John 7:1-24 - Right Judgment At The Feast - The Mysteries of God's Word

Pressure can come from every direction at once: leaders who want you silenced, crowds who want you to perform, and even family members who think faith should always be loud and public. John 7 drops us right into that tension as Jesus stays in Galilee because the religious authorities are plotting his death, then faces a pointed challenge from his own brothers right as the Feast of Booths approaches. We talk through why this feast mattered, what it celebrated, and how the setting sharpens the conflict around Jesus’ identity and mission.

We also slow down on a line that explains so much of the hostility Jesus faces: the world hates him because he testifies that its works are evil. That’s not abstract theology. It’s a clear reason why truth-telling often brings pushback, why spiritual darkness resists exposure, and why following Jesus can feel costly. As the festival unfolds, we track the rumors swirling through Jerusalem and the fear that keeps people from speaking openly, especially when religious leaders hold real social power.

Then Jesus steps into the temple and teaches, and the focus turns to authority and discernment. How does he speak with such clarity without formal rabbinical training? Jesus answers by pointing to the Father as the source of his teaching and by tying spiritual understanding to a willing heart to obey God. We close with Jesus confronting legalism and hypocrisy through the Sabbath controversy and his command that still challenges us today: do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. If this deep dive into John 7 helps you, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review. What part of Jesus’ timing or his call to right judgment do you need most right now?

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Setting John 7 And The Threat

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Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you once again for joining me for the mysteries of God's Word. Today we are in John chapter seven, and we will start at 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 the Jews' feast of booths was at hand. These first two verses of chapter seven give us this new setting for Jesus' ministry. It begins after this. Well, after what? Well this is at least six months after Jesus spoke at the synagogue in Capernaum. And back there in chapter six, we were told that the time of the Passover was at hand. But here, now in the beginning of chapter seven, we are told that the feast of booths is at hand, which tells us there is a six-month gap. If I were to summarize the end of chapter six, I would say that Jesus had made it clear to the crowds that he was not here to feed their physical desires, but rather called them to repentance and eternal life. In addition, the Jewish leaders from Judea had become so enraged with Jesus and his claims of deity that they were plotting now to kill him. Therefore, over these last six months, Jesus spent this time teaching the twelve, as well as ministering throughout Galilee, as he kept Capernaum as his home base. And again, as we see, the Jews are seeking to kill him. Not only did Jesus impose on the Jewish leaders power and authority by growing his own popularity and his own teachings against their extra rabbinical laws on the Sabbath, but he was also claiming to be equal with God. In the eyes of the Jewish leadership, Jesus was committing blasphemy of the highest order, and it deserved the death penalty under the Mosaic Law. And again we see that the feast of the Booths is at hand. The Feast of Booths is also called the Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Tents, or the Feast of Ingathering. It is celebrated in late September or early October. It's called the Feast of Booths because this is when the Israelites would set up small shelters from branches of trees. They would live in them for eight days, and this was to remember God's faithfulness to Israel as they wandered through the wilderness with Moses. It was also a time of celebrating the olive and grape harvest and giving thanks to the Lord for his provision. It could be comparable to how we celebrate Thanksgiving, but this celebration of the feast of the Booze went on for over a week. Picking up in verse three. So his brothers said to him, Leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples also may see the works that you're 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. And 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'm not going up to the feast, for my time has not yet fully come. After saying this, he remained in Galilee. Here in verses three through nine, we see a reference to Jesus' brothers. These are Jesus' naturally born brothers that came from Mary and Joseph. In Matthew thirteen, fifty five, it also makes a reference to Jesus' naturally born brothers. When it reads, Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? When we start to think deeper about Jesus' naturally born brothers, we start to realize that neither Joseph nor Mary physically contributed to Jesus' DNA. While Joseph and Mary were considered Jesus' natural family, Jesus was not the product of man, but Jesus was the Immaculate Conception. He came from God. He was created as the Holy Spirit came over

