If You do these things, show Yourself to the world

 

 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee. 

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

 

- John 7:1-13 

 

Yesterday we read that many of Christ's disciples, after they heard His teachings concerning eating His flesh and drinking His blood, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.  

 

After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  In chapter 6 we read of events that took place during the second Passover season recorded in John's Gospel, in which Jesus disputed with the religious leaders ("the Jews" is used in John's Gospel most often to denote specifically the religious leadership, and not the people in general).   For this reason He does not want to walk in Judea, the center of the religious establishment and the temple.  We are now beginning to read of events which took place during the final year of Christ's earthly life.

Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  The Feast of Tabernacles (Hebrew Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Booths) is an eight-day autumn harvest festival.  My study Bible explains that it commemorates the time when Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai, and the people lived in tents, or tabernacles.   Along with Passover and Pentecost, these formed the three most important festivals of the ancient Jews.  It included may sacrifices and celebrations (Leviticus 23:33-43).  In later times, the final day of the feast also included drawing water from the pool of Siloam to be mixed with wine and poured at the foot of the altar, both as a purification and also in remembrance of the water flowing from the rock that Moses struck (Exodus 17:1-7).  Later on the images in this chapter will inform Christ's teachings on light and illumination, reflecting the lighting of the great lamps in the outer court of the temple.  See also 2 Maccabbees 10:5-9.

His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.  My study Bible comments that Christ's relatives have not yet understood His identity and mission.  His brothers speak in earthly or worldly terms (show Yourself to the world), but Christ's mission is one that testifies to the evil in the works of the world (see Matthew 16:2-24).  My study Bible explains also that in Jewish usage (and for that matter, today in the extended Middle East), the term brother can indicate any number of relations.  Abram called his nephew Lot "brother" (Genesis 14:14); Boaz referred to his cousin Elimelech as his "brother" (Ruth 4:3); and Joab called his cousin Amasa "brother" (2 Samuel 20:9).  Jesus Himself had no blood brothers, as Mary had only one Son, Jesus.  The brothers mentioned here were either stepbrothers; that is, sons of Joseph by a previous marriage, or cousins.  We can understand this in the action of Christ at the Cross, in committing the care of His mother to John His disciple (John 19:25-27) -- for this would have been unthinkable if Mary had other children to care for her.  

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.  My study Bible explains that not openly means not with a grand, public entrance as on Palm Sunday (John 12:12-16).  John's Gospel gives us the divisions of the people, adding that no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the religious leaders. 

What does it mean that Christ testifies that the works of the world are evil?  Jesus says to His relatives, when they encourage Him to show Himself openly, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."   His "time" to which He refers is the time of His Passion, and we must understand this also in the context of testimony to the evil works of the world.  The Crucifixion itself, as plotted by the powerful leaders for their own reasons (Matthew 27:17-18), is an act which expresses this evil -- however, it is entered into voluntarily and knowingly by Christ, for it is the culmination of this testimony.  As it is Christ Himself, Incarnate God, the power which is also at work transforms and transfigures the Crucifixion itself, turning the Cross into a sign of Resurrection and God's power against evil.  As noted above, when St. Peter encourages Jesus to avoid the Cross, Jesus responds to him, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men" (Matthew 16:23).  It is one example of how a worldly way of thinking does not correspond to God's thinking, and specifically to the mission of Jesus Christ and what He must do in His testimony.  In today's reading, Jesus' extended family, not understanding His mission, encourages Him to "show Yourself to the world."   They reason that "no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly," and that He should "go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing."  But we know that many of Christ's works, in their immediate context, were done by Christ in secret (Luke 8:54-56), or in far away places (such as His revelation of Himself to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well (John 4:1-42), with Christ frequently admonishing the beneficiary of His grace and healing to "tell no one."  The "world," by contrast, would clamor for publicity.  Somehow, as in the words of Christ's brethren, everything depends upon proofs, upon showing something to the world that would compel belief (Matthew 12:39).  But often in the Gospels, the deliberate stirring up of crowds is something which in itself is used with evil intent, and misleads leads the people (Mark 15:11).  Faith, however, comes from something more than this, as we have read taught by Jesus throughout chapter 6:  it is the working of Father, Son, and Spirit within us that draws us to know Christ, and works within the heart of human beings.  John's Gospel will continually teach us that even the very Incarnation of Christ tells us something about what it is to seek and know Christ.  His mission is at work in the world but not of it (John 17:14)  There is something more that we seek, a mystical component that feeds also soul and spirit, and that prompts us to wish to know His path for us, and to grow in faith.