Well, before we start, I do just... I really hope that for you guys that you have, you understand the significance of being a body and being a fellowship of believers. And what that means is even for you guys, even being teenagers, these burdens are things that we all carry. And Jerry's aunt, again, I appreciate you remembering that, because I did not remember that. But they sent out a text this week. Very suddenly, his aunt passed away unexpectedly. Again, just a huge burden on their family. Again, Jason and his uncle in their situation, Stephen and his uncle, those are things that as we seek to love each other, like we've been going through in 1 Peter, those are ways that we practically love each other as we carry each other's burdens. We say, this matters to that person, and so it matters to me. And that shows up in how you live, right? That shows up in what you think about. You pray for those people through the week, and you even make reminders for yourself to pray for those people because that's important to you. And so just be thinking about that a little bit as you go through your week. Be thinking about ways that you could pray and be a blessing, even through prayer, for those individuals and their families. All right. None of that's in our passage, but you need to hear it. Take your Bibles and turn to John 7. John 7. Again, we concluded chapter 6 last week. And chapter 6 is the most lengthy chapter in the Evangelist Gospel, and it covers just a ton of territory. 71 verses, just in sheer length, it's the longest. But also, I think in concept, it's so deep and such a rich text. It crams in so much information as we continue to see the crowd's shift of affections towards Jesus. Remember, part of the reason for this is that Jesus' message has grown increasingly distasteful to the Jewish audience, really since the beginning of John chapter 5. And so, from now until the end of Jesus' earthly ministry, John is going to steadily depict deepening hostilities between Jesus and the Jews. Really, we're starting to turn a corner in the evangelist gospel. Out of 21 chapters, we really only have the first six that deal with the major block of Jesus's life and ministry. Now, like many of the other gospel writers, the last probably two-thirds of the evangelist gospel will focus on the last six months of Jesus's life, and we are entering that in John chapter 7 again. Through this chapter, we're gonna see Jesus being met with great opposition, opposition that we see presented in verse one. And Jesus had so aggravated the Jews with his unapologetic message that they sought to kill him, they would seek to arrest him in this chapter. Of course, we'll see Jesus adhere to God's divine timeline for his life and ministry as he has done throughout the evangelist gospel. We see this as a repeated theme of Jesus' ministry. I come not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Even in John chapter two, with a request from his mother, Jesus answers it how? It is not my hour. My hour has not yet come. Jesus always adhering to the Father's will and plan for his life. And again, the crowds, despite the frequent call of Jesus to repent and turn to confess, they refuse to accept His message. And in spite of the multitude of signs being performed, we've seen numerous witnesses testifying to who Jesus is, His person and work. The Jews do not believe His testimony. They grow increasingly discontented with His ministry. And so we're going to pick up in verse 1 and we'll work down through verse 13 this week. And I'll just begin by Reading John 7, verse 1, God's Word says this. After this, Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews' feast of booths was at hand, so his brothers said to him, 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. For not even his brothers believed in him. Jesus said to them, 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. After saying this, he remained in Galilee. But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but in private. The Jews were looking for him at the feast, saying, Where is he? 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. Yet for fear of the Jews, no one spoke openly about him." Let's begin our time in this passage with prayer as we seek to unfold another rich text of God's Word this morning. Dear Lord, we are thankful once again to have the opportunity to come together as fellow believers and Christ followers and to examine your word. And God, I pray this morning for the requests that have already been mentioned, Lord, of many burdens being carried by our individuals in our church. We ask for your grace for them and strength. God, we ask for special grace this morning as we look to your word that you would enlighten our eyes, that we would see areas of our lives that we need to grow and that we need to change. be transformed more into the image of our Savior, Jesus Christ. God, we thank you for an unfolding picture of Jesus from John chapter seven this morning. I pray that it would change our lives at the deepest level, in Jesus' name, amen. H.G. Wells is a famous writer and historian, and he's often hailed as the father of science fiction. He once wrote and was quoted as saying, I am a historian, I am not a believer. But I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all of history. And while this statement does reflect an affable view of Jesus, the comment falls woefully short of a biblically sound understanding of the Nazarene. Wells isn't the only one struggling in this way, however. Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and even atheist, once wrote this, Jesus was a great moral teacher. Bart Ehrman, a well-known textual critic, also writes this, Jesus was a Jewish teacher of the first century who was crucified by the Romans. He was a real person and his teachings have had a profound impact on the world. John's purpose statement as he writes his gospel is that his reader may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, they may have life. And unfortunately, none of these authors' statements on Jesus reflect a life-giving knowledge of his person and work. And the text that we'll examine today will further explore the person and work of Jesus Christ. Who is he? What has he come to do? Why does he do the things that he does? The crowd's misunderstanding ultimately leads to their damnation. Again, as we look at this passage, it's important that we understand, again, where we are in the context and the timeline of Jesus's life and ministry. John, throughout his gospel, has tied important events to celebratory feasts, to the Jewish feasts. And likely John does this and draws our attention to the significant Jewish feasts because the feasts bore such prophetic significance. The connection to Jesus was often difficult to miss, and especially as you think about the Passover and the Passover celebration, the institution of the Passover as sacrificing a perfect lamb for salvation and Jesus now being that perfect lamb. As you consider this, you'll notice yet another timeline indicator that John gives us in the beginning of this passage. In verse 1, John says, after this, again, John so frequently includes these personal details, details that only he would know, details of the timeline and the order of events that only an eyewitness would have access to. Again, that's because John is an eyewitness to the events that he records. And so we can have the utmost confidence in the truths that we read in this John begins in verse one saying this, after this, Jesus went about in Galilee. Again, John is recording after this. This is referring to the last narrated event, which is Passover, the feeding of the 5,000, and John chapter six, the bread of life discourse. And so as John begins with this frequently used time indicator after this, he's used this so many times, and chapter 7 begins really a critical point in the evangelist gospel. Again, I want you to not lose your grasp on where we are in John's gospel. Within six months, the plot to kill Jesus will have been hatched. Jesus will be arrested by the religious authorities. He'll be crucified. He'll ultimately be raised within six months of the beginning of John chapter 7. Things are winding down. Jesus's ministry has been working for two, two and a half years. And now as it reaches its close, the Jews are increasingly angered by the things that Jesus is saying, by His teachings, by His frequent call to repentance, His call to find life in Him and only in Him. In fact, as you consider John's gospel as a whole, chapters 13 to 20 focus entirely, 13 to 20 chapters focus entirely on Jesus' final night with His disciples. It focuses on His crucifixion, His resurrection, John finally will close his gospel with an epilogue in chapter 21. And so with this in mind, I want us just to do a quick refresh on where we've come in John's gospel, and essentially how we got there. Because I'm concerned as we wade deeper into John's gospel, that we not, again, that we not lose our place on where we stand in John's narrative. So again, in John chapter 1, verse 1 through 18, we have the prologue. John uses this prologue. We're commonly used by playwrights in the day to set the scene, to set the stage and give a little bit of a backstory on the characters. In that prologue, we're introduced to John the Baptist, the divine witness to Jesus Christ, and we are introduced to the incarnate word. Then in John 1, verse 19, we encounter the beginning of Jesus's earthly ministry. This likely takes place in AD 29 or AD 30. This is the beginning of Jesus's earthly ministry. Remember, John the Baptist is standing on the shores of the Jordan River. He sees Jesus coming by. He says, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This is the beginning of Jesus's ministry in AD 29 or 30. In John 2, verse 13, we see the first reference to the Passover. John will reference three different Passovers in his Gospel. In John 2, we see the first Passover. This Passover, again, likely taking place in A.D. 30. In John 5, there's an unnamed feast. That's what we covered just a few weeks back. John doesn't tell us exactly what this feast is. It's very likely that it's the same Passover that is referenced in John 6. John 