Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From JOHN #16 - 7:1-13)
A. 7:1-13 DIVISION AND OPPOSITION CONCERNING JESUS
1. 7:1-9 JESUS DELAYS ATTENDING TABERNACLES' FEAST
a. 7:1 REASON FOR JESUS REMAINING IN GALILEE
Kai meTA TAUta pe-ri-ePAtei ho IeSOUS en te Ga-liLAIa:
And after these things :Jesus walked in :Galilee:
ou gar Ethe-len en te IouDAIa pe-ri-paTEIN, HOti eZEtoun auTON hoi IouDAIoi a-pokTEInai.
for he would not walk in :Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him.
b. 7:2 Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand.
en de egGUS hehe-orTE[1851] ton IouDAIon, heske-no-peGIa [4634].
c. 7:3 THE UNBELIEF OF JESUS' BROTHERS
EIpon oun pros auTON hoi a-delPHOI auTOU,
His :brothers therefore said unto him,
MeTAbe-thi enTEUthen, kai HUpa-ge eis ten IouDAIan, HIna kai hoi ma-theTAI sou
Depart hence, and go into :Judea, that your :disciples also
the-oREsou-sin sou ta ERga ha poiEIS.
shall see your :works which you do.
d. 7:4a For no one does anything in secret, and himself seeks to be knownopenly.
ouDEIS GAR ti en krupTO [2927]poiEI, kai zeTEI auTOS en par-reSIa [3954]EInai.
e. 7:4b If you do these things, manifest yourself to the world.
ei TAUta poiEIS, phaNEro-son [5319]se-auTON toKOSmo[2889].
f. 7:5 For even his :brothers did not believe unto him.
ouDE gar hoi a-delPHOI auTOU ePIsteu-on eis auTON.
g. 7:6 JESUS' EXLANATION
LEgei oun auTOIS ho IeSOUS, Ho kaiROS [2540] ho eMOS OUpo PAre-stin [3918];
:Jesus therefore said to them, :My :season is not yet come;
ho de kaiROS ho huMEte-ros PANtoTE es-tin HEtoi-mos [2092].
but your :season is always ready.
h. 7:7 JESUS CONTRASTS BETWEEN THEM AND HIM
ou DUna-tai ho KOSmos miSEIN huMAS; eME de miSEI [3404],
The world cannot hate you: but me it hates,
HOti eGO mar-tuRO peRI auTOU, HOti ta ERga auTOU po-neRA es-tin.
because I witness of it, that its :works are evil.
i. 7:8 JESUS RELEASES THEM
huMEIS aNAbe-te eis ten he-roTEN: eGO OUpo a-naBAIno eis ten he-orTEN TAUten;
YOU go up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this :feast;
HOti ho eMOS kaiROS OUpo pePLEro-tai [4137].
because :my :season is not yet fulfilled.
j. 7:9 And having said these thingsto them, he remained in :Galilee.
TAUta de eiPON auTOIS, Emei-nen en teGa-liLAIa.
2. 7:10-13 CONTROVERSY CONCERNING JESUS AT JERUSALEM
a. 7:10 THE SECRET JOURNEY OF JESUS
Hos de aNEbe-san hoi a-delPHOI auTOU eis ten he-orTEN,
But when his :brothers were gone up unto the feast,
TOte kai auTOS aNEbe, ou pha-neROS, alLA hos en krupTO [2927].
then he himself also went up, not openly, but as if in secret.
b. 7:11 The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, Where is that man?
hoi oun IouDAIoi eZEtoun auTON en tehe-orTE, kai Ele-gon, POU es-tin eKEInos?
c. 7:12 MURMURING CONCERNING JESUS
kai gog-gusMOS [1112] peRI auTOU en poLUS en tois OCHlois:
And much murmuring was among the crowds concerning him:
hoi men Ele-gon [HOti], A-gaTHOS es-tin; ALloi de Ele-gon, Ou, alLA plaNA [4105] ton OCHlon.
some said [that], He is a good man; but others said, No, but he leads the multitude astray.
d. 7:13 Yet no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews.
ouDEIS MENtoi par-reSIa [3954]eLAlei peRI auTOU diA ton PHObon [5401]ton IouDAIon.
NOTE: The cleavage against Jesus increases. First, this passage points out that it has begun in His own home. His 4 brothers do notbelieve on Him. Later, James and Jude, two of these brothers became believers, and each writes one of the 7 books of the “General or Catholic Epistles.” The book of James has been seen by some as the NT equivalent to the book of Proverbs. Martin Luther, however, did not say well of this letter, but called it a “right strawy epistle”!
And in Jerusalem, the division among the Jews concerning Him increased.
Jesus Himself said that He had notcome to earth to bring peace, but a sword. Division would commence right in one's own family. The first one of a family to become a believer, would see the other members take the opposition part. I can testify to this myself. My other 3 immediate family members were mostconcerned about the effect the “birth from above” had on me. Initially my brother destroyed unopened my letters to him. My father and mother wondered where “all this” would end. One day I was drying dishes as my mother washed. She asked me if it would be alright if she shared something with me. I said, “Of course, Mom.” Her word was, “Jim, - don't try and save the whole world all by yourself!” I guess I was seeking to share my new found faith with everyone I met.
But though divisionis the first stage of the first conversion - as we pray, believe and learn from our over-zealous first faith, God yet works all things together for good. Two years following my conversion, He promised me salvation for all members of my immediate family. Household salvation! This was abundantly fulfilled in my case, just as two of Jesus' blood brothers became members of the 33 Bible writers of the 66 books - and His mother Mary joined the early band of His disciples following His resurrection.
So is controversy a bad thing? Perhaps a better question to ask would be - “Out of controversy, can God work all things together for good?” The answer to the latter is a resounding, “Yes!” J.A.W.