Originally published September 29, 2017 under the title “A priest, two goats, and salvation”
Yom Kippur is this weekend.
For observant Jews all over the world, this evening, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur in Hebrew) is celebrated. The Day of Atonement is the most holy of days in the Jewish calendar. It’s an annual picture of forgiveness that people could have. While Christians don’t celebrate this day, it’s one worth studying because everything about it points to Christ and the gospel.
Atonement refers to God’s work of dealing with our sin. Because of sin, the relationship between man and God has been broken.
Three significant elements of this day are the high priest, who would make the sacrifices, the goat that he would sacrifice, and a second goat who was set free.
Cleansing of the priest
When these commands were given, the Israelites are in their desert wanderings. So where do you worship while you’re on this long journey in the desert?
Well you bring the place to worship with you!
And so the Israelites traveled with the Tabernacle, which was a tent.
Now only a priest could go inside the Tabernacle. It was a holy place. And as we’ve said, the holiness of God demands reverence.
Within the Tabernacle, there was an inner sanctum called the Holy of Holies or the Most Holy Place, and only the High Priest could go in there. And he did it once a year, on behalf of the Israelites. The Day of Atonement.
Before entering, he had to offer a bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering to atone for his sins and those of his family. Because the priest was sinful too
As part of the priest’s preparation for entering the Most Holy Place, the presence of God, was that he had to put on special linen garments. Everything about entering into God’s presence was meant to be holy, set apart, different from everyday life.
Like we’ve already said, everything in this passage points us to Christ.
You have the high priest who had to cleanse himself before entering the temple.
But in the gospels, we see that Jesus is the true High Priest.
And Jesus doesn’t need to purify himself, or atone for his own sin to enter the presence of the Lord because he is the perfect High Priest.
Hebrew 7:26 says, “it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.”
Keep in mind the purification rituals needed for the priest. The Holiness that was required to enter the presence of the Lord.
While the Day of Atonement was just one day out of the year, there were animal sacrifices. But because Jesus is holy and righteous, he doesn’t need to purify himself to enter the presence of God. He’s God on earth.
Hebrews 7:26 says, “it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.”
Hebrews 7:27 offers another comment on the priestly system. “He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.”
The perfect High Priest and it is only because of Christ’s perfection that we are enabled to enter into the presence of God. He is the one who is our representative before God.
And on the Day of Atonement, one of the last things the high priest would do before going into the holy of holies was that he would take two goats.
2. The atonement by the goat
The sacrifices the priest has thus far made is for himself.
Leviticus 16:15 says, “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.”
Blood is sprinkled in the Most Holy Place and this is what the sacrifice is meant to do to atone for sins, to cover up our sins. The sacrifice of the goat was meant to symbolically bear the sins of the people.
Leviticus 16:16 says, “Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins.”
All of their transgressions and sins. All of their intentional defiance to God.
Because of the sacrifice of this goat, it was a powerfully symbolic way for atonement, for a restored relationship with the Lord. For sins being covered by the blood of the goat.
Today, we have the gospel. We have Jesus. But before Christ, this would have been an incredibly powerful symbol for the sins of the people being atoned for.
We see that the sacrifices then point us to the greater sacrifice today. That Jesus is the priest but he is also the sacrifice. Because while a goat could not atone for our sins, and while a goat’s blood could not cover up our sins, Christ’s could. He was the worthy sacrifice.
I know to the world, the idea of an animal sacrifice to atone for our sins seems arctic, seems backwards.
But it was merely a shadow. Because our forgiveness could never have been truly paid for by the life of some animal.
It’s not that the sacrifice of that goat actually was the reason why God forgave the people. It was a heart that came to God in faith and recognized the cost of sin that mattered. Just like today.
Hebrews 10:4 says, “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
They were never intended to take away sins. It is only the blood of Christ which can do that.
And atones for our sins. He covers up our sins. His blood washes away our sins.
The first goat on the Day of Atonement was sacrificed for sins.
But the second goat wasn’t slaughtered.
And the attention turns to that goat in verse 20.
3. The other goat
20 “AND WHEN HE HAS MADE AN END OF ATONING FOR THE HOLY PLACE AND THE TENT OF MEETING AND THE ALTAR, HE SHALL PRESENT THE LIVE GOAT.
