Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Looking for Jesus in All The Wrong Places | The Gospels | John 7:1-13

Episode Date: July 3, 2026

Do you see Jesus as a Savior or a spectacle? A King or simply a good example? A threat to your autonomy or the Lord of your life? In today's episode, Jeff shares how John 7:1-13 challenges us to stop searching for a version of Jesus we've created and encounter the real Jesus instead. Read the Bible with us! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—and it's never too late to join! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passage: John 7:1-13

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jeff Parrott. A couple of years ago, our family was fortunate enough to visit the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado. In addition to soaking up the views of the Rocky Mountains, we found ourselves at an interesting and sometimes hilarious intersection of three very different groups of people who were looking for three very different things. First, there was the group that flocked to the mountains for the annual elk rut. The elk were out in full form, and so were their fans, constantly looking for those

impressive antlers and getting closer than they probably should have to get a perfect picture. The second group of people were the researchers and the scientists attending a major ornithology conference. As they walked around the mountains, their greatest concern was not the elk, but the diversity of birds. They were on the lookout for vibrant colors and flapping wings. They were on a very different kind of treasure hunt than their elk rut neighbors. Now, the third group was my favorite. It was a massive group of middle school students visiting the mountains for a school trip.

I mean, guys, there were a lot of middle school students. It was pretty entertaining to see the look of alarm on the faces of all of the elk people and the bird people when they saw a horde of middle school. schoolers descending on the cafeteria. I mean, look out world. These middle schoolers were surrounded by the reality of the elk and the birds, just like everyone else. But the biggest thing they were looking for was the attention of other middle schoolers, just like I was at their age. Now, here's the interesting thing. Here in the beauty of the mountains were three different groups of people who were looking for three very different things, but they were all surrounded by the same realities the entire time. And even though that was

the case, they all tended to notice and celebrate that one thing that they were pursuing at the exclusion of the other things. If all you're looking for is the elk, well, then the birds and the middle schoolers are kind of just getting in the way. Now, we're all kind of like that, aren't we? We can be surrounded by something, but not really recognize it if it's not the one thing we're looking for. It can be right there. It might even be stunningly glorious, but we can miss it if we're not really looking for it. Our passage today highlights this tendency through three different groups of people

who were looking for Jesus, but in very different ways. In fact, their perception of him was so distinct that it's almost as if they were looking for three different versions of Jesus instead of the real Jesus, who was already there. As we read through this text, we'll let it look through our own hearts

and expose the ways that we can miss Jesus, even though he's right here with us. As we approach God's word together, let's pause and ask for His grace to move through our time. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for the amazing gift of life and breath in this new day, and we thank you for the gift of your word. We bring before you all of our experiences right now, our joys and our sorrows, our anxieties and our excitement, our calendars, and our contingency. God, we need you to meet us in this space. Jesus help us abide in you and remain in you as we engage with your truth. And Holy Spirit, we ask you out of your grace to move in and through this time in John's

gospel account. As we read your living word, may it read us and restore us to new life with you. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, right before our passage today, we encountered the wady, teaching of Jesus in John chapter 6. It was a teaching that was so difficult that it left many of his disciples confused. Some of them even turned back from following him. Now this is an important note because it reminds us that at this point in time, people are wrestling with perplexed perceptions about Jesus. They're not sure if the Jesus they were looking for originally is the real Jesus who's there with them. So the question, who are you really looking for, is very much a live question here. Now, with that context in mind, our passage today picks up at the very beginning of John

7. It's time for the Feast of Booths, also called the Feast of Tabernacles, where the Israelites celebrate God's faithfulness to them at the time of the Exodus when they wandered in the wilderness. Now let's pick up in verse 3, where we see the first group of people who are looking for a certain version of Jesus. Here's verse three. His brothers said to him, leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may 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. That's interesting. Here we see Jesus's brothers, technically his half-brothers, encouraging him to go into Judea during the Feast of Booths to show others the amazing works that he's doing.

