John 7:1-2 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. 2 Now the Jew’s feast of tabernacles was at hand.

Review: The Christian Feeds On Christ

In John chapter 6 Jesus fed over 5000 men with two fish and five small biscuits. Multiplying the biscuits, the emphasis our Lord was making is that He is God’s True Manna from Heaven. After feeding the crowd, the disciples gather twelve baskets filled with bread, showing Jesus to be the true Messiah of Israel. Rather than heed what Jesus was telling them, the people followed Jesus to Capernaum to be fed again. Jesus told them:

John 6:26-27 … Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27 Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Jesus came as Messiah not to feed people bellies nor to satisfy their temporal needs, but to give whosoever will the life of God. The Apostle warned of those who are …

Philippians 3:18-19 … the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things…

There are many who presumably follow Christ, but are really pursuing not Him but what they can temporally gain from Him. Such a mindset leads toward hell. In the latter half of John chapter 6 our Lord clarifies His reason for being on this earth. He is not here to be a present King over Israel, come to save God’s chosen from Rome.

Jesus has come to save us from ourselves, from our sins and our flesh pursuing lives.

He does this by being our Passover. This is the background of Chapter 6.

John 6:4 the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

Jesus Christ is our Passover. 1 Corinthians 5:7 says,

“Christ OUR PASSOVER was sacrificed for us”

As the Messiah, Jesus was Israel’s Passover. As Israel consumed the Passover Meal and found release from bondage from it, Jesus told Israel that He Himself would have to be symbolically eaten.

John 6:53-54 Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

When Jesus said this, He shocked His Jewish listeners. The Law of God forbade the eating of blood (Leviticus 17:13-14). The Blood was given to make atonement for sin. The blood of man (Genesis 9:4-6) was not to be shed. Jesus was not speaking literally, but figuratively, and provocatively. Faith in Christ – the faith that saves us from Hell and sin – is more than a cursory thing. We receive Christ and His Words as our very sustenance. He is more to us that food and drink. Without Jesus, we have no spiritual life.

The life of the Pastor, his deepest calling, is to “feed Christ’s sheep”. After His resurrection, Jesus would ask Peter three times, “Peter, do you LOVE Me?” (John 21:15, 16, 17). When Peter said he did love the Lord, Jesus told him:

“Feed My lambs”
“Feed My sheep”
“Feed My sheep”

Those who love Jesus, who are saved by faith in Him, are sustained by feeding on His Words, His truths, His life. We consume Christ. As Jesus taught these things, the Bible says:

John 6:66 .. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Were these people “saved”? No, they were not. They followed Jesus FOR something. Christ’s disciples went from thousands to just a hand full. Judas Iscariot stayed with Jesus to fulfill prophecy (Psalm 69:25; Acts 1:16, 20; Zechariah 11:12-13). The other eleven stayed with Christ because, as Peter said,

John 6:68 … Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.

Six Months Pass To The Feast Of Booths

There were three great Jewish Feasts that every Jew was expected to attend. There was the Passover (John 6, Spring), Pentecost (50 days after Passover), and Booths or Tabernacles (John 7, Fall). God established these Festivals (Leviticus 23:33-44; Numbers 29) to do two things:

1 – To remind Israel that our God keeps His promises, that He is always faithful

2 – To prophetically describe the coming ministry of the Messiah, the Christ

Passover: reminded Israel that, though a great deal of time may pass, that God will ultimately do as He says with His people. In Exodus 12:40 we are told Israel was in Egypt 430 years, though God told Abraham that Israel would be afflicted 400 years (Genesis 15:13-16). God does not forget His people He has engraved you on the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:15-16). God did not forget that He promised to save us by “the seed of the woman” (Genesis 3:15).

Though a great deal of time passed between the Garden of Eden and the Garden of Gethsemane, God never forgot that He would send His Son to be our Passover.

Galatians 4:4-5 (ESV) But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

God does not operate on our time table, but on His. Passover reminds Israel and us that God is faithful.

