John 7:3-5 – So His brothers said to Him, “Move on from here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret when he himself is striving to be known publicly. If You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For not even His brothers believed in Him.
“So His brothers said to Him, “Move on from here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret when he himself is striving to be known publicly. If You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For not even His brothers believed in Him.” Two of the lessons that we can use from these verses are the following. The first is that we can learn from John 15:18-25 where Jesus tells us to not be surprised when the world hates us as followers of Him. Even people from our own family will mock us, not like us, or even hate us because of our close walk with Jesus. However let us not think that we do well if we don’t cling tightly to scripture but instead deny His Word to please those of the world. We see this all around us. It would be awful to think oneself wise by denying the Word and then hearing, when face to face with Jesus, His words in Matthew 7:23 (21-23) “I never knew you.” Let us not be those who cling to modern thought of mankind when it contradicts the Lord.
Even today those who say they love us will turn against us, that includes family, friends and supposed fellow saints. Let us not be surprised at those who not only disagree with us about sound doctrine from scripture, but those who will hate us. Jesus’ brothers and his neighbors rejected His words and His identity. Those who say they love us will do the same to us.
Jesus continued to love those who doubted Him, He also died for them. Even His mother questioned His sanity and came with His brothers to do an intervention on Jesus because they had heard He was “out of His mind.” (Mark 3:21) Only after His resurrection did two of His brothers (James and Jude) come to faith in Him and even write books in the New Testament. We have much evidence in scripture that, although concerned for a moment, Mary believed in Jesus as the Messiah during His life, even before His resurrection. In fact, she may have come with the brothers not with any doubt, but of a mother’s concern.
Jesus taught us in John 15 that people will not like us, even hate us, because we believe and follow what He said, treasuring Him and His word rather than what the world comes to believe. We follow Jesus and His words above and beyond the trends of the world. Should what the world says conflict with the Word of God, we believe the Word of God. As we see, even now science more and more begins to align with His Word.
Jesus did not give up on those who mocked Him and didn’t believe right away. He persisted in giving them His love and grace. In the end many more believed and followed. How much more so should we love and persist with grace even with those who seem violently against the faith. Many of us once resisted the Lord, but praise the Lord who was patient with us and so we are saved. Jesus said in Matthew 5:44-45a “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” Whether easy of hard be like Jesus, it is the will of the Father. Give glory to God by being obedient to Him. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, Oh man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 – The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.