability to do so clearly you can extend and advance your kingdom by doing miracles in their presence of course our
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Lord however was opposed to this kind of thinking and this manner of working in fact the prophecies of the
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Old Testament declared that he would not have this kind of ministry Isaiah 42 he will not cry out nor raise his voice nor cause his voice to be heard in the street he wouldn't promote himself in this ostentatious manner of doing miracles and it would seem that that's what his brothers wanted him to do this is quoted by the way in Matthew's gospel to describe the nature of his public ministry
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Matthew 12 Jesus withdrew at one point great multitudes followed he healed them all and yet he warned them not to make him known he wasn't looking for popularity and he urged him not to make him known so that it might be fulfilled as spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying and here
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Matthew quotes Isaiah 42 behold my servant whom I have chosen my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased
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I will put my spirit upon him he will declare justice to the Gentiles he will not quarrel nor cry out nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets he was not that kind of Messiah the brothers were encouraging him to go to promote himself to push himself forward to gain a following and thereby build his kingdom he did not desire the fascination of people but rather that would have been a faulty foundation that's what he just dealt with in John chapter 6 turned those people away from following that kind of would be king so they would have him go to Jerusalem to do the opposite what he had just done with regard to the multitude in John chapter 6 well thirdly we have
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Jesus dismissing their request and he discredits their reasoning and Jesus said to them my time is not yet come but your time is always ready the world cannot hate you it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil you go up to the feast
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I am not yet going up to the feast for my time has not yet fully come and when he had said these things to them he remained in Galilee the
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Lord Jesus first declared it was not in God's timing for him to go to Jerusalem verse 6 and Jesus said to them my time is not yet come here
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Jesus used the word time and there's different Greek words translated as time in English he was saying it was not the time according to God's agenda for him to go up to the feast but his brothers could go up to the feast at any time for they were not under the same agenda set by the father
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Jesus' brothers are free to go up to Jerusalem for the feast anytime they like while Jesus is under special constraint
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Jesus was doing what his father was leading him to do yes there would be a time when
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Jesus would go up to Jerusalem to manifest himself before all but that manifestation would not be in the form that the brothers wanted him to show forth but rather it would be when he was manifested hanging on the cross not by promoting himself to become their king and he'll later declare when
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I am lifted up from the earth I'll draw all men to myself referring to all kinds of men
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Jews and Gentiles as well and when he made that statement it was to indicate the manner in which he would die that being lifted up the cross that time would come when he would manifest himself when he hung on the cross but at this point in his ministry it was not time that is it was not in accordance with God's divine plan and timing that he'd go up to Jerusalem to be manifest in the way that would one day occur but then
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Jesus added to his words of refusal saying to his brothers but your time is all ready your time is always ready no restraint placed upon them for they were not called to fulfill the prescribed agenda
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Jesus argued the world cannot hate you but it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil and here the world he's speaking of the fallen world of course interestingly this is the first time in the gospel of John that the world is spoken of as not an object of God's love here the fallen world is described as God's enemy that's how it's depicted here his brothers need not expect the populace of Jerusalem to be hostile toward them they would be welcomed there because they were the fallen world system of which all are a part except for Jesus himself
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Jesus said the world cannot hate them for they belong to it the world loves its own his brothers would be able to go up to Jerusalem move about in the streets mix it up with the people blend in quite well all of the same stock all are members of this fallen world system but in contrast to the world hating his not hating his brothers it could not help but hate
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Jesus and so we we see the reason he exposed them their sin as sin to them that was the nature of his ministry
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Jesus said but it hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil and that's why by the way that the fallen world will hate you and me and our church for that matter because if we're rightly faithfully declaring the word of God and representing the
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Lord before the fallen world we are testifying that their works are evil and that they need a savior just as we need a savior to save us from our evil we may be reminded of King Ahab who many centuries spoke to King Hezekiah of Judah when
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King Hezekiah don't you have a prophet around here who can get a word from God King of Israel said to Jehoshaphat there is yet one man whom we may inquire of the
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Lord Micaiah the son of Imlah but I hate him because he never prophesied good concerning me but evil and I can just well imagine that's probably how some people view us as a church me as a pastor
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I don't like him because all he says is negative things you know all he says concerning me is evil well that's what
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Jesus Christ is a savior of people from evil and that's who we're representing him to be but people don't like that unless the
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Holy Spirit shows them the truth and the reality of it and they desire to be redeemed or saved from it and so the world can say this of Jesus and his ministry
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Jesus was always reproving the world of sin and if those in the world fail or refuse to believe what he says they react with anger toward him they crucified him because he was a living rebuke to them
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Jesus says of the fallen world its works are evil the fact is apart from Jesus Christ you and I are evil that's a pretty stark word isn't it in English we are evil
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I happen to look it up in my Bible program on the computer New King James Version and the word evil is used 482 times in 454 verses that's a lot of uses of the word evil in the
