John 7:1-31 THE GLORY IS NOT OURS FOR THE TAKING
At this time, the Jews were celebrating the Feast of the Booths in Judea - a feast to remember the journey of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan when God made them live in booths. Also at this time, Jesus came from Capernaum where He taught that He is the Son of God and that He is the Living Bread from God. Because of unbelief, many of His disciples turned their backs against Him and the Jews have come seeking for His life too. He then remained in Galilee. Sadly, even His brother did not believe in Him so he told Jesus to, "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" (v. 3-4).
THE ROOT OF UNBELIEF
If Jesus' brother did not believe in Him, then why did he still want Jesus to show His works openly to the world?
It is very clear that His brother knows that Jesus is able to perform miracles. In fact, he is thrilled about His miracles and he wants other people to know about it. So his unbelief was not rooted from the fact that Jesus is a miracle worker. Instead his unbelief is traced from the last chapter in verses 62-64 when Jesus said, "Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe." His disciples, including His brothers, did not believe that Jesus is indeed the Son of Man and that His authority to speak about these things come solely from God the Father. And since they did not believe in that, his brother might have thought that Jesus is another gifted prophet who can perform miracles. And since Jesus is attracting a lot of followers, he wants to share in His fame. Perhaps he is after human praise. But how do we know this? Jesus said when He was teaching at the temple that,
“‘My teaching is not mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. THE ONE WHO SPEAKS ON HIS OWN AUTHORITY SEEKS HIS OWN GLORY; but the One who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him is true, and in Him there is no falsehood.’”
JESUS TEACHES US ABOUT GOD-EXALTATION
“‘As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on Me, he also will live because of Me.’”
I believe that this whole chapter teaches us one of the most important things about Jesus Christ. He came to teach us about exalting and glorifying the Father, instead of lifting His own name into glory. He wanted the disciples to get it - that He is not a miracle worker on His own power and own accord. He came to earth because He was sent by the Father and He only lives because the Father wills Him to live.
Jesus reminds us that seeking our own glory and taking the credit that is due only to God is a sign of untruthfulness and falsehood. Only when we give God the glory will our works be counted as holy and worthy. We need to remind ourselves as preachers, worship leaders, and ministers in the church that our authority comes alone from Jesus who is our righteousness. We need to acknowledge the Holy Spirit inside of us, who was given to us as we became born again, and not our own strength and power especially as we employ ourselves as Jesus' hands and feet in ministry. We need to be fully aware and caved in completely under the wings of God so that we can no longer seek our own glory but exalt God in everything that we do.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank You for always reminding us that You are the source of everything that we have. Like in the Feast of the Booths, we want to celebrate and exalt You alone for all the things that You have done in our lives. Forgive us whenever we took credit in our works and thought that we have made it on our own. No, God, it was all You. So from now on we pray that we will always acknowledge You and do everything for Your glory. Take away our pride and desire for human praise. May we seek to live only to see Your name lifted up and not our own. Help us to see You in everything and be more like Jesus. We love You, God. In Jesus' Name, amen!