God’s TimingJohn 7:1-13

God’s TimingI. The Delay in Galilee - vv. 1-9

II. The Departure to Jerusalem – vv. 10-13

God’s TimingI. The Delay in Galilee - vv. 1-9

a) Conflict with Relatives

b) Response to Relatives

II. The Departure to Jerusalem – vv. 10-13

John 8:24I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.

Exodus 23:16You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor.

John 7:4For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.

RyleThe false standard of an unconverted man is very manifest in this and the preceding verses. . . .The man of God remembers that true religion does not ‘cry, nor strive,’ nor court publicity.

Luke 13:26-27Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’

Psalm 69:8-9I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s sons. 9 For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

Reasons for Unbelief

• Familiarity

• Envy

• Preconceptions

John 7:6Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.”

Morris…for John, his record now takes us to Judea for a continuous account of southern ministry culminating in the cross. Also consider that here Jesus distinctively contrasts “My time” of destiny with “your time.” However, His time incorporates the ambiguity of departing for both the Feast and His time of destined atonement as God’s Lamb.

Psalm 2:2-3The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

I testify…that its works are evil

In short, they [the Jews and Gentiles] could have tolerated His

opinions if He would only have spared their sins.

J.C. Ryle

Mark 1:15The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.

RyleTrue Christians should remember that, like their Master on this occasion, they and worldly men cannot work well and act and move together. They will often find it so. Their principles are different. Their reasons and motives of action are different.

God’s TimingI. The Delay in Galilee - vv. 1-9

a) Conflict with Relatives

b) Response to Relatives

II. The Departure to Jerusalem – vv. 10-13

HendriksenJesus’ going up to Jerusalem was “true in this case even in a literal sense (actually ascending from 680 feet below sea-level near the Sea of Galilee to 2,500 feet above sea-level, the altitude of the Holy City), but ever true in a religious sense.”

Mark 9:30They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know

John 7:12And 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.”

Acts 1:12-14Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.