His brethren therefore said to him, Remove hence and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see thy works which thou doest;
Jesus is in Galilee. He stays away from Judea because people there want to kill Him. At that moment His own family tells Him to go back and put His works on public display. Two questions follow: who were these brothers, and what was driving their advice?
Were these really His brothers? One writer answers from a psalm.
Formal religion has claimed that Mary had no other children than the Lord Himself. So it assumes that these were nephews or nieces. But Psalm 69:8 settles the matter: "I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's sons." Mary had at least seven children after the Lord was born, for "all" His sisters implies at least three.
Others explain them as Joseph's children by an earlier marriage. One writer answers that directly.
His brothers were sons of Mary, born after His own birth. They were sons of Mary and of Joseph. Some would like to make them sons of an earlier marriage of Joseph. We do not know anything of an earlier marriage, and neither do they. We do know that Scripture is quite plain.
They urge Him toward the one place He is avoiding.
Does not that look very heartless? There was no heart and no faith. "Go and show yourself," they say to Him, "you are doing miracles here in secret." Yet the Lord Himself would not walk there, because they sought to kill Him.
Their request named His disciples. Their reasoning left out God.
So His brothers thought, because they wished it for themselves. They spoke instead of His disciples, and of their need to see His works — and to see them in Judea. They had no thought of God. They had not the faintest idea that in the obscurity of Galilee Jesus was glorifying the Father… They reasoned from self, not from God, and that made them all the more wrong, because it concerned the Lord. They sought present glory, and thought every wise man must seek it. Had they never heard the One who taught even His disciples to give, pray and fast in secret to their Father, who will reward them?
Under all their reasoning lay something simpler.
His natural brothers argue like this. If a man has extraordinary powers, it is entirely right to use them to gain a place in the world — for his own advantage and for the good of others. Behind their natural reasoning there was the unbelief of the heart. They did not believe in Him.
Jerusalem filled with people at the feast of Tabernacles. His refusal turned on timing.
His brothers propose that He take advantage of such a moment, when "all the world," as we say, was at Jerusalem. They wanted Him to make Himself important — to become, as people say, "a man of the world." "If you do these things," they say, "show yourself to the world." He refused. His time had not yet come to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. When His day comes, He will have His kingdom in the world and be great to the ends of the earth. But for now He was on His way to the altar, not to the throne.
He refused the advice once. The same instinct still works on His followers.
We are still in the time of Christ's rejection. So we have to be on our guard, in case we use our natural abilities or spiritual gifts to exalt ourselves before men or in the religious world… If the time has not come for Christ to take part in this world's public affairs, we may be sure it is no time for His disciples to do so. If we have the sense of the Lord's approval, we shall not seek or desire the approval of the world — religious, social or political.
Their unbelief was not the end of the story.
God allowed His own brothers to remain unbelieving the whole time He was doing His mighty works. But there was another work, the greatest of all, and God made that work irresistible. Not the works of His life, but the work of His death and resurrection. These brothers had stubbornly held out against Him. His work of sin-bearing brought them to believe in Him.
- Family — The speakers are His own household. Writers read Psalm 69:8 as showing they were Mary's own later children.
- Flesh — Their advice sounds practical. But it reasons from self, not from God, and points Him to the place where men waited to kill Him.
- Fame — "Show yourself to the world" is the world's own logic: gifts exist to build a public name, and they wanted a share of it.
- Feast — He would not take the stage at the feast. He was on His way to the altar, not yet to the throne.
- Faith — His miracles never won them over. His death and resurrection did.
for no one does anything in secret and himself seeks to be [known] in public. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world
Jesus' own brothers push Him to leave quiet Galilee and take His miracles to the capital, where crowds can see them. It sounds like loyal advice, but the next verse says these men did not believe in Him — so why did He refuse?
Their argument rests on a rule of ordinary life: nobody hides his work if he wants recognition. Applied to Christ, that rule exposes the men who used it rather than the One they advised.
They gave themselves away — their ignorance of God, their lack of self-judgment, their blindness not only to their own ruin, but to the world... They reasoned from self, not from God, and so were all the more hopelessly wrong about the Lord. The advice was exactly what they would have done. They sought present glory, and thought every wise man must seek it. Had they never heard the One who taught His own disciples to give, pray and fast in secret, before a Father who rewards them?
What they were really proposing had a name.
What a thought! an attempt to lead the Lord Jesus to make Himself, as we say, "a man of the world!"... They understood His power, but not His principles. Like men in general, they link power or talent with serving one's own interests in the world.
John adds the reason plainly: His own family did not believe in Him. That unbelief was not random, and it did not last.
It is instructive to see how God allowed the unbelief of the family of our Lord Jesus. His own brothers did not believe in Him all the time He was doing His mighty works. But there was another work, the greatest of all, and God made that work irresistible. It was not the works of His life, but His death and resurrection. These brothers had held out so stubbornly against Him, yet His work of sin bearing brought them to believe in Him. There was a reason for their unbelief. There are always moral causes... Sometimes it is the fleshly mind, sometimes the worldly mind, sometimes both.
The feast happening then was Tabernacles. Unlike Israel's other feasts, it still waits to be fulfilled, and that explains His answer.
We have the Passover, and the Passover fulfilled: "Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us." Pentecost was fulfilled too — the Holy Spirit came down. But when you come to the feast of tabernacles, where do you find it fulfilled? It is not fulfilled, and is still to come. That is the real meaning of John 7... He said, "My time is not yet come." For the present, He puts the presence of the Holy Spirit in place of showing Himself to the world.
