Lesson for June 29, 2025
The Book of John
Lesson 21
Chapter 7:1-18
“After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. 2 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. 3 So His brothers said to Him, ‘Move on from here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret when he himself is striving to be known publicly. If You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world.’ 5 For not even His brothers believed in Him. 6 So Jesus said to them, ‘My time is not yet here, but your time is always ready. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify about it, that its deeds are evil. 8 Go up to the feast yourselves; I am not going up to this feast, because My time has not yet fully arrived.’ 9 Now having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.10 But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as though in secret. 11 So the Jews were looking for Him at the feast and saying, ‘Where is He?’ 12 And there was a great deal of talk about Him in secret among the crowds: some were saying, ‘He is a good man; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He is misleading the people.’ 13 However, no one was speaking openly about Him, for fear of the Jews.14 But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple area, and began to teach. 15 The Jews then were astonished, saying, ‘How has this Man become learned, not having been educated?’ 16 So Jesus answered them and said, ‘My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me. 17 If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from Myself. 18 The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One Who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.’”
Jesus was back in Galilee, where He had an interesting encounter with His four half-brothers, James, Joses, Simon, and Jude. (Matthew 13:55) He was rejected in Judea and in Galilee in John 5, so He avoided them temporarily because the Jews were constantly looking to kill Him. The religious leaders were jealous of Jesus because of the attention He was getting. The religious Jews were antagonistic and full of hatred because first of all they were jealous. Jealousy produces a lot of different mental attitude sins.
Man’s true spiritual condition is always revealed by his mental attitude toward Jesus Christ. An unbeliever’s mental attitude is rejection or unbelief. A carnal believer has the attitude of indifference or apathy. A spiritual believer has the attitude of love for Christ. So, the mentality is always indicative of one’s spiritual condition. In other words, it is what you think on the inside that determines how you act on the outside.
The Feast of Booths is also called the Feast of Tabernacles, commemorating the Israelites 40-year journey in the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt. With this event as the background, we have an interesting conversation between Jesus and His four brothers. Apparently, the brothers were on their way to the Feast, which was about to occur. So, they suggested that Jesus go with them to Jerusalem for the feast. Their tone in Greek is very sarcastic. They suggested that His disciples had not seen Him perform miracles and that He needed to perform for the crowds gathered at the feast. They were saying that, if it was them, this was how they would handle the ability to perform miracles, not understanding their purpose or even Who their brother was!
So, Jesus said to them, ‘My time is not yet here, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify about it, that its deeds are evil. He is going to repeat the phrase, “My time has not yet come,” on several occasions. His brothers had no idea what God’s plan of salvation entailed, though they most likely heard it straight from Jesus many times. Your time is always readymeans his brothers could at any time believe in Him and have eternal life.
While his brothers were closely associated with Jesus by birth, they were unbelievers and couldn’t experience the same hate that Jesus was experiencing from the Jews for saying He was the Messiah. Therefore, when these four brothers advised Jesus Christ to go down openly and expose Himself by perform miracles and revealing His glory, they were giving Him exactly the same advise that Satan gave Him when he said, “If you will worship me I will give you the kingdoms of the world.” So, Jesus made it clear and told them they were thinking like Satan’s world system from human viewpoint. Notice that Jesus did not meet sarcasm with sarcasm. While they had been sarcastic, He simply stayed with the facts, ignoring their sarcasm. But it hates Me because I testify about it, that its deeds are evil. Jesus always expressed divine viewpoint, and people couldn’t handle being called out for their evil deeds and hypocrisy. The Greek word for evil is “poneros,” which means useless, worthless, or rotten. In other words, the human viewpoint of life is worthless by comparison to divine viewpoint.
Go up to the feast yourselves; I am not going up to this feast, because My time has not yet fully arrived. 9 Now having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.10 But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as though in secret.
Jesus was actually going to the feast, but not under their advice or under their human viewpoint system. He was not going to present Himself as the King of Israel, but as their Savior. If He were to go with His brothers, He could be ambushed and killed. He was going to go up after the feast started, when they had relaxed and were not looking for Him. Once He got into the city, He was safe, they would not assassinate Him in the city because it could be directly attributed to them, and they would be held accountable by Rome. So, He refused the bad advice of His brothers to go openly to the feast.
So, the Jews were looking for Him at the feast and saying, ‘Where is He?’ And there was a great deal of talk about Him in secret among the crowds: some were saying, ‘He is a good man; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He is misleading the people.’ However, no one was speaking openly about Him, for fear of the Jews.Before Jesus arrived secretly, the Jewish leaders were looking for Him so they could kill Him. The crowd was very much divided in their opinion. Some people said He was a good man, and others said the opposite. Because of fear of the religious leaders, no one wanted to be associated with liking Jesus.
But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple area and began to teach. The Jews then were astonished, saying, ‘How has this Man become learned, not having been educated?’ So, Jesus answered them and said, ‘My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me. If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from Myself. The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One Who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Jesus was safe for several days now that the feast had begun. Once the feast began, all of the assassin plots were halted temporarily for the observance of the feast. Jesus went into the temple area and began to teach, which surprised them when they heard how learned and educated a carpenter’s son from Nazareth was.
Jesus began by saying that this categorical teaching of divine viewpoint was not His but from God the Father Who sent Him. Speaking about His humanity, He had to learn doctrine by studying God’s Word. His deity did not have to learn anything, but He was operating from His humanity.
If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from Myself. Upon reaching God-consciousness, what is the responsibility of man and what is the responsibility of God? We must always remember that God does not want anyone to perish. However, He will never violate mankind’s free will.
It is clear from Scripture that there is a certain group of people that will refuse the “light” they are given, regardless of how the “light” comes to them. If in fact a person, after reaching God-consciousness, does not desire further truth, God is no longer obligated to get the truth to that person. This, however, does not mean that God gives up on that person, though that person may give up on God. (II Peter 3:9; I Timothy 2:4; Romans 1:18-32; Isaiah 40:17-22; John 1:3-5,9; 9:41)
When a person does reach God-consciousness and makes a positive decision that they want to know God, He (God) is then obligated to get truth to them. That person will be kept alive until the truth reaches them, all according to God’s perfect timing. (Deuteronomy 4:29; Psalms 9:10, 10:4; Jeremiah 29:13; John 7:17; Acts 17:22-31)
The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One Who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Speaking from oneself is often arrogance if they are seeking glory and praise from others. However, Jesus was not arrogant, nor did He seek glory for Himself. Instead, Jesus precisely followed the plan that God the Father designed for the salvation of the human race. Jesus never deviated from that plan and gladly fulfilled it, knowing the result would be an opportunity for everyone to have eternal life.
It is God’s will for every person to enter into His plan by faith in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. The issue is not your sinfulness or your past failures, because Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all sin on the Cross. Therefore, the issue is whether or not you will accept the free gift of eternal life by faith. Faith, belief, and trust are synonymous terms, which means that you are relying on Christ for your salvation and not on yourself or your good deeds. According to the Bible, faith is the only requirement for eternal life. (II Peter 3:9; John 3:16; Ephesians 2:8-9)