21 AND AARON SHALL LAY BOTH HIS HANDS ON THE HEAD OF THE LIVE GOAT, AND CONFESS OVER IT ALL THE INIQUITIES OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, AND ALL THEIR TRANSGRESSIONS, ALL THEIR SINS. AND HE SHALL PUT THEM ON THE HEAD OF THE GOAT AND SEND IT AWAY INTO THE WILDERNESS BY THE HAND OF A MAN WHO IS IN READINESS. 22 THE GOAT SHALL BEAR ALL THEIR INIQUITIES ON ITSELF TO A REMOTE AREA, AND HE SHALL LET THE GOAT GO FREE IN THE WILDERNESS.
-LEVITICUS 16:20-22
So our sin is associated with the second goat too. Both hands placed on this goat. It was symbolically transferring sin to that goat. The first goat died and his blood was a symbol of our sins being covered. The second goat is the result of our atonement. It was a symbol for sin being taken away.
Sin totally removed when you trust in God.
What a reminder as that goat is set free. That we are set free from sin because of God’s grace.
If you’re someone who ever struggles to believe that God could forgive you. If you’ve done something really bad in your past, or if you have an area that you’re struggling with today and you feel like God wouldn’t love you, couldn’t forgive you. If there’s ever any lingering worry about that, our sins are taken away because of Christ.
They are totally removed, like the second goat, sent away, never to be heard from again.
We don’t deserve it but that’s how God atones for our sins. He forgives us of our sins. He removes our sins and our relationship with him can be restored.
Because of the work of Christ, because of the grace that God offers to all who accept him, you don’t have to feel that way. Your sins are forgiven. But not only are they forgiven, they’re totally removed, they’re taken away.
Not because we’re so good but because Christ is that good.
Both in the Old Testament and today, what mattered was faith. Trusting in the Lord. Recognizing that we don’t live up on our own. That we aren’t holy. We aren’t worthy.
But when we trust in Christ, he makes us worthy, he makes us holy.
The forgiveness of our sins has a cost we cannot pay.
It’s fascinating as I think of all of the ceremonialism in the Old Testament Law. Everything was done for reasons. All of the exact and meticulous detail under which the tabernacle was built. All of the specific instructions given to the priests, the very specific laws regarding sacrifice, the specific ways in which to approach God. The cleansing that needed to be done, the atonement for sin.
It’s teaching us the holiness of God. A holiness we don’t have, that we can’t live up to. But we are welcomed into the presence of the Lord because of Christ.
For God to forgive us, the Lord paid the price. And he does that for anyone who comes to him by faith. Let this passage be a reminder that there is a cost for sin. A tremendous cost for sin.
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The prosperity gospel is a movement that has its origins in America about a century ago and came to greater prominence after the Second World War. It has largely grown out of pentecostalism and the Word of Faith movement.
It is the idea that it is always the will of God for genuine believers to be materially blessed and physically healthy. It’s essentially preoccupied with material blessings.
In John 6, Jesus has just fed a large crowd of people. They’ve wanted to make him king. They’re drawn to his teaching and signs, yet Jesus rebukes the crowd when he says: “you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”
I’m not saying that this first century audience had a 20th and 21st century notion of a health and wealth gospel. But they’re drawn to Jesus because of him fulfilling a physical need. There are elements of what they believe which are picked up in the prosperity gospel movement.
It’s not the only place where we find this attitude in the New Testament. Paul addresses a similar issue within the church at Philippi. Philippians 3:19-20: 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
They’re not looking to take up their cross and follow him. They’re not looking to die to themselves and their sinful ways. They’re there because of a free meal.
The theology that looks merely at the material blessings of God has many problems.
First, it’s not the gospel.
The gospel is the message of Christ crucified and his redemption of sinful people for the glory of God.
He died to save souls.
The purpose of life is knowing and enjoying Jesus Christ forever. The purpose of life does not revolve around material blessings.
Secondly, prosperity theology teaches things that are not Biblical.
It undermines the doctrine of suffering. The Bible does not hide from suffering.
Prosperity theology believes that it is never the will of God for a person to be sick, to die from cancer, to struggle with depression.
The Bible teaches that the Christian life does involve suffering.
God uses it and works all things together for good for those who love him. Romans 8:28.
God uses suffering to work his purposes. Story of Joseph. We referenced it last week. Joseph is betrayed by his brothers, but through that betrayal, it brings Joseph into Egypt which allows him to be in a position years later to save his family during a time of famine.