A full public display of Christ is coming. That it has not come yet is not delay but kindness.
They wanted Him to give a display of Himself equal to His claims. This was not the time for that. He will show Himself one day; "every eye will see him," and He will display His glory, to the terror of the ungodly. But He is not showing Himself now to the world; and this, to a world lying in wickedness, is mercy — real patience.
Seeing Him then would have been fatal for the world.
Apart from His death and resurrection, this could only mean judgment for all. Their guilty condition left all men open to that judgment, and nothing could have been saved out of it.
Their advice raised the real question about power: who is it for?
Such purity of motive is beyond the grasp of fallen man. The natural thought is to use power, whatever form it takes, to glorify self. This was the thought of His brothers, His natural family, when they said, "Show Yourself to the world." In effect they were saying, "Use your power to glorify yourself"... He alone uses power for the glory of God and the blessing of man.
Christians still say the same thing today.
And still there are many true Christians who, in various ways, say to the Lord, "Show Yourself to the world." They do not know the calling of the church, or the character of the day we live in. Such would gladly make Christ a leader of charitable works, and the centre of great movements for the improvement of the world. They seek to bring Christ back to the world. They do not see that the Spirit of God has come to lead believers out of the world to Christ in heaven.
- Cause — The advice grew out of unbelief. Men who reasoned from self assumed Christ must want present glory, as they did.
- Refusal — He would not make Himself "a man of the world." He alone used power for God's glory and man's blessing.
- Timing — Passover and Pentecost have been fulfilled; Tabernacles has not. His public display waits, and He gives the Holy Spirit in the meantime.
- Mercy — Every eye will see Him one day. That the world does not see Him yet is patience, since an early display would have meant judgment for all.
- Echo — The same voice speaks today. It wants Christ back in the world, while the Spirit of God leads believers out of the world to Him.
for neither did his brethren believe on him.
Jesus' brothers had just urged Him to display His powers in the capital city. John's one-line comment on them raises a hard question: how could the people who lived closest to Him fail to see who He was?
Commentators are direct about who these brothers were:
James was not a "disciple". He was one of the Lord's brothers, and he did not believe the whole time the Lord was living on earth: "not even His brothers believed in Him" (John 7:5). These brothers were sons of Mary, born after His own birth. Of course we can understand that some have been anxious to make out that they were sons of Joseph and not of Mary. But they were sons of Mary and of Joseph.
One writer reads the wording closely. John does not say that every one of them was an unbeliever:
John notes the unbelief of some (7:5). We say "some" because he does not state that all of them were unbelievers about the Lord. Now, was John mistaken in his judgment about them? The Lord's own words to His brothers confirm what John wrote: "The world cannot hate you." They had not taken their stand with Christ.
Their advice sounds practical. One writer sees the motive underneath it:
As verse 5 tells us, His own brothers in the flesh did not believe in Him. Even so, they would have been very glad to rise in the world through their connection with Him, since He could do such mighty works. Sadly, people would use Christ's name to gain worldly popularity if they could be sure of it. Such is the heart of man.
Another writer explains why such advice came to them so easily:
They did not yet believe in Him. They did not understand His ways, or why He kept clear of showy publicity. They wished Him to display His powers in the capital city in a way that would capture the world for Himself. The Lord refused their advice. The world could not hate them, because they were not yet separated from it in any way.
Years of daily contact produced no faith. One writer traces the failure to what human nature cannot do:
The brothers of the Lord did not believe in Him (7:5). They had seen Him from the early days of His life on earth. Yet they did not see His glory, and they did not believe in Him... Their spiritual condition was bad. So the Lord became flesh to reveal God, so that man might see God. By nature man was not fit to understand that he was not fit to see God in His glory. And to see God, he must first receive a new, divine nature. He has to receive eternal life.
The natural conclusion most of us would draw turns out to be wrong:
Naturally, we might think it must have been a great advantage to be connected with the Lord by the ties of nature. Sadly, this passage shows that His own family were as unbelieving as others. If they were unbelieving, we know it was not from any cause in Him.
This estrangement was written long before it happened:
For His sake He had borne reproach; the shame of persecution had covered His face (v. 7). He had become a stranger to His own brothers according to the flesh, an alien to His mother's sons (v. 8). John 7:3-5 records the slighting words of unbelief that His brothers spoke to Him; for they did not believe in Him until after He had been sacrificed on Calvary.
And God had a purpose in letting it stand on record, one that answers any suspicion that the claims of Jesus were a family arrangement:
God allowed His own brothers not to believe in Him the whole time He was doing His mighty works. But there was another work, the greatest of all, and God made that work irresistible. It was not the work of His life, but the work of His death and resurrection. These brothers had stood out so stubbornly against Him, yet His work of sin bearing brought them to believe in Him.
Unbelief carried a real loss. The care of Mary passed to John, not to her other sons:
How much stronger is the spiritual relationship than the natural! John took her after this to his own home. Her other sons had deprived themselves of such a privilege through unbelief. Yet after His resurrection His brothers were found in the upper room with the disciples.
One writer names the moment that changed them:
There can be no question that the James mentioned, distinct from the apostles, in 1 Cor. 15:7, to whom the risen Christ appeared, is the brother of the Lord. He saw the Lord risen from the dead. The Lord had appeared to him. That became the great turning point in his life, and he and his brothers believed.
