¹ After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. ² But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, ³ Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. ⁴ No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
⁶ Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. ⁸ You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.
¹⁰ However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. ¹¹ Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”
¹² Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”
Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” ¹³ But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.
‘Good man’ tames Jesus. ‘Deceives the people’ admits he upends everything.
Thoughts
- He's Not on Our Program (1-9): It’s getting hot for Jesus—the crowd wants a deliverer-king. To the leaders, Jesus threatens the status quo: their understanding of God, and their understanding with Rome. Tacitus (98 A.D.): [The Romans] plunder, they slaughter, and they steal: this they falsely name empire, and where they make a wasteland, they call it peace. Tabernacles 1 of 3 pilgrim festivals (Pesach/Easter, Shavuot/Pentecost, and Sukkot). Jesus’ brothers push him to go viral—the sooner, the better—if things pan out, it could be really good for them. They dare him to chase political power and fame, but his mission is to topple principalities and powers at the cross. The God-appointed moment is ‘not yet.’ We panic when life doesn’t follow our program—no promotion, relationship failure, ‘our breakthrough’ hasn’t materialized. We ask “why not right now, God?” The question mirrors the idolatry of Jesus’ brothers: we want God’s gifts without God’s timing—we want glory without dying to self. ➤ True freedom lies not in taking matters into our own hands, but in waiting upon God, trusting that his timing is perfect.
- Deliverer (10-13): The response of the crowd to Jesus back then is no different from right now. Many conclude that he is a good man. This is polite rejection, a way to domesticate Jessus: He is a great teacher, and he might even have king potential, but is he the way, and the truth, and the life? Hard ‘no’—and so, they turn away (last week). Sukkot is the celebration of God dwelling with his people, but Jesus is the true tabernacle: Joh 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ➤ Our natural inclination is to make ourselves the hub of our own wheel. But when we turn to Christ and entrust ourselves fully to Him as Lord, we make him our true center.
- Deceiver (10-13): “No, he deceives the people” echoes Deut 13:1-5, the test for false prophets. If a man performs signs, but turns people from the LORD or his commands, he is to be rejected and executed. Jesus heals on Sabbath… claims equality with God… and calls people to feed on his sacrificial death. He threatens the established religious order, smashes personal righteousness, and demands surrender. We prefer Jesus, the "good man"—safe admiration without submission. The "deceiver" label – though wrong – acknowledges that you have to do something with Jesus. There’s no way to be neutral about him. Christ leads people away—from self-saving, from moralism, and from fear of leaders—to true freedom in him. ➤ The Good News offends because it exposes our false hopes as worthless, and it divides because it demands total allegiance.
Reflections
- Where in your life are you still content to admire Jesus from afar, rather than entrusting your entire being—your fears, your future, your affections, your will—to him alone?