6, verse 4, then, we have a reference to the second Passover. And this is AD 31 now. This is, again, the feeding of the 5,000. We're getting very, very close to the end of Jesus' ministry by the beginning of John 6. Jesus feeds the 5,000. The people revolt when Jesus makes the claim that He has bread that has come down from heaven. partake in Him to have life. Now in our passage today, we see the Feast of Tabernacles. This is likely taking place in AD 32. Again, this feast, there are numerous feasts that we see through John's Gospel. Some of the most important feasts are Passover and Tabernacles. Passover and Tabernacles are separated in the Jewish calendar by six months. By six months, standing right in between those two celebrations is the Feast of Dedication. And so Leviticus 23, we'll look at that later, Leviticus 23 institutes the Feast of Tabernacles. It's supposed to take place on the seventh month. Passover is supposed to take place on the first month of the Jewish calendar. And so roughly six months separates these two, and standing in between, again, is the Feast of Dedication. And so John records the Feast of Dedication in John 10. We see, again, likely taking place in A.D. 32, and then finally, the last Passover, the third Passover, in John 11, verse 55. And this is taking place in A.D. 33. This is the final Passover in John's gospel. Jesus will make his triumphal entry into Jerusalem in John chapter 12. And by the end of the week, he will be crucified again. The end of the week takes place from chapter 13 all the way to chapter 21, where John finishes his gospel. with an epilogue. And so as you consider this, as you keep this sequence of events in your mind, you say, why is all that history important? It's just kind of data and facts. But as you consider that, we will notice everything Jesus does is dictated by the divine will of the Father. Every move he makes is strategic in bringing himself to the cross at exactly the right time. Because he says in John 6, 38, I do not my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. This is Jesus's utmost concern as we look at this last several months of Jesus's life. His concern is singular, the will of my Father. This is why I have come, not to do my own works and will. but the will of him who sent me." Again, John reminds his reader of this singular focus in verse one. He says, after this, Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea. And this is because, again, Jesus is always concerned only and ever with the Father's divine will and plan for his life. And so he spends an extended period of time in Galilee following the Passover in John 6. Jesus is intentionally limiting his movements. He's limiting his ministry to the lesser known region of Galilee because it is not yet his time to be delivered over into the hands of the Jews. And so, as you consider even this, Jesus relegating his ministry to a smaller area for a time, you notice even the humility of the very Son of God. He's willing to submit himself to God's plan for his life, even when that meant decreased attention, fewer followers, less notoriety. And we'll see the tension that is caused because of this, even between Jesus and his own disciples, his own family members, because of his willingness to submit to God's will and plan and relegate his ministry to a smaller area. And they wonder why Jesus does this. It's because Jesus is not concerned with the notoriety. He's not concerned with his following. John tells us from the beginning of his gospel, Jesus does not entrust himself to the fickle nature of humanity. And John the Baptist viewed his ministry much the same way. He did nothing to attract attention to himself. He viewed his entire ministry as given by the sovereign plan of the Father. What about you this morning? Do you find yourself eager and willing to submit to God's plan for your life? I think if it was necessary for Jesus to live this way, how much more is it necessary for us as his followers to live this way? We must be always willing, ready, and active to submit ourselves to God's will and plan for our lives. Practically, what does that look like? It looks like obedience. Looks like obedience for many of us. Simply obeying in the little things day to day. How can you know God's will for your life? Read his word. Obey his commands. Obey those in authority over you. These are very practical steps. Jesus is always willing to submit himself to the will of the Father. How much more should his followers be John lists, again, the specific purpose that Jesus does not go about in Judea. Notice the end of verse 1. John says he would not go about in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Again, notice the shifting of the tides, the shifting of the Jews' feelings towards Jesus. This is the second time that John has informed his readers of the political and religious tension in Jerusalem over the person of Jesus Christ. And why were the Jews seeking to kill him? Jesus had done nothing but signs and wonders from the beginning of his earthly ministry. And we've noted the real significance in the history of