Division in the House

(John 7:1-9)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
Last week,
We saw Jesus speak of Himself as the Bread of Life
As the One we must believe in
That we must receive; that we must eat in a spiritual way
If we are to have life
That we must continue to feed on
Through His Word, prayer, the Lords Table,
By meditating on our baptism, by fellowshipping together
If we are to have the spiritual strength
We need to serve Him.

He also told us how we can come to Him

And feed on Him
The only way is through the sovereign work of the Father
Through His drawing, by the Spirit,
Who alone is able to change our hearts
And give us the desire to come to Jesus.

This also reminded us of two things:

That if we have trusted Jesus,

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Its only because of Gods mercy
We must give Him all the credit
And it encouraged us that as we evangelize,
The Father will draw His people to His Son
All He has given to Jesus
Will come to Him,
And the one who comes,
Jesus will never cast out.

B. Preview.
This morning, we see
Jesus again in Galilee
Likely in Capernaum,
Because this was His headquarters,
This is where He lived
Having a conversation with His brothers
About going up to the feast of Booths.

We learn from this conversation

That even though His brothers
Had had the chance to see Jesus for many years
Having grown up in the same house
They did not believe,
And because they didnt believe,

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They were at odds with Him.

This serves to remind us

That the Gospel divides.

This morning, lets consider three things:

1. The Gospel very often divides households.
2. That division will express itself in conflict.
3. How we should respond to those who dont believe in our homes.

II. Sermon.
A. Lets consider first that the Gospel very often divides households.
1. We see that Jesus wanted to avoid Judea
Because of the division the Gospel makes in the world.

The Jews hated and wanted to do away with Him.

John writes, After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was
unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him (7:1).
How did He know?
In 6:4, John had told us the Passover was near.
Jesus, because He was faithful to His Fathers commands,
Would have gone to that Passover in Jerusalem
Which is in Judea
And there He would have found that the Jews still wanted to kill Him
Remember, He had healed the sick man
At the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath Day,

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And had called God His Father,
Making Himself equal with God (John 5:18).

Judea was a dangerous place for Him to be,

But yet He was willing to go there
Because thats what His Father wanted.

The world is a dangerous place for the Christian,

But we must still go out into it
And bring the Gospel to them
Because thats what our Lord wants us to do,
Because thats the only way any will be saved.
When you consider what Jesus was willing to do
To save even one of His sheep,
Its worth whatever it may cost us.

John goes on to tell us

That the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near (v. 2).
This was one of the three main feasts
That all Jewish men were required to attend
The feast that reminded the Jews
That they were once wanderers
Without a home
Until the Lord brought them to their own land.

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Since it was required,
There was no question that Jesus would attend it
The only question was when.
Its important to understand this
To make sense out of what Jesus says in our passage.

In the meantime, Jesus continued to preach and heal,

And to do as much good as He could in Galilee.

Our time in this world is so limited

And so we should try to make
The best use of it that we can.

2. The Gospel will not only make a division

Between us and the world,
It will also divide our households
Wherever the two kingdoms exist,
Wherever there are believers and unbelievers,
There will be division.

Such was the case in Jesus household.

We read in verse 5, For not even His brothers were believing in Him.
These were Jesus stepbrothers
The natural children of Joseph and Mary.
After Mary conceived and gave birth to Jesus as a virgin,

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She and Joseph had at least six more children
Four brothers and at least two sisters.
We read about them in Matthew 13:55-56,
Where those of Nazareth said about Jesus,
Is not this the carpenters son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His
brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they
not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?

We know that at least two of these brothers

Will later come to believe in Jesus:
James will lead the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15),
And write the book of James;
And the Judas here is the one
Who will write the book of Jude.

At this time, though, they did not believe.

The two kingdoms were present in this house,
And so they were divided.
Again, I would remind you of what Jesus said to His disciples
Just before He sent them to teach and preach,
Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring
peace, but a sword. For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER,
AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTERIN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MANS ENEMIES
WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD (Matt. 10:34-36).

Grace doesnt necessarily run in families.

If there was any household on earth

Where we should see this, if it was true,

It would be the household of Joseph and Mary.
Its difficult to point to any one family in the Bible
That wasnt divided in this way.
Maybe this has been your experience.
Youre not alone, because the Gospel brings division.

B. Second, that division will express itself in conflict.

1. We see that thats what happened between Jesus and His brothers.
We read in verses 3-4, Therefore His brothers said to Him, Leave here and go
into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing.
For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If
You do these things, show Yourself to the world.
In light of this coming feast,
They told Jesus to go up to Judea for two reasons
Which on the surface, almost looked as though they believed in Him.

a. First, He should go and show Himself to His disciples to encourage them.

They werent talking about the twelve
Because they were still with Him in Galilee
They were talking about those Jews
Who, believing He was the Messiah,
Would set up a temporal kingdom
That would have its capital in Jerusalem.

b. Second, He should go not only to encourage them,

But to further His plan to make Himself known more broadly.

If you do these things, show yourself to the world (v. 4).

We need to see that this was only a pretense

They seemed really to want to trap Him,
Or at the very least to mock Him.
Weve already seen that they didnt believe in Him (v. 5).
But consider what else was wrong with their counsel:

(i) If you know and believe who Jesus is

You dont tell Him what to do
You listen to Him and do what He tells you.

