John

Chapter 7
{Verses 1-13: Six Months Later - Feast of the Tabernacle}
1~~After this {from Passover to Feast is six months}
Jesus moved about in Galilee.
He did not want to go around in Judea
because the Jews {Jewish religious leaders}
wanted to 'destroy from the ultimate source of themselves'/kill him.

2~~Now the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was about to begin.

{Jesus gets Sarcastic Advice from His Four Half-brothers}
3-4~~So Jesus' brothers
  {James, Joseph Jr., Simon and Jude (see Matthew 13:55)}
advised Him, "Leave here and go down to Judea
  {strong here - a command}
so your disciples may see your miracles that You are performing."

{Note: The half-brothers are jealous of the crowd that followed Jesus. They have heard of the miracles but are skeptical that they really occurred. They know that the large crowd that followed to see the miracles left. So they figure if He goes back to Jerusalem the followers there will see the miracles fail and stop following Him also! Mental attitude sins here - jealousy and judging. They are really calling Him a fake or windbag here - this is supported particularly by verse 5.}

{His Brothers Judge Jesus by their Own Human Standards}
4~~ For no one does anything in secret
but He Himself seeks
'to make a reputation for Himself'/'to be known openly'
  {means this is what they would do with His 'powers' -
  get a reputation!}.
If {rare 1st class condition of sarcasm}
You are doing these things
- and we must assume that You do -
manifest/show Yourself to the world
  {maybe so they could get fame as His brother}."

5~~(For even His {own} brothers had not believed in Him.)

6~~So Jesus replied,
"My epic/time {kairos} . . .
'not present'/'has not yet come';
but your epic/time . . .
is always prepared {means now is the time to be saved}."

{Note: 1st Advent is characterized by humiliation. 2nd Advent is characterized by Glory. They want the Glory now (so they can share in it!).}

{Note: Kairos is the Greek Word for 'period of time' or epic. He is referring the dispensation of His Millennial Reign after the 2nd Advent as not yet coming.}

7~~"The cosmos/world keeps on not being able
of hating you {because they are part of 'the cosmic system'},
but it keeps on hating and always will hate Me . . .
because I am testifying/witnessing
concerning it {the 'world'/cosmic system/human works}
that their works {human works} are evil/useless/worthless/soiled."

{Note: Cosmos originally meant 'ideas'. Since Satan rules the world now and the human viewpoint is really the ideas/viewpoint of Satan's world, 'cosmos' is often used for 'world' meaning the 'cosmic system of unbelievers and believers in reversionism'. Any believer in the Church Age can use I John 1:9 (rebound) and get back in fellowship where they 'walk in the way'. Any believer who is out of fellowship and 'walks by means of the flesh' or by means of human viewpoint - the viewpoint of the cosmic system/world.}

{Note: RBT calls human works, human good. Anything done outside the filling of the Holy Spirit is 'human works' or 'human good' and worthless. Anything done . . . ANYTHING done when under the filling of the Holy Spirit is 'divine good production'. It is God's work being performed through you and you are willingly allowing Him to do so. This is imitating Christ and He works through you. The GLORY goes to HIM! It is HIS work! In addition, God will reward you for following His will, so there will be rewards in time and eternity future - not that you earned or desired any of them - it is all by the Grace of God.}

8~~"You {half-brothers} go up to the feast yourselves.
I {Jesus} am not going up to this feast yet,
because My time is not yet full {pleroo}/'has not yet fully arrived'."

{Note: Pleroo is the Greek word for filled. Later in Ephesians 3:19 we will see the phrase pleroma tou Theo - 'all the fullness from God'. In later years, RBT calls the pivot of believers in a gentile client nation its 'Pleroma'.}

{Note: The Jewish leaders want to murder Jesus. They are not permitted by law to kill Him (legally) within the city or on a Jewish Holiday. They want to catch Jesus outside the city before the feast begins and Jesus knows this - the time is not here for Him to go to the cross yet. SideNote: This is why when He is legally murdered, the Jewish leaders have to get the Romans to do it for them! It is against Jewish Law to execute Him on the Passover!}

9~~When He had said this, He remained in Galilee {maybe a week or two}.

