Disbelief in the Family of J..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Gospel according to John from in chapter 7 from verses 1 through 13. 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 brother 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.

but 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 and saying, where is he? And there was much muttering about him among the people, while some said, he's a good man. And others said, no, he is leading the people astray.

Yet for fear of the Jews, no one spoke openly of him. Amen. This is the word of the living God. Well, brothers and sisters, we're back in the gospel according to John. And the last time we were in the fourth gospel, we concluded the momentous chapter, chapter six, which is an incredibly rich chapter.

And the teaching of that chapter of our Lord, after the great miracle of feeding the 5,000 with his Galilean audience and even the religious leaders in the synagogue at Capernaum, Well, the teaching of our Lord is very much the heart and the gospel. of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is why we spent so much time and several months, in fact, in this chapter, considering the massive miracle that commences the chapter and the explanation that our Lord gives on the following day. The people seemed head over heels for Christ. They could not get enough of this Jesus, it seemed, at least at that point.

They confessed him to be a prophet like Moses, They resolved to make him king, even if that meant making him king by force. That's how much it seemed they loved him. But as we continued into the chapter, it became more and more clear as time went on and we progressed through the verses. These people who had followed our Lord had been following him for all the wrong reasons. Initially, it was the exhibition, the excitement.

Jesus satisfied their longing, the longings of their heart to be thrilled. And once they realized that Jesus can create bread, well, now they're going to follow him because he can satisfy the hunger of their stomachs by feeding them. Bread, the physical and the temporal things were preeminent in these people's minds. Food for their stomach was a priority and they neglected beloved and they neglected the infinitely more important food for their soul. So when our Lord confronted their spiritual blindness in the bread of life discourse that we spent many months contemplating and considering together, From that time on, these people wanted no more part of this Jesus.

Only earlier they confessed him as the prophet. Only earlier they wanted to make him as king. But when the teaching became a bit difficult, they turned their backs and they walk away. So after many weeks in this chapter, we concluded our study considering the devastating final outcome. Mass exodus of followers who only a day earlier were convinced that he was the Messiah.

Even his disciples, now not the 12, we're told that left him. Jesus is rejected by his own people. Jesus is rejected by his own countrymen. He's rejected by the masses in Galilee. And it's now that Jesus turns to the 12 at the end of this chapter and asks them, will you walk away too?

Then of course, we all remember Peter's response and Peter speaks on behalf of the other disciples when he says those glorious spirit wrought words, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that you are the holy one of God. But the chapter ends with a chilling reality. The 12 disciples were chosen, yes, but not all were chosen unto life.

For there is one among them, Judas, who was chosen, but he is a devil. That's what their text tells us. There's one who is a devil, chosen from the beginning, not unto life, but unto destruction. His purpose in the plan of God's redemption was to betray our Lord. And because of his wicked heart, he would suffer under the right and just judgment of God forever.

Beloved Matthew 26 tells us that it would have been better for this man not to have been born than to remain under the judgment of God forever. And that's where the chapter ends. Two solemn chapters. Chapter five, when Jesus was rejected in Jerusalem, And then chapter six, when Jesus is rejected in Galilee, but beloved, if there has been anything that we've learned about the attitude of those who reject Jesus, no matter what creed or where they're from, it is this, they're never neutral. They cannot take the middle ground.

So as to say, hey, Jesus, we disagree with you. We'll go our way and you go yours and we both live our merry lives. No, that is not possible because by virtue of his presence and his piecing words, they will be offended, naturally offended. Jesus didn't come to preach of another way to God. His message is that he is the only way to God.

And that means for these religious people who do not believe in him and do not believe that he is the one sent by God, according to Jesus, they have become enemies of God, haters of the truth. And therefore, the natural reaction of the human heart is to become hostile. hostile to Christ, hostile against everything he stands for, his life, his words, his action, every part of this Jesus is offensive to the natural man. The more the more they interact with Christ, the more hostile they'll become. This increasing opposition will become more and more evident as we progress through the gospel, especially throughout the next two chapters, chapter seven and chapters eight.

Because in chapter eight, that chapter concludes with the Jews being totally fed up with this man. So they pick up stones to attempt to stone him. So as the apostle John sets up this background of hatred and hostility with the first verses of chapter seven, he does so with these words in verse one. After this, Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

Now we have to realize From the conclusion of chapter six till the beginning of chapter seven, the text that is before us, there's been some time that has lapsed. In fact, six months has passed by. We know this because in verse two, we're told that it is the time or the feast of the booths is at hand. And we know that this takes place around about six months after the Passover, which was taken place in chapter six. It's the context of that chapter is at the time of the Passover we're told in the early verses.

Now, John doesn't tell us exactly what happened over that six month period between chapter six and the beginning of chapter seven. But the synoptic gospels do actually commit a lot of a lot of time to what Jesus does in this time. And it's clear that if we go through the synoptics, it's clear that Jesus spends a lot of time with his disciples teaching them. over this period of time. And they don't just stay in one spot.

