Jesus Rejects His Family’s Advice

Take Every Passage to Prayer - Volume 2, The Gospels
^{Thursday August 08, 2024}

John 7:2-9

Father, please help me to never turn my work for Your Kingdom into a pursuit of personal glory. Help me to not give in to the bad advice I receive from worldly people. Please give me the wisdom and discretion I need so that I can know when I’m being given worldly advice and when I’m being given godly advice. Father, please keep me focused on mission – to share the gospel with the world and to disciple them to turn from their sin in repentance. Amen.
Father, there are so many so-called “experts” on the Bible who have never read it. They believe the Bible to be irrelevant and outdated. There are millions of testimonies across the planet that attest to the relevance of the Bible to life in the 21st century.
One case that can be made for the relevance of Your Word is how it accurately describes the same human nature in people that we see in people in the 21st century. This passage illustrates this point.
According to the text, we can conclude that:

1. Jesus’ four brothers are worldly. They are seeking to make money off the fame of their brother.
2. They do not understand that Jesus is the Son of God. To them, he is their crazy oldest sibling who has managed to turn himself into a celebrity but is bumbling the opportunity.
3. They believe Jesus has worldly values, stating that they believe Jesus “wants to become a public figure.”
4. They do not respect Jesus. To them, He is mismanaging His fame by avoiding publicity and He needs intervention. They will become His “managers” and tell Him what to do.

They tell Jesus to go to Judea, to the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles, and put on a show with His miracles.
Jesus responds with the following:

1. It was not His time to make a public appearance in Jerusalem. When He does, He will be crucified because He is hated for condemning the evil in people’s hearts. There was still more work to get done in ministry before Jesus will be crucified. He needs to avoid all public appearances in Jerusalem until it is the right time.
2. On the contrary, His brothers can go to Jerusalem anytime they want. They don’t have a target on their back because they are not condemning the evil in people’s hearts. In other words, Jesus is calling out His brothers for being worldly.

His brothers gave up and went to the Festival of Tabernacles without Jesus, no doubt angry with Him that He wouldn’t let them exploit His fame. The text tells us that Jesus stayed in Galilee.
Father, this story could be written in the 21st century. There are celebrities in our culture. Their family members want to make money from the fame of their loved ones. How can people say the Bible is irrelevant to life in the 21st century? This is one of many examples that their argument is wrong. Amen.