the Fourth Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 4 of 5
John 7:1-24
The brothers of the Lord Jesus were among those who did not believe, because they were looking for the glory which comes from men (vv. 4, 5; cf. John 5:44). They expected His popularity to rub off on their family, whilst if they had believed He was the Son of God, they would have been aware of the distance which separated them from Him (read Luke 8:21; 2 Corinthians 5:16). Later on the Lord’s brothers did believe in Him and were to be found among the disciples (Acts 1:14).
Their principles here were the same as all men: to make the most of a man’s gifts and abilities for his own advantage so that he might be known and honoured (v. 4). On the other hand, the Lord never ceased to seek the glory of the One who had sent Him (v. 18). And He only went up to the feast at the time which God chose. How far short we fall of this perfect Example! Many of our sorrows come either from our violent hurry to be doing something or from our delay in obeying God’s orders. V. 17 reminds us too that submission to God’s will is the means for each one of us to know the truth.
In Jerusalem the Lord Jesus meets these Jews who are full of hatred and who have been trying to put Him to death since He cured the Bethesda paralytic on the Sabbath (v. 1; John 5:16).
