John 7:3 Commentary and Bible Study

‘His brethren’, his literal brothers, ‘therefore said unto him,’ – because he did not seem to preparing evidently; he did not seem to be getting ready to go – ‘Depart hence’. It is time to leave, ‘and go into Judaea, that thy disciples [there] also may see the works that thou doest.’ They plead with him to go to the feast of tabernacles where the people constructed booths to remind them of God’s blessings upon their nations during the wilderness journey. It was a combination, a harvest festival plus the commemoration of God’s protection towards them during their journeying in the wilderness.So his brothers say, ‘Show yourself that people may be see your works.’ They had already seen his works, but ‘Oh’, they say, ‘you cannot stay in Galilee.’ They realise he is special. They seem to have the view which was so common then, the same view as the disciples. They seem to have the view that he would be a political Messiah, and he would set the people free from Roman authority, and make the nation prosperous. ‘Why, these miracles, these wonderful things that you can do’, they said to him. ‘Show the people in Jerusalem once again; let the people of Judaea see, and then you will be acclaimed and you will be crowned.’They did not seem to grasp that he was Messiah. Indeed, we are told, just shortly, that even his brethren did not believe in him, as Messiah that is. Yet here he is travelling, preaching about repentance and about forgiveness. They did not really take that part of it in.It is interesting here that in the third verse, they say, ‘That thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.’ They did not mention that people may hear your teaching again. ‘Our brother,’ they could have said, ‘you need to preach these things again to them.’ They did not mention the preaching, the message about God and his holiness, that even Jewish people should not count on automatic redemption, that they need his forgiving love, that he would come, that he would be their Redeemer. They did not take that in. All they could see was these mighty miracles: ‘That will convince them of your station as a deliverer’.