- Nearness. They were sons of Mary and Joseph — the closest human tie to Jesus, and it saved no one.
- Blindness. Seeing Him every day produced no faith. Faith needs a new nature and eternal life, not nearness.
- Worldliness. Their advice showed where they belonged. The world could not hate them, because they were not separated from it.
- Cost. Unbelief lost them the honour of caring for their mother. That place went to John instead.
- Turning. What His miracles never did, His death and resurrection did. The risen Christ appeared, and those same brothers joined the disciples.
Jesus therefore says to them, My time is not yet come, but your time is always ready.
Jesus' brothers wanted Him to leave Galilee, go up to the feast in Jerusalem, and show Himself to the world. They did not believe in Him. His reply sets His own timing against theirs.
One writer sets this reply beside similar words the Lord spoke elsewhere in His life.
The Lord uses a similar expression elsewhere. It implies how perfectly His life was ordered from above, and that it was in no sense the outcome of unforeseen circumstances. When the brothers of the Lord urged Him to go up to Jerusalem at the feast of tabernacles, He answered, "My time is not yet come… I am not going up to this feast, because my time is not yet fulfilled." … To everything, therefore, in the life of the incarnate Son there was an appointed time. He, as the obedient Man, knew this. It showed the perfection of His service for God, not only to know it for the joy of His own heart, but also to declare it in public.
His brothers wanted the display now. He knew what had to come first.
Jesus stays in perfect dependence (to speak only of that). His movements were always in obedience. In everything it was a question to Him of the Father. His single eye saw that His time to show Himself to the world was, and could be, not yet. He had hinted at His death even before His Galilean ministry began, and John 6 opens it out even more strongly. Death came first, before He would be shown to the world. That display will happen in its due time. But here, as always, the order is the sufferings that belong to Christ, and the glories after them. First He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
The feast itself explains the delay. One writer reads the feast of tabernacles as a picture still waiting to be fulfilled.
In John 7 His brothers after the flesh were still sunk in unbelief. They wanted Him to show Himself to the world, if He did these great things. But the time for this was not yet come. At the fulfilment of the picture given by the feast of tabernacles He will do so. The passover had its fulfilment at the cross, pentecost at the coming of the Holy Spirit. The feast of tabernacles, so far, has had no fulfilment. It was kept after the harvest and the grape gathering, and Israel gladly remembered, in the land, their journey before they entered the rest God had given them in Canaan… At that time Jesus will show Himself to the world. But at the time we are speaking of, His hour was not yet come.
The second half of the verse is as pointed as the first. Older translations read it "your time is always ready," where the ESV has "your time is always here." One phrase shows grace; the other exposes the human heart.
The Lord states the solemn truth, that their time is always ready. They were of the world; they spoke of the world, and the world heard them. But His time was not yet come. Think for a moment who it was that spoke these words. It was One who had made the whole scene. He was the rightful Heir of all the promises, entitled to take everything, to enter on everything, to enjoy everything. What infinite grace there is in language like this, "My time is not yet come"! And at the same time, what condemnation of the sinner in "your time is always ready"! What a sentence of death on all man's thoughts! Man's time is the present — and is therefore always ready. This is his one thought; for he loves to make much of himself.
Writers differ on what "my time" points to. One reads it as His death, and turns the verse on the reader.
That is a very solemn word for the unsaved man. "Your time is always ready." Unconverted one, today is your time. Nothing can be more touching than our Lord's word about Himself here — "My time is not yet come." He was referring to His death. For them it is different: it is the world's time now, the world's day, man's day.
One writer turns the verse into a cure for our own impatience.
Man's time is always ready, as our Lord has told us. He is an impatient creature, and a hope deferred makes his heart sick. Only faith can lift him above his natural restlessness. If we had more confidence in the wisdom and love of God we would be far more restful.
- Timing: His "time" was appointed. Nothing in His life came from chance or from pressure by others.
- Order: Suffering first, glory after. No advice could move Him to switch the two.
- Feast: The feast of tabernacles still has no fulfilment. He will show Himself to the world when that picture comes true.
- Contrast: "Always ready" exposes man's haste. "Not yet," from the world's rightful Heir, is pure grace.
- Response: Today is man's day. Trust in God's wisdom turns our restlessness into rest.
The world cannot hate you, but me it hates, because I bear witness concerning it that its works are evil.
Jesus' brothers did not believe in Him, and they urged Him to go to the feast and show Himself off. His reply separates them from Himself by one test: the world hates only one of the two, and His testimony is why.
He says this to His own family, and one writer feels how solemn that is.
The Lord's words to His brothers confirm what John says: "The world cannot hate you." They had not thrown in their lot with Christ. The world hated Christ because He testified that its works were evil. What a description of the world! And what a solemn statement about His brothers from the lips of the Saviour of the world!
The reason the world had no quarrel with them was not that they were harmless. It was that they were its own.
"Your time is always here." If you are not saved, today is your time. The present day is the world's time... It is the world's time now, the world's day, man's day. "Your time is always here. The world cannot hate you." The world loves its own. You are part and parcel of it. It does not hate you. You are an essential part of it, and perhaps you are necessary to its progress.
Hatred needs a cause, and the Lord names it. One writer finds the same pattern in Joseph, who served his brothers and was hated for it.
Why was Joseph hated by his brothers? Was he not among them as one who served? True, but they were evil. So however welcome his service might be, his presence exposed their evil and called out their hatred. For the same reason, and far more deeply, the world hated Christ. He could say, "It hates Me because I testify about it that its works are evil."