the world, frankly, of these people being able to live in a special, unique time of signs and wonders performed by Jesus and subsequently his followers. Before this time, there had been roughly 1,000 years in the span of Jewish history that had not been accompanied by signs and wonders. We have the time of Moses and the Exodus, signs and wonders filled throughout that period of Jewish history. Then we have the time period of Elijah and Elisha. After that, there's really not regular signs and wonders being done until the person of Jesus bursts onto the scene, fulfilling messianic prophecy with the signs that were significant to speak to who he was to his deity. He had highlighted the spiritual blindness of the Jews and their religious leaders starting with the cleansing of the temple in John chapter 2. Jesus does this from the opening of his ministry. Again, he cleanses the temple, drives out thousands and thousands of people from the temple courtyards. Remember, this is something we said, this was a miracle in and of itself. The temple courtyards, especially during the Passover celebration, would have housed thousands of people. doing various types of business and religious practices. Jesus, an average Jewish man, with a homemade whip, drives out everyone. And what's the response of the people? Show us a sign for doing these things. Again, from the very beginning of Jesus's ministry, this is the response of the people. Jesus does a sign, the people respond, it's not good enough. If you can impress us, we'll believe in you. Jesus says, destroy this temple, in three days I'll raise it up again, and John tells us right then how the Jews respond. Who does this guy think he is? 40 years it's taken to build this temple, he thinks he'll raise it up in three days. They always missed the point. It's willful blindness. Willful blindness, and we'll see it again in this passage. But as you consider why the Jews hate Jesus, they want to kill him, Jesus demanded radical life-altering transformation in John 3 with Nicodemus. Nicodemus, you are the teacher of Israel. Nicodemus, the most perceptibly righteous man in the entire world, you must be what? Born again. Everything has to go, total transformation. Jesus called out sin without reservation. He speaks to the woman at the well in John chapter four. Jesus says, where's your husband? She says, I have no husband. He says, you're right, you have five. The one you're living with now is not your husband. He frequently calls out sin. She tries to deflect, ask a question about the Messiah, the coming of Messiah. And Jesus says what? I who speak to you am. Claiming not only to be the coming Messiah, but to be Yahweh incarnate. Jesus powerfully demonstrated his lordship over the Sabbath. He makes a man well in John chapter 5 again, which marks the transition of the crowd's feelings towards Jesus. And when questioned about it, he directly links his actions to the divine will of the Father. Remember, Jesus heals this man on the Sabbath. He's been sick, laying in the same place for nearly 40 years, a paralytic. And the Jews who should have celebrated with this man, a member of their community, what do they do? Whoa, you can't do that. Well, what are you doing carrying your pallet on the Sabbath? Don't you know the Sabbath is for rest? God's commanded us to rest on the Sabbath. Jesus says, what? My Father is working and I am working. John tells us from verse 18 in John chapter five, this was why the Jews were seeking to kill him. Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. In the dialogue to follow, Jesus links everything he has ever done or ever will do in a fully fleshed out apologetic to himself at the end of John chapter five. He claims sole authority on earth to give life, to raise the dead, to judge whomever he wills. He claims that he must be honored just as the father is honored. Whoever does not honor the father does not honor the son. Jesus claims that the Jews did not know the Father, for if they knew the Father, they would know Him. He further asserted on top of this that they didn't know the Scriptures, for the Scriptures foretold of Him. Jesus claimed the Jews needed to come to Him, that they may have life. Jesus told the Jews they did not have the love of God in them, and that they were not true followers of Moses, for if they were, they would be true followers of Him. Through John 6, Jesus claimed to be the bread of life, which came down from heaven, the only source of life. So yeah, the Jews weren't big fans. And they weren't fans for no other reason than Jesus told them the truth that they didn't want to hear. And John tells his reader in the opening of John chapter 7, nothing has changed. The Jews are still seeking to kill him. And this is why, because he spoke the truth about a wicked culture full of hypocrisy and self-righteousness. And so John continues in verse 2, saying this, now the Jews' feast of booths was at hand. This feast is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles. Again, this feast is mandated in Leviticus 23, verse 34. It's a mandated feast. All Jewish males must attend