Feeding the Lambs - What Do You Believe

Jesus' Brothers Don’t Have Faith in Him

"It was almost time for the Festival of Shelters [Feast of Taberbacles, Tents or Booths], and Jesus' brothers said to him, “Why don’t you go to Judea? Then your disciples can see what you are doing. No one does anything in secret, if they want others to know about them. So let the world know what you are doing!” Even Jesus' own brothers had not yet become his followers.

Jesus answered, “My time hasn’t yet come, but your time is always here. The people of this world cannot hate you. They hate me, because I tell them that they do evil things. Go on to the festival. My time hasn’t yet come, and I am not going.” Jesus said this and stayed on in Galilee.

Jesus at the Festival of Shelters

After Jesus' brothers had gone to the festival, he went secretly, without telling anyone.

During the festival the Jewish leaders looked for Jesus and asked, “Where is he?” The crowds even got into an argument about him. Some were saying, “Jesus is a good man,” while others were saying, “He is lying to everyone.” But the people were afraid of their leaders, and none of them talked in public about him.

When the festival was about half over, Jesus went into the temple and started teaching. The leaders were surprised and said, “How does this man know so much? He has never been taught!”

Jesus replied:

"I am not teaching something that I thought up. What I teach comes from the one who sent me. If you really want to obey God, you will know if what I teach comes from God or from me. If I wanted to bring honor to myself, I would speak for myself. But I want to honor the one who sent me. That is why I tell the truth and not a lie."
John 7:2-18

[14th message of the New Believer Series]

We mentioned James, brother of Jesus in the previous message. Today we read passages mentioning that Jesus had more than one brother. The New Testament bible mentions their names as James, Joseph (Joses), Judas (Jude) and Simon and not only that, Scriptures also mention that they have sisters (unnamed but more than one).

Depending on which church you grew up in, listen to or belong in, the explanation of these New Testament references can be varied.

Some churches do not even teach about this.

Others teach that these were half brothers (and half sisters) of Jesus, born to Mary and Joseph, after Jesus was born.

Some teach they weren't brothers or sisters but are cousins of Jesus.

And some teach that they were the children of Joseph from a woman other than Mary.

Need to Read the Bible For Yourself

This is not the main point of this message, but we do need to say that not all Christians believe the same things. And these often lead to confusion, conflict and sectarianism.

If you want to know the truth or find answers to your questions then you would need to study Scriptures for yourself. As a new believer you have access to Our heavenly Father, through the Name of Jesus and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of God.

Takeaways

Other notable nuggets we could take from the excerpt above are the following:

1. The brothers of Jesus were not among His first disciples. In fact it took a long while for them to believe in Jesus. (As we already mentioned, we touched on this in the preceding message). How could they believe? It will have to take more to convince them to, but they did eventually, after Jesus had resurrected and then they have been fully convinced that He had backed up what He had said.

2. The detractors of Jesus were always looking for Him. It seems that those who hated Jesus were more interested and talked more about Him than those who actually follow Jesus. This still happens today. (People hating on someone, follow, wait on and talk about them constantly and let them live in their subconscious as well, rent free).

3. Different people have different opinions about Jesus. And they are not afraid to voice them out. Except for some followers of Jesus who were afraid to talk about Him in public. Yes, the same holds true today. (Many still do have valid reasons to do so as they could be punished or even put to death because of their faith, like in the first century).

4. Jesus taught in the temples. When He starts to speak, people listen and they are amazed at what He is saying.

5. Jesus taught as One who has authority, One who really knew what He was talking about. I mean, this shouldn't surprise anyone. If He is who He claim to be, then His words and actions should reflect and back this up.

Other people teach for a variety of other reasons, mostly personal reasons. Jesus taught the truth and not out of His personal or selfish reasons.

Who is Jesus

New Believer