❖ Video
❖ Audio (Message)
My time is not yet here, but…
(John 7:1-10)
Mari Ikeda
Today we return to the series of John’s Gospel after two months. Today we read 7:1-10.
First of all, I would like to tell you that this passage is interpreted quite differently by different scholars, and what I am going to share with you today is the interpretation I think is best based on my limited knowledge. Perhaps Jesus might say, “Oh no, I didn’t mean that.” So I encourage you all to consider by yourself while listening.
I will read the first half and the second half separately. Let’s start the first half, verses 1-5.
A. The hypocrisy of Jesus’ brothers (1-5)
1 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. 2 But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
The “brothers of Jesus” were Jesus’ own brothers, who appeared occasionally in the Gospels and were consistently critical of Him. Some of them believed in Jesus after His death and became central figures in the early church, but before His death they even thought their eldest brother had lost His mind. (In Mark 3:21, it is said, “When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”) Similarly in today’s passage, they do not understand Jesus and are provocative, one-sidedly assuming that He is wrong.
1. What is the Festival of Tabernacles? (Deuteronomy 16:13-15)
The Jewish festival of Tabernacles, which means “feasts of temporary dwelling” or “tent festival,” derives from the event of the Exodus in the Old Testament. It is a festival to remember that God gave them temporary shelter and kept them alive during the 40-year wilderness wanderings of the people who escaped from Egypt. It is also a festival to celebrate the fall harvest and to give thanks to God for the blessings He has given them. Deuteronomy 16:13-15 says as follows.
(Deuteronomy 16:13-15) 13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. 14 Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. 15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.
As noted here, the festival lasts for seven days, and thanksgiving to God and joy are at the heart of the festival. Many people gathered in Jerusalem, where the Temple is located, to offer sacrificial offerings and celebrate a special occasion. It was thought that observing these customs was the way to be a good Jew and a manifestation of one’s faith.
2. The brothers’ lack of understanding
Jesus’ brothers were about to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem according to this custom. And they hoped that if Jesus went to the city on this occasion of the gathering of many people, the true value of His activities would be tested and the Jewish religious leaders would make a righteous judgment. They knew of the various healings and miracles Jesus had performed in their hometown in the past, and they recognized that Jesus had miraculous powers, but they could not accept that Jesus had made Himself equal to God.
However, that is not the only thing they don’t understand about Jesus. Not only them, but no one else understood the true purpose of Jesus’ activities at this point. We humans think that if we have mysterious supernatural powers, we should use them to gain power and control people. Jesus’ brothers also thought this way. But Jesus’ purpose in coming to this world was not to achieve such a human way of ruling, but to suffer and die for us. We don’t normally think of people having supernatural power over others, but not using it, but rather giving up that power, becoming weak, being captured and killed by others. And even more so if Jesus is also God Himself.
3. Why we can’t believe in Jesus
There are similarities between these brothers of Jesus and us other than the ones I have just mentioned, and when we look at the similarities, we can also see why we cannot believe in Jesus.
First, we may assume, as they do, that we know Jesus well. It is the knowledge of Jesus as a historical figure learned from textbooks, or knowledge about Jesus heard from parents, friends, or pastors, that leads to this assumption. Knowing and believing are two different things. To believe in Jesus is to accept that Jesus is a God who has a personal relationship with you and may change your life. Expectations and trust in Jesus are in themselves given by God and are not something that can be forced on anyone, but if you have even the slightest expectation of such things, please try to put them into words and speak directly to Jesus. Then talk to someone who believes in Jesus.
Another similarity between us and Jesus’ brothers is that we do not think deeply about what is just and what is right in God’s eyes. Going up to the city for the Feast of Tabernacles was the right thing to do as Jews, and as long as they kept that custom, they could think they were doing the right thing. But didn’t they consider why the religious leaders of the time were willing to go so far as to kill Jesus, and whether it was justifiable based on good reason? Why didn’t many people consider the possibility that Jesus was right and they were wrong? It has its root cause in the sin that we all have. Because we do not take God as God, but value something other than God, ourselves, someone else, our property, or our status, the most.
Now let’s read the second half, verses 6-10.
B. Jesus’ desire (6-10)
6 Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. 8 You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee. 10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.
It is this problematic behavior of Jesus that I first told you about that has divided interpretation among scholars. There are many opinions on how to explain that He said He wouldn’t go but He still decided to go, or that’s not how it works.
