John 7:1:10 Choosing purpose over pressure
In our last sermon from the Book of John we heard the difficult teaching of Jesus as He told His followers they must “Eat of His flesh and drink of His blood” if they wanted to receive eternal life.
Hard words to hear for sure! As we saw, Jesus was not speaking physically of His flesh or His blood, but that spiritually the flesh that feeds the soul, as bread feeds the body, is the life that Jesus laid down on the cross, His own.
In the same way – as water nourishes the body – so Jesus offers “Living water” unto eternal life.
And as the sacrifices of animals was given for the sins of man – they could never take away the sins of man – until Jesus bled and died for our sins – only then could mankind be reconciled to God.
And all of this applied only to those who “take Jesus in” – by faith.
But because of the hard teachings, many who had been following Jesus for the bread, the fish, the signs and the wonders – WALKED AWAY – because they were not following Jesus for who He is- The Son of God – Christ – Messiah.
Today we carry on with the message in John 7:1-10
After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. 2 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near.
3 Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For not even His brothers were believing in Him.
6 So Jesus *said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. 8 Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.”
9 Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.
10 But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret.
1) The Cultural Setting — (John 7:1–2)
Following the "hard sayings" of the Bread of Life discourse in John 6, Jesus deliberately remains in Galilee.
Why? Because the religious leadership in Jerusalem (the Judean authorities) are actively seeking to kill Him!
Now we read the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) was at hand.
This was one of the three mandatory pilgrim festivals (along with Passover and Pentecost) where every adult Jewish male living within a reasonable distance was expected to travel to Jerusalem.
Following the Feast of Trumpets and the solemn Day of Atonement, the Feat of Booths was a festive week long celebration.
The people would set up temporary “tabernacles” or “booths” and live in them for the week to remember and celebrate the provisions that God had given Isreal for 40 years in the wilderness.
The temple would be brightly lit with candles in memory of the pillar of fire that led them.
Each day the priests would pour out buckets of water drawn from the pool of Siloam to remember the water God provided from the rock.
While a celebration for the people – it was a bitter pill for Jesus.
After all – HE is the Lord who has provided –
HE is the one people are called to follow –
HE is the true promised land in whom all who follow Him find rest
But the people did not see this – Least of all, His own brothers…
2) The Tyranny of the Urgent (John 7:3–5)
Jesus’ brothers urge Him to leave Galilee for Judea.
Their logic is simply this: "Leave here and go into Judea, so that your disciples also may see your works which you are doing. For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly."
It’s not spoken of often, but scripture tells us that Mary and Joseph had several children born of their marriage.
In Matthew 13:55-56, while the people are doubting Jesus’ claim of having come down from heaven, we read this:
“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother Mary? Aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t his sisters here with us?”
But as we see His brothers, even though they had seen the signs, wrestled with the idea that their oldest brother was the Christ.
So his brothers chide Jesus – pressuring him – “Booths is approaching! Come up from Galilee to Judea, to Jerusalem. Perform signs and wonders so that people will know you are who you claim to be.”
In their view, a miracle worker who hides out in rural Galilee was wasting his full potential, and if He was the Christ, why not go up and prove it?
“If you want to be publicly known – go do things in public!!”
There is a term known as “The Tyranny of the Urgent”
It is a time management concept where the immediate pressing tasks can often crown out more important and long-term goals.
It is a proportional imbalance between urgent and important.
Examples:
Workplace: Focus on managing complaints to the point that little emphasis is left on solving problems.
Personal life: Pausing in person conversations to respond to electronic communications.
Health and wellbeing: filling the day with shopping errands and fast food while neglecting rest, exercise and healthy diet.
Spiritual growth: Attending church and essential functions while neglecting personal study and prayer.
In our busy, immediate result driven world, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the urgent – while the truly important matters go neglected.
Things like focusing on the needs of the day – while neglecting the eternal things.
As for the other sons of Mary- they saw their brother through the lens of familiarity - rather than bowing to Him as Lord in faith.
It is a real danger for people who “Grow up with Jesus”
I often express my concern for kids who grow up in the church.
Like Jesus’ brothers, they too can suffer from spiritual blindness, as declared in verse 5: "For not even His brothers were believing in Him."