As we heard, Jesus doesn't go to Judea, but he remains in the region of Galilee. In fact, he travels to many regions to the north of Israel. He visits Sidon and Tyre along the Mediterranean Sea. And then over, he goes over to the Jordan, to the east, and to a place called the Decapolis. It's a region of 10 cities.

And that region is now modern-day Jordan, by the way. And also, he went further north to a place called Caesarea Philippi. That's the place you might remember Peter confesses to our Lord being the Christ, the son of the living God. And of course, the response or part of the response of our savior back to Peter and the disciples is very much the theme of our study in the book of Acts, where he says, I will build my church and the gates of Hades or the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The apostle John doesn't tell us these things because that's not his objective.

But when he opens up in chapter seven, he takes us straight forward six months and puts us in the context of the time of the Feast of Booths. Now, what we do know from the beginning of this chapter is this, that Jesus was avoiding going to Judea. Why? Because the Jews were seeking to kill him. That's how hot the anger was of the so-called religious men in Jerusalem and the surrounding region.

And, beloved, as we'll see, their hatred of our Lord and their resolve to kill Him does not subside in any way. Rather, their opposition of Him increases as time goes on until, of course, they come to the point where they're guilty of shedding His blood in murder. Now, this is no surprise to us. The statement of them wanting to kill Jesus Christ has already been told to us and communicated to us by the Apostle John, the author of the fourth gospel back in chapter five, where then when the Lord, he heals the invalid man of some 38 years, you remember, at the pool of Bethesda. The healing took place when?

On the Sabbath. And the religious Jews were angered by the fact that Jesus would heal on the Sabbath. and they got angry and hostile towards Christ. But when Jesus began to teach them about who he actually is and the fact that he is in nature equal with the Father, well then now their anger turned into rage and they saw all the more, we're told, to kill him. But that was about a year ago.

And as we'll see in this chapter, their hatred is only being stored up against this Jesus. The resentment and bitterness against our Lord increases now more than ever before, and they are resolved to find the opportune time to bring His life to an end. And in their minds, this could be the time, because verse 2 tells us that this was not only the Feast of Booths, But in verse 11, we're told the Jews were expecting to see him there. They were looking for Christ because they're used to seeing Jesus come down to the feasts and the festivals and say they wanted, they wanted to spot him. And it wasn't beloved because they missed him.

Not at all. This Jesus was a stigma in their sight. They wanted him dead. Christ, of course, was aware of this, and he knew they will eventually manifest their wickedness in his murder, but the timing was important. Christ was on a divine schedule, a timetable given to him by the Father, and that time for his crucifixion had not yet come.

So he does end up going. to this feast but he doesn't go with the caravan of family and friends from his hometown as you would normally do in previous years but no rather he will go up to Jerusalem which is in the south by the way but up because it's always up to the temple in Jerusalem. He'll go up secretly. Now we'll consider the reasons for him to go up secretly next week by God's grace. But for now, brothers and sisters, it's important for us just to stand back and really maybe gather a bit of an understanding of what this Feast of the Booths is actually about.

Because once we know what it is about, we'll understand, we'll be better equipped to understand the context of this chapter. You see, there are important nuances in this chapter that otherwise will go right over our heads if we didn't understand what practices are practiced and what rituals and rites were observed at this feast. But once we've got a bit of a background understanding, we'll be able to better at least discern the profoundness of our Lord's words, and in particular, the statements he makes about himself in both chapters seven and chapter eight. So what I'll do, by God's grace, is I'll spend the next few moments giving some details of this feast now. And as we continue over the next two chapters over the coming weeks and possibly months, I'll reiterate their importance once again as we come across the relevance of what we say today.

Now, most of us are aware that the Jews had many feasts, but there were three main feasts or main celebrations or festivals with a higher significance. The festivals that required healthy, able Jewish men, both locals and from all over the world, if they had the means to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to attend these feasts. The Feast of the Booths, which is the one that we find before us in chapter seven of John, is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, and that was one. The other two, of course, are the Feast of the Passover. And then you have the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of Pentecost.

We'll be introduced to more details about these feasts in our corporate reading of God's word in a few months when we come to Leviticus chapter 23. Now of these three feasts, the Feast of Booths was the last one on the Jewish calendar. Now, this is where it gets a little confusing, maybe, for some of us, and that is the Jewish calendar is not actually the same as our calendar. The first month, for example, in the Jewish calendar is Nisan. It coincides with our March, April.