But we also see God’s providence and goodness through that evil.
Genesis 50:20: As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
God uses suffering to sanctify and perfect his people.
James 1:2-4: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Notice that James says to count it all joy WHEN not IF you meet trials of various kinds.
To quote my professor D.A. Carson, if you’re not suffering, just keep living.
Romans 5:3-4: we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope
God uses suffering so that we can have a positive influence on others.
Wonderful passage. 2 Corinthians 1:3-5: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
God uses suffering to remind us that our ultimate need is in him. 2 Corinthians 1:8-9:
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
And we could talk for hours on many more passages.
God allows suffering. In his sovereign will, God allows it. It is talked about constantly in the Bible and especially in the New Testament.
And you have televangelists and authors of popular Christian books who say the opposite of that.
They’re teaching an idea that is not Biblical.
Yes, God does ultimately promise healing, in heaven. But there is no promise given in the Bible that all true believers or faithful Christians will always experience healing in this life.
The third problem with prosperity theology. It turns God into your genie.
God does not primarily exist to fulfill to give you everything you want.
A lot of times the things we want are not good.
If you have a child and just gave them everything they ever wanted, would that be loving? Of course not. Because a lot of things kids want aren’t good for them.
Prosperity theology views giving not primarily as a way of giving back part of what God has given for the purposes of his kingdom, but as a way to receive material blessings back as a result of your generosity.
Prosperity theology views prayer as a way to force God to give you what you desire.
Prosperity theology believes that faith is rewarded by leading to prosperity.
Fourth, it teaches untrue things about the world
While turning God into a genie and believing in a theology where good things happen if you’re good enough or if you have enough faith, what that essentially teaches a person is that they’re in control of their own destiny.
Not Biblical. The Bible teaches that God is sovereign.
Fifth, prosperity theology actually distracts us from true riches.
Ironically, God actually wants to give us so much more than what prosperity theology focuses on. But if we just focus on this world, on materialism, on what’s physical, we lose sight of that.
Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.
Sixth: prosperity theology distorts the teachings of scripture and takes the Bible out of context
It cherry picks the Bible. We’re going through the Gospel of John. Prosperity gospel preaching churches don’t go verse by verse through books. Because they have a theological belief system that is not supported by the whole of scriptures and so they pick and choose what fits their system.
You don’t have great scholars or theologians of prosperity theology. Because honest reading of the Bible tears it down.
The seventh issue with prosperity theology is that it relies heavily on special revelations from God.
I know I’m hammering on this topic this morning. But it’s a highly influential, unbiblical movement that influences Christians here in America and across the world.
Many of the best-selling Christian books are written by prosperity teachers and preachers who do not teach or preach the Word but preach a worldly message. Many, I would say most, televangelists fall into this camp.
Our world eats up prosperity theology because it tells us that it’s all about us. It co-opts the gospel and replaces it with worldliness.
As Jesus said, “you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.“
Why are you a follower of Jesus?
Is it because he is the way, the truth and the life? Is it because he is glorious? Is it because he’s worthy? Is it because he’s the savior of the world? Is it because of the gospel. That you were dead in your sins and that the only way to redemption was through his life, and death and because of the shedding of his blood?
I’m hoping that I’m preaching to the choir on this. For those of us who love the Word of God, who have reverence for the scriptures, the prosperity gospel must be seen as a counterfeit gospel.
But here’s my challenge.
Because while we might not buy into a health and wealth gospel, we have so many blessings in our country that there can still be a temptation into falling into the trap of thinking that we’re good and that our lives should be good. We should have good families. We should have happy marriages. We deserve to not really suffer.
It’s a constant temptation. But the Bible makes no such promises. Why are you a follower of Jesus?
The Biblical message is not that we should follow Jesus so that everything will be easy. It’s that when you follow Jesus, you’re taken from death to life. It’s not a promise of ease but it’s a promise that the difficulties have a purpose. It’s not a promise of getting what you want, but it’s a promise of all things working together for your ultimate good. People wanted to follow Jesus because he took care of a physical need, but Jesus came in order to tend to our spiritual needs.
Final verse of the passage. Jesus has given his rebuke to the crowds. He’s exposed their heart and the real reason they’re following him.
27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” (John 6:27)
Jesus tells them to work for the food that endures to eternal life and that is the food which Jesus came to bring.