this feast. Everyone had to pilgrimage up to Jerusalem for this feast. It would begin on the 15th day of the seventh month. In terms of a modern calendar, the Jewish culture ran off of a lunar calendar. On a modern-day calendar, this would equate to the month of October. And much like the name suggests the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles, this feast celebrated God's deliverance and provision for the people while they wandered through the wilderness. The Jews would live in temporary tabernacles or booths during this celebration. The city would be so packed out with different temporary dwelling places and tents set up that even individuals would have to set up tents and temporary dwelling places on their roofs so that they could live in accordance with this feast's instructions. And so as the Jews would live in these temporary dwelling places, it would serve as a reminder. As their ancestors before traveling through the wilderness for 40 years, they live in temporary dwelling places and God provided for them. It's to commemorate the provision of God during the time in the wilderness. This was perhaps a favorite of all Jewish feasts. Traveling to and from the feast would have been a special celebration in and of itself. Jesus's brothers come to him before leaving. Again, the familial connection in the ancient Near Eastern culture, it's great. And so going up to this feast, it would have been a whole community event. And so his brothers come to him and in verse three, his brothers said to him, 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. The last narrated event, again, it takes place after Passover in John chapter six. And John chapter seven picks up with the Feast of Tabernacles. This is six months after the conclusion of John six. So we have, again, John six covers the events that has happened from essentially a 48 hour period. Jesus feeds the 5,000, walks across the water, bread of life discourse, that's the end of John chapter six. And so we have six months. What is Jesus doing? He's not garnering national attention. He's living again. He's relegated his ministry to the quiet area of Galilee. And so during this time, Jesus is discipling the 12. Jesus is discipling his disciples. He's teaching them, training them. He's pouring into them, preparing them for the sufferings and trials that were to come. Again, this is significant. This is why we keep that timeline at the forefront of our minds. Jesus's earthly ministry, his life is coming to a close. And so he takes this time to prepare his disciples. Luke chapter nine records some of the events that took place during this time, but Jesus was expending significant effort to teach his disciples, to prepare them, and his teaching focused heavily on the cost of being a true disciple. It's during this time also that Jesus is transfigured before his disciples, and so this would have been a uniquely special time of learning and growth for these disciples as they interacted closely, personally, one-on-one with their master, Jesus. After the comment made in verses three and four, though, we realize Jesus' brothers, likely also Jesus' disciples, they're growing tired of flying under the radar. They miss the national acclaim that had come to both Jesus and his disciples while he was performing miracles. Yet we know, again, this is not Jesus' focus. Jesus doesn't care about the numerical following. This is why Jesus is completely content to drive away tens of thousands of fake, thrill-seeking followers at the end of John chapter six, because he is not a political savior. Again, if you think about the context of chapter six, all of this happening in such a short span of time, and then kind of moving his ministry into this quiet area of Galilee, Jesus begins John chapter six with more than 5,000 excited followers and finishes the chapter with 12 confused disciples, one of whom is acting under the direct power and influence of Satan. And so for these disciples, this is not exactly a mark of a political savior. This certainly is not political success. That's because Jesus didn't come to bring political revolution. He came to bring spiritual healing and sight. His brothers and the twelve still do not understand this, and so what do they do? They encourage him here in verses three and four. You need to get your ministry back into the public eye, Jesus. Jesus, you need to do something to revamp the excitement. You need to travel up to this feast with the crowds, begin teaching and performing miracles on the way. Start to reconnect and glad hand with some of these individuals as they travel up to Jerusalem. And this is only natural. And so they quote this proverbial type saying in verses three and four. They say in verse four, for no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. This is a proverb type saying of the ancient Near Eastern culture. And it makes perfect sense. But they follow it up at the end of verse four saying this, if you do these things, show yourself to the world. Again, we see the foolish, blind, arrogant challenge issued to Jesus, except not this time by the