They want him to show himself to the world. Now, we know that their request isn't completely sincere because verse 5 just said at this point in time, his brothers didn't believe in him. There's a sense in which they're looking at Jesus, almost like a spectacle who does wonders, who can be shown off. They see Jesus as a spectacle, but they're looking at Jesus, but not as a Savior who deserves their trust and allegiance. Now, as we move through this narrative, verse 10 tells us that after his brothers go up to the feast,

Jesus himself goes in private. And that's where we're introduced to the second group looking for Jesus here in John Chapter 7. Here's verse 11. The Jews were looking for him at the feast and saying, where is he? Now, we have to remember back in verse 1, we learned that these religiously leaders are looking for Jesus to put him to death. Jesus stands in opposition to their teachings, in opposition to their power, in opposition to their vision for what the life of God's people should be.

They've been presented with the same Jesus everyone else has, but they're perceiving him totally differently. They're not looking for a spectacle to work wonders. They're looking for a threat to terminate. And that brings us to the third group of people looking for Jesus. Let's go to verses 12 through 13. 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. Right. For the people portrayed here, they don't see Jesus as the spectacle or the threat. These perspectives are split, and they're subdued. These people are muttering. Some of them are looking to Jesus as a good man, but not as a good king, not as a good savior. This might remind us of many

people throughout history and even today who see Jesus simply as a good example or a wise teacher. Now, it's great to look to Jesus as good, but if all you see him as is a good man, well, then you're not seeing the Jesus of the Bible. You're not looking for the real Jesus. The other half of this third group of people is similar in their subdued, toned-down view of Jesus. But instead of seeing his goodness, they see a semblance of his threat to the status quo. They believe Jesus is leading the people astray. They notice that he's taking people in a different direction, but they're not worried enough about it to talk about it. They stay silent for fear of the Jewish religious leaders. Both halves of this third group of people. They see parts of Jesus, but they don't see who he really

is. They don't see all of Jesus and therefore they don't respond to him at all. They just remain silent. When we zoom out on all three groups of people here in John 7, the brothers, the leaders, the people, we see that all of them are looking for the wrong version of Jesus. And that causes them to miss the real Jesus who's right there. Now, how about you? When it comes to Jesus, who exactly are you looking for? Are you looking for a spectacle who does wonders instead of your savior? Are you looking for a threat to your order and control instead of a shepherd who frees you into flourishing? Are you looking with indifference for a good man instead of the living God? Or for a man who mildly threatens social customs instead of the king who's bringing a totally different kingdom? When it comes to Jesus,

who are you looking for? Is it possible that you're surrounding? by him, that he's right there, but you're missing him because you're looking for the wrong person. No matter where you are or who you are in your journey of looking for Jesus, know this. The gospel isn't as much about you looking for Jesus, as much as it's about Jesus looking for you. I love how Isaiah 43, verse 1 articulates this truth. But now, thus says the Lord, he who created you, He who formed you, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine.

The real Jesus isn't just out there waiting for you to find him. The real Jesus is the one who's looking for you and pursuing you even now. Consider for a moment how all the groups that we've examined today, these three groups, all of them were looked for by Jesus. We know that at least two of his brothers eventually saw him as their Savior, and under God's sovereignty, they each wrote a book of the New Testament, James and Jude. We know from other writings in the New Testament that eventually some of the religious leaders did see Jesus as the good shepherd who frees them. And we know that by God's grace, some of those indifferent people throughout Judea who didn't initially respond to Jesus, well, they did eventually respond to him as the living God. Why? Not because they figured it all out.

Not because they looked the part or were looking for Jesus in just the right way. No, they looked at Jesus differently because he was looking for them, because he pursued them and called them in his grace. And that gives all of us hope as we look to the one who is already looking for us with the faithful gaze of his steadfast love. Father, we praise you that you call us by name and that you call us yours. Jesus, we look to you and trust you knowing that you are already looking for us

in your work of redemption. Spirit, help us to continually look to Jesus as our Savior, our shepherd, and our king. We pray all of this because of your grace for your glory and in your story. in Jesus' name. Amen.