This verdict on the world's works came from grace itself, and grace did not soften it.
Christ had come to cast fire on the earth. God's holiness was to be shown, and its effects were already appearing: the fire was being kindled among men. He showed that holiness in grace, but grace did not change this, for grace in no way means tolerance of sin. Sadly, men could hardly bear to have their sin exposed. "The world hates Me," said the Lord here, "because I testify about it that its works are evil." So the fire that would have purified, consumed.
Where does that leave the brothers, and who resents this testimony most?
They spoke as of the world, and the world heard them. They loved the world and the things of the world, and the love of the Father was not in them. But what they valued more was this: the world loved them as its own. A terrible position for His brothers, but no less true! How could the world hate those who so prized its honours? It did hate Jesus, with a deadly hatred, because He bore witness about it that its works are evil. That testimony galled the religious world most of all.
One writer applies this verse to why believers are in the world at all.
The Christian is not placed here, as so many think, to enjoy himself. He is put here to be in the world as Christ was... so that we, being in it, are not of it; and further, we are put here to testify against it that its works are evil. At the same time we testify to God's grace. That grace longs for sinners to be saved and to enjoy the precious fruits of Christ's work.
One writer argues that being disliked for that testimony is no disaster.
It is really a compliment to be disliked by the wicked. "Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets"... The Lord in His prayer to the Father in John 17 spoke of His disciples as loved by the Father, but hated by the world. The comfort of the one strengthens us to bear the pain of the other.
- Cause. The world's hatred of Christ had one stated cause — His testimony that its works are evil. Not His service, but His witness.
- Exposure. Hatred rises where evil is exposed. Joseph served his brothers and was still hated, because his presence showed up what they were.
- Belonging. The world cannot hate what belongs to it. His brothers were safe from its hostility because they belonged to it.
- Grace. Grace does not soften the verdict. The fire that would have purified men consumed them instead, because they could not bear to have their sin exposed.
- Commission. God leaves Christians here for the same testimony: against the world's works, and to His grace toward sinners. Expect the same reception.
Ye, go ye up to this feast. I go not up to this feast, for *my* time is not yet fulfilled.
His brothers had just urged Him to go to Jerusalem and show Himself to the world at the feast of Tabernacles. His answer sets their timing apart from His: they may go when they like, but His hour is fixed from above.
His answer rests on a set hour, not on preference. One writer sets it beside similar words He spoke at other times.
We find the Lord using a similar expression elsewhere. It implies how perfectly His life was ordered from above, and in no way the result of unforeseen events... So everything in the life of the incarnate Son had its appointed time. He, as the obedient Man, knew this. And it showed how perfect His service for God was: He not only knew it for the joy of His own heart, but said it openly.
Some copies read "I am not going up." Others read "I am not yet going up." Critics used the difference to accuse Jesus of changing His mind, since He does travel to Jerusalem two verses later. One writer traces the softer reading back to that charge, and answers the charge without it.
The reading "not yet" appears to have come from a wish to answer Porphyry's charge that Jesus was inconsistent. But His not going up then only illustrates what this Gospel writer speaks of elsewhere: His dependence on the Father. The Father directed Him day by day, in what He said (verse 16) and in what He did (verse 19). The natural explanation of Westcott and Plummer removes any real difficulty — the Lord meant that He was not going to keep the feast.
Tabernacles pictured rest after the harvest. That rest could not begin yet, and one writer explains why.
This last feast was a picture of the grape harvest. It showed that they had been a people who lived in shelters, but now had rest. Christ could feed them in the wilderness, but He could not go with them to this feast. Before Christ could enter a rest down here, the work of redemption had to be done, and the church had to be taken. So He said that He was not going up to this feast yet, because His time had not yet fully come. His brothers may go, but He could not now declare His glory and enter His rest. But there was an eighth day, when rest comes. Then He would keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Then God's holy rest would be on the earth, with God's church in the glory.
Their advice sounds practical. A man with such power should show it in public. But one writer reads their motive differently.
The brothers of the Lord Jesus could see the astonishing power that was in Him, but their hearts were worldly. They saw at once that it might turn out unusually well for them, as well as for Him, in this world. It was worldliness in its worst form. They were even ready to turn the glory of Christ into present gain.
A public showing of Himself to the world will come. One writer weighs what that display would have cost if it had come then.
If He had shown Himself to the world then, it would have meant the final ruin of the whole human race. Atonement by His blood had not yet been made. There is a time for that display of Himself... We must always be thankful that He did not do what was asked.
Two verses later He does go up — in secret. One writer explains what that secrecy was for.
Having borne witness to His break with the world, the Lord goes up to the feast, "not publicly but in private". He goes up to Jerusalem, not to take a public place in the world, but to attract individuals out of the world.
- Time given. Every step of His life ran on an hour set from above, never on circumstance — and He said so out loud.
- Time refused. Their advice was worldliness at its worst: turning His glory into present gain.
- Time withheld in mercy. Showing Himself to the world before atonement was made would have meant ruin for the whole race. His "no" was kindness, not evasion.
- Time hidden. He went up in secret — not to take a public place in the world, but to draw individuals out of it.
- Time coming. Tabernacles pictures a rest not yet entered. The feast He turned down then, He will keep on the eighth day, when God's rest fills the earth.
Having said these things to them he abode in Galilee.