self-serving crowds, but by his own brothers. The thought is clearly communicated. If you say you're this guy, if you are the Messiah, prove it. Show us. the mind of the average Second Temple Jew who's waiting for Messiah. They were looking for physical deliverance. They did expect a political deliverer. And so when Jesus bursts onto the scene performing signs and miracles, garnering incredible crowds and incredible national acclaim, only then later to drive away those superficial followers, the disciples are confused. They are thrown off by this. We thought this was what you came to do, and here you are driving away the crowds. We've seen you perform these miracles. Jesus, we know you've got it in you. You can be the guy. You just need a little help. We'll be your PR guys. Why don't you go up to this feast with the crowds, engage again, do a couple miracles, and boom, you're right back in the public eye. This isn't Jesus's focus. The disciples, his brothers, are confused. And so notice John's comment in verse five. John says this, for not even his brothers believed in him. Again, we're struck by the reality that proximity to Jesus does not guarantee spiritual life. Could anyone have been closer to Jesus than his physical brothers? And yet they stand in scripture as a shining example of ones who engage with Jesus and did not believe. The brothers would have to experience Jesus in a personal way, the same as everybody else. And of course, following the resurrection of Jesus, several of his siblings boldly witnessed to his deity. We know both James and Jude die a martyr's death in the New Testament church, But this is also not the first time that Jesus' brothers, his family, had clashed with his ministry. On more than one occasion, they demonstrate disdain for Jesus, who he claims to be. He's drawing unwanted attention to their family. In Mark 3, verse 21, Jesus has just appointed the 12 disciples. And when a large crowd gathered around him, Mark records this, when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, he is out of his mind. Again, to side with Jesus is to be in the minority. It is to be rejected by the world, for the world has rejected him first. Again, as you consider this, many great leaders down through history have had to swim against the tide of the culture, most often moored by family relationships. Jesus did not have even that. Jesus says exactly this in John 15, 18 through 19. If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own, but because you are not of the world, I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Jesus then addresses their challenge in verse six. John says this in verse six. Jesus said to them, my time has not yet come, but your time is always here. And Jesus' response first answers their question in two fronts. First, his time had not yet come in a physical, temporal sense right at that moment to go up to the feast. And secondly, there would come a time when Jesus was to draw the eyes of the nations again. And it would be for the last time, and this was not that time. Jesus adheres to the Father's divine timeline and he says to his brothers, your time is always here. What does he mean by this? For his brothers who are not believers, it did not matter what they did. They served no one outside of themselves unless their lives, their actions are completely meaningless on a divine or a redemptive scale. What about you? Do your actions matter this morning? Do you seek to live a life with a singular focus on glorifying and honoring God? Or are your actions bound by the temporal, meaningless trivialities of life? If you're a believer, your actions do matter. And you, like Christ, must be about the mission of your heavenly Father. The brothers' actions don't matter because they are of the world. And Jesus says in verse seven, the world cannot hate you. but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil." The world could not hate the brothers because the brothers were of the world, and their words clearly testified as much. They had regurgitated all the same tired talking points of the Jews and their self-righteous religious leaders. The brothers could not be hated by the world because they were of the world, and the world does not hate its own. By very stark and intentional contrast, the world does hate Christ. Why? Not because of what he does, but because of what he says. Because he testifies that the world is evil. Remember, Jesus has repeatedly called out self-righteous and hypocrites. self-righteousness and hypocrisy that has pervaded this culture. He told the Jews that they did not know God, that they were not true followers of Moses. They did not know the Scriptures and the Jews prided themselves on all of these things. And Jesus says, no, you've missed the point. And this is the nature of darkness and evil. It hates to be exposed. And Jesus says exactly this in John 3, 19 and 20 when speaking with Nicodemus, People love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light lest his work should be exposed. This is exactly what Jesus does. He is the true light. And he comes to bring light and