(ii) If you loved Jesus, you would try to protect Him.

They were encouraging Him to go where the Jews wanted to kill Him.
In chapter 11, when Martha and Mary will send messengers to Him
Because their brother Lazarus was sick,
And He decides to go back into Judea,
His disciples will say to Him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to
stone You, and are You going there again? (John 11:8).

(iii) If you believe He is the sinless Son of God,

You wouldnt suggest that He was sinning:
By implying that He purposely withheld
What His disciples needed to strengthen their faith,

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That He was a coward
Because He was afraid to go where there was opposition;
Or that He was doing these things
Merely to make a name for Himself.

They didnt believe in Him.

They didnt love Him.
Jesus says they were of the world
Thats why they hated Him,
And why they were having this conflict.

Have you ever noticed yourself

On the other side of an issue
With those in your home who dont believe?
This is what happens because of this division.

2. How does Jesus resolve this?

He tells them to go up to the feast,
While He stays behind.
So Jesus said to them, My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune.
The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are
evil. Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has
not yet fully come. Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee (vv. 69).

a. He said His time had not yet come,

But theirs was always at hand.

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What He meant was

The time of His going to the feast had not yet come
Not the time for Him to die.
We might be tempted to think He was speaking of His death
And that if He went to this feast, He would be killed.
But if we see it in that way,
It doesnt make sense out of the fact
That He parallels this statement with something to do with them
My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune
That He eventually goes to the feast,
And that He must go in obedience to His Father.

What Hes really saying is that for now

He had other, more important things to do;
While they had nothing better to do.

If you live a useless life

A life with no purpose
It doesnt really matter whether you go or stay.
But if you have a purpose,
If you live with purpose,
If you are pursuing that purpose,
Youll find that you dont really have time
To do what others are doing.

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What is Gods will for your life?

Isnt it that you become the servant of all?
If thats the case,
You cant expect to be the master of your own time
There will always be something that needs to be done
Someone that needs your help.
But you can expect to live a fulfilled life:
Its so much better to have something useful to do with your time,
Than to waste it on nothing.

Jesus knew that the best time to go

Would be during the middle of the feast.
May the Lord give us grace
Not only to be useful,
But to be useful at the right time.

b. Jesus pointed out another reason

Why they could go at any time, but He couldnt:
The world hated and wanted to kill Him,
But it didnt hate them (v. 7).

It wouldnt be dangerous for them to show up at the feast

They were the children of the world,
The feast would be filled with such people

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Even though they were Gods people.

Jesus said the world loves its own (John 15:19).

If Jesus went up to the feast,

At least at that time,
He would be putting Himself in danger,
Because the world hated Him.
He says in verse 7, The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify
of it, that its deeds are evil.
It didnt just dislike Him, it hated Him.
Why? Because He tried to help them
By telling them the truth.

Jesus reminds us here that those who are of the world do evil things.
A bad tree always bears bad fruit (Matt. 7:18).
It doesnt always look like they do,
Because some of the things they do are outwardly good,
But they always do them for self-serving reasons.

Jesus tells us not to follow their wicked example,

But instead, to expose their sins
By living and speaking as He did.
He spoke out against the sins of the world,
And so must we.

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But dont forget there is a price to be paid.
When Jesus tried to help them in this way,
They hated Him in return
Because it pricked their consciences,
Because it made them afraid of Gods judgment.
They wont admit it,
Theyll use any other excuse for their hatred,
But the bottom line is the Gospel exposes their sin.

John writes, Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you (1 John
3:13).
We both have different masters.
We both live according to a different set of rules.
We both have different goals.
Were as different as light and darkness,
Good and evil.
Dont be surprised if in trying to help those in the world
They hate you in return.

Dont be surprised if there are those in your household

Who hate you for trying to help them as well.
If they dont believe,
If they are of the world,
You will have conflict.

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Just remember,
Its better to be hated by the world
And by those in your home
For telling them the truth,
Than by becoming their friend
By taking the same path on which theyre walking.

C. Last, and briefly, how we should respond

To those in our homes (or in the world) who dont believe:
We need to be gracious and patient with them.

1. Notice how our Lord dealt with them in gentleness and humility.
Though they made these insinuations against Him,
He didnt get angry or condemn them
He answered them meekly and humbly.

When others get angry and do cruel things to you,

It never justifies your doing the same in return.
Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount, But I say to you, do not resist an evil
person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also
(Matt. 5:39).
Like Jesus, we should answer them in gentleness and love.

2. We should seek for their conversion.

Jesus said to His brothers, Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this
feast because My time has not yet fully come (v. 8).

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He believed they should go to this religious feast, even though they were
hypocrites.
Why? Because thats what God commanded.
But also that they might be converted while they were there.
These feasts were ordained by God for the conversion of His people.

When you get into conflict with those in your household,

Dont forget to use every opportunity to bring the Gospel to bear on their minds,
And pray the Lord would bring it to bear on their hearts.

3. Finally, dont let them tempt you to sin.

Jesus said it wasnt yet His time to go to this feast,
Because His time had not yet fully come.
Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee (v. 9).
He did not allow Himself to be influenced
By those who encouraged Him to sin.

In seeking to influence those in your house or those in the world

Who dont know Jesus,
Be careful not to let them negatively influence you.
Paul writes, Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals (1 Cor.
15:33).

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