Pentecost: commemorated the establishment of Israel as a nation, occurring 50 days after Israel was freed from Egypt. It commemorated the giving of the Law of Israel. Once Christ went to the Cross for our sins, and rose from the grave for our salvation, Pentecost commemorated the establishment of the Kingdom of God on the earth. The Law of God was not given after the Cross, but the Holy Spirit of God was out-poured on the Church, empowering the Kingdom. Jesus had promised the future “Spirit of Truth” to His people, saying:

John 14:17 … the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

The Holy Spirit would live inside the Christian. Whereas God explained His Law only through Moses, the Holy Spirit would indwell us so that He could teach us the Word of Christ (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit will GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH (John 16:13). The Christian will “know the Spirit of Truth” (1 John 4:6), as the Holy Spirit will guide us in the truth of God’s Word (John 17:17).

Booths or Tabernacles: reminded Israel that God was with them as they traveled to the Promised Land. Booths also looked forward to the Church Age, wherein God has promised us in Christ:

Hebrews 13:5 … I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

As Moses headed toward the Promised Land, he told the Lord:

Exodus 33:15 (ESV) … If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.

Neither Heaven Nor Canaan Is
The Christian’s Promised Land.

In his book Delights and Disciplines of Bible Study, Pastor Warren W. Wiersbe notes:

“It’s unfortunate that some of our gifted Christian poets and songwriters have used Canaan, the promised land, as a type or picture of Heaven because, while turning people’s eyes toward Heaven is essential, Heaven is not what the promised land stands for in the Christian life. … The book of Hebrews makes it clear that the promised land is a type of the spiritual inheritance believers have by faith today as they walk with God and obey His will”.

The Promised Land is to walk with God daily, trusting Him as we travels through this life. Booths reminded Israel that home is not where our treasure is, but that God is our Treasure. Wiersbe goes on to say:

“The Scottish preacher Alexander Whyte defined the victorious Christian life as “a series of new beginnings.” We all have our weaknesses and failures, but we can always make a new beginning as we feed on the Word of God, pray, and seek to serve the Lord … our Father wants to encourage us to repent and return. ”

John 7:1-2 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. 2 Now the Jew’s feast of tabernacles was at hand.

The “feast of tabernacles” is supposed to be the most joyful of God’s Festivals, for it commemorated walking with God. During the Feast the priests would draw water from the Pool of Siloam, and pour it out on the altar to commemorate how God gave His people water out of the Rock (Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:1-14) TWICE. The priests also had a candle lighting ceremony that reminded them that God led Israel as a Pillar of Fire and of Cloud (Exodus 13:21-22).

What is ironic is that – though Jesus has repeatedly proven Himself to be “God with us” (Matthew 1:23), the very Christ prophesied of in the Scripture (John 5:47), the Jewish leaders have decided to kill Him. The “Jews”, a reference to the Chief Priests, Sadducees and Pharisees, have decided that Jesus is an enemy of the state. Their faith has been in their power, their politics, their position, and their possessions. They are much like the “name it and claim it” prosperity preachers of today. They thought Jesus came to build up their power. He didn’t. Jesus came promoting the Plan of His Father – and this set the hypocrites on fire!

{JESUS} would not walk in Jewry, because
the Jews sought to kill him

Jesus confined His ministry to Galilee, and avoided Jerusalem because of the Jewish Leaders.

John 7:3-5 His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. 4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world. 5 For neither did his brethren believe in him.

Though the Catholics mistakenly believe that Mary the Mother of Jesus was a Perpetual Virgin, the Bible does not support this teaching. Jesus had step brothers and step sisters. Though Jesus Himself is a product of the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit:

Luke 1:35 {Mary}, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Though Mary was a virgin married to Joseph the Carpenter when she was given the Christ, the Bible says that “her husband Joseph did not know her intimately until after Jesus was born” (Matthew 1:25, AP*). Jesus’ “mother and His brothers” (Mark 3:31-32; Matthew 12:46-47) at times visited where Jesus was teaching. When Jesus first started preaching in His hometown of Nazareth, the Bible says that His neighbors said:

Mark 6:3 Is not this {Jesus} the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. (also see Matthew 13:55-56)

It is evident from the Scripture that Jesus had both brothers and sisters. Though we know Jesus had four brothers, we have no idea how many sisters He had, as the Scripture does not reveal this. Jesus’ brothers did not believe Jesus to be the Messiah until after His resurrection from the dead. We read later in Acts on the Day of Pentecost that Jesus’ mother Mary and His brethren (Acts 1:14) prayed together in the Upper Room. After Jesus’ resurrection His stepbrother “James” became the leader of the Jerusalem Church – after Jesus appeared to him in bodily form (1 Corinthians 15:7). James would go on to write The Book of James in our Bibles. Jesus’ other stepbrother “Juda” {ioudas, Judas or Jude} would write the Book of Jude in our Scripture.

