Jesus's Brothers Egg Him On

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John 7:1-9

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.

 
 

The Feast of Booths (also called the Feast of Tabernacles) was one of the great Old Testament religious holidays. When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness before they reached the Promised Land, God told them that once they arrived in the land, they would need to observe an annual festival in which they would build temporary booths or tents and live in them for a week, to remind themselves of God’s deliverance.

Galilee is in the north, and Judea is in the south—Judea is the region around Jerusalem. Jesus’s brothers want Him to make a big splash and go to Jerusalem, but He demurs because He knows if He goes to Jerusalem, folks will try to kill Him. Why does the world hate Him? Because He has been preaching about the need for repentance, and the power brokers don’t like having their sins and hypocrisy pointed out.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
I wonder how lonely it was for Jesus that even His own family members didn’t believe in Him.