And this is the month of the Feast of the Passover, being the most sacred of all festivals. But hear this, it wasn't necessarily the most popular. then seven weeks later you have the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost and in the seventh month you come what we have is the month of Tishri the seventh month according to the Jewish calendar which falls in about our September, October the Jews would celebrate the Feast of the Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles. Now this feast, the Feast of Booths, was essentially an eight-day joyful celebration enjoying God's abundant provision after the ingathering or the reaping of their harvest. Now it's not the grain harvest that they're reaping because that normally comes in about April.

rather the harvest of grapes and olives. This was, of course, a time of thanksgiving for the Jews, a time of celebration, because Yahweh is a God who provides for his people. But beyond this, it was a time of commemoration, a time of remembrance. A time to remember that the divine protection of God, of Yahweh, and his guidance upon their forefathers in the 40 years in the wilderness after their release from the bondage of the clutches of the Egyptians. You see, both locals and pilgrims from all over the world would make for themselves like makeshift flimsy tents, boots or tabernacles, that's the name, made from branches and leaves all along the hillside and other places scattered across Jerusalem.

And they would call these tents home for the next week. the locals will build these tents, flimsy tents, on their rooftops. And of course, their rooftops were unlike ours. In the Mediterranean, the rooftops are flat. So they built these tents on the rooftop to partake even though that were locals.

Now, this was a memorial, a memorial to the faithfulness of God for his protection upon his people in the wilderness, despite the many dangers. You see, flimsy tents cannot protect from the elements. Flimsy tents cannot protect from all the dangers from outside, but it was Yahweh and his goodness that sustained their forefathers and brought them eventually into the land promised with milk and honey. This feast is especially joyful because it's celebrated only five days beloved after the day of atonement when the high priest would make sacrifice on behalf of all of Israel for the atonement of sins. You see the idea of this feast is that with restored fellowship with God after the day of atonement.

Sins now atoned for and God's blessing provision evident upon them through the harvesting of the grapes and the olives. He calls for true worship and joy and fellowship with God who has forgiven their sins and their trespasses and has provided for their every need. It's a celebration of God's goodness. And it's a massive seven day celebration with trumpets blowing and musical instruments, joyful dancing and singing. And on the eighth day, this day is a solemn reverential assembly gathering to conclude this festival.

This was the most popular of all feasts in terms of how many people, how many Jews would attend these feasts, according to many historians. And now that's important for us to remember for our text this evening. And there's no doubt, there's no doubt this was, beloved, the most expensive of all the feasts. You see, Numbers 29 tells us that in the space of eight days, eight days, almost 200 animals are sacrificed in the Jewish Jerusalem temple. And including in those 200 are 70 bulls.

Let's say this was a major, major time of celebration. but I want us to, or at least I want to call your attention to two distinct practices during the feast. Practices not explicitly stated in our text, but knowing of them will help us shed some light on the words of our Lord that will come later on, later on in this chapter. actually both in chapter seven and chapter eight. The first is the outpouring of water.

This was a ritual in remembrance of the, again, the forefathers of the wilderness generation when they were rescued from Egypt. You see the priests on the first day of this celebration of the feast of Booths, that would go out to the pool of Siloam and that would draw enough water for the rest of the celebration. The Pool of Siloam, by the way, was in Jerusalem anyway. And then what would happen on the days of the celebration? The trumpets would sound and the priest would carry water in silver bowls and they would walk around the altar of sacrifice and they would pour the water in an act of commemoration, an act to remember the miraculous provision of Yahweh when he provided the wilderness generation with water from a rock.

at Meribah. They were thirsty, and God provided to quench their thirst. You see, the worshippers here in Jerusalem would see this acted out, and they would see a picture of the blessing of God upon his people. And God is always able, and not just able, but willing to satisfy the needs of his people, in particular, the thirst of his people as displayed in that rite or ritual that points back to God providing water from a rock. And our Lord has this in mind, and we should consider and have this in mind when we think of our Lord's words a little later on in verses 37 through 39.

And the next ritual that I just want to bring to your attention is to do with light. It's a ritual done every evening again of this feast by the priest or the priests. And again, it's enjoyed by the onlooking worshipers, the Jews who have come to enjoy this feast. The priests would light up four massive candles, huge oil fed lamps, which stand over 20 meters high, producing luminous light strong enough to illuminate the whole temple precinct and much of the city. even in the evenings of this festival.

In fact, some of the historians would have written and suggested that the lamps were so powerful and they were so bright that they lit up the whole city of Jerusalem. Now, that may have been an exaggeration for four lights, but you can get the gist of what they're trying to say. These lights were powerful. They pushed away the darkness. They invade the darkness.

As far as I can see, under this awesome display of light, the worshipping Jews would themselves have little commemorative candles lit up. And throughout the night, they celebrated. They danced and they sung psalms of praises to the tunes played by the Levitical orchestra, consisting of musical instruments such as harps and cymbals and other stringed instruments. This was a memorial, beloved. a light memorial of the pillar of fire, the Shekinah glory of God that led and guided their forefathers in the wilderness for 40 years.