Not only did Jesus come to bring it, but it can come only through Jesus. As the end of the verse reminds us that it is Jesus upon whom God has set his seal. Jesus is the one who has come to bring eternal life to a sinful world.
And he offers that life to you today if you believe in him by faith. Know that you are a sinner and that Jesus has come to forgive you of your sins and reconcile you to God.
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After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers believed in him.
6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
Prayer
Our heavenly Father,
We continue to see the extreme division in our nation.
It says in Your Word:
God reigns over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted!
May we continually be mindful of that. Lord, you are on the throne, you are our hope.
Lord God, let us not be swayed by the whims of the world, but let us be grounded in the truth of who you are.
Lord, we ask that you bless our time in your Word. May we come to you and praise you.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Introduction
We come to John chapter 7.
Several weeks ago when we started chapter 6, I had mentioned that chapters 6, 7, and 8 are a section of John where we see a lot of themes which take us back to the Exodus event and the Israelite wanderings.
We certainly saw that in the feeding of the multitudes as that harkened back to God’s provision of manna for the Israelites during their wanderings.
That will continue in this chapter, especially as we consider the feasts which were instituted during the Exodus event.
We also saw it in the time of year as the beginning of chapter 6 told us it was Passover. Passover, the Jewish holy day which celebrated God’s redeptive work of freeing the Israelties from slavery in Egypt. It would also be at a Passover when Jesus is crucified. In tht 6, John 6 was the beginning – give or take a few days – of the last year of Jesus’ life.
Chapter 5 had also been at a feast, although John doesn’t specify which feast it was.
Chapter 7 will begin at yet another feast, the Feast of Booths.
And that’s definitely something that John likes to do in this gospel is tie events in Jesus’ life and ministry to their correspondence to the Jewish holy days.
And in that, we see that Jesus is the greater fulfillment of the Jewish feasts and what they ultimately point to.
So it’s the time of year of the Jewish Feast of Booths, and Jesus’ attendance at the feast will come into question and we’ll look at this morning’s passage in three scenes.
A conflict
Verse 1: After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him.
John begins this passage “after this” and he’s referring to Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse. We had concluded that chapter in looking at the way people responded to Jesus. Some walked away and others followed him.
John says “after this Jesus went about in Galilee.”
It’s actually been about six months since the last event which John recorded. We know that because the last chapter was at the time of Passover, in the spring; as verse 2 will tell us, this is the Feast of Booths, which is in the fall. The math is pretty simple.
Jesus was in Galilee and John adds that he would not go about in the region of Judea because the Jewish leaders were seeking to kill him.
That’s not the first time we’ve seen opposition in John’s Gospel, but it really begins to pick up starting in this seventh chapter.
By no means a light hearted disagreement, but bloody opposition as there were people who wanted to see Jesus dead.
Verse 2: Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand.
We’ve already noted that. The timing of the Feast of Booths, when Jesus should go, and when he did go are all important elements in this passage.
Verse 3: So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.”
We see Jesus’ brothers who were originally introduced in John’s Gospel at the Wedding Feast at Cana in chapter 2.
They suggest Jesus go to Judea and they point out that “no one works in secret but seeks to be known openly.” Their point seems to be that “if you want people to believe in you, you’ve got to be seen! You’ve gotta market yourself.” Cinderella had better go to the ball.
It’s interesting.
Jesus’ brothers give him advice.
I think of the areas where we like to have opinions when we’re not truly teh experts on the topic. Play calls in football, military strategies, foreign policy decisions. We have opinions on what doctors should or shouldn’t do.
I’m not judging that. I have opinions on things too.
But we aren’t experts in every domain of life. A lot of our information comes from people who actually are experts.
But here we have Jesus’ brothers telling him that he should go to Judea so that his works can be seen.
They’re telling God what he should do!
The all-knowing, all wise, righteous Lord needs advice from his younger brothers.
It’s not all that different from how the world often treats God, his word. We make our own moral judgements about God’s wisdom when we sin.
I think of God’s providence but we so often rebel and grumble against that. I understand the value of lament of the hurt that our sin and the sin in the world causes.
But it can also be tempting to look at situations and to forget that God is all-knowing, all-good and that he is working ll things together for good (Romans 8:28). And in that, we can judge God’s providence and perfect will.
We can do the same thing for things that God allows to happen in nature or in the world where we judge God for allowing it to happen.
