Even His Brothers Did Not Believe

The gospel of John is designed to create faith in Jesus, and yet John also tells us of those who did not have faith in Jesus… In John 1:11 we read of those who lacked faith from among His own people… “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” 

In John 6:66 we read of those who lacked faith from among His disciples, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” 

For a time, even Jesus own brothers (cousins) Who are James, Joses, Simon and Judas (The Judas that we are familiar with who betrayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is a different man than the brother of Jesus, who is also named Judas) did not believe, they had grown up with the very son of God living under the same roof:

 John 7:5 says, “For not even his brothers believed in Him.” 


Perhaps the brothers of Jesus were blinded by familiarity. It is often said, “Familiarity breeds contempt” This hindered many who knew Jesus from childhood…

In Mark 3:21 the Bible says, “And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

The unbelief of Jesus brothers was foretold in Psalms 69:8, “I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s sons.” 

They eventually did come to believe in Jesus. Acts 1:14 says, “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”

Why did Jesus’ brothers not believe in Him from the very beginning...? Had they not seen the miracles? Did they not know Him as well as anyone else? 

Some of his brothers would have been old enough to remember their older brother Jesus, at the age of 12, going to the Temple and teaching the religious leaders (Luke 2:39-52).

They were also likely invited guests at the same wedding when Jesus performed his first miracle of turning water into wine (John 2:1-11).

Some of them would likely have been present, or at least would have been aware of when their older brother turned the tables in the temple, and how this act carried with it the bold messianic statement that the temple was ‘my father’s house’.

They would also have known that Jesus healed an official’s son (John 4:46-54), healed the man on the sabbath at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-17), fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish (John 6:1-14) and walked on water (John 6:16-21).

In John’s gospel, all of these events took place before John’s statement that, ‘…not even his brothers believed in him.” 

Matthew 13:54-57 says, “… and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him.”

The problem of unbelief was also a problem common among prophets. The same passage in Mathew goes on to say, “But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” Mathew 13:57 

Perhaps they were blinded by envy. Large crowds had been following Jesus everywhere making it difficult for His family to speak to Him at times. 

Matthew 12:46 says “While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” 

Jealousy can be a powerful.

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Genesis Clearly Teaches that the Days Were Not 24 Hours

Introduction

"The day-age (progressive) creation account is non-literal and contradicts the clear teaching of Genesis." I hear or see this complaint quite often, although the statement is incorrect regarding both accusations. I take all of the biblical creation accounts literally. Nothing is symbolic. The Hebrew word yom1 has three literal meanings - a 12-hour period of time (sunrise to sunset), a 24-hour period of time from sunset to sunset (the Hebrew day), and an indefinite period of time. The day-age interpretation of Genesis does not require the use of symbolism to explain the creation account.

The proper interpretation - from Genesis

A simple way to determine if the days are 12 hours, 24 hours or an indefinite period of time is to examine each of the days and see what the Bible says about the time it took for those days to happen. We will examine each day and see if Genesis indicates which interpretation is correct. In this page, we will consider the text of Genesis only and not rely upon any scientific information, about which we can not be absolutely sure of its accuracy.

12-hour days?

Let's look at the first definition of yom - the 12-hour period (from sunrise to sunset). A very casual glance at the text shows that yom could not be referring to daylight only. On the first day, Genesis 1:5 states that there was both daylight and night.2 We can eliminate the "daylight" definition of yom as being consistent with the Genesis text. The days of Genesis must have been longer than 12 hours.

24-hours days - Day 1

Next, let's examine the Genesis days to see if they fit the 24-hour interpretation. Many things happen n the first day. God created the entire universe, including the earth. God also began the period of daylight and night on the earth. Although science tells us that these events took much more than 24 hours, there is nothing in the biblical text that would clearly indicate that the day could not be 24 hours long.3 The 24-hour interpretation passes the test for the first day.

24-hours days - Day 2

On the second day, God separated the waters above the earth from those on the surface of the earth.4 Since there is no timetable listed for this period of time, it could be 24 hours in length. The 24-hour interpretation passes the test for the second day.

24-hours days - Day 3

On the third day, God formed the land out of the seas. There is no time frame given for the formation of the land and seas. Some time after the land was formed, God created the plants:

Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them, on the earth"; and it was so. (Genesis 1:11)

And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12)

The text clearly states that the earth "sprouted" the plants (the Hebrew word deshe, usually refers to grasses). The Hebrew word dasha indicates that the plants grew from either seeds or small seedlings in order to have "sprouted." In addition, these plants produced seeds. The Hebrew word here is zera, which is most often translated "descendants." This makes matters very difficult for the 24-hour interpretation. Not only do the plants sprout and grow to maturity, but produce seed or descendants. There are no plants capable of doing this within a 24-hour period of time. Things actually get worse for this interpretation. Genesis 1:12 clearly states that God allowed the earth to bring forth trees that bore fruit. The process by which the earth brings forth trees to the point of bearing fruit takes several years, at minimum. God did not create the trees already bearing fruit. The text states clearly that He allowed the earth to accomplish the process of fruit bearing through natural means. Because the process of the third day requires a minimum period of time of more than  24 hours, the Genesis text for the third day clearly falsifies the interpretation that the days of Genesis one are 24-hour periods of time.

24-hours days - Day 6

Day 6 is also a problem for the 24-hour interpretation. During this day, God planted a garden in Eden, and caused the garden to sprout and grow. Then God brought all the birds, cattle and wild animals to Adam to name. God put Adam to sleep, took a part of him and formed Eve (Genesis 2:21-22). Adam's response to Eve's creation was "at last," indicating that he thought the day was very long indeed. 

Conclusion 

We are left with only one interpretation for the days of Genesis one. The literal, clearly indicated, meaning of yom for Genesis one must be an unspecified, long period of time. This is why I believe that the day-age Genesis one interpretation is the only biblically sound interpretation for the creation of the world and life on it.

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