And we've been going through the book of Leviticus and we know of this Shekinah glory. We know we've been through Exodus and we've read of the Shekinah glory. And this festival and this rite or ritual points to that light. the manifest glory of God that provided light and illumination for their ancestors, their forefathers' feet and light for their paths. Now with that in mind, we need to think about the words of our Lord in chapter eight and verses eight or 12 onwards, but we'll get to that.

But I just wanted to bring that to lay bare this evening. I wanted to bring just those minor details, a few of those details of the Feast of Booths and those two rituals, because they're gonna be pretty important as we move on. So with those details in the back of our minds, let's work our way through the verses that we have this evening. But before we do, brothers and sisters, I want us to think of this. As we've just thought of the festival that the Jews celebrated every year and the magnitude of this festival, and the overarching emotion is actually one of joy, because Yahweh is their God and they are his people.

You'll see as we work our way through this chap day, a great sad irony. You see, because the blindness and the depravity of the human heart is exemplified as we'll work through chapter seven and chapter eight. Because no matter how religious one is, no matter how religious one is, unless the heart is changed by God, they remain blind in all their ways. You see the joy-producing rituals that these Jews would celebrate and engage in with one with the other, and some would pilgrim very long distances to enjoy these feasts and these celebrations. They commemorated not only God's past faithfulness.

Yes, they looked back and they saw God's faithfulness upon their forefathers. But they also spoke of the certainty of the present and future faithfulness of this good God. These people would dance and they would sing and they would rejoice because of not only what God has done, but also because they believed His goodness and provision will continue into the future. And beloved, they were right. Here's the irony.

The ultimate fulfillment of the continued blessing of God is found in the promised Messiah, the Son of God. And in a few days time, when the Son of God presents himself before these people, in particular, before the Jewish religious establishment, revealing himself to be the very substance for which all these rituals point towards, rather than rejoice, by the time he's done, Many will pick up stones to stone him. Such, brothers and sisters, such is the hostility of the world towards Christ. Such is the blindness of the natural man. Now that's just a taste of what's to come over the coming weeks in the few chapters or couple of chapters that we have and that lie ahead of us.

But right now, let's go back to the verses that we read this evening. What do we know? Well, we know already that Jesus is avoiding returning down south because we know that the Jews, and John has narrated that for us, are seeking to kill Jesus. And by the way, this theme is going to come up over and over and over again. And what else do we know?

Well, we know that it's the time of the Feast of And we know that Jerusalem is populated right now with many, many pilgrims from all over the known world to come and enjoy this feast. Let's go to verse three. 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." Now, brothers and sisters, these verses speak of the brothers of Christ. Now, who are these men? Well, we know they are the sons of Joseph and the sons of Mary. They are the younger half-brothers of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we know who they are.

Matthew records for us their names, and there's four. There's James, and there's Joseph, and there's Simon, and there's Judas, or Judah, or Jude. And here they give their older brother some advice, some wise advice in their own eyes at least, and they say to him, depart from Galilee. Go, leave this northern region, and head south to Judea. Go into the hostile land to Judea.

Now, you know, when you think about what they're saying to our Lord, from a superficial point of view, their advice may actually seem reasonable. Now let's think about it for a moment. The Feast of Booths, as I said earlier, was the most populated of all the Jewish feasts in Jerusalem. Over the eight days of celebration, the population of this city would swell up by as much as four, even five times the usual number. That's a lot of people, and people on every corner.

And since Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, then what better place to proclaim the truth in a demonstration of his power, through signs and wonders, than in Jerusalem, when Jerusalem is populated to the brim. Now, of course, we must always keep in the back of our mind, verse five, because his brothers, we're told, were yet unbelievers. So that means their motivations weren't pure, and we'll get to that shortly. But humanly speaking, apart from the risks that Christ would confront in going to Jerusalem, they're being somewhat logical, aren't they? Well, for starters, they don't deny the supernatural works of their brother.

In fact, the construction of their words in these verses assumes his power. They had witnessed Jesus' miracles firsthand. They know who their brother is. They were there. They were there when Jesus turned the water into the best well-aged wine at the wedding feast in Cana.

But they weren't contesting Jesus' power, but rather asking the question, Jesus, why do you remain in secret? If you are a Messiah, if you are the Messiah, Jesus, do these things openly. Show yourself and your power to your disciples, verse 3, and show yourself and your power to the world, verse 4. Now, the disciples referred to in verse three, unlikely the 12. They, that is the 12, they'd already witnessed the power and the miracles of Christ, and they were continuing to witness it because they were with the Savior.

But rather, in view here, it's very likely to be the disciples that we read about in chapter two. You remember back then when many believed in Jesus, but then were told that Jesus did not entrust himself to them because they weren't true disciples. They may have followed after Christ, but they followed after him for the wrong reasons. But his brothers, yet unbelievers, couldn't have known that fact. But Jesus is the one who sees right into the heart.