The world likes to judge God for being a righteous judge. The world likes to judge God for punishing sin. The world likes to try to dictate to God what love is, what justice is, what goodness is.
For commands in scripture with which we disagree, we like to find reasons why they don’t apply.
On and on.
Isaiah 45:9 says: Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?
The point of that verse is that fallen humanity is the clay who complains against the potter who made us.
In our pride and sinfulness, humanity – in our heart of hearts – likes to think we know better than God.
There’s irony that Jesus’ brothers suggest to him what he should do.
Now, there’s debate among scholars as to why they gave him this advice.
Are they just being supportive brothers giving advice?
That’s possible.
Although it should be noted that verse 5 says his brothers didn’t believe in him.
That is to say that they did not believe in his Lordship.
Jesus’ brothers have a lifetime of seeing his righteousness, they’ve seen his signs. But they don’t believe in who he is.
Richard Phillips says in his commentary “if anything can prove the depravity of the human heart, it is this.”
Sometimes people say that they don’t believe in God because they don’t feel like they have enough evidence.
In the Bible, you see people interacting with Jesus, seeing his ministry and miracles. Who don’t believe.
In the Old Testament, Abraham had personally been given the promise of God for land and offspring. But we still see him struggle with doubts at time. We see him respond with laughter at the idea that him and Sarah could have a child in their old age.
You see the Israelites miraculously freed from slavery. The parting of the Red Sea. But then they quickly turn to idolatry. They had decades of God providing for them and sustaining them in their wanderings, and yet they fell into grumbling.
It’s easy to think that if we had a little more of the picture, a little more of a sense of God, then everything in our life of faith would suddenly be so easy.
That would not change that we’re still sinful people.
Jesus’ brothers had been in his presence for their entire lifetime and, at this point, they did not believe.
Think about the great Spiritual privilege that was!
I know we can feel a real sense of burden, a real sense of responsibility for people in our own families who are not believers.
We should care about that. We should pray for our families, pray for opportunities to share the gospel, to talk about faith. But we must remember that no matter who you are, how good you are, how faithful you are, it’s beyond your control.
Jesus had a real life family who interacted with him and lived with him and yet they still struggled. And while we’re on the subject of Jesus’ brothers, there’s another brief point that warrants mention.
Jesus had siblings.
The historical teaching of the Catholic Church is that Mary remained a virgin her entire life. That’s not supported in the Bible, and is actually contradicted in the Bible. These are siblings. Some have argued that maybe they’re other relatives, such as cousins.
Greek has a word for cousin. That’s not what they use here.
Jesus had siblings. He had a family.
His siblings are referenced other places in the New Testament.
Matthew 13, his brothers are named.
Matthew 13:55-56: Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us?
Jesus had a family.
And guess what?
One of the things that we see in the gospels is that Jesus had a sometimes complicated relationship with his family.
So if you think your family is dysfunctional…just remember that there were people who were related to Jesus and they did not really understand him or always get along with him.
That’s not to say that Jesus ever sinned. He didn’t.
But we do see examples in the other gospels of familial strain.
Mark 3:20-21, Jesus is growing in popularity and crowds are following him. But we see a response of his family early in his ministry.
20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”
As our passage explicitly tells us, Jesus’ brothers did not believe.
At least some of his brothers eventually came to faith. Two books in the New Testament are written by brothers of Jesus: James and Jude.
But at this point in his ministry, when we’re in the last six or so months of Jesus’ life, they do not believe.
So we’ve seen the unsolicited advice of Jesus’ brothers.
There’s another comment that warrants mention by way of application. I think of how important it is to have a strong family. I think about when I was nearing the end of seminary. I was single and considering different ministry opportunities.
I knew I eventually wanted to be the teaching pastor of a church, but part of the reason why I didn’t immediately go that route was because I thought it would be so much harder to do as a single person.
It’s important to have the support of a family.
Jesus endured a lot during his ministry. In this passage, there are people plotting against him. There were people who wanted to use Jesus to suit their own ends. There were people in Jesus’ inner circle who betrayed him. There were people who plotted against him.
And through all of that, aside from Mary, we don’t see any support for Jesus from his own family.
There are so many ways how Jesus relates to us in his humanity. Family dysfunction is one of many.
Continuing in our passage.
Jesus responds to them.
II. We come to our second scene – divine will
Verses 6-8: Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”
Jesus says “my time has not yet come.”
I think the point is that his point of going to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths has not yet come.