10~~But when His brothers had gone up to the feast,
then He {Jesus} Himself also went up,
not openly but in secret {to avoid the ambush by the assassins}.

{Verses 11-13: Meanwhile Jerusalem at the Feast of the Tabernacle}
11~~So the Jews {Jewish authorities}
kept on seeking Him {to kill Him - per verse 1}
at the feast, and kept on asking, "Where is He?"

{Clear View of Positive Volition verses Negative Volition Responses in the People}
12~~There kept on being a lot of murmuring/grumbling
concerning Him among the crowds.
Some {positive volition types} were saying, "He keeps on being
- always was, and always will be -
'good of intrinsic value'/'divine good' {agathos}."
But others {negative crowd - kept on murmuring/grumbling},
"No! He keeps on deceiving the common people."

{Note: Agathos is good of intrinsic value, for example - gold. Wherever you find gold, it has value. Gold in a chunk of cow manure would still have intrinsic value type of thing. Jesus Christ is the Ultimate of 'good of an intrinsic value'. He is pure divine good - always was, always will be. And, in a similar analogy, He is pure
light . . . there is no darkness in Him.}

{Religion Destroys Human Freedom}
13~~However, no one spoke openly concerning Him
because of fear of the Jews {Jewish religious leaders}.

{Note: NO one would speak on behalf of Jesus Christ! Why? At this time, the Romans permitted conquered people semi-local rule. In Judea, the Jewish Sanhedrin Counsel mixed religion with State. Inevitably, that stamps out human freedoms. Believers were afraid of the retributions of the Religious leaders!}

{SideNote: This principal also applies to Christianity, though Christianity is NOT a religion. It is a relationship with God. It is all God can do for you because of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross as a substitute for you. All religions are systems where man is attempting to obtain the approbation/approval of God based on man's works. The first example in the Bible was Cain offering his wonderful produce to God. Nice vegetables, but God commanded blood offerings. Cain and his offerings were not acceptable to God because God's plan required blood offerings and Cain disregarded/disobeyed God's will.

{SideNote: The reason for the human existence is to solve the angelic conflict. This is done by acts of free will. Man was placed on the earth to show Satan and the other angels that even lower creatures would either choose for God and His plan or against God and, by default, for Satan's plan. Therefore, even a nation that REQUIRED everyone accept Christ as their Savior would be a violation of the free will principal and would be outside the plan of God.}

{Verses 14-32: Two Messages in Temple: Revelation of the Son of God}
{Back to Jerusalem after 18 Month Absence - Teaching in the Temple} 14~~When the feast was half over {a Wednesday or Thursday},
Jesus went up to the temple
and kept on teaching {maybe for a few hours}
in a public assembly {didasko}.

{Note: We need to remember that the last time Jesus was in Jerusalem, He healed a lame man and told him to carry his bed off on a Sabbath which was against the Jewish legalistic laws. The punishment for violating the Law was death. The Jewish leaders sent out religious zealots as assassins. They were waiting for Jesus to come back to Jerusalem so they could murder him outside the city. But when the Feast started, these religious assassins came back into the city to join in the Feast. Jesus knew this of course and waited for them to go before he came. He also knew the Jewish leaders could not murder Him inside the city or on a Sabbath holiday.}

{Note: Didasko means to teach. But this word means to teach in a public assembly as opposed to one on one teaching. The doubling of the D's in the beginning of a Greek word is important. It means there is thought before the action is taken. So, here, the humanity of Jesus was well ready to teach.}

{Skeptics Wonder Where Jesus Learned What He is Teaching}
15~~Then the Jewish authorities kept on being amazed
and kept on saying {to themselves or out loud},
"How does this man
'know so much about '/'have this inherent knowledge of' letters
  {idiom meaning about 'seminary taught spiritual issues' here}
when he has never learned/'had formal instruction'?"

{Jesus Tells Them Where His Humanity Got the Information He Taught}
16~~So, Jesus discerned from the ultimate source of His inner resources and answered {apokrinomai} them and said,
"My teaching/doctrine is not from Me,
but from the One Who sent Me {God the Father}.