He knows what is in the heart of man. He could see well beyond their actions, well beyond their words. So as far as these brothers were concerned, the religious capital, Jerusalem, is where Jesus should be. He should not waste time, they're thinking, in the rural towns and cities of Galilee as a small-time preacher. That's for novices.

If he's claiming to be Israel's Messiah, then he needs to make a name for him where it matters, and perhaps in their mind, they're thinking the place it matters most is in Jerusalem, and most, again, in the Temple of Jerusalem. Perhaps their thinking was that he should convince the religious leaders of his Messiahship. Because if he can convince them, then you're in. And while you're there, perhaps they're thinking you should amass a following, Jesus. A following who come from all over the world.

That would be your audience. They've all come to this feast and this festival. What better chance do you have? Jesus, if you claim, if you claim to be Messiah, this is your chance to prove yourself to the world. You see, I think at least, in the back of the minds of the disciples, they're thinking about popularity.

They're thinking about numbers. That's what a successful preacher has. And remember, if Jesus is accepted as Messiah, if Jesus does gather this popularity and followers who begin to follow him and his fame spreads, then think about the serious benefits. but Jesus's family. Think about what would be the benefits for his brothers.

That could be implied here as well. Now, some have suggested that his brothers wanted Jesus to go because they wanted him to get caught. In other words, if this Jesus, who we know already they don't believe in, if he gets caught, then he's finally out of their hair. But beloved, there's nothing in this text or anywhere else that would even come close to suggesting that they sought harm for their brother. So I don't buy that.

They are, however, charging Jesus with something. They're charging him with an inconsistency. You see, claiming religious preeminence means and necessitates proving himself among the religious heavyweights. And they are found where? In Jerusalem, in Judea.

So maybe they are critical of Christ, that could be it. But it also seems likely that they were indeed, in my opinion, at least wanting Jesus to gather a following. Because as I said earlier, if Jesus does gather a following, then that will be swept up in the fame and the honor. Remember, they were still unbelievers. And if there's something we know about, which is consistent in every unbeliever, Because we were all unbelievers at one stage, beloved.

It's this. They're all, all without exceptions, motivated by selfish ambition. Just think of the perks these brothers would enjoy. Brothers of the Messiah. Now that's something, isn't it?

The prestige, the prominence, the popularity, the respect they would receive. Okay. They themselves didn't believe, but if others believe, I'm sure they'd be happy to ride along and enjoy the fame with their older brother. But I love it, how many in our days have done exactly that? Jesus is used to further simply their own selfish ambitions.

How many ministries are built upon that precept, that principle, which brings sickness to my stomach? Christ becomes a platform for what they want. Whether that's popularity or wealth or anything else, he becomes a platform to satisfy the desires of their own sinful flesh. Beloved, under the pretense on many occasions, it could be the pretense of holiness, the pretense of goodness, the pretense of love, whatever it may be, what you find underneath is nothing more than selfish people. selfish, unconverted hearts.

The thought in their minds and their hearts is this, how can this Jesus benefit my cause? How can he further my career? How can he satisfy my desires? You see, the manifestation of the heart of an unconverted man or a woman may look different on the surface, but at its core, it always seeks after self. And that may actually be at least a portion of the motivation behind Jesus' brothers saying, go, go to Jerusalem.

That's where you need to be, Jesus. And beloved, if that were to be the case, then as it stands, Jesus would need to show of his miracle working skills in Jerusalem. But this time, this time he would need to keep his followers. You see, this so-called advice by his brothers may have actually been motivated off the back of what they'd seen or heard happen only months earlier in Galilee, right after the Bread of Life discourse. We have that in our mind, and I'm hoping you still remember what happened.

That's where Jesus' popularity had gone from the all-time high to an all-time low in Galilee. Galileans, they're thinking, may have lost hope in Jesus, in our brother. They may have lost hope in this so-called Messiah, but with thousands upon thousands of fresh faces pilgriming to Jerusalem from all over the world to this feast of booths, even if he convinces only a small percentage, he'll amass a massive following. multiple times what he had once in Galilee. But of course, brothers and sisters, if this is what they're thinking, This is human logic.

And human logic is always flawed when speaking of spiritual matters. And although according to human understanding, it can be deemed as a percentage game, that's not the case when we're speaking spiritual matters. It's not a matter of percentages, as though the more people who listen, the more we'll believe. That's not how it works. If anything, the example that we were given in the previous chapter should convince us opposite to this.

Beloved 5,000 men, that's not including women and children, 5,000 men, people in total that would possibly have filled a stadium as big as maybe Rubina Stadium. Think about it, a stadium filled with 15 to possibly 20,000 people in a period of only 24 hours. 24 hours later, the ones who remained, the ones who remained, and not walked away from our Lord and our Saviour would possibly only be a quantity that would fit in either your home or mine. It's not about numbers. Salvation is of the Lord.

