John 7:1-5
1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. 3 His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him.
The Stunning Unbelief of the Brothers of Christ.
While on earth, Christ’s miracles were profound and caused people to marvel, and to turn their hearts to God. In this passage we see Christ’s (half) brothers coaxing Jesus to publicly reveal Himself in Jersualem, requesting Him to no longer do ministry in quiet and remote places. On the surface, this seemed like a noble challenge. It could appear that they wanted Christ’s ministry to gain greater exposure and notoreity, so they urged Him to go among the masses of people, and to do His miraculous deeds, and to teach the Word of God.
But there’s something more to this passage than the seeming “good advice” of His brothers. They actually doubted Him, and were not convinced in their hearts that Jesus was truly divine. Their words therefore were a test to Christ to “do something more” to authenticate His deity, not only to the world, but to convince their skeptical hearts.
These brothers obviously walked with Christ and had seen His miracles and heard His teaching, but they were yet unconvinced. How could this be so?
It may be that unbelieving hearts and minds could have been based on their familiarity with Jesus. Being family members meant, that they spent their lives together with Jesus in their growing years, and it seems plausible that their doubt was because they knew Christ only in a common way of family life, all before the revealing of Christ’s ministry to the world.
It’s a fact that familiarity can rob us of the wonder and majesty of relationship.
“Do Something More, God.” – The Nature of Unbelief
An aspect of unbelief can happen when a person reasons that God has to do something more than He’s already done to prove and authenticate Himself as God.
This was true among the people of Israel. They saw the hand of God in innumerable ways in their deliverance from Egypt, and in their lives of wandering in the desert. God delivered Israel by miraculously causing them to cross the the Red sea on dry ground. (Exodus 14). Then, the Presence of God led them as a cloud by day, and as a pillar of fire at night (Ex 13:21,22). A cloud of covering from the heat of the desert sun, and fire at night to give them warmth and illumination. God then gave them manna from heaven to eat. (Ex 16), and for 40 years, their clothes and sandals didn’t wear out. (Deut. 29:5).
The amount of miracles and manifestations of God’s presence and power are too many to articulate, all of these were done as the evidence of His great love for His people. Still – the scripture declares that “they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief” (Heb. 3:19)
How about us? If you’re like me, you’ll go through times of wondering, and doubting. Questions will lurk – “Where is God?” and “What is God doing.” Doubts are not a problem, when they propel us to deeper prayer. Doubts can actually cause us to pursue God in greater ways. But for an unbelieving heart, doubt can cause a man to place a requirement upon the nature and character of God to perform some act or miracle before he will continue to believe.
The Blessings of God – Believing God in all the seasons of life
If you’re honest and true to your heart, you’ll find it difficult to enumerate all the ways that God has blessed your life. God’s goodness is evident everywhere in your life, and even in the difficult and challenging moments, you’ll be able see the blessing of God in your life.
In all this, I want to challenge you to consider all that God has done for you, and let it create thanksgiving and faith in your heart towards God. Don’t allow unbelief to rob you of what God wants to do in your life.
He has promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” – Hebrews 13:5 (Quoted from Deut. 31:6)
God reward you for your life of faith and trust in Christ!
