Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Dial In - John 7:1-13 (Ep. 19)

Episode Date: April 23, 2020

Dial In is a devotional series with the intention of helping followers of Christ understand God’s word and love Him more. Jonny seeks to communicate the profound depth of scripture in a digestible and condensed format each weekday. The goal of the podcast is that our “minds would be renewed” as we behold who God is in His word. In this series, Jonny is walking sequentially through the Gospel of John.In this episode, Jonny covers John 7:1-13 where we see that Jesus’ own brothers were not believers in Him. The scripture shows us that it is possible to know the truth, be around the truth, and even proclaim the truth and yet be far from God. Jesus’ brothers had high ambitions for their own glory, not for Christ’s. Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artavanis, and this is Dial In. In this episode, we're in John chapter 7, verses 1 through 13. These are the words of God. Let's view them as such in Dial In. John chapter 7, verses 1 through 13. 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. So his brothers said to him, leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples may also see the works you are 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. 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 am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come. 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. The Jews were looking for him at this feast and saying, where is he? 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.

Yet for fear of the Jews, no one spoke openly of him. Now, as we come to chapter seven, we know that some time has passed since chapter six. And this is cool. Approximately six or seven months have taken place in between these two chapters. How do we know that? Well, it's because in chapter six, verse four, we read that the Passover was at hand. And in chapter seven, verse two, we read that the Feast of Tabernacles is at hand. The Passover is in the spring.

The Feast of Tabernacles is in October. So we know that around six or seven months have taken place. Now, maybe you're wondering then, what was Jesus doing during that period of time? And we know the answer to this because we can read the accounts in the other gospels. And we know that Jesus was spending time with his disciples. His public ministry was diminished and his primary focus was on the 12. Jesus' focus was never on getting crowds. It is easy for him to get a crowd. It's much more difficult to make disciples.

Crowds are not the measure of ministerial success. Disciples are, and Jesus knows this. I want to draw our attention in this episode to verse 5. It says something so interesting. It says that at this point, even his brothers did not believe in him. Now, who are Jesus' brothers? We can read in Matthew 13, 55, that his brothers' names are James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. So we know that he has at least four brothers. They have been around him. They've observed his miracles. They've heard his preaching,

but they were not true believers. Now, this is an interesting comment made by John, because if we look at the beginning of the text, it sounds like they are Jesus's ambassadors, like they are his campaign managers. In verse three, it says that his brothers said to him, leave here, Jesus, and go to Judea that your disciples also may see the works that you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world. So they come up to him and they go, Jesus, we got a plan. You need to go down to Jerusalem because that is the real environment and the real acid test of legitimacy.

Go down there. They want you to be their king. They think that you might be the Messiah. Go perform some miracles for them. It's been a long time since you've been down there, and you can really take it to the next level if you leave this Galilean obscurity and go to Jerusalem. Go get some real recognition, Jesus. But then the next verse says that they were not even true believers. Now, why would they care where Jesus went if they were not true believers?

Why would they urge him to go display his power in Jerusalem? It's not so that Jesus would be glorified. It's so that they might be glorified. They were after their own glory. They wanted to use God to build their own kingdom. They had no interest in the kingdom of God. Their understanding of the mission of God is completely distorted. They watched him day after day. They were his blood brothers. They thought they knew him. They were rooting for him to go to Jerusalem, but they were still unbelievers

and outside the kingdom of God. What we see in this text and what we often see today is that many people use Jesus for popularity and power. And this is likely what we see with his own brothers. But seeking our own glory makes belief in Jesus impossible. Seeking God's glory is mutually exclusive with seeking our own. God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. We read something like this when we covered John 5. Jesus says in John 5, 43 and 44, I have come in my Father's name and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

What Jesus is saying here is that we are more apt to receive someone who comes in the name of Jesus than we are to receive Jesus himself. We are more apt to give someone else glory and even our self glory than the one who actually deserves it, namely God himself. These brothers had not yet been born again. Their predominant desire was praise and the recognition of man, not the glory of God. What saving belief is at its core, what being born again inevitably cultivates is a desire for Jesus to be glorified. This is a scary reality. They were with Jesus

their entire lives and they don't know him. It reminds me of one of the most terrifying passages in all of Scripture. Matthew 7, 21 through 23, Jesus says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to

them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. There will be many people, Jesus says, that meet him face to face and will say, God, it's me. Remember all that I did for you? Remember all the association I had with you? And Jesus will look at them and say, I don't know you. This is a terrifying reality. And you might be wondering then, how can I know if my faith is genuine? How can I know if my belief is true?

The answer is, do you love the biblical version of Jesus Christ? And are you zealous for his glory and not your own? The unregenerate heart cannot and does not love Jesus or his words. And so ask yourself and examine your own life. Have you submitted your entire life to him? Are you zealous for God's glory or are you zealous for your own? The Christian faith is

ultimately all about Jesus Christ, the one who bore our sin and who demands our entire life. Only by believing in the real and biblical version of Jesus Christ can you have real forgiveness and real righteousness. Now maybe you're wondering what happens to these four brothers. We read in Acts 1 that after the ascension of Jesus Christ, they are in the upper room in Acts 1. They had truly believed. They had seen the resurrected Jesus Christ. He was God and they knew it. Jesus' brother James would go on to be one of the church leaders in Jerusalem. And in Acts 15, we read about that. And he also writes the New Testament book that bears his name.

Church tradition tells us that James was steadfast to Jesus Christ until the very end. He was thrown off of the temple and then beaten and stoned to death because of his unwavering commitment and zealous desire for the glory of Jesus Christ. I ask you even now, are you zealous for the glory of Jesus Christ. I ask you even now, are you zealous for the glory of Jesus Christ,

or are you zealous for your own? Many, many will say, Lord, Lord, and yet never have known the real and biblical Jesus Christ. We see here in this text that it is possible to be around the truth, to know the truth, to grow up affirming the truth, and yet be far from the heart of God. I pray that you would ask God to reveal your own heart to you and that he himself would give us a great love for him and a desire for him to be glorified. Stay dialed in. Thank you.