One short sentence closes the exchange with His brothers. He had spoken, and then He stayed where He was while others went up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. Why would the Son of God turn down the public platform His own family pressed on Him?
Jesus had just told His brothers to go up to the feast, and said He was not going up. That has long puzzled readers. One writer notes that some copies soften it by adding "yet," to answer an early critic. He points to what really governed the Lord's movements:
The reading "not yet" seems to have arisen from a desire to meet Porphyry's charge that Jesus was inconsistent. But the Lord's not going up then was simply an illustration of something this Evangelist speaks of elsewhere. He depended on the Father, who directed Him day by day in what He said (verse 16) and in what He did (verse 19). The natural explanation of Westcott and Plummer removes any real difficulty — the Lord meant He would not keep the feast.
Staying in Galilee was not fear. The same writer shows Him avoiding Judea, where people wanted Him dead, while He worked in the north:
So we see the Lord in the despised place, the True Light — not in the city of solemn feasts. There darkness reigned all the more because nobody suspected it. And in Galilee He walks about on His errand of love. He does not wait for souls to seek Him; He seeks them, so that by believing they might have life in Him. He avoids Judea. He knows that the people there sided with the murderous hatred of their rulers and were seeking to kill Him. He was unwilling — one need not say afraid — to walk about there. He was subject to His Father's will in this.
Galilee was the despised region. Another writer draws out what that choice meant:
Having said this, "he remained in Galilee." He had gone there at His first rejection. We do find Him going up to Jerusalem to keep the feasts, but He stayed there. "The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned" (Matt. 4:15-16). For judgment He came into the world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. "You say you see," He told the Pharisees, "therefore your sin remains." He was "Jesus of Galilee." The poor despised Galileans had the light when the Jews did not.
His brothers wanted a public display. One commentator explains why He could not give them one:
The Lord's reply shows that, if He has been rejected, the time had not come for His public showing to the world, or for His taking a public part in its affairs. When the Lord does step in publicly, it will be by judgment. Suppose He had taken any public part in the nation at that moment, as His brothers wished. That would have meant judgment for the nation.
One writer reads the Feast of Tabernacles as still unfulfilled. That explains why the Lord would not keep it that year:
In this chapter (7) it is the Feast of Tabernacles — that is, after the judgment. The harvest and the vintage must come first, both symbols of judgment (compare Deut. 16:13 and Rev. 14:14-20). So the Feast of Tabernacles has never yet been fulfilled. Christ was not going to fulfil it at that time. His time was not yet come. His brothers said, "Show yourself to the world," but He could not, for His time had not come. He could go up to the Passover, for He was Himself the Passover, so that was fulfilled. Pentecost, too, was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit came down.
One writer sees His staying behind as a picture of where Christ and His people stand now:
There is a clear break with the world. Flesh has proved no longer capable of association or fellowship. It really never was; but now it takes its own way, and the Lord withdraws. His brothers go up to the Feast of Tabernacles without Him; He does not go up, but stays in Galilee. Only after they have gone does He go, and then not openly, as they wanted, but as in secret — more so than ever before. He is content to be hidden, as it were. That is a picture of what He really is now — and of us with Him, hidden in God, as far as our life is concerned.
- Timing — He refused to travel out of obedience, not inconsistency. The Father directed Him day by day, in what He said and what He did.
- Withdrawal — Judea wanted Him dead. He was unwilling to go, not afraid, and He left the city of feasts to its unsuspected darkness.
- Galilee — He stayed in the despised region. There a great light dawned on people sitting in darkness.
- Restraint — A public showing then would have meant judgment for the nation. So He took no public part.
- Hiddenness — The Feast of Tabernacles still waits to be fulfilled. Meanwhile Christ is hidden, and His people's life is hidden with Him in God.
But when his brethren had gone up, then he himself also went up to the feast, not openly, but as in secret.
His brothers had already left for the feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. He followed too — but not with them, and not in the open.
The phrase describes how He arrived, not a change of mind. Older translations put it, "not openly, but as it were in secret" — the wording the writers below use.
His brothers went without Him. Would Peter, James, John and the rest have gone up without Him? They had found in Him — Judas excepted — what met their hearts' desire. But the Lord would now show His desire to satisfy the heart of every creature. So He went up, not openly, that is, not publicly, but as it were in secret, and only appeared in the middle of it.
His brothers had urged a public display. One writer weighs His refusal against what the feast of Tabernacles still points to.
In John 7 His own brothers were still sunk in unbelief. They wanted Him to show Himself to the world if He did these great things. But the time for this had not yet come. He will do so when the picture given by the feast of tabernacles is fulfilled. The Passover found its fulfilment at the cross, and Pentecost at the coming of the Holy Spirit. The feast of tabernacles has as yet had no fulfilment.
If He had done what His brothers asked, the result would not have been applause but judgment.
Our Lord's brothers pressed Him to go up to the feast publicly. He declined. When the Lord presents Himself publicly, He must take out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 13:41-42). If the Lord had gone up publicly and removed every offender, how many would have been left?
Another writer sees the delay as a door held open:
It is blessed, very blessed for the world, for the saints, and for those still to be gathered in, that the Lord did not show Himself openly at the feast, because His time had not yet come. "Show yourself to the world" was His brothers' request. This He refused. He went up secretly and taught at the feast. He invited everyone to come and share His mercy, before He should disclose Himself openly.
Going up in secret was not withdrawal from people. It changed who He was there for.
