1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. 2 Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. 3 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. 4 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." 5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him. 6 Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come." 9 When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee. 10 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 11 Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?" 12 And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people." 13 However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. Questions to Consider:
| How would you feel if your family did not believe in you, did not support you, and did not understand you? In a perfect world you should be able to count on your family, but at times family relationships are both difficult and hurtful. v.5 Tells us that Jesus' brothers did not believe in Him. Although Jesus' fame was growing across the land of Israel, it was becoming increasingly dangerous for Jesus to travel in Judea, because the Jews were already trying to kill Him. Jesus' brothers did not believe in Him, but had observed enough to know that Jesus had a shot at becoming famous. They encouraged Him to show Himself openly to the world even though it was risky with the Jewish threat. Jesus let His brothers know that His time had not yet arrived. When Jesus' time arrived, Jesus surrendered Himself peacefully. Eventually Jesus went to Judea with His brothers who were going to the feast. He went incognito. It was a good thing, because the Jews showed up in force looking for Him. At the feast Jesus became the topic of discussion and debate. Some of the people claimed that He was good, while other accused Him of being a deceiver. It reminds me of contemporary politics where the facts are often ignored for political gain. The political climate was similar to what we are experiencing in the times in which we live. Even the conversations were being suppressed for fear of the repercussions. Our universities used to be bastions of free speech and an honest exchange of idea; not if you do not walk to tune of what is acceptable to the police of political correctness you will face certain rejection and possible physical harm. |
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RJ DugoneLead Teaching Elder: Archives
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