Jesus: The One Hated by the World
John 7:1–8
Jesus is hated by the world-system because He testifies that its works are evil; His followers, having been called out of the world, will likewise be hated, so they must not love the world or seek its approval but distinguish between the system and its people.
Outline
- Context of the Feast of Booths and Jesus’ brothers
- Jesus’ time has not yet come
- The world cannot hate His brothers but hates Him
- Description of the world (lust of the flesh, eyes, pride of life)
- Application: not loving the world, not seeking its love, distinguishing system from people
Themes: Hated by the World · World-System · Lust of the Flesh · Lust of the Eyes · Pride of Life · Not of the World · Salt and Light · Persecution
Key Cross-References: John 7:1-8, Leviticus 23:39-43, John 12:23-24, 27, John 13:1, John 17:1, John 7:30, 1 John 2:15-17, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 6:11-12, John 15:18-20, 1 Peter 4:4-5, Matthew 5:13-16, John 3:19-20, John 17:14-16
MANUSCRIPT
Have you ever had the unfortunate experience of being somewhere where you knew you weren’t welcome? I mean somewhere where you knew you did not fit in, where you knew you were not accepted, and frankly, where you did not want to be?
Maybe there were dirty looks directed toward you. Maybe there was whispering or muttering, all of which you assumed was about you.
Maybe you try to fit in, try to make conversation, try to relate, just to make the passing time bearable, only to find that it’s a hopeless cause. Despite all your efforts, it is clear that this is not your place, and these are not your people.
It’s at times like this you are painfully aware of the differences between you and the people around you. It’s likely to make you wish that you could just be transported out of there and brought somewhere where you know you are welcomed, and loved.
As difficult as situations like these are, what we will learn this morning is that every follower of Jesus will likely experience something very similar...
Let’s read John 7:1-8.
John 7:1-8 ¶ After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For not even his brothers believed in him. 6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”
This is about six months after the events recorded in John 6. Notice in verse 2, “Now the Jew’s Feast of Booths was at hand.”
If you study the structure of the gospel of John you will find that John has chosen to emphasize Jesus’ ministry in connection with the four major Jewish feasts or festivals. In chapters 5-10 John highlights The Passover, The Feast of Booths, The Feast of Dedication and puts a heavy emphasis on the Sabbath.
Here in John 7 we find the Feast of Booths front and center.
The Feast of Booths, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Ingathering was celebrated immediately after the harvest of grapes and olives. It was meant to thank God for the provision of the harvest as well as to serve as a memorial for how God provided for the children of Israel during their wilderness wanderings.
This was one of the three pilgrim festivals in which every Jewish man within 15 miles of Jerusalem was legally obligated to attend. It wasn’t a burden however because the Feast of Booths was actually the most anticipated of the pilgrim festivals.
We find the Lord’s institution of the festival in Leviticus 23:
Leviticus 23:39-43 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. 41 You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.”
All the Israelites were gather branches and build themselves tents, or booths, or huts and they were to camp out in the for a week! This was to remind them of the Exodus and how their ancestors had to dwell in tents.
Now, I don’t know what how you feel about camping. For some of you this morning, this sounds awful. Seven days in a hut made out of branches? Sleeping under the stars? A week without the conveniences of home?
For others, this sounds awesome. The challenge of making your own shelter. Spending time outside in nature, seeing the stars, hearing the wildlife, breathing in fresh air, having a camp fire. It all sounds great!
For the Jews, the Feast of Booths came to be the most anticipated and enjoyed of the Jewish festivals.
Imagine the scene. Large caravans of people from surrounding villages, and even foreign countries arriving with joyful singing and celebration. Each family would gather branches and get to work building their shelter. The sense of community would be strong as one looked across the hills and saw thousands upon thousands of their fellow Jews setting up camp and preparing to spend a week in worship and celebration.
At sundown on the first night, a horn would be sounded marking the official arrival of the Feast. As it got darker, fires would be lit across the fields and people would talk and laugh into the night. The sights, sound and smells of the festival would form lasting memories in the minds of everyone who attended.
Of course, all of this was meant to invoke a thankfulness for the goodness of God who delivered Israel from captivity and provided for them as they dwelt in tents during their wilderness wanderings.