1. What is the “time” of Jesus? （17:1)
First, what does Jesus mean by “my time” when He says that He is not going to the festival because “my time is not yet here”? I believe He is referring to that “time” when Jesus is arrested and executed on the cross. Later in this Gospel of John, there is a passage in which Jesus says,
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” (17:1)
These are the first words of a prayer said by Jesus just before he was arrested. In addition to this, Chapter 13 says,
It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.(13:1)
This is the scene of the washing of the disciples’ feet. Comparing these passages with today’s passage, some scholars argue that the two “times” have separate meanings because the word for “time” is different in the original Greek, as it is distinguished in English by “time” and “hour”. I don’t think it is a very important difference, so I still think Jesus said “my time” referring to that “time” when he would suffer and die and return to God. Then the reason Jesus said in today’s passage that he would not go to Jerusalem with his brothers is because the time of his tribulation has not yet come. As said at the beginning of today’s passage, Jesus was already being threatened with death by the Jews. The Jews here refer mainly to the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem, and that Jesus told His brothers that He was not going to Jerusalem yet because the time had not yet come for Him to be caught.
2. He said he wouldn’t go and then changed his mind?
However, as we have already read, Jesus did go to Jerusalem after all. Jesus’ activities in Jerusalem continue from here until chapter 10. He was almost captured several times but escaped, which is explained to be “because His hour had not yet come.” (7:30) And when he re-entered Jerusalem in chapter 12, Jesus clearly said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (12:23), and He went on to his last days. How should we interpret this?
I think Jesus changed His mind. Although the time had not yet come for Him to go to Jerusalem, He could not help but go, so He decided to go after all.
I have two reasons to think so.
One is that this was during the Festival of Tabernacles. As I mentioned earlier, the Festival of Tabernacles is a joyous festival to commemorate the fact that God did not abandon those wandering in the wilderness but was with them and blessed them, and to celebrate the harvest in thanksgiving for God’s blessings. But I wonder if Jesus couldn’t stand the emptiness of the festival. It was supposed to be a festival of thanksgiving for God’s mercy, but it had become a celebration of the glory and prosperity of the nation. Jesus knew that there was no true thanksgiving and joy for God in people’s hearts. That was why, I think, he could not help but address the people in the midst of a festival full of vain joys, hoping that they would come to know the real God.
This is another reason I wondered if Jesus had a change of heart. There are two passages in which Jesus is said to have spoken “loudly” to the people in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles. There are not so many records of Jesus speaking out loud. In particular, the only two places where he shouted out loud during the scene of teaching the people were during the Feast of Tabernacles. One is verse 28.
Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. (7:28)
The other is verse 37.
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. (7:37)
Jesus, in the midst of the festive excitement of false joy, cried out, “Are you people really ok with the way you are? Are you not aware of your thirst? I am here.”
3. To dwell in our hearts, not in buildings or places
Jesus’ desire is for each of us to welcome Him into our own hearts. Do we know that we have a hunger and thirst within us that only Jesus can satisfy, and that it is futile and wrong to try to satisfy it with something else? Jesus is the one who indeed came to this world, healed people’s illnesses, performed many miracles, but gave up his power, was crucified, died, and rose from the dead. Jesus is not just a God who is worshipped in temples, nor is He someone who can only be felt in a place called church. He is the one who comes close to the weakest part of our hearts, heals and strengthens them. Please, receive Jesus’ message to us.
(Prayer) Lord Jesus, now we welcome you into our hearts. Please come in. We thought we knew you, but please tell us further that your love is much greater and stronger than we know. Make us aware of what we have stopped expecting from You, what we have given up, if any, and give us the strength to trust You again and expect what You will do. Strengthen us by your spirit. May You keep us away from what is empty and bring us closer to You, the Truth. Dear our Lord Jesus, we pray in Your name, Amen.
Summary
God’s purpose in coming to this world as Jesus was to suffer and die on the cross for us. That is something that is hard for people who think they are right to understand. What God wanted was for us to recognize our own limitations, receive God into the center of our hearts, and live truthfully. In order to let people know this, Jesus went to a festival that he had once decided not to go to, and spoke loudly to the people.
For Discussion
- What do we have in common with the brothers of Jesus here??
- Do you think Jesus changed his mind or not? And why do you think so??