Who is Jesus? - John 7:1-13

We all have opinions. Some people are reserved about their thoughts, while some aren’t. Sometimes you have to drag someone’s opinions out of them but some people will share their opinions with you whether you asked for it or not. Some thoughts are on important topics, but many of our opinions are on smaller inconsequential topics. I recently read about how famous football player Willis McGahee is known for his strong dislike of restaurant Applebees. I’m not really sure why, but apparently it’s a well known thing.

I have strong opinions on chapped lips. I don’t like having them and I don’t like seeing them. Part of my issue with it is that it can be treated so easily - just get some chapstick or Vaseline. That’s why every night before bed I make sure both of our kids have Vaseline on their lips. It’s gotten a little weird because they both look forward to it. And on more than one occasion, I’ve thought to myself, “I need Vaseline on my lips too.”

As I read one of the things that stood out to me the most was how many opinions are offered in these first thirteen verses. Jesus’s brothers expressed their opinions. The people at the Feast of Booths express a variety of opinions as well. It's interesting because we’re privied to so many different thoughts in just a few verses.

But clearly the opinion that is of the utmost importance is your opinion of Jesus Christ. That’s what the crowd was debating at the Feast of Booths. Is Jesus a “good man” or is he, “leading people astray?”

You know we have all sorts of thoughts and opinions but at the end of the day, many of them don’t matter all that much. How you answer which baseball team is the best, or who was the greatest American President has little to no impact on your day to day life.

But what you think of Jesus Christ will dictate the direction of your life and your eternal soul.

But a life lived in pursuit of worldly pleasure is either apathetic or has wholesale rejected Jesus Christ. Whereas, a godly, righteous, and sober life flows downstream from one who trusts in Christ as the Savior of their soul.

We’ve finally moved out of chapter 6 and we’re now in chapter 7. Last week, we looked at Peter’s amazing confession after everyone had left Jesus. Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

After feeding the five thousand and preaching to a crowd in Capernaum the only people still with Jesus are his twelve disciples.

Obviously the scene has now changed with chapter 7. Jesus has left Capernaum but remains in the region of Galilee and will head south to Judea, specifically Jerusalem where the Feast of Booths will take place.

Jesus’ Refusal

At the beginning of chapter 7, Jesus is with his family, (mainly his brothers) discussing their pilgrimage to Jerusalem to attend the Feast of Booths.

The Lord instituted The Feast of Booths in Leviticus chapter 23. And the Feast of Booths was, to quote one commentator, “... a celebration of God’s gracious provision for the Israelites in the wilderness and the completion of the year’s harvest. It involved various elements like a water drawing ceremony and a lamp-lighting ritual.”

It was a week-long celebration where the Jewish people would construct and dwell in these little “booths” to commemorate how God had graciously provided for his people.

But we learn something very important in verse 1. Jesus doesn’t want to go with his brothers to the Feast of Booths because “the Jews were seeking to kill him.”

The Jews had been growing increasingly antagonistic and angry toward Jesus, because his teaching often corrected their teaching. Remember chapter 5? When Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath and corrected the common Jewish teaching on the Sabbath. You have that fact and add it to the fact that Jesus was drawing crowds and gaining popularity and you have all the right ingredients for the Jewish leaders to hate Jesus.

They felt like murder was the only way to stop and silence Jesus. Keep in mind, we’re only in John 7 and we’re already hearing about the Jews desire to kill Jesus.

And of course, Jesus understood this. He knew that if he went to the Feast of Booths openly with his family Jewish religious leaders would easily find him and either arrest him or kill him.

But it wasn’t out of fear for his life that he didn’t want to go to the Feast of Booths with his family. He gives his reason in verses 6 and 8: his time had not yet come.

This isn’t a perfect analogy but it’s sort of like working on a car. Often you have to take off manifold covers, unscrew things, and remove parts before you can actually get to the thing you want to fix. There’s a necessary order or sequence that must take place.