At this point, Jesus’ brothers do not believe Him to be the Messiah. If He were the Messiah, they wanted Jesus to be a Political Messiah Who would aid them in over throwing Rome. They said:

vs 4 there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and He Himself seeketh to be known openly

Jesus, you’re not getting anywhere as “Messiah” by staying in Galilee. You need to be where the BIG CHURCH is, in Jerusalem. You need to get Your message out to the people. You need to be a people pleaser! This is very similar to what Satan tempted Jesus to do at the beginning of His ministry. The Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, and set Him on the pinnacle of the Temple. He told Jesus:

Matthew 4:6 (CSB) … “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

Jesus did not come to be the people pleaser, but the God pleaser. Had Jesus went with His brothers and put on a show, He would not have done God’s Work. God had a specific time that He wanted Jesus to go to the Cross. God had a specific way that He wanted Jesus to die on that Cross.

John 7:6-8 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is always ready. 7 The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. 8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time is not yet full come.

Jesus would die – not during the Feast of Booths, but during the Feast of the Passover – and 50 days later the Holy Spirit would come at the Feast of Pentecost.

Jesus said “My time” has not yet come”. The Bible says: “In the FULLNESS OF TIME GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON” (Galatians 4:4). “God so loved the world THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON” (John 3:16). Jesus came on the Father’s time, and clung to the scheduled Plan that the Father made for our salvation. Jesus’ discussion of our salvation before the Eternal Throne of God is recorded in Hebrews:

Hebrews 10:5-7 (ESV) Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book’.

Jesus “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a Cross” (Philippians 2:8). He was not going to Jerusalem with the crowd, and possibly be captured and killed prematurely. Jesus would only die as a Passover Lamb, without spot or blemish (1 Peter 1:19).

The Passover Lamb can ONLY die during the Passover!

And He did. The Father said of Jesus, “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am WELL PLEASED” (Matthew 3:17; 17:5). I am gloriously happy that Jesus WELL PLEASED the Father. For when the Father looks at me, He is WELL PLEASED not because I am perfect, but because JESUS IS PERFECT!

John 7:9-11 When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee. 10 But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 11 Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?

Jesus Went To The Feast When The Father Said Go

It was good that Jesus waited, because the Pharisees and Chief Priests watched the earthly family of Christ to plan His abduction. Had He went with His brothers, He would have been killed during Booths, (John 5:16-18; 7:19, 30, 44; 8:37, 40, 59; 10:31, 33, 39;11:8,53) not Passover. This would have fouled the plan of God. But God was in control. God has said:

Isaiah 55:8-11 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

John 7:12 And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.

It amuses me that Pastors like Rick Warren write books like “Purpose Driven Church”, encouraging the local Churches to dilute the light of God and the Word of Christ in order to reach the masses. When our Lord Jesus Himself walked the earth, He did not modify the Word of God nor the Method of God in order to gather big crowds. In fact, Jesus was both in your face and politically incorrect. As Jesus was misunderstood THEN, He is misunderstood TODAY.

1- Jesus’ Brothers thought Him a failed political Candidate. They thought that Messiah came to overthrow Rome, and as such encouraged Jesus to “broaden His campaign” from Galilee to the Holy City, Jerusalem. They were wrong about Jesus.

