John 7:3

John 7:3. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works that thou doest. His brothers, in thus urging Him to depart into Judea, have distinctly in mind (as appears from John 7:8) the approaching feast and the concourse of people which would soon be assembling in Jerusalem. It is important to keep this in mind ii we would understand the position occupied by the brothers of Jesus. They were not believers in Him (John 7:5), that is, they did not accept Him as the Messiah; in their own words they separated themselves from the number of His disciples (John 7:3); and as yet they were accounted by Him as belonging to ‘the world' (John 7:7). On the other hand, there is no trace of disbelief or disparagement of His works; for the words, ‘Thy works that Thou doest,' were not spoken in irony; and ‘if Thou doest' (John 7:4) need not express the slightest doubt. To these ‘brethren,' then, brought up in the prevalent Messianic belief, there appeared an inconsistency between the loftiness of His claims and the comparatively limited display of what He offered as His credentials; the reserve with which He manifested His powers went far with them towards destroying the impression made by His miracles. But one of the chief festivals was now at hand. Neither at the Passover of this year nor at the feast of Weeks (Pentecost) had He gone up to Jerusalem: why should He avoid publicity, and appear to shun that decisive testing of His claims which was possible in Jerusalem alone. By ‘Thy disciples,' the brethren of Jesus do not simply mean ‘Thy disciples in Judea.' In this case the word ‘there' must have been inserted, as bearing the chief emphasis of the sentence. As we have just seen, the recent labours of Jesus in northern Galilee had been marked by privacy. For the most part the Twelve only had witnessed His works; at times some even of these had been excluded. At the feast the whole body of His disciples would be gathered together, and what might be done in Jerusalem would be conspicuous to all. On the ‘brothers' of the Lord see the note on chap. John 2:12; after this paragraph (John 2:5; John 2:10), they are not mentioned again in this Gospel; in chap. John 20:17 the words have a different meaning.