He is not on man’s schedule or timeline.
Jesus’ brothers suggest that Jesus capitalize on the autumn holidays and go to present himself in Jerusalem.
They tell him what they would have done, but they didn’t see the world the way Jesus did.
There are several reasons why it’s not the right time.
As the beginning of the chapter informed us, there were Jewish leaders who were seeking to kill Jesus.
But more importantly, Jesus is always sensitive to the divine will.
John 5:30, Jesus said:
I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
We see in the gospels that Jesus is led by God.
Matthew 4:1
Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil
Richard Phillips’ commentary points out that God had ordained a specific time for the birth of Christ.
Galatians 4:4:
when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law
God had ordained a specific time for the death of Christ.
John 17:1:
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
And he had ordained the timing for the events in Jesus’ life and ministry.
Again, Jesus’ brothers wanted him to show himself, his signs, make a big display at this feast. That was not the divine will and that is why Jesus was saying the time had not come for him to go to the feast.
Because he was on God’s timeline, not man’s timeline.
Jesus tells his brothers in verse 6:
your time is always here.
Their time is always here because their focus and mission is still the things of the world, not the things of God. And so it doesn’t matter when they go to Jerusalem.
But Jesus’ time has not yet come because he is serving heavenly purposes.
Verse 7, Jesus specifically connects his brothers to the sinful world.
The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.
The world doesn’t hate Jesus’ brothers because they’re following the way of the world.
But Jesus came to bring light into a dark world and the world hates that.
John 3:19: this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
Jesus continues speaking.
Verse 8: You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”
I find verse 8 to be the most interesting verse in this passage.
Jesus tells his brothers to go to the feast. That’s straightforward enough.
But Jesus says that he will not be going up to “this feast.”
It’s interesting that it’s translated “I am not going up to this feast” instead of “I am not going up to the feast.”
The ESV, NASB, NIV, King James all say “this” and not “the.”
If Jesus says “I am not going to the feast,” it would seem that he’s saying that he’s not going to the Feast of Booths that’s being celebrated.
But when he says “I’m not going to this feast,” that seems to imply that he is going up to another feast.
The wording “going up” is also interesting.
Now from where Jesus was in Galilee, to go to Jerusalem, there actually is a change in elevation where you literally would be going up to Jerusalem. But as we see so many times in this gospel, I think Jesus’ words have a double meaning.
Jesus uses the phrase about “going up,” “lifted up,” “ascending” in other places of this gospel. I think it refers to Jesus being lifted up on the cross and that when Jesus says that it’s not the time for him to go up to this feast, he’s looking forward to the future feast that he would go up to: the Passover the following spring when he would go to the cross.
And that brings us to our third scene in the passage.
III. The feast
Verse 9: 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.
Jesus goes to the feast.
Just two verses before, I thought Jesus had said he wasn’t going.
He wasn’t going on the timeline of his brothers.
He was on the divine timeline.
Jesus does not go to make a grand entrance at this feast, but he has quietly gone to attend. He’s one among the many Israelites who have gone to Jerusalem to observe the holiday.
Jesus goes in private, but there were people on the lookout for him as the opposition to Jesus was increasing.
11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” 13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
There’s a buzz about Jesus. There are people at the feast who wanted to see him.
We see the differing opinions that some were favorable to Jesus while others feared he was leading people astray.
But just as Jesus had gone to the feast in private, we see that the response to Jesus is also largely in private, most likely for fear of the ruling authorities possibly retaliating against people who were sympathetic to Jesus’ message and teachings.
So the passage ends with Jesus at the Feast of Booths. He’s in private, but as the passage unfolds in the following weeks, we’ll see Jesus more and more come to the forefront at this feast.
Feast of Booths
We talked a little bit about the Feast of Booths in the very beginning.
Providentially, it’s pretty good timing in the year to come to this event in chapter 7 when the Israelites are celebrating the Feast of Booths. There are three Jewish holy days in the fall.
Rosh hashanah which is the New Year in Judaism. That actually falls this weekend.
A second holy day is Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement which is a one of the most sacred days in Jewish life which is represents atoning sacrifice and forgiveness.
That’s next weekend.
And the third major Jewish Holy Day is the Feast of Booths, which is happening in our passage this morning. The Feast of Booths is how it gets translated in John.
I don’t love that translation for “booths.”
I hear “booth,” I think of a restaurant boof.