2- Some thought “Jesus is a good man”. The word “good” is the Greek agathos, which means of course “good, beneficial, useful”. In one sense Jesus is a “good” person, but if He is only a Man then He cannot be “good” when compared to God. When a young man called Jesus “good”, our Lord replied “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18, NASB). If Jesus were merely a “good Man” as many of you are, then we are yet dead in our sins. “There are NONE GOOD but One, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17). Jesus is MORE than just GOOD. He is GOD. Among humanity there are none that are chrēstótēs, morally excellent (Romans 3:12). When God does “good”, it is absolute “good”, for God knows the final effect of His doing. What I perceive as “good” may not work out “good” in the long run – but God always does so!

3- Others followed the lead of their religious leaders, saying “Nay; but he deceiveth the people.” The word “” is the Greek planaō, which means “to lead astray, to lead from the truth or the path of virtue”. To these people Jesus was not a GOOD Shepherd, but a FALSE Shepherd. He was leading the Sheep of God from the safe pasture of His Word. If Jesus were NOT God in human form, then He certainly was a false Shepherd! My commentary notes:

“{Jesus} was always talking about Himself and telling people that they should believe in Him as the only way to have eternal life. He claimed that the Old Testament was written about Him (John 5:39, 46). He claimed to be the bread of life, who could satisfy the hunger of all who come to Him (John 6:35). He claimed that whoever believes in Him would have rivers of living water flowing from his innermost being (John 7:38). He claimed to be the Light of the world (John 8:12). He claimed that before Abraham was born, He existed (John 8:58). No good man, who was not God in human flesh, could say such things without being considered a deluded megalomaniac.”

Sadly we read,

John 7:13 Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.

The people said NOTHING about Jesus, fearing that the religious leaders would ostracize them from the Temple. Silence allows error to march forward in the disguise of truth. In our day Christian silence has allowed denomination after denomination to be taken over by extrabiblical ideas like LGBTQ+, female Pastors, Bishops, and Deacons, and transhumanism. When God’s people refuse to stand together VISIBLY with Christ, the darkness advances.

Recently the Southern Baptist Convention (2023) met in New Orleans. Brother Lonnie Wilkey, the Editor of the Baptist and Reflector wrote an article entitled “ARE WE FOCUSED ON THE RIGHT THING?”. On the Internet when something is in UPPER CASE, it is like it is SHOUTED. Brother Wilkey was concerned that during the Convention we as Southern Baptists addressed some problems among SBC Churches. Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, California) and Fern Creek Baptist Church (Louisville, Kentucky) were “disfellowshiped for having women in senior pastor roles”, while “Freedom Church {Vero Beach, Florida} was deemed to not be in “friendly cooperation” with the SBC because it failed to cooperate to resolve concerns regarding a sexual abuse allegation”. In response to this Brother Wilkey wrote:

“Southern Baptists are once again in the national news. Here are a sampling of headlines from across the nation last week: “Southern Baptists take first step in approving ban on women pastors” — The Tennessean “Southern Baptists move to purge churches with female pastors” — The New York Times “Southern Baptists vote to expel two churches led by female pastors” — NBC News And the list continues to grow. Sadly, this did not need to be national news”…

Since the drift of the local Church was NOT addressed at the Associational and State Convention levels, the SBC had to do so at the National level. Local Churches are free to operate independently as believer-priests before God. But at the Local, State, and National level the SBC is free to choose our associations. The Baptist Faith and Message (2000) is very clear that “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture”. A few local Churches decided to step outside that Scriptural teaching (1 Timothy 3:1-13) and modify the word “Pastor”, and then moved on to ordain women to the Pastoral ministry with laying on of hands. This is patently unscriptural.

Did the world howl about it? Sure it did. The world howled about Jesus, for He was not politically, but Biblically correct. We can do no less. “It is written”. Baptists are supposed to be people of the Book. I praise God that our messengers had the courage to stand up for the Scripture, for the Book, regardless as to what the world thinks. Though we do not intentionally seek to make enemies, we must as Bible believers SHINE, not hide. We are the “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14, ESV). We do not make our own Light, but like the moon reflect the Light of the Son (John 8:12; 9:5). Every local Church that has compromised on Scripture in order to “reach the masses” has continued to drift to where aberrant sexual lifestyles are celebrated (consider Andy Stanley & the North Point Community Church). I praise God for our messengers. It takes courage to stand against the world. Keep standing for God’s Word, regardless as to what the world may say. Amen and Amen!