{Note: The word answered is 'apokrinomai'. It is a compound
verb . . . a preposition from the ultimate source . . . giving a discerning answer based on knowledge. Krino means: 'to judge'. Krinomai means: 'to be discerning in an answer'. Thus, the full meaning of 'apokrinomai' is: "to give a discerning answer from the ultimate source of ones self."}

17~~"If anyone wills/wants {thelo}
to do His {God the Father's} will/purpose/design
- maybe they will want to, maybe they will not want to -
he will know {ginosko}
concerning the doctrine {doctrine of soteriology/salvation in view},
whether it is from the source of The God
or whether I speak from the ultimate source of Myself.

{Note: Thelo means to have a desire and is usually an emotional word. But it can mean from a purpose or design and RBT says that is what is meant here. This means to be positive at the point of God consciousness.}

{Note: Ginosko means to know from experience - here it means from to know from the experience of hearing - as opposed to 'oida' which is to have inherent knowledge.}

{Brings Up the Topic of Motivation Behind Teaching}
18~~"He who keeps on communicating
from the ultimate source of himself
keeps on seeking/desiring his own glory/honor {approbation lust}
But, in contrast, the One Who
keeps on seeking/desiring the glory/honor
of the One Who sent Him
That Same One is true
  {complies with the Truth/Doctrine of the Plan of the Father},
and no unrighteousness is in Him".

{Sending Assassins to Murder Jesus was a Violation of the Law}
19~~Did not Moses give you the law?
Yet no one of you keeps the law!
Why do you want to kill me?"

{Note: Jesus is using their misinterpretation of the Mosaic Law against them. They say Jesus healing on a Sabbath is against the Mosaic Law. But the Law also requires a baby boy to be circumcised on the 8th day. This was valid for health reasons (like the blood coagulates best on the 8th day). But if the timing of the birth makes the 8th day a Sabbath, the Rabbi's 'work' in performing the circumcism! What is the difference between healing and cutting? See verses 21-24.}

20~~The crowd discerned from the ultimate source of their inner resources and answered {apokrinomai} Him and said,
"You're possessed by a demon!
Who is trying to kill You?"

{Note: Apparently the religious leaders realized Jesus knew about the assassins and would accuse them of attempted murder. So they had stooges in the crowd to say Jesus was demon possessed and that was why He could perform miracles. No one was trying to kill him, He was deluded! A false accusation.}

{Verses 21-24: Jesus Defends the Sabbath Miracle}
21-24~~Jesus discerned from the ultimate source of His inner resources and answered {apokrinomai} them and said,
"I performed one work {miracle and a production of divine good here}
and you all keep on being amazed {still the hot topic in Jerusalem}. 22~~ However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision (not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers),
you circumcise a male child on the Sabbath {if it is the 8th day}. 23~~ But if - and it is true - a male child receives circumcism
on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken {Genesis 17}, are you bitter {cholao} at Me {and requires a 'yes you are'}
because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? 24~~
Stop judging according to the norm or standard
of the overt/external appearance,
but judge with righteous/dikaios judgment
  {takes both knowledge of doctrine and knowing all the facts}."

{Note: Cholao is the Greek word for a mental attitude of bitterness. They Jewish leaders were first jealous of Jesus when He performed the miracle. The mental attitude sin of jealousy shoots out a projectile - in this case bitterness. Bitterness is a total disorientation with the grace of God. It is a mental attitude sin designed to hurt someone else. When you are bitter and know what will hurt the person with whom you are upset and bitter, you will do that thing even if you do not really want to! You end up with divine judgment for the sin and great self-inflicted misery!}

{Note: Dikaios is the word for righteous, but it means more than righteous. It means to use the norms and standards of bible doctrine in your soul and then to also know all the facts, and based on doctrine and based on all the facts, make the judgment. In the crowd were judges. So, Jesus' message is two fold. First, as individuals, we do not have all the facts - only God does - so do not judge. Second, if you are a judge and you must make judicial decisions, then make them based on bible doctrine in your soul and as complete a knowledge of the facts as you can obtain - objectively! SideNote: One of the crowns you can earn if you grow spiritually is the crown of dikaiosune - which RBT translates as the 'total fulfillment of Spiritual Maturity'.}

Continued

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