Having borne witness to His break with the world, the Lord goes up to the feast, "not openly, but as it were in secret". He goes up to Jerusalem, not to take a public place in the world, but to draw people out of the world.
By this time the feasts had stopped being the Lord's own:
They had long ceased to be the Lord's feasts. He was shut out. They did not want Him. So in John 7, when Jesus was asked to go up to "the Jews' feast of tabernacles," He answered, "My time has not yet come." When He did go, He went privately. He took His place outside the whole thing, and called every thirsty soul to come to Him and drink.
One writer reads the contrast between their journey and His as a pattern that still holds.
His brothers go up to the feast of Tabernacles without Him; He does not go up, but stays in Galilee. Only after they had gone does He go, and then not openly, as they wanted, but as in secret — more so than ever before. He is content to be, as it were, hidden. That is a picture of what He really is now — and we are hidden with Him in God, as far as our life is concerned.
Verse 8 says He is not going. Verse 10 says He went. Critics long called this a contradiction. Some copies smooth it over by adding "yet."
The reading "not yet" seems to have come from a desire to answer Porphyry's charge that Jesus was inconsistent. But His not going up then simply illustrated what this Gospel writer shows elsewhere: His dependence on the Father. The Father directed Him day by day, in both speech and action. The natural explanation of Westcott and Plummer removes any real difficulty — the Lord meant that He would not go to keep the feast.
- Hidden, by design. He went up "as it were in secret" — not publicly, appearing only once the feast was under way.
- Hidden, because the type waits. The cross fulfilled Passover, and the coming of the Spirit fulfilled Pentecost. Tabernacles still waits, so the public showing was not yet due.
- Hidden, and that is mercy. A public appearing would mean removing all that offends. The delay leaves room for more people to come in.
- Hidden, yet reaching people. He took no place inside a religion that had shut Him out. He stood outside it and called every thirsty soul to Himself.
- Hidden, and still so. His hiding then pictures Christ now — hidden in God, and our life hidden with Him, until He shows Himself openly.
The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?
Jerusalem is packed for the feast of tabernacles, and the man everyone is talking about is nowhere to be seen. The leaders search the crowd and ask a short question, and that question shows they had lost track of Him.
In John's account "the Jews" does not mean the whole nation. It means one group based in Jerusalem. The crowds around them are different people.
Let us notice, in passing, that we must not confuse the people and the Jews. The people were Galileans and others who had come to take part in the feast. The Jews were those of Jerusalem itself, or at least of the area around it. So in verse 20 the people did not know that they wanted to kill Jesus. Those of Jerusalem, on the contrary, knew well what they were plotting there against Him.
This verse is one of the clearest places to watch that usage settle into its fixed sense.
"The Jews." Here the special meaning that this title takes on in this Gospel is very clear.
Everyone at the feast was looking for Him, but not in the same spirit. The crowds wavered. The leaders had already made up their minds.
Their expectation of Him was fully raised. They sought Him at the feast, but with the usual uncertainty and doubts of unbelief. This, though, was among the undecided crowd. The Jews in the strict sense were settled in their refusal to acknowledge Him as the Messiah.
Their question was not curiosity. They were hunting Him, and the hunt failed.
The Jews had sought Him to kill Him, but failed to find Him. Then, it seems, the object of their hatred suddenly appeared in the Temple. It was the most public place there was, and Jerusalem was crowded with worshippers from all parts.
He was at the feast, but not in the open. The way He came matched the work He came to do.
He had borne witness to His break with the world. Now the Lord goes up to the feast, "not publicly but in private." He goes up to Jerusalem, not to take a public place in the world, but to draw people out of the world.
The complaint against Him was that He would not make Himself known. Yet He was never silent.
They blamed our Lord for not making Himself known openly. But He could not do this. He spoke openly, yet He could not make Himself known openly, for He was a moral Saviour. He spoke that way, and so the world hated Him. If He had shown Himself, it must have been in judgment. But He did speak quite openly, and in that way He made Himself known. He was content to glorify the Father and to let His own glory stay hidden.
His hiding was mercy, not avoidance. It kept the door open.
How blessed it is for the world, for the saints, and for those still to be gathered in, that the Lord did not show Himself openly at the feast, "because His time had not yet come." He went up secretly instead. He taught at the feast, inviting everyone to come and share in His mercy, before He should disclose Himself openly.
Look at the scene. The feast is in full swing, and the men keeping it are hunting the Son of God to kill Him.
Terrible contradiction! Deadly delusion! Seeking to murder the Son of God, and yet keeping the feast of tabernacles! That is religious man without God.
The feast was His own, yet He had no place in it.
The Lord therefore does not go up at first, or openly, to the feast. He is neither Lord there, nor even a welcome Guest... So He remains alone in His unique and perfect Manhood. His very perfection makes these men strangers to Him.
- Sought by the leaders. "The Jews" here means the Jerusalem group, not the pilgrim crowds. Those crowds did not know what their rulers were plotting.
- Sought with malice. The crowds asked about Him in doubt. The leaders had already made up their minds, and their hunt came up empty.
- Sought, but hidden. He went up secretly, not to take a public place in the world, but to draw people out of it.
- Hidden in mercy. An open display then could only have meant judgment. His hiding kept the invitation open, and He still taught openly.
- Sought at His own feast. Men kept the feast while hunting its Lord to kill Him. That is religion at full strength with no room for Christ.
And there was much murmuring concerning him among the crowds. Some said, He is [a] good [man]; others said, No; but he deceives the crowd.
