Did Jesus lie?

I'm working through John on Sunday mornings, and this week we are in the beginning of chapter 7. This section contains a verse that could possibly impact the truth of Christianity. In it we have a section of three verses that make it seem like Jesus lied.

John 7.8-10, "'Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.' Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee. But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret."

I've heard the argument before that Jesus was a liar based on these three verses. His brothers are telling Him to go up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths in order to show off His miracles, and prove Himself as the Messiah. But Jesus says you go, I'm not, and then later He does go. It would seem that Jesus lied to His brothers. He said one thing but then did something else. So did Jesus lie?

No, if Jesus had lied He would have been guilty of sin, and therefore, being a sinner, could not have died to pay the price for sin as a perfect sacrifice. So how do we take these verses of the Bible, that seem to indicate a lie from Jesus' mouth, and then hold to the truth that Jesus lived a perfect life? We have to go back to the original language, and look at the words spoken by Jesus.

In this one section of Scripture Jesus uses a word for time that is only spoken by Him here. Usually He uses the word, hora (long o), like when He spoke in John 2.4 to His mother when she told Him that the wine had run out. Hora refers to a destined period or hour. William Barclay talks about how this word means the destined hour of God. It is the time that God has decided part of His plan must be carried out. It is not movable or avoidable. Jesus uses this word many times in reference to revealing Himself as the Messiah, and being glorified as the Christ, but here, for the only time, He uses a different word.

Here in John 7, Jesus uses the word kairos. This word means an opportunity, or an opportune time. It refers to the best time to do something. It is a moment that is waited for, and when it comes, it is seized. Jesus tells His brothers, that it is not yet the opportune time for Him to go to the feast, and so at this moment, He is remaining behind in Galilee.

But as the feast begins and carries into the week, that moment does arrive, and Jesus goes to Jerusalem secretly. The people are looking for Him, there is confusion about who He is. The people are wanting to do the right thing, but they are confused as to what that is. And so Jesus, waiting for the opportune moment, goes to Jerusalem once the crowds have gathered, and the people are ready to listen to what He has to say to them.

Jesus was the perfect, spotless, lamb of God who died for the sin of the world. As such He could not be a liar. He was the Son of God who came for a purpose, and took advantage of every opportunity. He had to because as He said in verse 7, "The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil." He had an essential message that He had to proclaim, and so He had to wait for the right moments. His message has been handed down to us to proclaim. The world will hate us for it, but it is a message that must be proclaimed. We must wait for the right moment, the most opportune time. Matthew 10.16, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves." Proclaim the message, seize the opportune moment what it comes.

Peace be with you