John 7:1-11 (ESV)

7 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. ² Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. ³ So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. ⁴ For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ For not even his brothers believed in him. ⁶ Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. ⁸ You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After saying this, he remained in Galilee. ¹⁰ But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. ¹¹ The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” ¹² And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” ¹³ Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

After Jesus’ difficult teachings about being the bread from heaven, he didn’t want to remain in Judea, the region in which Jerusalem lay, because the religious leaders there sought to kill him. Now the Feast of Booths, one of the three most significant Jewish feasts, drew near. This was a time of abundant celebration of thanks to God for the year’s harvest. Jesus’ brothers urged him to go to Jerusalem and make himself known. They didn’t understand why he wasn’t doing more in public. No one who wants to gain a following does so much in secret. They thought if he really were the Messiah, he needed to work harder to gain a following. The Feast of Booths would be the perfect time for him to make himself known as the King of the Jews. Then the nation could finally experience the political deliverance she desperately longed for. Like the crowds who were fed by Jesus, his brothers were looking to him for what they could get. Previously in John’s Gospel, Jesus’ mother wanted him to make wine at a wedding to save the bridegroom from embarrassment. Jesus asked why she bothered him with the issue, but then he took care of it. The same thing happened here. He told his brothers it wasn’t the right time, but then he secretly went to the Feast on his own. All the Jews watched for him, but all were afraid to admit it.

Verse 5 reads, “For not even his brothers believed in him.” His brothers grew up in the same home with him, but they were not saved until after Jesus’ resurrection. They saw him as a political deliverer, not the One who came to take away the sin of the world. Unlike Jesus’ brothers, we must recognize that our problem with God is due to our sin, and trust in Jesus as our only hope. But we can’t follow a Jesus that we create to satisfy what we want. He doesn’t help us work our way to God or give us assistance when we need it. We are totally unable to get to heaven without his provision for our sin, and we can add nothing more to the righteousness he gives us. Let’s determine anew to believe what the Bible proclaims about Jesus instead of what the world or even our own imaginations suggest about him. Jesus is our Savior, and he is our only hope.