And only those the Father draws, remember, will be saved. Only those the Father draws. And so Jesus knows this. He knows this all too well. And for him, as we'll come to see, doing things as per the Father's will and in the Father's timing.

is all he desires, even if he's left with only a handful of true disciples. But his brothers couldn't see this reality, nor could they see the type of Messiah that their brother Jesus is. They didn't believe he would be the suffering servant, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world by willingly laying down his life and then shedding his blood upon a Roman cross before hating and hostile people. that he would be the Messiah that for the most part would be rejected by his own people, rejected by the religious elite, rejected in Jerusalem. He would not accumulate swarms of faithful followers in his earthly advent because he's not the Messiah the Jews were looking for.

He's not the political leader that we're expecting, the one to declare war against Rome, to overthrow the occupying powers and reclaim independence of the land of Palestine. That's the Messiah of the people's choice. This Messiah would amass a great following because he gives man what man desires, but that's not Jesus. He's not concerned with giving people what they want, beloved. He's concerned with giving them what they desperately need, even though.

even though they don't know at this point what they actually need. And more than anything else, what sinful men and women need. is to be forgiven of their sins, and to be made right with God, who otherwise would crush them under the weight of His judgment. So this Messiah, Jesus, will be rejected. This Messiah, Jesus, will be despised, and He will be crucified as a suffering servant of the Lord.

That is what His Father wills for Him. That's why He sent Him. And beloved, enjoy, that's what this Messiah will do. His brothers could not see this truth because in their mind, success meant numbers. But in Christ's mind, success is faithfulness to the Father's will.

So the advice of his brothers is not received. We'll take time to consider the Lord's profound response next week. But for now, I want us to think of verse five. For not even his brothers believed in him. Now set aside the possibilities, all the possibilities that drove his brothers or motivated his brothers to see Jesus make the journey to Judea and to Jerusalem.

Now let's set those aside just for a moment and think of these words, for not even his brothers believed in him. As I was preparing for this message, I prepared to preach on 9 verses from verse 1 through 9, because I feel there is a form of unity from verse 1 to 9 and then from 10 to 14. But the words of verse 5 hit me so hard, I couldn't go beyond this point. You see, my heart and my mind has been in chapter six for a very, very long time. And as a result, I was more and more convinced than ever before of the power of sin and the deceitfulness of the human heart, the dark human heart.

I was convinced beyond a shadow of doubt that there is no amount of miracles in and of themselves, no matter how great the miracles are, even the feeding of 5,000 that would bring about or produce saving faith and salvation in a lost sinner. Beloved, the soul is too dark and the heart is too calloused. I'm convinced that nothing in this universe apart from the divine hand of God can penetrate the naturally impenetrable, stonely, lifeless heart to bring forth life. There is nothing, nothing apart from God in this universe that could make one believe. And as I was thinking about that reality, my eyes locked onto verse five.

for not even his brothers believed in him. I was truly dumbfounded, speechless. You know, I knew the fact. But after deeply meditating on the veracity and the truthfulness and the depth of these words, and I'm not picking on the Lord's pre-converted brothers. Don't think I'm picking on them because I'm not.

But after contemplating these words, I realized in my mind, at least, that the clearest illustration of the bondage of the dark, unbelieving heart to the power of sin is exemplified in verse five. For not even his brothers believed in him. Let me illustrate why. Think of the examples we've been given of the people who've rejected our Lord already. And we don't have to go far.

Let's just look at the last chapter, for example, and I'll give you three types of people who have rejected our Lord already. The lay Galileans. Some were called disciples. You see, these people followed our Lord for a while. They were enamored by his miracle-working abilities, and even some were enamored and attracted by his teaching, and that was the case of the so-called disciples.

They marveled at his signs, and they were bewildered at his wonders that he performed. They enjoyed the show, they enjoyed the exhibition, and certainly enjoyed being fed on that day on the eastern side of the Sea of Tiberias when Jesus did that massive miracle of turning of turning or multiplying the bread and the fish. But for the most part, for most of these people, they refuse to believe his words. They refuse to believe his identity. They refuse to believe the claims of his origin.

In this state, they were blinded by their sin. The one who was offering eternal life stands before them, but all they could see him good for was to satisfy their hungry stomachs with Mediterranean flatbread, because they knew he would be able to produce it at will. Beloved, beloved, this is unbelievable. forgiveness of sins and the treasure of eternal life was despised and exchanged for bread that perishes. This is the bondage to sin.

This is the power of sin. Sin makes people fools. Happy to give up bread, the bread of eternal life for a mixture of baked flour and salt and water. That's dark, beloved. but there's still darker still.

Another level of depravity in the form of the Jewish establishment. And I'm thinking of the group of men that the Apostle John calls the Jews, and that would be the religious leaders of the day. And I'm thinking of the leaders in the synagogue at Capernaum. Again, only in the next, in the previous chapter, chapter six. These men we know are synagogue leaders.