More literally, it’s the Feast of Tabernacles, sometimes called the Feast of Tents. It’s also called the Feast of Ingathering. Those are all referring to the same thing. In Hebrew, the feast is called Sukkot.
Sukkot is an 8 day celebration. It is a joyous celebration that corresponds to the fall harvest and a time of thankfulness and it also calls attention back to the Israelite wanderings in the desert for 40 years.
The significance of sleeping in tents was that it was reminiscent of the Israelites sleeping in man made structures during their time of desert wanderings. The feast has a lot of resonance to the desert wanderings of Israel.
Sleeping in tents was also paying homage to Jewish farmers who sometimes had to sleep in these types of structures during their time of harvest.
And for eight days, Jewish people slept in these tents that they made.
Sukkot includes water and light ceremonies which will both become relevant in this chapter and we Jesus will explain how these elements ultimately point to him.
This year, Sukkot will fall from October 2-9. So again, we’re at the same time of year as that holy day.
A day like yom kippur, the day of atonement, is meaningful, but it’s not like a joyous celebration. It’s a pretty somber event. It calls our sin to mind. It’s like Good Friday.
But it was a meaningful, festive holiday. It also had agricultural ties as did many of the Jewish feasts.
Richard Phillips’ commentary is again helpful in considering the feasts.
I mentioned some of the fall holy days.
But in the Israelite calendar, you also had three pilgrimage feasts where Jewish people in the first century would have traveled into Jerusalem from all over Israel.
The first was Passover.
Passover was in the spring.
Obviously it was Passover when Jesus was to give his life as a sacrifice.
Passover is remembering God’s deliverance of Israel. It’s symbolized by the sacrifice of lambs. Jesus is the perfect and spotless Passover lamb who was sacrificed to deliver and redeem people from their slavery to sin.
Passover points to salvation.
About seven weeks after Passover, you have the Feast of Weeks, also called Pentecost. That’s the second of the pilgrimage festivals.
Passover coincided with the time of year when the Israelites left Egypt. Pentecost – 7 weeks later – coincided with the time of year when God gave the Law to Israel at Mount Sinai.
And certainly both of those days have resonance in Christianity.
Passover is the time of year when we celebrate Good Friday and Easter.
Pentecost Sunday commemorates God pouring out his Spirit on the early church.
And so we have this progression in the year between Passover to Pentecost to the Feast of Booths.
But there is also a progression that you have Easter, before the giving of the Spirit at Pentecost. And for the Isrealites, the Feast of Booths was a fall harvest celebration that also looked forward to a time of future hope in God’s promises.
Feast of Booths was a time that looked forward. For the Israelites, they looked forward to the coming year. They looked forward to next year’s planting.
Zechariah 14 pointed forward to a future time when he talked of people from the nations coming to Jerusalem together to celebrate the Feast of Booths.
Zechariah 14:16: everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths.
And so when Jesus’ brothers want him to make a grand entrance at the Feast of Booths, the timing was not right. Feast of Booths was a celebration, but before that celebration would be appropriate, the Lord Jesus needed to endure the cross.
As Phillips says “they were advising him to put on a crown without first taking up his cross.”
That is why Jesus could not go to the festival on his brothers’ terms.
It was not the right time.
It’s interesting.
He goes up to the Feast of Booths. Again, I prefer Feast of Tabernacles.
As I’ve mentioned many times in our study of John, Jesus is the true tabernacle.
He’s the place where we meet God in the world.
So one last time, consider the situation.
It’s the Feast of Tabernacles and the true tabernacle is there. But he goes quietly, and largely unnoticed because sinful humanity wants to see him killed.
And just as the Feast of Tabernacles was a time when the Jewish people looked forward to a future hope, the true tabernacle, Jesus: the presence of God in the world went up to Jerusalem a final time for Passover where he would go up on the cross and give up his life so that the same sinful world who killed him could have redemption through his death and resurrection.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away Friday night at the age of 87. A few thoughts have come to mind as I’ve reflected on her passing and the responses in media and social media.
-There’s a major push to wait until next year to nominate a new justice, given the response of the GOP controlled senate in 2016 when Antonin Scalia passed away. At the time, part of the talking point was that the American people should have a say in the next justice (and that a lame duck president should not nominate a new justice in an election year). Even in 2016, I thought that was the wrong angle for the GOP to pursue. I thought the better argument was “it’s not the senate’s job to confirm whoever the president nominates; it’s the president’s job to nominate someone the senate is willing to confirm.
