John 7:1-10

¹After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take His life. ²But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, ³Jesus' brothers said to Him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that Your disciples may see the miracles You do. ⁴No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world." ⁵For even His own brothers did not believe in Him. ⁶Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for Me has not yet come; for you any time is right. ⁷The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify that what it does is evil. ⁸You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for Me the right time has not yet come." ⁹Having said this, He stayed in Galilee. ¹⁰However, after His brothers had left for the Feast, He went also, not publicly, but in secret.

It is no mere coincidence that the events of chapter 7, and Christ’s subsequent teachings, took place during the Feast of Tabernacles (Booths / Ingathering / Sukkot) (Leviticus 23:24-44). This was the third major Feast – Passover (March / April), Pentecost (May / June), and Tabernacles (September / October). As we have already noted with the Tabernacle itself, we find that Christ likewise fulfills all of the symbolism of the great religious Feasts of the Jews.

John tells us that Jesus went around in Galilee to avoid the Jews were have been seeking His death ever since He debated the Pharisees over the Sabbath and claimed to be equal with God (John 5:18). The lesson for us is this: though we, like Jesus, know that our days are precisely numbered by the fore-ordinance of the Father, yet we ought not live recklessly; neither shall we live so cautiously as to neglect the reasons for living.

Jesus’ brothers (including all His relatives), still not believing on Him, suggest that He go to the Feast of Tabernacles (one week long, occurring in September and October to recall the Exodus and commemorate the harvest, the gathering of the crops), and do signs in public to regain His lost following. This recommendation is likely in light of the mass exodus of His followers (John 6:66) after His controversial teachings on His equality with God the Father, the blindness and inability of natural man, and the necessity of eating His flesh. They are poking fun at Him, saying, “You lost all Your disciples because of Your radical claims – they will all be in Jerusalem for the Feast, and the only way to get them back is to go up and do some miracles for them. You can’t expect the world to believe You, if You hide Yourself from the world.” And that sort of thinking is exactly what Jesus condemned in the Jews who had left Him. Their demand for more signs was evidence of their lack of true faith. We might here learn that it is often times our unbelieving relatives who tease us about our faith more frequently and intensely than others. Do not be surprised. Finally, we can grasp the importance of spiritual relationships, as opposed to worldly ones. Consider the reply of Jesus to the woman who declared Mary blessed to be Jesus’ mother (Luke 11:27-28).

Jesus tells His brothers that, although they are of the world, He is not. Any time is appropriate for them to go up to the feast, for they are worldly and friends of the world and do not even belong to the Father; they share no union with Him in this regard, at least at this point in time. But Jesus is at odds with the world; it is not friendly toward Him. He belongs to the Father, unlike His brothers, and always follows His will – and so for Him, there is a definite, appointed time for everything that He does. He is not saying that He will not go up to the feast at all (“yet” in v8), but that there is an appointed time for Him, according to the Father’s plan of redemption. His goal is not for the world to believe in Him – He knows they will hate Him, because He exposes their evil deeds. Isn’t that interesting? It fits with John’s commentary on Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus from John 3. Those in darkness hate the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed (see also John 16:8). In fact, throughout John’s message, it is clear that Jesus expects the world to reject Him and only those whom the Father has given Him to believe and so be saved. This reality will only become clearer throughout the rest of the Gospel (John 8; 10:25-27; 17:6-10).

Note the use of the word “world.” The brothers first accuse Him of hiding Himself from the world by remaining in Galilee. Then He says that the world cannot hate them, but that the world hates Him. John uses “The world” – it has been said – in at least 13 different ways in his writings alone, not to mention the ways that other Bible authors use it. Pay close attention to this and be sure you have the correct meaning in mind as you read and study Scripture.

Ironically, the brothers, who are on friendly terms with unbelievers and the world at large, go to the Feast to experience the ritualistic worship that they had always been part of, and they leave Jesus, the One who fulfills the Feast they are about to attend, behind in Galilee. Then Jesus goes secretly, and He will find that there are four groups of people present at the Feast. They’re all trying to figure out who Jesus really is. We see here represented by Jesus’ brothers are the group of Galilean Jews. This group comes down (or goes up as they would have said) to Jerusalem to celebrate this Feast, and standing out in appearance and accent from the southern Jews, they were excited, hoping to see Jesus. They had experienced His presence and miracles the most, and had perhaps the best idea what to make of Him, yet as we saw in chapter 6, they failed to appraise Him correctly. The second group represented in chapter 7 (v35) is the Judean Jews. These folks are not from northern Galilee, but they’re not Jerusalem Jews either. They didn’t know what to make of Jesus, as they had probably had the least experience with Him of the four groups. Thirdly, we have the Jerusalem Jews (v25). They were the most knowledgeable, so they thought, of these first three groups. Recognizing the leadership’s disdain for Jesus, they wondered why the leadership did not arrest Him here and now. They could not accept Him as Messiah, for they knew He came from Galilee; they thought it could not be known from whence the Messiah would come. And finally, we have the Jewish leadership, namely the Pharisees (v32). They have made up their minds, at least by the end of this chapter, to have Jesus executed. It is good that all four groups realize the importance of the question, “Who is Jesus?” Our world sadly pushes the question to the side, failing to see how that question truly is the most important ever asked.