In our passage we find Jesus’ brothers preparing to go to Jerusalem from Galilee for the festival, and urging Jesus to attend as well (yes, Mary had other children. She had at least six others according to Matthew 13:55-56).
Look at their words in verses 3-4:
John 7:3-4 So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4 For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.”
According to verse 1, Jesus had been spending much of his time in Galilee, avoiding Judea because the Jewish leadership was hostile toward him, and seeking to kill him. His brothers urge him to go to Jerusalem so that everyone at the festival might see his miracles and believe in him.
What we learn from verse 5 however is that his brothers weren’t actually saying this for Jesus’ benefit, but because they were skeptical of him.
John 7:5 For not even his brothers believed in him.
It’s like – if your miracles are genuine and your words really are from God, then put yourself to real scrutiny. Go up to Jerusalem and subject yourselves to the massive crowds and the Jewish leadership.
Jesus responds in verse 6:
John 7:6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.
What does he mean by “My time has not yet come?” Some other passages can help us understand this.
John 12:23-24 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
In that passage, Jesus speaks of the hour of his glorification and specifies that this glorification would happen through his death. He says similarly in:
John 12:27 ¶ “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
Again, he spoke of the hour of his suffering and death. Likewise in John 13:
John 13:1 ¶ Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
In John 17, as Jesus anticipated his approaching crucifixion, he prayed to the Father and said…
John 17:1 ¶ … “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
His hour was the hour of his death. Through his death he would be glorified by God. Lastly, consider verse 30 of John 7:
John 7:30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
It was not time for Jesus to be glorified via his crucifixion, and so God did not allow him to be arrested at this time.
When Jesus says to his brothers “My time has not yet come” in response to their encouragement that he go to the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem to make his miracles known to the world, he is saying that it is not time for him to enter Jerusalem which such fanfare. Why? Because it is not time for him to be crucified and glorified by the Father. When the time does come, he will enter Jerusalem on a donkey, he will permit his followers to cry “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
At that time, he will receive open praise, just prior to his rejection and crucifixion, but now is not that time.
But then, Jesus says something curious to his brothers in verse 6:
John 7:6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.
What does this mean? Although the time was not right for Jesus to make himself known openly and to thus receive open praise from the world, such praise was always available to his brothers. We need more clarification. He continues in verse 7:
John 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
Jesus knows that when his time comes there will be a powerful popular movement which believes he is the messiah. He will receive praise from the masses but this will trigger a climax of hatred from the Jewish leaders and persecution from the Roman authorities. Therefore, when the hour of his glorification by the world comes, his death will shortly follow. In an ironic twist, it will be through his death, that the Father will truly glorify him.
When he makes himself known in this way, despite the momentary praise heaped upon him by the world, it will become clear that the world actually hates him, and would rather him dead.
So, says his brothers, why won’t you go up to Jerusalem and make yourself known with miracles and fanfare? The Feast of Booths is the perfect opportunity to make yourself known to the world! The answer, I will not go up because the world hates me. When I make myself known to the world, they will kill me and the time for my death has not yet come.
But then Jesus says something remarkable to his brothers. He says, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me…”
What does this mean? Does it mean that Jesus’ brothers were super popular with lots of people? No. Jesus is using the term “world” here in a different sense than his brothers used the term in verse 4. In verse 4, his brothers were using it in the sense of the masses, the crowds, the people. In verse 7, Jesus is using it in the sense of the world-system, or the prevailing culture.
This is how the term “world” is often used in John’s writings.
1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Here John is describing the societal system, or the prevailing culture. He offers three perpetual features of it. He says, “For all that is in the world…
The desires of the flesh The “flesh” speaks of human nature as corrupted by sin and hostile toward God. So then, what does the flesh ultimately desire? Whatever is sinful and self-indulgent. The prevailing societal system is fixated upon, celebrates and seeks to feed fleshly passions. It promotes the indulgence of every human lust, with a focus upon the sexual and sensual. Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. That’s what we see all around us, isn’t it? Division, anger, strife, jealousy, rivalries, self-indulgence, impurity, and sexual immorality? That’s the world system indulging in the desires of the flesh with no regard for what is of the ultimate good for society, or for what is to the glory of God. Then John says that the world is known for not only indulging in the desires of the flesh, but in the desires of the eyes.