There were things that must happen before Jesus would lay down his life on the cross. God’s sovereign plan of redemption had to be fully complete in the fullness of time. When Jesus laid down his life on the cross that was the exact moment he was supposed to lay down his life on the cross.

Family Encouragement:

But what’s so peculiar about this passage is how Jesus’ brother’s responded to the fact that the Jews seek his life. Look at verses 3 and 4.

Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.”

In other words, they tell Jesus, “If you are who you claim to be, prove it to the world! What better place than in Jerusalem in front of the masses! If you just performed your works publicly, then they would understand.”

They’re proposing a marketing strategy to Jesus. Because if the Jerusalem elites take you seriously then everyone else will take you seriously.

But isn’t that advice throwing Jesus to the wolves?

Let’s just pause here for a second: imagine someone from your family saying to you, “there’s a biker gang in town that wants to kill me.” Would your first piece of advice be, “well the biker gang doesn’t fully appreciate you. You need to show them what you’re all about.”

I certainly hope not! I hope your first response would be, “What?! Why do they want you dead? Explain to us further why you said what you said?”

The natural response would be to protect your family and seek to better understand what’s going on. But Jesus’ brothers don’t do that in our text.

They encourage Jesus to go to the Feast for an old fashioned publicity stunt that will surely gain the respect of the Jewish people.

In many ways, they’re encouraging Jesus to do exactly what he’s deliberately chosen not to do. He wasn’t interested in building a huge crowd of people that would follow him around. He wasn’t concerned about earning a great reputation, having influence, or gaining the approval of man.

And it doesn’t seem that his brothers doubted Jesus’ ability to perform miracles, rather they didn’t understand the meaning of the miracles. They didn’t understand their purpose. The miracles always supported and affirmed the content of his message. The miracles and signs always served a greater purpose - that our only hope for eternal life comes in and through Christ.

But nevertheless, his brothers encourage him to go to Judea in order to prove himself to everyone.

It’s very reminiscent of the prayer that most of us prayed as kids: “God, if you’re real, show yourself to me! Prove yourself to me! Show me a dramatic sign! Let me see a shooting star, right now!”

It’s a prayer that might seem innocent but demonstrates incredible theological ignorance. Because for one, whenever you pray for God to prove himself to you, you imply that you’re in control of God and that God should listen to you and meet your demands. It’s essentially saying that you believe God is your puppet and He should always be willing and ready to dance for you.

That’s a big problem and reveals serious spiritual issues, but more importantly it downplays the way in which God has already revealed himself to us. The reason we don’t need a shooting star on demand is because the Lord has already revealed himself to us through special revelation, that is the Word of God. His divine revelation.

And the conversation that Jesus’ brothers have with him is similarly problematic. Jesus’ brothers encourage him to go to Jerusalem and perform a sign in order to prove himself, but what they’ve already forgotten is, he’s already done it! He’s already performed many signs!

Just in the first six chapters of the gospel of John, Jesus has turned water in wine, healed a lame man, and fed the five thousand.

But we eventually get the real reason why his brothers want him to take such drastic measures: they don’t believe him. They don’t understand what he’s doing. Like the Jews, the brothers of Jesus still believe that the Messiah, the Savior will be some sort of political leader. Someone to lead Israel out from under Roman rule.

In some cases people would believe Jesus because of the signs and miracles. But in many cases his signs and miracles drove people away.

Because the Jews not only didn’t believe him, they wanted him dead.

It begs a question: Why would the Jews despise such a glorious message of hope? It remains an appropriate question. Why do people hate the gospel? Why does Christianity seem to always invoke visceral reactions from people?

Apart from faith in Christ, we naturally despise the truth. This is what the Apostle Paul talks about in Romans 1: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

Our sin and unbelief wants to suppress the knowledge of the truth. Christ stands in opposition to sin and unbelief, which explains why people react so strongly.

Secretly Attends Feast of Booths

Isn’t that essentially what Jesus says in verse 7? “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.”

