1. Jesus' journey to the feast (7:1-13)

For a time Jesus avoided Judea because of the animosity of the Jews there (v.1). His unbelieving brothers could not understand such behavior in someone supposedly wanting publicity, and they urged him to go to Judea for the feast, where he would be more visible (vv.2-5). But Jesus would act only at the right time (cf. 2:4; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 16:32; 17:1), and he knew that his ministry would provoke hatred rather than acclaim (vv.6-9). Accordingly, though he did go eventually, he went secretly and only after the feast was already underway (vv.10-11).