John 7:3-36 – Bible Study & Exploration
Jesus’ Brothers Didn’t Believe
(Verses 3-11) In this passage we see Jesus have a familial encounter with His own brothers who are the sons of Mary and Joseph. We understand through the Bible that Jesus had three brothers. You can call them brothers or stepbrothers but they all shared the same mother. Their names were James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas.
We also understand through a brief encounter in Matthew 13:56 that Jesus also had sisters. The names and number of them is not given to us anywhere in the Bible.
After Jesus’ resurrection, we learn that two of His brothers came to believe in Him as the Messiah. They each earned a place in the Bible with their own books. The book of James and the book of Jude.
But that was not the case in this passage as Jesus interacts with His brothers. For if they had believed in Him, they would have understood that God’s timing in all things was right and perfect. God did not need the advice of Jesus’ brothers to tell Him what He needed to do next.
We’ve all felt the sting of rejection by people around us for our belief and sharing of Christ in our lives with others. That sting is no way more painful than when it comes from a very close family member.
I’ve experience that sting from friends and especially family. It hurts deep and forces you to use the one powerful weapon you have against this pain…prayer!
It’s important to note that when we go through these seasons of rejection from those we want to point to Christ, Jesus experienced the same rejection from His own family also. So remember that you’re not alone and that this is not something Jesus is not familiar with.
Jesus faced the ultimate rejection of being nailed to a cross.
He Is a Good Man
(Verses 12-13) Jesus sparked the same divisive controversy in His day as we see occurring today. With the rise in antisemitism, that has grown into a global controversy it seems to defy logic and common sense. The reason for this is that it’s a spiritual occurrence that was prophesied about by Christ for the last days.
A global hatred for not only those who are God’s chosen people. It’s a hatred that would spread to include those who follow Christ. Anyone that has anything to do with a love of God and His Son are becoming a global target for hatred that is driven by spiritual forces that’s increasing like a rising tide in our world.
Jesus Teaches at the Feast of Tabernacles
(Verse 14-24) According to God’s plans and not His brothers, Jesus goes down to the festival but in secret so as not to reveal himself before it’s time.
He brings a stinging point for the Jewish people to face as He begins to teach. Since they placed so much importance on the law, He gives them a taste of reality. He tells them that Moses gave them the law. But they don’t keep the law. The very same law they say they value.
Then He turns the tables on them. Since Moses gave you the law and you’re not able to keep the law, “why are you trying to kill me?”
Jesus had them tangled up in the truth of the law. The law was shackling them with guilt and their anger was growing. This led to arguments among different groups in the crowd.
Arguments Over Who Jesus Is
(Verses 25-36) The anger within the crowd continued to rise as the arguments between each grew louder and louder. Some thought He might be the Messiah while others did not believe despite all that Jesus had done before their unbelieving eyes.
They knew who Jesus the man was from. They also understood that the Messiah would come from the same physical location where Jesus was from based on the teaching in Micah 5:2.
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)
What they still didn’t understand was the role of the Spirit. The religious leaders didn’t realize the most important attribute about Jesus’ identity. The attribute which became the prominent theme in John’s Gospel: that Jesus was both of God and from God.
There is so much division and arguing among the people in the crowd that Jesus has to raise His voice at least twice to be heard as indicated in verses 28-29 and verses 37-38.
Knowing the Jesus’ time was growing short with His imminent arrest, He spoke these teachings of heaven.
Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” (John 7:33-34)
The short time He was referring to was His short three year ministry of establishing His covenant of grace with mankind and preparing His disciples for the important work ahead of spreading the Good News.
Where He was going was in reference to His soon ascension into heaven to return to the Father until His imminent return to gather His church. Then followed by His Second Coming upon the earth, when He would come to judge and rule.