Jesus testified against the world. The world hated (and continues to hate) Jesus because he opposes them. It’s the most fundamental reason for why the Jews wanted to kill Jesus. Jesus testified that their works are evil. He wasn’t preaching a popular message. His message wasn’t palatable. He was saying things that people didn’t want to hear.

Which is crucial to understanding the gospel message. Talking about sin is an absolutely necessary component to the gospel message. If you don’t understand the bad news, you’ll never appreciate the good news. You have to recognize that you’re a sinner in need of a Savior in order to fully appreciate who Jesus is and what he accomplished on the cross.

And if you’re not willing to say that, then you’re not telling the truth. You’re preaching a deficient gospel. That’s why it’s dangerous to tell people that God accepts you exactly the way you are! Sin must be acknowledged in order to find hope in Christ. There must be law and gospel. There’s something that is so much better at the foot of the cross. There’s freedom, joy, and peace which comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

This is an epidemic in the evangelical church because the easiest way to soften Christianity is to refuse to talk about sin. To deny its power and reality. After all, why do you need to be saved if there’s nothing for you to be saved from?

And look, I don’t get any sick pleasure out of beating people up with their sin. I hope no one ever gets that impression.

Rather, we must talk about sin in order to share the hope of the gospel! The beauty of the gospel is that it’s applicable to each and every one of us. There’s glorious hope for sinners!

But even the mention of sin offends. It’s unpopular. Testifying that the works of the world are evil isn’t going to get you a parade down Main St.

He goes quietly to the Feast of Booths and it’s not clear whether he goes alone or with his disciples, but it really doesn’t matter. Jesus doesn’t lie to his family about going or change his mind, instead he’s telling them that he’s not going with them.

That’s why I think a more appropriate translation of verse 8 is, “You go up to the feast. I am not [yet] going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”

He wanted to go later in a more clandestine way, especially if he knew that the Jews sought his life. It would be dangerous for Him to go with his family. Which helps us understand why he remained in Galilee.

And yet, Christ’s message strikes at something deep inside all of us. Isn’t that what we see when Jesus gets to the Feast?

Look at verses 11-13 with me.

“The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.”

Jesus is the talk of town. Folks are looking for him. Everyone is whispering about Jesus and quietly sharing their opinion about him. Some said he is a “good man” while others said he is “leading people astray.”

Some have positive opinions of Jesus while others have a negative opinion of Jesus. He’s an incredibly polarizing person.

There’s great imagery going on with Jesus attending the Feast of Booths incognito.

Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord promised the people of Israel that He will be their God and they will be His people and that He would be in their midst. That He would dwell with them.

That was a major symbolic point of the Tabernacle and Temple. That the presence of the Lord was with his people.

But over and over again, the people of Israel would either forget about the Lord or grumble against Him. We saw that parallel being made by John in chapter 6 over and over again. The Jews grumbled against Jesus just as they had grumbled against the Lord in the wilderness.

And here we see a continuation of that theme: Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, is among his people and they still lack faith in him.

And your life is a reflection of your opinions and beliefs. If you believe that Jesus is “leading people astray” and that Christianity is a crutch for weak people to lean on, your life will reflect that belief. Those views make you the center of your belief system and I think that’s to be expected from unbelievers.

You have the most optimism for the person that said Jesus is a “good man” because it’s true. Jesus was a good man, he did many wonderful things. But that view is insufficient. Positive feelings towards Jesus aren't good enough.

There’s an evangelical myth floating around that you can somehow be a Christian without being too Christian. There’s a version of Christianty that requires nothing of you. You just need to say that Jesus was a good man.

But what I think is important for us to see is in these 13 verses several opinions of Jesus are expressed and they’re all wrong! Jesus’ brothers don’t believe in him. And all the people at the Feast of Booths don’t understand him.

Because whether you realize it or not, your opinion of Jesus Christ is on display in and through your life. There’s no hiding it!

There is a correct opinion or view of Jesus. That he is the Savior of the World! And having the right opinion or beliefs about Jesus requires you and me to trust him with our lives. To give everything over to him.

May our faith in Christ be reflected in our lives.