TRUE Regeneration requires TRUE faith- which is rooted not only in a working understanding of God’s word, but as Hebrews 11:1 declares:
“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
While these kids grow up knowing “about” Jesus – many lack the heartfelt commitment to accept Him for who He is based on their own beliefs-
Many instead believe simply because that is what they were taught.
It can become a relationship of the head – and not the heart.
Knowledge “about” Jesus does not equate to loving Him, honoring Him, or following Him unto salvation.
James 2:19 “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder.”
One of our duties as pastors, teachers, parents and family members is to raise up these kids so that they not only know “about” Jesus –
And that in understanding they choose to love, honor, and obey Him.
Not because they are told to – but because they choose to – and that is when salvation occurs!
And friend – if you have believed from a place of obligation, today I beseech you to hear and to choose to surrender to the Lord of Salvation, honoring Him and committing to follow Him for who He is.
Mark 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not is condemned.
Acts 16:31 Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one may boast.
3) Choosing Purpose over Pressure (John 7:6–8)
6 So Jesus *said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. 8 Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.”
Where His brothers tried to pressure Jesus for the immediate gratification – Jesus remained focused on the purpose for why He had come.
Think about how easy it would have been for Jesus to manifest Himself as the Divine King of kings in His first coming?
What emperor or armies of the world could have stood against The Son of God and legions of angel armies?
Yet Jesus answers them: "My time is not yet here, but your time is always ready."
Jesus uses the Greek word kairos (divine-appointed or God-ordained season) versus general chronological time.
Remember following the feeding of the 5000 the crowds had intended to thrust Jesus forward as their Messiah King – But Jesus had withdrawn – because then was not the “Kairos” –
It was not yet God’s timing for Christ Jesus to be presented in His full majesty and to reign over the kingdom of men.
But friends, make no mistake – that day IS COMING.
One day, as we read in Revelation 1:7 “Behold He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”
Revelation 19:16 “On His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”
But that day, under the pressure of His brothers, was not the time.
Has anyone here felt the pressure of the timeline of impatience?
Veruca Salt said it best in the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
She sang of wanting this, and wanting that, extravagant and unrealistic, and all of this she wanted… NOW!
And then she declares, “And if I don’t get the things I’m after, I’m going
to scream!”
Anyone notice how many people are screaming these days?
Screaming for extravagant and unrealistic things and demanding they want it now.
The world's timeline is driven by self-preservation, opportunistic ambition, and immediate gratification.
Because the message of the world is there is no tomorrow – and certainly no eternal life – so now is all there is.
What a worthless and meaningless life this would be if that were true.
If mankind is nothing more than this moment born of stardust and chaos – then life would have no meaning.
But then, we know that this is not true.
All the cultures of man throughout all the ages of man have sought to answer the questions of life, death and purpose.
Scripture itself declares –
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
We know – it is part of the spiritual DNA of mankind
Romans 1:18-20 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
Every leaf, every blade of grass declares the proof of the Creator.
Nothing cannot create anything – so that anything exists is proof of the creator.
And again, scripture is clear – God is the Creator – and even more – back in
John 1:3 we read of Jesus “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”
Denial of the Creator, denial of Jesus, and of “what next” is rooted in pride, arrogance, and fear.
Pride – to believe that we are the pinnacle of existence and have no need of God.
Arrogance – to declare that we choose what is truth and to define right and wrong as we please.
And Fear – because if God is real – then I would have to acknowledge that He is greater than my existence and able to declare my purpose.
But even we who walk by faith can be impatient, AMEN?
It can be an easy trap to fall into where we pray with an expectation of immediate gratification.
“Oh Lord, I come to you on humbly bent knee asking for your sovereign power and divine wisdom to hear my prayer and respond.” ……. “And I want it now”
The brothers didn’t want to wait on God’s timeline, they wanted it NOW!
Sometimes we need to be reminded of the same lesson the brothers needed to learn-
It is not about our timeline – it is about His!
To help us avoid “The Tyranny of the Urgent” and to focus on “Purpose over Pressure” there are some verses to hold onto:
14 verses in scripture encourage believers to be patient and wait upon the Lord.
KEY VERSE: 14. Romans 12:12 – “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
How do we do that? KEY VERSE: Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight”
The Pressure Problem- Rushing ahead of God can lead to unnecessary stress, striving, and failure.