They committed their lives to read the scripture. They committed their lives to study and to teach scripture. Men entrusted to nurture, train, and guide the lay people in the covenant truths of Yahweh. They were well-versed in the sacred writings, yet when confronted with Jesus, The Messiah who was clearly prophesied in the Old Testament, standing right before their eyes, revealing that he is the one sent by the Father from heaven for the salvation of God's people when he stood before them and declared that truth. Let me ask you, what was their response?

They were offended. They were offended by his words. So what do they do? They deny Him and they reject His testimony, showing themselves bound once again to sin and blind to the true understanding of the Word of God. But the incarnate Word of God was before them and they knew Him not.

Chains to the power of sin. Dark hearts. But there is darker still. There's more wickedness still. He's named for us in the last verse of the last chapter, a man hand chosen by our Lord to be one of the 12.

His name is Judas, Judas the traitor. For over three years, he witnessed the supernatural work of our Lord, mighty signs and wonders with no human explanation. With his own eyes, he saw his rabbi heal the multiple diseases of those who were brought to him. He saw his rabbi give sight to the blind, heal the cripples, give healing to the deaf, cast out demons, and even raise a man from the dead. The crowds heard Jesus' parables.

For the most part, they were mystified. But this Judas, he had the privilege of receiving the interpretation of this teaching. He knew a portion of the Scripture, but in the three years that he was a disciple of the Lord, the author of the words of Scripture himself explained how the Scripture is fulfilled in him. He witnessed his grace. He witnessed his compassion, his care, his gentleness.

He knew of his love, but his dark, covetous heart led him astray. And he sold his Mazda for 30 pieces of silver. So much light, yet he deceives the author of life himself. And in doing so, he made it evident that he was always in chains to sin, and he never really believed. He never really had sacred faith.

Judas' heart was very, very dark in unbelief. And the last words of the last chapter were a moving reminder of that exact point. They're the three examples in chapter six. But beloved, How many of us, when thinking of the great depth of human depravity, when we think of the bondage and the power of sin of the unconverted hearts, how many of us think of the brothers of Jesus Christ or the unconverted brothers of Jesus Christ? Because to be honest, Until now, I never really spent much time contemplating the spiritual condition of the unconverted brothers of Jesus Christ.

I know them all as converted. I love the book of James. I love the book of Jude. These are inerrant, God-breathed books. And when I think of the brothers of Christ, I think of converted Christians.

How many of us think of their state before the divine grace of God? Now, to be sure, all his brothers, according to Acts chapter one, verse 14, received grace, this grace from God, and believed in Jesus through saving faith. Now, praise God for that. James would go on to become a leader in the Jerusalem church. We know that, and both James and Judas, also known as Jude, would both author a New Testament book of the Bible.

But in the context of our passage here, and let's remain in the context, in chapter seven, they were yet unconverted, unbelievers, trespassers. They were unsaved in their trespasses and sins. They were yet in enmity with God. And the text tells us, for not even his brothers believed in him. Brothers and sisters, think about that statement.

These men are all younger brothers of Jesus. That means from the time they opened their eyes, when they entered into this world, they knew Jesus as their older brother. For some 20 or even 30 years for some, they lived under the same roof. They knew him very well. They could verify he was the perfect son.

They could verify beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was indeed the perfect brother. He honored his father. and his mother faultlessly in perfect obedience. They couldn't deny that point. It was the wise brother that they knew they could rely upon always to give them great advice, the best advice.

He was faithful. He was dependable. If he says he'll do something, they could bet their lives that he would fulfill his promise. He was an example of humility. He never gloated over his achievements.

He was sympathetic. He was caring. He was gentle. He never told a lie. They knew their older brother had never looked upon a woman with lust in his eyes.

He was pure in all his ways and they could not deny that fact. He never took sides. He was only ever concerned for the wellbeing of others above himself. They knew this Jesus. They knew that with this Jesus, what you see is what you get.

He was the epitome. The very height, the very zenith of honesty. He never, he never held a grudge. He never harbored resentment. Not a hint of bitterness was found in him.

And they knew that whatever or whenever they wronged him, and I'm sure they wronged him plenty. He always forgave them from the bottom of his heart and never held it against them. And despite whatever feelings these brothers had towards Jesus, they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loved them like no one else. In their heart of hearts, they could not fault this Jesus. And in the 20 or 30 years of their intimate knowledge of him, they never, beloved, never not once saw him sin.

Surely, surely that's enough to believe. Surely, it didn't matter what the people around them said. Surely, it doesn't matter what the people in Jerusalem did. Surely, it doesn't matter what the Galileans did after the bread of life discourse. They turned their back and rejected this Jesus.