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Bible Jesus Christ came to save evil people from their evil unto himself he came to save us from this present evil age is what the scriptures say
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Jesus Christ Paul wrote who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of God our
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Father and so then we read of Jesus dismissing his brothers you go up to the feast
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I'm not yet going up to the feast for my time has not yet fully come interestingly here in verse 8 there is a textual variant that crept into the manuscript tradition centuries ago and it's translated in the
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King James and translated here in the New King James by the words not yet because probably what
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Jesus originally said I am not going up to this feast and a scribe probably read that and then he looked down at verse 10 where Jesus immediately turned around and goes up to the feast and he had a problem why did
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Jesus say I'm not going to the feast and then he turned around and immediately went he put in the Greek words I'm not yet going to the feast in order to give
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Jesus a way out at least in his perception well one need not do that of course one need not change the actual text of the word of God in order to conform to what we think might read better but a scribe intentionally inserted that so the newer translations don't express it exactly in that way the fact is the
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Lord Jesus was very precise in his statement again the verse reads I am not yet going up to this feast and there is a pronoun there a demonstrative pronoun this feast it was here that the wrongly perceived problem of our anonymous scribe is resolved what
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Jesus was implying is that yes he would go up but not for the chief purpose to commemorate this feast of the tabernacles of which all were traveling to Jerusalem to observe he would go up but in doing so he would declare to the assembled
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Jews in Jerusalem the true meaning of the feast that it foretold of him and the true life that he would bring and the real presence of God that he himself would be in their midst in effect
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Jesus will go up to present himself as the true tabernacle in whom God dwells with his people and when the water is drawn from the pool of Siloam and ceremonially carried to the temple where it is poured out before the
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Lord again Jesus would stand forward and say if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink he who believes in me as the scriptures have said out of his heart will flow living waters speaking of the
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Holy Spirit and when the lamp was ceremonially lit during the feast he will declare himself to be the true light that God sent into the world he wasn't going up just for this feast he was going to go up but it was for a different message entirely and then lastly we might look at verses 10 and 13 quickly
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Jesus secretly went to Jerusalem to the feast but when his brothers had gone up then he also went up to the feast not openly but as it were in secret and then the
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Jews saw him at the feast and said where is he 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 however no one spoke openly of him for fear of the
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Jews Jesus chose to go up separate from his unbelieving brothers he did not want them to bring undue attention to him
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I imagine if they all traveled into Jerusalem together the brothers might have said hey look here's our brother you know and watch him do some miracles you know you ought to believe on him he wanted no part of that we read that though no one saw him as to recognize him we nevertheless see that he was the talk of the town in Jerusalem wasn't he they hadn't seen him yet they hadn't heard him yet but we see that the
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Jews saw him at the feast and here John's reference to the Jews should probably be understood as the
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Jewish leaders who represented in John's gospel hostile ruling
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Jews who were seeking to murder him they were asking where is he every
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Jewish male comes to the feast he's got to be here somewhere where is he because of course they had evil designs upon him and then again we read there is much complaining among the people concerning him when he was up in the synagogue in Capernaum there was a big fight big argument and now this expanded now all
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Jerusalem uproar and they're all complaining about him some thought that he's good others said no on the contrary he deceives the people basically the very presence of Jesus was dividing the people the
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Jewish people wasn't he from those who would embrace him and those who would reject him we won't take the time but Simeon 30 years before in the temple held up the baby
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Jesus in his arm and he declared that this child would be for the rise and fall of many in Israel and we see that played out here in Jerusalem just by his presence even though he was secretly there he himself was causing the division the separation between the wheat and the chaff between those who truly believed him on him and who did not nevertheless even though everybody was speaking about him nobody spoke openly about him for fear of the
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Jews and here again it would be the Jewish leaders the Sanhedrin we'll close by this word let it be noted that Christ is and always has been the cause of division of opinion wherever he has come or has been preached to some he is a saver of life in other words the smell or the odor of life and to others the odor the savor of death he draws out the true character of mankind they either like him or dislike him strife and conflict of opinion are the certain consequences of the gospel really coming among men with power the fault is not in the gospel but in human nature stillness and quiet are signs not of life but death the sun calls forth miasma putrid smell and malaria from the swamps it shines upon but the fault is not in the sun but in the land the very same rays call forth fertility and abundance from the corn field and so as we close you know we can ask ourselves what kind of reaction do we have to this person of Jesus Christ and we trust that we're believers here that we welcome him that we're not like those brothers who would have him to be a different kind of savior you know presenting himself in a way that would be palatable and receiving by the evil world but rather he's the savior of sinners and he's come to redeem us from our evil and we as believers recognize and confess readily that we are evil and that we need forgiveness of sins and the righteousness of Christ through faith alone amen let's pray thank you father for your word thank you our
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God for the manner in which Jesus Christ is displayed before us and as we continue to consider this passage of John chapter 7 we pray that you would enhance our understanding and our appreciation of our lord and savior