The desires of the eyes From sexual sin, to material things. Our desire to have is insatiable. The world system is built upon man’s covetousness. If this were not so, marketing would not work. If you want to sell a product you have to advertise it in such a way as to stir up a buyers desires. Make him want it. Make her feel like she needs it. In other words, appeal to the “desire of the eyes.” Since the prevailing culture, as John is describes it, is godless, it seeks satisfaction and fulfillment in things and stuff instead of in God. The eyes are constantly scanning for the next thing that might bring some sense of happiness, well-being, or fulfillment. That the world-system is built upon the “desires of the eyes” also means that it is obsessed with the temporal and earthly. It focuses on what it can see. The physical and not the spiritual. The earthly and not the heavenly. The fleeting, and not the eternal. Without God and the hope of eternal life, the focus turns to whatever one can get from this life. “Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” Lastly, John says that the world system is built upon the pride of life.
And the pride of life The ”pride of life” literally means “pride in possessions” or “pride in living.” Since the world focuses on the fleshly, the sensual, and the material, it measures success and meaning by possessions. Therefore, human pride is stoked by what someone has. The measure of a man is determined by materialism. Jesus explicitly said, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. (Luke 12:15)”
The ”world” is the prevailing societal system which is built by and for mankind’s fallen nature. It is designed to indulge human lust while simultaneously rejecting God’s will for humanity. It loves what God hates, and hates what God loves. It denigrates what God celebrates, and celebrates what God abominates.
Consequently:
The world teaches human philosophies which exclude God, elevate man and encourage iniquity.
The world challenges the concept of absolute truth while replacing it with absurdities.
The world invents conscience-soothing moralities which are entirely foreign to the holy standards of God.
The world celebrates and enshrines perverse sexual expressions as the unencroachable right of every human being, no matter how self-destructive they may be.
The world seeks to destroy every divinely designed institution by rejection, redefinition, or perversion, whether it be marriage, family, gender, the home, the church, or human government.
It’s no wonder that John said in 1 John 5:19 that “the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” Or that Jesus on multiple occasions stated that this world system is ruled by Satan himself (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Or that John in 1 John 4:3 said that the “spirit of the antichrist… is in the world already.”
The world system, the societal system, lies in the power of the evil one. The spirit of antichrist saturates its philosophies, its morals, its priorities, its ideologies. As you’ve seen the corruption of our society, have you ever wondered if there is some organized force pulling some strings behind the scenes?
Ephesians 6:11-12 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
The ruler of this world system is still at work. His handiwork is seen all around us. Especially in every arena of ideas. School, media (esp. social media), government and religion are prime targets for infiltration by the spiritual forces of evil. That’s exactly what we’re seeing all around us.
BACK TO JOHN 7
But, we learn something else about the world from Jesus in John 7. We learn that along with promoting all that is godless, the world also hates whatever, and whoever is godly.
John 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.
Remember that in verse 5 we are told that Jesus’ brothers are not believers. What he’s saying in verse 7 is that although the world hates him, his brothers fit right in with the world.
They are part of the world-system, while Jesus is an outsider to it. The world will love and accept his brothers, while hating and rejecting him. Why? Because of all that Jesus represents. He “testified about it that its works were evil.”
That’s why we began by asking, “Have you ever had the unfortunate experience of being somewhere where you knew you weren’t welcome?”
While his brothers are urging him to go to Jerusalem to show himself to the crowds, Jesus knows that he doesn’t belong to this world. Because he is from God, and the world is saturated by human sinfulness, and ruled by Satan, they will hate him. He is not welcome.
But what does this have to do with us? Jesus would later say this in John 15:
John 15:18-20 ¶ “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
Before we came to Christ, we were part of the prevailing cultural system, but when Jesus saved us, he called us out of the world. We no longer belong to this world. We no longer fit in. Our values, philosophies, and priorities have changed.
Whereas we once indulged in the lust of the flesh now we, “walk by the Spirit, [so that we] will not gratify the desires of the flesh. (Gal 5:16).
Whereas we once chased after the lust of our eyes, now we have “Set [our] minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Col 3:2)
Whereas we once found pride in possessions, now we “count everything as loss because o the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus [our] Lord. (Php 3:8)
Do you know how Peter says the world will respond to this change in us? He says:
1 Peter 4:4-5 ¶ With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
The world hated Jesus, and so the world will hate those who belong to Jesus. The more like Jesus we become, the more like Jesus we will be treated.