Surely, it didn't matter. They knew who this Jesus is. They only saw goodness from him. Surely, that was enough for them to believe. Furthermore, Beyond question, they would have heard the testimony of the miraculous birth from their mother's lips.

Surely they believed their mother. Surely Joseph, their father, had spoken of the announcement of the angel Gabriel, informing him that he shall have a son and he shall be called Jesus. Why? For he shall save his people from their sins. Surely they believed their father.

Surely they remembered that at the age of 12, their brother Jesus was found in the temple. At least they would have heard the story. And when their parents thought he was lost and when they saw him at the temple, he said he was about his father's work and the people who had been listening to this 12 year old child who was growing immensely in wisdom and stature, the people that heard him were all amazed at his wisdom. Surely, surely that would have carried some weight. Surely that's enough to believe and to add to all that.

From the lips of their older brother himself, they heard him proclaim the truth of his own identity. He claimed to be Messiah. He claimed to be the one sent from heaven to redeem the people of God. He claimed to be the Son of God. He claimed to be the Redeemer of Israel.

He's claimed to be the Savior of the world. And on top of that, they witnessed His many miracles. The love of these men, humanly speaking, had all the reason in the world to believe in this Jesus. They had absolutely no, zero, zero reason to deny him. He had never told a lie.

He had never exaggerated. He had never deceived them, not even once. Only perfect truth came from his mouth. Yet in verse five, we read, for not even his brothers believe in him. If that's not enough, that's not enough.

Mark tells us in the third chapter of his gospel that his brothers thought that he was out of his mind. Out of his mind. Beloved, I ask, how hard is it to believe in Jesus? How dark is the human heart, beloved? How powerful is the bondage to sin?

And as I said earlier, this is not a stab at the pre-converted brothers of Christ, but just an illustration to show us all of the power of sin and the darkness of the human heart in and of itself. that if these men who'd lived with Jesus under the roof, the same roof as our Messiah, as the Savior of the world, all those years, and witnessed his absolute virtuousness in every single area of life, and yet were unable to believe, and yet they were trapped in unbelief, having no ability to free themselves and apprehend this truth, or not having the desire to do so, Then I ask you, what chance, humanly speaking, would you, I, or anyone else have to believe? That's the power of sin. That's how dark and depraved and wicked the human heart is, and let's not play it down. The terrifying reality is this, beloved, I want you to hear me well.

Every single person, Every single person is born that way. A slave to sin. And no amount of evidence or miracles can break the shackles that bind their unbelieving hearts. The brothers of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, are perfect evidence of this. But here's the good news.

Praise be to God for grace. Divine, heart-shattering, will-breaking, nature-destroying, saving grace. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of work, so that no man or no one may boast. It wasn't that Jesus' brothers figured out at some stage that he was the Messiah, maybe before his death, maybe after his death, or after his resurrection, or before his ascension.

We know that for sure. It wasn't that they figured this out, beloved, because with all the proofs, and all the evidence that they had collected over all those years, humanly speaking, if that was not enough, I can say upon the authority of scripture that nothing would be enough to convince them to believe in Jesus Christ. So the question we have to ask is this, are these men unique? Are they indeed unique in the depravity and the blindness of their hearts? In other words, how different were these men, the brothers of Christ, from the rest of us?

Well, beloved, there is no difference. The Bible teaches us that we are all born the same way. We are all born slaves to sin. We are all born dead spiritually, and we are all born rejecters of God. And so we are all saved the same way also.

Through, only through, faith in Jesus Christ because of the grace of God. amazing grace, solely from the divine hand of God. This would be true for the disciples, or the brothers, my apologies, of our Lord, who had all the physical and human proofs in the world. No one No one, beloved, had more proof than they of the truth and the veracity of the claims of Jesus Christ on one hand, and them seeing everything in his virtuous life playing out in the other. But they're saved the same way, beloved, as also the one who hears of this Jesus of Nazareth for the very first time and believes, because it is from the divine hand of God.

Only He is able to make the impossible possible through the grace of God. the God who spoke the universe into existence. He's the one who breathes life into spiritually dead corpses. He breaks the chains of sin and he brings eternal life through his son, the very son of God, the one who gave his life for his sheep. Brothers and sisters, that's how you were saved.

But brothers and sisters, that's what you've been saved from. Be amazed. Be amazed. I pray that we see our salvation as glorious, because the more we contemplate what we were saved from, The more we look back at our nature, the more we look back at our pre-converted life, and if you can't remember back then, then just look at what we spoke of now as the example in the brothers of Jesus Christ and know that you were no different. Your eyes were no less blind, your ears were no less deaf, and you were no less dead in your transgressions and sins, and you hated God no less either.

Just look back then and be amazed. I pray that we would see our salvation as glorious. I pray as we contemplate what we were saved from and the helpless and powerless position that we were in, the more that grace becomes beautiful. My prayer for all of us is that this, is that His grace will never, beloved, never cease to amaze us.