-The hypocrisy cuts both ways though. It’s about the one billionth example of political parties talking out both sides of their mouths because democrats (including current nominee Joe Biden) wanted a nominee in 2016 to be confirmed. Now they want to wait. Both parties are hypocritical on this issue.
-None of this changes the fact that regardless of what happened in 2016, Donald Trump is the president and it’s his prerogative to nominate someone for the court. (Obama nominated Merrick Garland).
-With concerns over a constitutional crisis, there are reasonable arguments that the court needs another justice before the election so that we have an odd number of justices. Given that the current justices are not perfectly objective bastions of truth and justice, I have the sneaking suspicion that wild card justices like Roberts and Gorsuch would not allow a tie on something of such monumental importance (but that’s just my theory).
-I think it’s unfortunate when anyone passes away, and I think that it’s unfortunate that RBG has died. I also think all of this could have been avoided had an aging Bader Ginsburg done the sensible thing and retired when Obama was president. Instead, the media wanted to give us propaganda about how intensely RBG was working out.
-Yes, the Supreme Court is a lifetime appointment, but most justices do not serve the rest of their lives. Of 51 former justices since the beginning of the 20th century, 37 retired or resigned. Of the 14 former justices confirmed since 1960, 11 retired from the court.
-As I’ve seen some frenzy of despair and hopelessness in the wake of RBG’s passing, I think it should be a reminder for us all that politics, presidents, and judges are not our hope. So many of us get so invested that we think society itself hinges on one person and that all is lost if a person dies. People are not our hope. We too often make idols of finite people.
-I’ve joked that Trump should nominate Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court, just to watch the democrats vote against the person Obama nominated 4 years ago.
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. -James 3:1
Words matter.
We can use words to bless, words to harm, words to boast, words to give instruction, and words to deceive. Through words we can tell a person that we love them, or that we hate them. Through words we can compliment or tear a person down.
When the Prophet Isaiah had a heavenly vision of the throne room of God, and beheld the holiness of God, he said in Isaiah 6:5: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Words were part of the original sin. In the garden, the serpent, twisting God’s words: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
God had never said that. He said they could eat of any tree except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die” (Genesis 3:2-3).
Eve also gets it wrong. God had never said they couldn’t touch the tree. Twisting God’s words. Further provoked into sin by the devil In Genesis 3:4-5, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When Adam and Eve are confronted with their sin, they use words to blame in Genesis 3:12, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
Words matter.
In the first part of James 3, James zeroes in on teachers. He gives a warning to teachers that they will be judged with greater strictness. The reason why carries into verse 2 that we all sin in many ways, but one of the ways common to us all is that we stumble and sin in what we say.
There is danger in bad Biblical teaching. It can lead people astray. It can teach people falsities, because the God who is revealed in scripture is the eternal, immortal, wise God. He’s the King of the universe, the creator of all things, he spoke the universe into being.
There’s not a canvas where we are painting and where we can make something look however we want it to look.
God is God. He has revealed himself in his scripture, his nature, his holiness. And so sound teaching about God matters. Teaching truth about God matters. Understanding God -in terms of how he has revealed himself in the Bible – matters.
And not all churches do that. And not all teachers do that.
Not many should be teachers because teaching necessarily involves words. Teaching about God’s word, teaching about God’s gospel necessarily involves words and language, and in talking, it makes it easy to say things that are untrue.
We can’t be fast and loose with God’s gospel. We can’t make God who we want God to be if that’s not true about how God reveals himself in scripture.
Unbiblical teachings that resort more to our feelings than to truth.
Doesn’t God just want me to be happy? Not at the expense of sin!
Words matter. How we approach the word of God matters. Like the serpent in the garden, twisting the very words of God.
So it is true that there is a warning given to those who teach. And anyone who does teach from the word of God should question his motives, should be humble before God, and prayerful about the text. It should be taken seriously.
We should be careful in our approach to God’s word.
But regardless of if someone is a teacher or not, all of us should still use discernment in listening to what our teachers say. In listening to that which is in accordance with scripture. Of being fed by sound Biblical preaching. And that’s true here, and thats’ true if you ever move to a new community. And that’s true of any teacher who you might watch on tv or who you might podcast. We should be discerning with the Bible teachers we listen to.
