John 7:5 (KJV)
For neither did his brethren believe in him.
At first glance, the brethren referenced seem to be Jesus’ brothers, the children of Joseph and Mary: James, Joses, Judas, and Simon (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3). But reading the context, it seems to me that something else is meant. John Gill agrees, writing, “…these his brethren were not. The Jew, therefore, is mistaken, who supposed the above persons are here intended; and objects this their unbelief to Jesus, as if they knew him too well to give him any credit; whereas they did believe in him, and abode by him to the last; and some of them, if not all, suffered death for his sake. They therefore are to be understood as some distant relations of Mary or Joseph, who dwelt at Nazareth, or Capernaum, or in some of those parts…”
I was struck that these brethren, I think likely neighbors and others who lived, worked, and knew the family of Joseph and Mary, made a distinction between themselves and Jesus’s disciples. They did not want to be identified as followers.
A prophet hath no honor in his own country.
Consider the woes Jesus placed on Bethsaida and Capernaum. Though Jesus was raised in the area, had His early headquarters there, and called His apostles from that region, nearly nothing is said of the region after the cross. Nathaniel had earlier quipped, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46), apparently not much. Samaria wasn’t far from the region of Galilee. The Jews had no dealings with them, but God did mighty things up there.
It appears to me that the people least likely to know Jesus as Savior and Lord are those who know Jesus’ family the closest. Here is the danger of the Christian religion: People who know the religion are often the last to know the Christ their religion proclaims.
#NoHonorAtHome #FamiliarityBreedsUnbelief #ReligionWithoutChrist #FaithBeyondFamily #RejectingTheSavior
The Familiarity that Breeds Unbelief: Close Proximity Equals Distance from Christ
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