life to the world. Those who work the works of evil in darkness hate this light. Jesus says that. That they're not simply averse to it, but they can recognize the light as a significant figure in the annals of time. They can recognize the light as a legitimate moral teacher. Jesus says no. There is no halfway. Those who work in darkness, those who are evil, hate the light. They are diametrically opposed to everything the light does and says. Commentator Leon Morris writes this, the evildoer does not care to have his sin rebuked. And the hatred of which Jesus speaks is the inevitable result. Again, much like we saw in Peter's epistle, sin creates an unavoidable barrier between light and darkness. Those who live in sin hate the light and they are driven from it. And so Jesus says to his disciples, excuse me, to his brothers in verse eight, you go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast for my time has not yet fully come. Again, the brother's actions do not matter. And Jesus had made that plain. They can leave whenever they'd like. Jesus, however, has a schedule he must be faithful to. And so he responds, he will not go up to this Some manuscripts actually record Jesus as saying, I am not yet going up to the feast. And they do this to avoid the difficulty that's posed by the fact that later Jesus does attend the feast. What does he mean when he tells his brothers he is not going up to this feast? There really is no difficulty here. In fact, we see great similarities between this account and the wedding at Cana, when Jesus' mother comes to him and invites him to act. Jesus initially declines the invitation to act and then later does so. And this simply demonstrates to us again, no man can dictate the workings of the Son. He operates on a completely different plane. And in another sense, Jesus declines the brother's invitation to attend the feast in the way that they asked him to attend the feast. They're clearly setting forth, you should go up in this certain way, to accomplish this certain end, and Jesus says, I am not going to do that because my time has not yet come. And John later clarifies this for us, but again, Jesus is not only declining their invitation to attend the feast at that moment, but Jesus declines to attend the feast in the way that they asked him to, for the reason that they asked him to. To further illustrate the point that Jesus is subject to no man, John writes in Verse 9, after saying this, he remained in Galilee. One commentator writes, Notice verse 10 then, the supposed difficulty here, but really no difficulty. John writes, But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but in private. Again, as we seek to understand this feast and the cultural significance of it, Jews would often travel large caravans up to this feast. This is a mandated feast for all Jewish males and so it was a massive celebration even getting to the feast. This would have been an exciting time. Family members, members of the community would have been united that did not normally interact with each other. You can imagine for children they would run and play with their friends and siblings, cousins. Recall Jesus's account of being left in Jerusalem after Passover and In Luke chapter two, Luke chapter two, verse 41, Luke writes this, now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of Passover. When he was 12 years old, they went up according to custom, but when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group, they went a day's journey. When they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him again. The whole reason Jesus is left in Jerusalem is because of these massive travel caravans. Jesus is assumed to be with another relative for an entire day before his parents ultimately return back to Jerusalem to find them. And so Jesus completely forgoes this travel method. He's not seeking to reconnect himself with the crowds. Again, he's not seeking to rebuild his public persona. Instead, Jesus travels humbly and quietly up to the feast, ironically in direct opposition to the words of the brothers in verse four. No one works in secret. Show yourself to the world. Jesus literally travels to this feast in secret. John notes Jesus' absence in the coming verses. Notice verses 11 and 12. John writes this, Clearly, Jesus' absence from the feast caused something of a stir among the Jewish religious leaders and the people alike. The phrase, the Jews, is used throughout the evangelist gospel, usually to refer specifically to the Jewish religious leaders. When John says the Jews in his gospel, he is mostly referring to their religious authorities, and it's the same case here in verses 11 and 12. The religious authorities are expecting him to be there. They'd likely hope that the feast would draw him out of Galilee, where he had been protected under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas. And now in Jerusalem, the Jews could finally set their plot to kill him in motion. This is the beginning of the end of Jesus's ministry. And so John records the rumblings among the religious authorities in verse 12. While some