Feast Of Booths And Family Unbelief

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Mary. The Greek word that's used for brothers here carries the natural and ordinary sense of a natural brother. At this point, I believe that it's important to recognize that while the Catholic Church makes a claim that Mary somehow remained a virgin and had no other children, this is not at all what Scripture teaches. In addition to this verse here in John 7 3 and Matthew 13 55, which we've already listed, the Scripture also teaches in Matthew 1 25 that Joseph knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and she called his name Jesus. And in Luke 2 7, and she, Mary, gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes. One last notation about Jesus' brothers is that the book of Jude is historically known to be written by Jesus' brother, Judas. Now that we've talked about Jesus' brothers, let's get back to our text. Jesus' brothers were egging him on, so to speak. They didn't believe who he was yet, or who he had claimed to be, so they're sarcastically saying to him that he's hiding himself. He should go show himself to the world. Their motivation came from their unbelief, not from genuine encouragement. It's also been suggested that perhaps like other Jews, they wanted to see a political and social Messiah. Perhaps they wanted to see Jesus do more miracles and test the genuineness of Jesus. Because as the scriptures tell us here, Jesus' natural brothers did not believe that he was the Messiah, and they did not believe until after his resurrection. Jesus' reply to his brothers is my time has not yet come. Jesus is waiting on the Father's timing to reveal himself. But Jesus says your time is always here. Because Jesus' brothers did not believe in him, they were part of the world. Those who are of the world can walk openly in the world because they belong to the world. The time is always here for the people of the world who do worldly things and belong to the prince of the power of this age. Jesus says the world cannot hate you. The world couldn't hate Jesus' brothers because they belonged to it. The system of the world loves its own. The system of the world are all who reject the word of God and the Messiah. They live and lie in the power of Satan. But Jesus says that the world hates him. The reason the world hates Jesus is because of who he is. He is the light of the world, and he testifies to the truth of man's sinful condition, as Jesus says, because I testify about it that its works are evil. Jesus testifies that man needs to repent and believe in him. Picking up in verse ten. 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, others said no. He's leading the people astray. Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly about him. In verses ten through thirteen we see that after Jesus' brothers had gone up to the feast, later Jesus himself goes, but he does so in a discreet manner. The will of the Father here stands in direct contrast to the will of his brothers. His brothers demanded he show himself publicly when the feast began, and the will of the Father directed Jesus to go up privately, to go up discreetly. And then in verse eleven we see that the Jews are looking for him, and we see this contrast between the Jews and the people. It again shows us in the Gospel of John how that phrase the Jews refers to the Jewish religious leaders, not the Jewish people. And during this feast of the booth, Jesus was the hot topic of conversation. Some of the people here in Jerusalem would have seen Jesus' miracles. They would have heard his teachings in the synagogues. Others at this festival would have seen the miracles in Galilee, including the feeding of the five thousand. This festival is a year and a half into Jesus' public ministry, and we see now that some people consider Jesus a good teacher, or good man, but others thought he was a false teacher, leading the people astray. The Jewish leaders were working to make Jesus out to be a deceiver, and they were trying to put him to death according to the Jewish law. These Jewish leaders had a great deal of power over the common people. They could use excommunication from the synagogue as a consequence for not following their teachings or rules. And the Jews considered removal from their church community as a severe punishment. So when the Jewish leaders told the people not to believe in this Jesus and that Jesus was a deceiver, it created a great power tension between the religious rulers and the crowds that heard Jesus' teachings and saw his miracles. Picking up in verse fourteen. About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, How is it that this man has learning when he's never studied? So Jesus answered them, My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but the one who seeks the glory

