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Jesus, the Teacher: Need direction, wisdom, or help? Do you want to know the truth about life and death, heaven and hell, or anything that truly matters? Learn from Jesus; he is a brilliant teacher. To be a disciple means to learn and apply the teachings of Jesus and help others do the same. Recorded on Oct 22, 2023, on John 7:1-24 by Pastor David Parks. Finding Life in Jesus’ Name is a sermon series on the gospel according to John in the Bible. Have you ever felt unsatisfied with your life? Or, even when things were going well, something was still missing? Many people sense there must be something more. But what?? John, one of the closest friends of Jesus, believed that Jesus came into the world so that we may have life and have it to the full. Jesus turned John’s life upside down, and John claims this new life — marked by God’s power, presence, and purpose — is available for all who believe. Sermon Transcript Well, all year, we’re going through the gospel according to John in a series called Finding Life in Jesus’ Name. And today, we’re in John chapter 7, considering the teaching ministry of Jesus. Jesus was simply a brilliant teacher. People were constantly amazed by his teaching. It had a surprising authority to it, as if he had the authority of God himself — even though, as we saw last week, it was sometimes hard to understand or even offensive. And how many teachers are there who have people trying to listen to them and learn from them 2,000 years later? But here’s what separates the fans of Jesus from the true followers of Jesus: the follower of Jesus seeks to learn from Jesus, our rabbi/teacher, about who he is and how to follow him, no matter their circumstances, no matter whether it’s easy or hard. A fan will only stick around, provided there’s some benefit for them. But a true follower/disciple will stick with Jesus even when his teaching corrects/rebukes our opinions/preferences/path. For, as Peter said last week, where else would we go? Only Jesus has the words of eternal life. If you have a Bible/app, please take it and open it to John 7:1. John 7:1–5 (NIV), “1 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. 2 But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.” Ok, let’s pause here. So, it was sometime after the famous/infamous sermon at Capernaum where Jesus told people they needed to eat his flesh and drink his blood, and many of those who had been following him misunderstood him, were offended by him, and decided to walk away from Jesus. And I would imagine it would be tempting for Jesus to become discouraged at this point. John points out that he knew if he went to the southern region of Judea, where the city of Jerusalem is, the Jewish leaders there wanted to kill him. But here in the northern region of Galilee, he had just experienced a mass rejection. This is the context of our scene. So when Jesus’ brothers (or actually his half brothers) urge him to go to Judea, to attend the Festival of Tabernacles and go public with his ministry, Jesus has a tough choice: Do I stay in a place where I was largely rejected, or go to a place where people want me dead? John also adds this note that even his own brothers did not believe in him. And clearly, they don’t understand what Jesus is doing or how he would accomplish his mission. Now later, after the resurrection, they would come to believe in him, including his brother James, who wrote the letter of James in the Bible and served as a leader of the early church in Jerusalem, but not yet here. And I’m sure this must have been another potential sou...