said he's a good man, others said, no, he's leading the people astray. We're to understand this as murmurings, whisperings back and forth between the religious authorities. And two differing opinions on Jesus marked these murmurings. Neither opinion is what it should have been based on the words and works of Jesus. It's not enough that Jesus was a good man. This understanding of Jesus certainly falls short of a salvific knowledge of the person of Jesus. And to state that Jesus is leading people astray is far from the truth and downright satanic. Yet there seems to be a popular trend in our own culture that fashionably acknowledges Jesus as an excellent moral teacher, a powerful religious figure whose mark on society will never be forgotten. This is not enough. To identify Jesus as anything less than what he claimed to be is, again, damning sin. This is exactly what the religious authorities do. I remember several years ago, a popular movie was released. It told the story of a mathematical genius. At one point in the movie, a young girl's talking to her father and she asks the question, is there a God? And her father responded, I don't know. The girl inquisitively pressed on, just tell me. The father reiterated, I would if I could, but I don't. And neither does anybody else. The girl stated confidently, my friend knows. And her dad responded, no, your friend has faith. That's a great thing to have, but faith is about what you think and feel, not what you know. The girl questioned again, what about Jesus? Her father responded, I love that guy. Do what he says. The daughter clarified, but is he God? Finally, the father answered, I don't know. I have an opinion, but that's my opinion, and I could be wrong. Tell you what, though, one way or another, we all end up back together in the end. And the dialogue was striking, and I think it represented well the feelings of the popular culture, even the secular academic culture, regarding Jesus. Numerous problems are found in this dialogue, which we read. First and foremost, understand clearly this morning, faith is not a feeling. Faith is not based on our emotions, It's not a warm, fuzzy feeling that you get in your heart when you accept Jesus. Faith is a reasoned response to the evidence that we see in the scriptures. Don't miss that. Faith is a reasoned response to evidence. Number two, to say, Jesus, I love that guy. Do what he says. This reflects a complete ignorance about the life and words of Jesus. Jesus claimed to be God. He urged his followers to put their total faith and trust in his person and work, and only in his person and work. If you don't unequivocally believe Jesus to be God, you certainly cannot marginalize him as a good man or a moral teacher. These two ideas, again, they are mutually exclusive ideas. You cannot at the same time be a good man and claim something to be that you are not. C.S. Lewis was known to say, in simple profundity, good men don't claim to be God. And yet this truth seems to be shockingly difficult for our culture to grasp. There seems to be this ever-present tendency to take Jesus only so far as he's convenient for us, only so far as his teachings don't infringe upon our view of morality and truth. Jesus was either exactly who he claimed to be or he was a madman and the ultimate blasphemer, repeatedly claiming a title he had no right to. Notice the final words of John as he reflects with this parenthetical note to the reader. Yet for fear of the Jews, no one spoke openly of him. And clearly the previous two verses, they're speaking about the religious leaders, specifically the Jews now referring in a general sense, which is dictated by the context to the entire Jewish nation. In the coming months, the religious authorities would launch a full-fledged assault on Jesus and his ministry. They would expose themselves for who they truly were, murderers whose father was the devil, which Jesus testified to this reality from the beginning of his ministry. As we conclude the opening 13 verses of this chapter, we see an unfolding picture of who Jesus is. Ever dedicated to his father's will and plan, and unburdened by the unwavering affections of Jewish crowds, Jesus lived, acted, he spoke, and engaged with a perfect grasp on his divine commission. May we all seek to live our lives with this level of spiritual clarity and focus. Let's bow and close with a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we thank you for the person of Jesus. We thank you for his work on the cross for us. God, I pray that as we come to this text, we would have a fuller picture of who Jesus is. We would have an understanding of Jesus and his profound impact upon our lives as followers of him. God, I pray that as we go from this place, that this reality would change our lives, that our relationship with Jesus would lead to tangible transformation, that we would be dedicated followers of you that understand the cost, that have counted the cost. God, we know that Jesus is truly the Christ, the Son of God, and so we ask for grace this morning as we seek to know Him and love Him more. In Jesus' name, amen.