Private Arrival And Temple Teaching

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of him who sent him is true. And in him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me? In verses fourteen through nineteen we see Jesus stop being discreet and come out and begin teaching. In the Father's perfect timing, Jesus comes out from his secrecy and into the synagogue. The Father's timing here for Jesus making himself public may have been to avoid a premature triumphal entry, to avoid people forcing him to be the political Messiah. According to the local customs of that time, it was appropriate for Jesus to begin teaching in a very public and visible location, the temple courts. It was common for prominent rabbis to expound on the scripture as crowds were sitting in the courts. And while Jesus is speaking to the crowd, he directs his teaching towards the Jewish leaders, because it is the Jewish leaders that are attempting to discredit him. The Jews are marveling, they're asking, how is it this man has learning? He's never studied. This verse is very insightful of the times of Jesus, and I believe also of our times. Jesus never received formal rabbinical teaching, neither had his disciples. And the people, particularly the rabbis that had been formally trained, were questioning how could Jesus have such understanding of the scriptures? But from what I see in Scripture, Jesus' teaching ability came from three primary sources. One, as a man, he studied the scripture. Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature. Second, as God in the flesh, his judgment was always correct. He was without sin. And third, at his baptism Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit for ministry. And in verse sixteen, Jesus answers, My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. The accusation from the Jews was that Jesus was coming up with these teachings on his own, because he'd never been schooled. To put it in other words, if you don't accept the teachings from our school and our accredited programs, then you don't have real education. But the source of Jesus' teaching was the Father who gave it to him. Jesus is contrasting himself with the rabbis, the rabbis who learned these traditions. They learned different schools of thought from other men or traditional school programs. But the teachings of Jesus were authoritative because they did not originate with men, but they originated with God the Father Himself. And then Jesus tells these Jewish leaders that true followers of God have a willing heart to obey God's will. If you have a willing heart and you know that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, you will follow him. If Jesus were speaking on his own accord, or out of some kind of human genius, he would be seeking to exalt himself. But Jesus did not come to exalt himself, rather, he came as a servant. The Son of God is the only one who fully sought the glory of God the Father. It is in Christ that there was no falsehood. However, for those today who seek the glory of God, the Holy Spirit will affirm the truth of who Jesus is, and they will affirm the truth of his message. The Jewish leadership would boast in their knowledge and in their obedience to the law of Moses. They assumed that they were keepers of the law, and through the law they became righteous before God. And Jesus attacks their self righteous religion because their hearts are full of evil. And then Jesus begins to address how the Jews use a double standard. They are attacking him over the Sabbath in the law of Moses and trying to condemn him. Yet none of them keep the law. Jesus says, Why do you seek to kill me? While the plot to kill Jesus was not public yet, Jesus knew the hearts of these Jewish leaders. Their plans had already begun a year prior to this feast. Picking up in verse twenty. The crowd answered, You have a demon who is seeking to kill you? Jesus answered them, I did one work, and you all marveled at it. Moses gave you circumcision, not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers, and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's body whole again? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. In verses twenty through twenty four, after Jesus had called out the sin of the Jewish leaders and exposed their plot to kill him, what is the response? You have a demon. The crowds, the multitude here at the temple, again are ignorant of the leader's plot to kill Jesus. It is likely out of fear of the Jewish leadership that the crowds join them in insulting Jesus. And they see Jesus' statements now as evidence of a paranoid man that's demon possessed. We see Jesus being accused of demon possession throughout many of the gospels. In fact, John the Baptist was also accused of having a demon. Jesus says, I did one work and you all marveled at it. The one work Jesus is describing is the healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, which he did here in Jerusalem. Jesus at this point has done many miracles, but the one that the Jewish leaders are so worried about is this healing of the man on the Sabbath. The Jewish leadership is

Sabbath Hypocrisy And Right Judgment

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outraged that Jesus would dare heal on the Sabbath. And in verses 22 through 23, Jesus makes a logical argument against these Jewish leaders, exposing their hypocrisy and double standard using circumcision. The rules for circumcision came from the time of Abraham, although it became part of the Mosaic covenant at Sinai, and as such, it precedes the Sabbath laws, and circumcision takes precedence over the Sabbath. The Jews would circumcise male infants on the eighth day, even if that eighth day was a Sabbath. Therefore, the Jews considered it legitimate to do something to make holy or make one part of the human body right before God on the Sabbath. And Jesus shows how the Jews are breaking their own standard by circumcising on the Sabbath, and he exposes their hypocrisy. Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath and making his whole body well is better than just one part of a man. And Jesus rebukes them by saying, Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment. Jesus doesn't want us to judge other people with harsh, critical judgment. He doesn't want us to judge people with judgment that promotes legalism or self-righteousness. And these Jewish leaders are blinded by their traditions. They understood the scriptures only superficially, and they misunderstood the entire intent of these passages. In their own darkness and in their blindness, they were judging their own Messiah by what appeared to be right to them. God demands that we exercise good moral and spiritual judgment, but he does not want us to sit in judgment or condemnation of other people. While he wants us to recognize what is right and wrong and make good judgments for our own lives, but he does not want us to look down on other people, but to lift them up toward him, towards health, towards what is right. Ultimately, this is a call from Jesus to the Jewish leadership to repent. Thank you for joining me today as Jesus came into the festival of the booths and spoke to us about where true teaching comes from and how to make right judgments. God bless you this week.