1 John 3:1 ¶ See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
So, what does this tell us about the follower of Jesus who seems to get along just fine in this world? It tells us that either he is not growing in the faith and so remains a lot like the world, or he so fears men that he is afraid to make his faith known, or perhaps that he is not a genuine follower at all.
What did Jesus say:
Matthew 5:13-16 ¶ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Our calling is to come out of the world, be different from the world, and bring the person of Christ to bear upon the world. Yes, this will incur hostility from the world, but God will also use us to call others out of the world, who will then give glory to him.
Followers of Jesus stand as salt in the midst of societal decay, and light against the impending societal darkness. As much as we’d hope that our role as salt and light would cause men to flock to us while experiencing societal collapse, that is not the case.
John 3:19-20 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.
Even while experiencing the consequences of their rejection of God’s design, they will cling to darkness rather than come to the light. Notice why Jesus said the world hates in him John 7:7, “because I testify about it that its works are evil.”
Because Christians stand apart, representing and living like Jesus, our lives serve as a condemnation of the sinfulness of society. Because men love their sin, they will hate us.
So, what are some takeaways?
1. As followers of Jesus, we must not have a love for the world.
Philippians 4:8-9 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. To what degree are you still indulging in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of this life? To what degree are you still holding to the world’s philosophies, values, morality, and priorities? In what areas are you holding on to a love for this world, so that you feel right at home in it?
2. As followers of Jesus, we must not have a desire to be loved by the world Jesus’ brothers held out the allure of being accepted by the masses to encourage Jesus to go into Jerusalem during the Feast of Booths. In their minds, it was the perfect time for him to get the fame and notoriety that they thought he wanted. However, the last thing Jesus wanted was love from the world, on the world’s terms. If he wanted the world’s acclaim he would not have gone about testifying that its works were evil. Instead, he would have smiled upon their sin, remained silent in the face of it, and went along with it.
We must love him more than we fear men.
We must be willing to bear the world’s rejection, in favour of his acceptance.
We must be content feeling out of place now, so that we can feel at home then.
If we love Jesus more than we fear men, then we will be willing to incur whatever earthly consequence comes as a result of that love. We will be willing to bear being rejected by the world, knowing that we are accepted by him. We will tolerate loosing out on the comforts of this life, knowing a better one awaits us.
Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Hebrews 13:13-14 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. 14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
[As followers of Jesus, we must not have a love for the world.] [As followers of Jesus, we must not have a desire to be loved by the world]
3. As followers of Jesus, we must distinguish between the world as a system, and the world as its people. In all of this talk about the world and it’s wickedness, it’s evil, and it’s control by Satan, we must remember that there is a difference between the societal system and the people who are held captive by it.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 1 John 4:14 ¶ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 1 John 2:2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Don’t act like your partying coworker, but love your partying coworker. Don’t accept the same morality as your gay neighbour, but love your gay neighbour. Don’t affirm the lifestyle of your trans classmate, but love your trans classmate. Don’t adopt the same philosophies as your atheistic family member, but love your atheistic family member.
The same Jesus who testified about the world that its works were evil, gave his life, bearing the consequences of that evil in order to deliver them from the world. Likewise, we must be willing to pay the price of love in order to rescue some from the world, while never becoming like the world.
IN CONCLUSION
As Jesus’ brothers prepared to join the caravan to go to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths, Jesus chose to stay back and to go up later with less fanfare. He knew he would be entering hostile territory and didn’t want to provoke the Jewish authorities, or stir up the messianic hopes of the crowd until the predetermined time for his crucifixion had arrived.
He knew the world-system was so saturated with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, that it had no appetite for his call to faith and righteousness. He came as light, but they loved darkness and resented being told they were captive to it.
When his time would come, he would offer himself as a sacrifice in order to rescue men and women from out of the world. Consequently, all who would believe in him would remain in the world as a place, while no longer being like the world as a system.
This is exactly what Jesus prayed would happen in John 17:
John 17:14-16 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
And so, here we are – in the world, but not of the world. Our responsibility now is to live like Jesus in the world, with a willingness to suffer at the hands of the world, so that we can win some out of the world, while we await Jesus’ return when he will usher in a new world.