Jerusalem is full for the feast, and the crowds are talking about Jesus under their breath. Their whispers split two ways, which raises a hard question: can someone call Jesus good and still miss who He is?
The way Jesus came to the feast started the muttering. He arrived without any public announcement.
Having borne witness to His break with the world, the Lord goes up to the feast, "not openly, but as it were in secret". He goes up to Jerusalem, not to take a public place in the world, but to draw people out of the world. This attitude of the Lord, as being in the world but not of it, raises "much murmuring among the people". Some recognise that, at least, He is "a good man"; others treat Him with contempt as a deceiver.
Even the kinder half of the crowd was not on Christ's side. One writer listens to the tone of both groups. (The ESV says the second group called Him "leading the people astray"; the writers quote the older wording, "He deceives the people.")
This gives rise to questions and whispers about Him among the crowds. Some talk about Him with a superior air, others with the deepest ill-will and contempt. Even so, no one spoke about Him in public or openly. The leaders of Judaea kept men in fear.
Talking about Christ can itself prove that a person has not yet received Him. One writer sets the crowd's debate beside Peter's answer to Jesus.
There is much murmuring among the people concerning Him: some say, "He is a good man"; others, "No; but He deceives the people." The Lord might bring blessing out of it. But they are reasoning and discussing. This is just the proof that they have nothing to say to it as yet... But Peter replies to the question, "But who do you say that I am?" He says, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." So the Lord tells him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." There was personal recognition of Himself. Where there is that, there is no discussion. By turning Him into a subject to discuss in their own minds, they had not submitted to the righteousness of God. Where people's minds are at work discussing the right and the wrong, there is not the mind of the newborn baby. They are not receiving, but judging.
The compliment does not survive a second look. One writer shows where it leads.
To call our Lord a good Man and try to rob us of His deity, as these people do, shows more than an amazing lack of judgment. It shows that the devil has blinded them. The apostate Jews were more consistent. There was nothing for them between His being God, and a mere blasphemer. The believing remnant owned Him as God, but the unbelieving mass put Him to death as a blasphemer. By praising Him as a good Man, apostate Christendom seeks to come in between. In doing so it cuts the ground from beneath its own feet.
Another writer puts the choice in two lines:
If Jesus was a good Man He was God. If He was not God, He was not a good man. The issue is plain.
Whatever people thought, they kept their voices down. One writer sees the same pressure at work today.
The crowd was murmuring about Him. People gave their opinions and traded views... "However," writes John, "no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews" (7:13). What a hold on the people they had! Have we not seen something of this in modern times, and even in our own days? "The fear of man lays a snare." Church censures seem so terrible. "But whoever trusts in the Lord is safe" (Prov. 29:25).
Those who follow Christ can expect people to divide over them too.
In a world such as this, the true servant of God will at times be treated as deceivers by some and as true by others. It was so with the Lord, for some dared to say, "He deceives the people," while others said He was "a good Man" (John 7:12)... In all these ways the disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord.
- Hidden. Christ came to the feast in secret. He took no public place in the world; He came to draw people out of it. That secrecy set the crowd murmuring.
- Divided. The whispering split two ways: some talked about Him with a superior air, others with contempt. Neither group believed.
- Discussing. Weighing opinions about Christ shows a person is judging Him, not receiving Him. Peter's confession shows what faith sounds like.
- Deciding. "A good man" is not a safe middle position. If He was good, He was God; if He was not God, He was not good.
- Declaring. Fear of the leaders kept the crowd quiet. The servant who does speak will meet the same divided verdict his Master met.
However, no one spoke openly concerning him on account of [their] fear of the Jews.
Crowds filled Jerusalem for the feast. The leaders were hunting for Jesus, and the people argued about Him in low voices. This verse says why they kept their voices down, and it raises a hard question: what does fear do to someone who has an opinion about Christ but no courage to say it?
John's Gospel uses "the Jews" in a narrow sense, and the whole verse turns on that. The crowd and "the Jews" are two different groups, and one was afraid of the other.
Let us notice, in passing, that we must not confuse the people with the Jews. The people were made up of Galileans and others who had come to take part in the feast. The Jews were those of Jerusalem itself, or at least of the area around it. So in verse 20 the people did not know that anyone wanted to kill Jesus. Those of Jerusalem, by contrast, knew exactly what they were plotting there against Him.
Who were they? Writers point to the nation's religious rulers, and to the advantages they wasted:
They were clearly the religious head, or rulers of the people, scribes and Pharisees. But John generally calls them "the Jews." (See John 1:19; John 2:18; 5:10; John 7:13, etc.) In John 5 the Lord convicts them. They had the witness of the Father's works, done in the earlier days of their nation. His own works at the pool of Bethesda were like them. They had the testimony of John, and they had their own Scriptures. But they had not obeyed, they had not believed.
Opinions were flying — some kind, some cruel. None of it reached public speech.
This gives rise to questions and whispers about Him among the crowds. Some speak in a patronising way, others with the utmost ill-will and contempt. But even so there was no talk in public, or plainly. The leaders of Judea kept men in fear.
Debating a person is not the same as receiving Him:
And now we find what is going on in hearts. There is much murmuring among the people about Him: some say, "He is a good man"; others, "No, he is leading the people astray." The Lord might bring blessing out of it. But they are reasoning and discussing, and this is just the proof that they have nothing to say to it yet... Where people's minds are at work discussing the right and the wrong, that is not the mind of a newborn child. They are not receiving, but judging.
