- John 7:7-12
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- John 7:7 (KJB)
- The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it,
that the works thereof are evil.
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- Jesus is addressing His earthly brethren at this time. Here they are
unsaved so the world will accept them.
(John 15:19 KJV) If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but
because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you. Since they are of
the world, the world will have an affinity for them and they for the world.
Jesus states that the world will hate Him because He is not of the world and
He truthfully testifies to the fact that works in the world are evil. To the
world, religion is fine, but as soon as it starts interfering with the
world’s fun, then it has to go and will not be tolerated. The fleshly
brethren of Jesus did not testify to the evilness of the world because they
were of the world. Religion likes to make its own path and when the truth
challenges it, then the truth must be extinguished. When Jesus came on the
scene the Jews were not worshipping in the same manner as in the time of
Moses nor did they follow the Scriptures. They had adopted the Babylonian
Talmud as their source for living and teaching. It had overtaken the
Scriptures in usage and popularity because it could be changed and updated
for the purpose of keeping the people in line and increasing the power of
the leaders. This is why religion hates Christianity because it exposes the
frauds. Christianity has two enemies on this earth, the world system and
religion.
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- John 7:8 (KJB)
- Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast: for my time
is not yet full come.
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- Jesus is commanding His brethren to go up to the feast at an earlier
time, then He will go to the feast when the time is come. His brothers had
probably attached themselves to a festive caravan and Jesus did not want
them missing it. In those days people traveled in groups for the purpose of
hopefully avoiding the possibility of being attacked or robbed by thieves
who waited along the roads. Jesus may have done this for the purpose of
separation from His brethren knowing what was ahead. He did not want them to
be arrested and killed because of their family relationship to Him, so He
chose to go it alone at the appointed time.
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- John 7:9 (KJB)
- When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in
Galilee.
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- Jesus had stayed in Galilee a few more days before He began to head to
the feast. By sending His family ahead, they would be known as being His
relatives but if they do not see Him with them, then they would not be
thronged by the crowd in Jerusalem. If He had come with them, then the
crowds would have sought Him for healing and other things and there would
have been utter chaos at the feast to the point that the Romans may have
broken it up.
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- John 7:10 (KJB)
- But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast,
not openly, but as it were in secret.
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- Openly - Publicly
- Secret - Concealed
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- Jesus had attempted to not be the cause of a riot or an over-zealous
crowd. So instead of going to the feast publicly, He had gone up to the
feast out of sight so He would not be recognized. His family was already
there and no doubt were already spotted by the leaders and by now they knew
that Jesus is not with them, which would have caused the leaders to relax
but I am sure they had their spotters keeping an eye on them in case Jesus
joined up with them. They knew that as a good Jew He would have to show up
at the feast since this was one of the three times that all males would have
to appear before the Lord in Jerusalem.
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- John 7:11 (KJB)
- Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?
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- Sought - Looking for or seeking for
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- This is what Jesus sought to avoid. He knew they would be looking for
Him and in that crowd which was in Jerusalem they obviously had their people
looking for Him. There must have been many who were engaged by the leaders
because there would have been thousands assembled in Jerusalem and with that
many people, they needed a large crew to search. No doubt they searched
every caravan which came into the city to find Him.
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- John 7:12 (KJB)
- And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for
some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.
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- Murmuring - To mutter with a low voice and partially closed lips
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- Murmuring was one of the classic traits of the Israelites. The people
who were there definitely had formed opinions on Jesus. Some stated that He
was a good man while others claim He was a deceiver. Those who claimed He
was a good man had probably been recipients or witnesses of His miracles.
Those who claimed He was a deceiver probably heard Him speak about being the
Bread of Life coming down from Heaven and His association with the Father as
being His Father, making Him the Son of God. So there was probably tension
among the people at this festival. Those who opposed Jesus were probably
under the influence of the leaders who had set out to discredit Jesus.
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