Not to mention the danger of building a false sense of doubting God when things don’t work out according to YOUR plan.
You and I have been called to a bold, but Submissive Faith: Waiting on God’s timing, actively trusting Him.
It requires confessing that God owns our calendar, our careers, and our families,
It requires resting in the truth that delayed answers are often divine protections.
4) The Hostility of the Worldly Heart (John 7:7)
“The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil."
Why not just boldly walk into Judea, proclaim Himself the Christ, and perform signs and wonders to prove it?
A) Because that was not God’s plan
B) Because as Jesus we have already read, the Jewish leaders were already planning to kill Him.
Why did the leaders, and why does the world still today hate Jesus and His teachings?
Because He testifies of it that its deeds are evil.
The Word of God calls out the lusts and pleasures of the wicked heart of man and declares them fallen, sinful, abominable before the Holy Living God.
For them He declares that he will blot them out of the book of Life.
Deuteronomy 32:41 If I sharpen the lightening of My sword and My hand takes hold of judgment, I will render vengeance on my adversaries and I will repay those who hate Me.
Psalm 7:12 If one does not repent, God will sharpen His sword; He has bent and strung His bow.
The Jewish leaders were religious leaders with worldly hearts. And Jesus called them out for it – But those of the world loved them.
Sadly, Jesus’ brothers, not yet believing in Him, also had worldly hearts and they too were loved by ways of the world.
Why? Because the world loves its own.
Jesus would soon declare to His disciples why it was that the world would reject, despise, and persecute them
– John 15:19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”
What does it mean to be “of the world”?
It means your identity – desires - values – goals – and purpose are rooted in worldly things.
1 John 2:12 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but from the world.”
Who are you? Do you consider yourself defined by your occupation – your position – your achievements? Or are you a follower of Christ Jesus?
Ask yourself as to who you say you are – “which of these titles is eternal?”
What are you living for? Success, pleasure, enjoyment, to fulfill your place or station in life? Or to be pleasing in the sight of God?
Those who are of the world are spiritually blind – Jesus tells His disciples regarding the coming empowerment by the Holy Spirit – “The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him.”
John 14:17
Friends you have to choose – Who are you of?
Are you of Christ? A follower by faith of the word of God knowing in your heart who is your Savior and King?
Or are you of the world – going through the motions of religiosity while in your heart longing for earthly things.
But be warned – God does not abide with spiritually adultery.
If you are His – be His
James 4:4 “You adulteresses do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility to God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
5) The Protection of Divine Purpose (John 7:8-10)
9 Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.
10 But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret.
Jesus was not playing games – He was illustrating spiritual discernment
As we have talked about waiting on the Lord it begs the question: How will we know when it is time???
As said earlier – it begins in prayer – it also relies on spiritual discernment.
Spiritual discernment is God given ability to perceive, understand and distinguish between right and wrong, truth and deception and the things of God and the things of the world.
I say God given – because as we have seen, the worldly heart is deceitful, desperately wicked, and set on the things of the world, despising God.
Therefore, to exercise spiritual discern we need a new heart –
- And to receive a new heart – we must repent and receive Christ by faith.
As for Jesus – it was the will of the Father that He would go up to the festival- but not that He would go with His brothers among great fanfare.
This was to protect the work He had yet to do before the events that would lead to His arrest and execution at the hands of the people He came to save.
Next week we will see the timing of God worked out as Jesus makes His way to the temple to teach.
And this too is a lesson for us – God may not “show up” according to our timing or according to our plan – But God will “show up!”
And In God’s appointed time Jesus will return to judge, to reward, and to reign.
IN CLOSING
Until then…
We defeat The Tyranny of the Urgent –
By considering the things that are eternally important rather than focusing on the things that do not last.
We Choose Purpose over Pressure
By focusing on the work that God has called us to us followers of Christ Jesus.
We deny the Worldly Heart
By focusing on our identity in Christ and trusting in the new heart He has given us to serve Him.
And we Protect our Divine Purpose
By practicing Spiritual Discernment – looking to the Word of God and being consistent in prayer to perceive, understand and distinguish between right and wrong, truth and deception and the things of God and the things of the world.
Let us Pray