Fear ruled the crowd at that feast. It did not rule the One they whispered about.
The multitude did not dare to speak openly; but Jesus did. He did not hide His righteousness and truth in the great congregation. He had not held back His lips, and God, even His Father, knew that.
His quiet arrival at the feast had a reason of its own:
Having borne witness to His break with the world, the Lord goes up to the feast, "not publicly but in private". He goes up to Jerusalem, not to take a public place in the world, but to draw individuals out of the world.
That hold the leaders had on people did not stay in the past:
What a hold on the people they had! Have we not seen something of this in modern times, and even in our own days? "The fear of man lays a snare." Church censures seem so terrible. "But whoever trusts in the LORD is safe" (Prov. 29:25). Yes. And yet how quick men are to give in to the snare, and to forget the Lord!
Two men in this Gospel believed in secret and kept quiet. Then their fear broke:
Who was this Joseph of Arimathea? A wealthy man of the Jews and a secret disciple of the Lord Jesus. Fear of the Jews had kept his discipleship in the background. But now that the Lord had died, and after the mighty events that had taken place, he comes boldly to the front. His fear became a holy boldness... Nicodemus was a very timid man by nature. He came to the Lord by night for fear of the Jews... But the death of Christ brought him and Joseph of Arimathea deliverance from the fear of men. Light and liberty flashed in their souls as the result of the death of Christ.
- Fear names the room. The whisperers were the feast crowd. The men they feared were the Jerusalem leaders, who knew of the plot against Jesus.
- Fear reduces witness to murmuring. Opinions were everywhere — good man, deceiver. But reasoning and discussing proves a heart has not yet received Him.
- Fear did not touch Christ. The crowd dared not speak openly. He did, and did not hide His righteousness and truth.
- Fear is a snare, still. The same hold works today. The answer stands: whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.
- Fear can break. Joseph and Nicodemus hid their faith until the death of Christ freed them from the fear of men.
But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught.
The Feast of Tabernacles filled Jerusalem with worshippers from all parts. Jesus had stayed away while His brothers went up to it. Halfway through the week, He appears in the temple and teaches. Why come now? Why come here? And how can He teach at all? The crowd was asking the same things.
The delay was not indecision. One writer explains what the waiting gave people time to discover.
He did not begin to teach until about the middle of the feast. By then people had had time to find that the Jews' feast had nothing in it to satisfy the need of souls. Without Him, all was empty. When He began to speak, the Jews marveled. They had plotted to kill Him, yet His words still impressed them. He had never studied in their schools, which made it all the more striking.
The name John gives the feast is itself a comment.
It was at the Feast of Tabernacles that our Lord Himself "went up into the temple" (John 7:2, 14). The feast is now no longer called "The Feast of Jehovah," but "the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles." The King had come to His own and His own had not received Him (John 1:11). He had offered them the kingdom and they had refused it, and now the Lord refuses their feast.
He arrives, yet He does not take part. Commentators differ on why. One writer sees a protest:
When they are gone He goes up secretly, not to join in, but to witness against it. He goes straight into the temple and speaks openly.
Another writer weighs what His brothers asked, and what He did instead:
He went up, but secretly. … "Show yourself to the world" was the request of His brothers. He refused. But He went up secretly and taught at the feast. He invited everyone to come and share in His mercy, before He would show Himself openly.
He had travelled quietly. Now He stands in the temple and speaks where everyone can hear. One writer places that change in the order of His mission.
There was no secrecy now: Jesus was teaching in the temple. It was His actual work. Soon He would suffer in atonement. Now it was the time for giving out the truth. This astonished those who lived in the world of law and religious rules. All they could ask was how He could know, since He had never been taught. They did not know Him. They never looked higher than human sources.
Men were already looking for a chance to kill Him. He walked into the one place in the city where everyone would see Him.
The people were murmuring, afraid to say openly what they really thought. The Lord Himself was the subject of their whispering. Now, in the middle of the feast, He appeared in the temple and taught. The Jews had sought Him to kill Him, but failed to find Him. Then, it seems, the One they hated appeared in the temple without warning. It was the most public place in the city, and Jerusalem was full of worshippers from all parts. Picture the scene He walked into. There were the Jews, who wanted His death. There was the crowd from Galilee and elsewhere, who knew nothing of that plan. There were the people of Jerusalem, who knew all about it. And in the end there was a group who, struck by His words, believed in Him.
He came, but not on the terms His brothers had urged. One writer sets His lowliness against the pride that met Him.
The Lord goes up, it is true, but not in His glory. He does not go as His brothers would have had Him. He goes in obedience only, to take the place of a lowly man and not of a great one of the earth. … He goes to the temple and teaches. But when this attracts notice, He hides Himself, saying, "My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me." He hides Himself so that people would see, not Him, but the Father who had sent Him. … In their pride they acknowledged no source of knowledge or wisdom above man.
- Timing — He waits until the middle, when the week's joy has run dry and the crowd can feel how empty a feast is without Him.
- Place — He goes to the temple, not the booths; He is in the feast without being of it, present as witness and as mercy.
- Manner — no display, no self-advertising. He takes the lowly place of obedience, so that people see the Father who sent Him.
- Work — teaching is the business of this hour. Atonement is still ahead, so now He gives out the truth in the open.
- Cost — men are already planning His death. He steps into the most public spot in the city and teaches there anyway.