If we were to make a movie of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, this very well might be the low point in the movie. You know that point when things start to seem so bleak for our hero that we begin to wonder “ok, when are things going to turn around?” well, this is it. Yes, I’m well aware that there are already several films that have been made about our Savior, but if we were to use only John’s gospel as our source of information, this would be that low point. Why do I say that? Well, let’s look at it why don’t we. Our text begins with Jesus walking about in Galilee. We’re told that he is walking around Galilee because Judea isn’t an option. It isn’t an option because the Jews that are in Judea want to kill him. Their solution to this whole “Jesus problem” is to do away with the person of Jesus entirely. They don’t want to put him in prison for a long time or evict him from their country; they want to kill him. It’s no wonder Jesus doesn’t want to go to Judea. However, it is currently the Feast of Booths, or as some call it, the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast or festival was a seven-day celebration of God’s provision for His people during their time in the wilderness. It also was a chance to commemorate the completion of the harvest. All Jews from all parts of the nation were required to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate. With this being the case, it is Jesus’ duty, under the law, to go to Judea for the feast.
Jesus’ brothers (Yes, Jesus does have brothers, but we aren’t going to get into that discussion today) advise him saying, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” Jesus’ brothers seem here to be working more as campaign managers than disciples. They seem to be saying “Hey, you’re never going to gain any fame or notoriety if you keep performing your signs and miracles in front of nobodies or in secret. Even when you do work in front of large crowds, you seem to run off before people have a chance to know that it was you or ask you anything. If you really want to get this thing some publicity, you ought to go down to Judea because everyone is going to be there. You aren’t going to get noticed up here in Galilee, you need to go where the people are.” You see, it isn’t as if his brothers are entirely wrong here. Jesus did in fact perform most of his miracles to this point in secrecy somewhat. What they didn’t understand, however, was that the signs and miracles done to this point were not performed by Christ with the intention of gaining fame.
I want you to look at Jesus’ words to his brothers at this point and tell me if they sound familiar. Verses 6-8 say, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” Sound familiar? Remember back to Jesus’ first miracle in chapter 2 of this gospel. What was Jesus’ response to his own mother when she told him that he had to save the wedding feast and fix the problem of no more wine? “My time has not yet come.” And, just like the wedding festival, after Jesus told those closest to him that his time had not yet come, he eventually does the very thing that they were asking him to do. Verse 10, “But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.” He went in secret because of the threat that awaited him in Judea; the threat that we talked about at the beginning of this sermon. The Jews knew very well that Jesus was required to be at this feast and they were looking for him. They had people who were given the sole task of finding and capturing Jesus so that he could be put to death. The problem for them was they were expecting him to stand out and for it to be obvious where he was. One of the things that happened as a result of him going secretly was that it gave him and his disciples a chance to hear what was being said about him. There were mixed opinions about him ranging from him being exactly who he claimed to be to him being a complete and total fraud. However, most of this talk was done quietly since the people were afraid to speak openly about him out of fear of the Jews.
This is why we say that this is possibly the low point in Jesus’ ministry. Let’s just recap the first part of this text today and the amount of unbelief that we see; mind you that Jesus has been at his earthly ministry for possibly a year now at this point. We have seen that the opinions about him amongst the crowd in Judea are mixed, but that isn’t the worst of it. The problem isn’t that some people do not believe, but that even those who believe won’t openly say it because they are afraid. They think that the penalty that the Jews can place on them is greater than the joy and hope found in bolding proclaiming Christ to be the promised Messiah. However, this mixed group in Judea doesn’t compare to the disbelief that Jesus finds in his own family. Remember back when we were talking about Jesus’ brothers there was the statement, “for even His brothers did not believe in Him.” Now, I don’t have any siblings, but I do understand the hesitance that they might have in saying that their sibling is God himself. But we have already seen that Mary knows Jesus to be who he claims to be, how could his brothers not share her sentiments?
As if having everyone, even his own family, doubting his being who he claimed to be, there is still a little bit farther that we have to go. Jesus decided, after getting to Judea, that he would not be silent anymore, but would begin to teach right in the middle of the feast. We are told that as he taught “the Jews therefore marveled, saying, ‘How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?’” Now the wording that is used here tells us that there was a sense of doubt about the Jews. They thought that since Jesus had no formal education, that there was no way that he could know anything about the matters of God. The Pharisees, scribes, and doctors of the law who had studied under Gamaliel, Hillel, or one of the other rabbinic traditions thought Jesus to be someone who simply wanted to corrupt the Christian faith. They wanted to know who he studied under. They wanted to know how he came to possess such knowledge. In other words, because of his lack of education, they doubted that Jesus even had any clue what he was talking about.
It is at this point where we see things start to turn and take a much more positive direction for Jesus and his earthly ministry. Jesus answers the Jews by saying, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” You see, Jesus said that his doctrine, what he was teaching, wasn’t his invention at all. It came from the source. It came from God. It isn’t as if Jesus knew everything from the time of his birth. He had learned all that he was teaching, but instead of learning it from different traditions, books, and teachers, he learned all that he knew from the Father. We say all the time that theology, the study of the things of God, is simply man’s interpretation of God’s Word, and that is a perfectly acceptable definition. However, this isn’t the same thing that we are getting from Jesus here. Here, we are talking about direct knowledge given to the Son from the Father. Yes, Jesus grew and studied Scripture just like any other man, but he happens to be the Son of God. In his study of God’s Word, he came to see and understand that the gospel is not about man, but it is about God.
Then, we have the heated exchange between Jesus and these Jews. Jesus said, “’Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?’ The crowd answered, ‘You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?’” They think he is a mad man. They think that he is crazy for thinking that someone is trying to do him harm. I think it’s great how Jesus turns things back around on them. “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. Moses gave you circumcision, and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” Remember back when Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath how those in power condemned him for what he had done? Do you remember how Jesus had to teach them and let them know that it was not against the law for them to do good works on the Sabbath? Just as he is doing here, Jesus is having to correct all of the “experts” misguided notions about the law. He is in essence saying to them, “how can you question my teachings and my credentials, when you yourself simply hide behind a law that you do not fully understand?”
Friends, we could spend hours discussing any one of these statements made by Jesus Christ here today. We could dissect them from a theological perspective, an authority perspective, or some other angle, but what matters is this: Jesus Christ is beginning his public proclamation of his identity. Don’t misunderstand me, it isn’t as if he has hidden from people up to this point. However, he now is going on the offensive instead of the defensive. He is proclaiming his claims instead of defending them. The question that we have today when we come to this text is what this means for us. Well, ultimately, this is more evidence and proof that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, our Redeemer. However, there are some other things that can be taken from this passage as well. One is that no matter how bleak, no matter how hard or difficult things may seem for Christians today, we need to follow the example of Christ. Christ is in the midst of a period of doubt by many of those who claimed him to be Lord. He is facing a threat against his life, yet he remains unchanged in his ministry. He doesn’t let the circumstances around him deter him from what he knows that he must do. Secondly, we see how his disciples and even his brothers don’t believe him. They doubt him because of they have not understood everything up to this point. There are Christians today who say that God is in control, but they try and take matters into their own hands. They act as if God’s doesn’t have the power to deliver them from their troubles. I can tell you today, that God is real, He is ever-present, He has saved us, He has redeemed us, and He will deliver us from all evil and temptation until such time as we are called home. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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