A Deeper Look at John 7:1-9 NIV

1After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want ^a to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. 2But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, 3Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

6Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. 7The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. 8You go to the festival. I am not ^b going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee. John 7.1-9 ( NIV)

Firstly, we will discuss what the Feast of Tabernacles is and why it is important during this time (and now). 

The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) is generally in September or October in the Western Calendar and "is the seventh and last feast that the Lord commanded Israel to observe and one of the three feasts that Jews were to observe each year by going to “appear before the Lord your God in the place which He shall choose” (Deut 16.16)" ( GotQuestions )The Jewish calendar follows the moon cycles, so it affects the days of the year, and thus affects what day Tabernacles occurs. This festival lasts for a week (for original command, see Leviticus 23:1-33 NIV )usually occurring in late September to mid-October. The feast begins five days after the Day of Atonement and at the time the fall harvest had just been completed. It was a time of joyous celebration as the Israelites celebrated God’s continued provision for them in the current harvest and remembered His provision and protection during the 40 years in the wilderness. ( GotQuestions )
As time went on, this feast fell into disuse and wasn't celebrated correctly, until Nehemiah's time, when this was corrected (see Nehemiah 8:1-18 NIV for the story) 

By this time in history, the Jewish world saw the Oral Law, those added to assist with the true Law, but had become equal to the Law given by God. There was no difference, and the Law, already unachievable was ever more so. The Oral Law was even more punishable in its disobedience to some followers than the actual Scriptures. It was told to the People that not following the teachings of the Rabbis and the Oral Law was to cause the Shakinah glory to depart from Israel " the rabbis said, “My son, give my people words of the rabbis, then give them the words of the Torah.” In that same line of thinking, the rabbis taught that to study the Scriptures was neither good nor bad. But to study the Oral Law was a good habit that brought reward."(Mack )

To this point the Leaders and Christ had had confrontations about three things: fasting, keeping the Sabbath and now handwashing. ( Mack )

This Festival will be completed in the Messianic Kingdom, the Thousand Year reign of Christ on earth following the last of the Seven Years of Wrath (Tribulation), when all men will go up to Jerusalem from about the earth. It would be a time of intense interest to the People that Christ, the miracle worker, appear in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles, seen here in Zechariah 14. ( Mack)

¹⁶ Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. ¹⁷ If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. ¹⁸ If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord^[a] will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles. ¹⁹ This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.
²⁰ On that day holy to the Lord will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. ²¹ Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite^[b] in the house of the Lord Almighty. Zechariah 14 ( NIV )

Christ's half-brothers met with Him and mocked Him, attempting to get Him to go to Jerusalem, which Christ did not wish to do, for it was not the time for Him to go in the open. His brothers saw Him only as someone who was wanting fame and the public eye, and were not as yet understanding the true meaning of His work. "Essentially, Jesus' brothers are telling Him to "take Your stuff to the big leagues. " They say, "If You really do have all this miracle power, why don't You go to Jerusalem and make Yourself really famous?"" ( BlueLetterBible )
Christ did not seek fame as they saw it, His work was one of salvation and healing of body, mind and soul--most importantly soul. Christ knew this was not His hour, the defining moment that would lead to the salvation of the wicked, sinful, and thoroughly imperfect people that make up our world. 
How disheartening, as well, that it is written that His brothers did not YET believe in Him. I've always wondered if that saddened Christ, as I have heard people speak to me with broken hearts when their families do not believe in them, do not think they can do something. 

"The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil." John 7.7 
People are always furious, generally speaking, when told of their wickedness. When it is shown how dark our hearts really are, how all of our inclinations are wicked and terrible, greedy, selfish, cruel, or whatever descriptor you might list, people tend to hate whoever points those out. I am NOT. Everyone has a basically good heart. But we don't, and that is the major problem. We think such terrible things, and everyone has to admit it. We want what other people have, we lie, and the list goes on and on. 

The Word bursts our little bubble of "human" perfection; we think we are "good" because we haven't murdered someone, or we haven't done this or that. The Word, though, shows us how wrong we are in thinking we have "human" perfection. We are not 100% gold, we are not 100% titanium, we have so much dirt running through our metal, we need God, and our faith in Christ's death for us, to make us that 100% gold in the presence of God. We have to have God's level of perfection, and the only way is through Christ--we can't earn it, we can't keep up with the demands of perfection needed. We still should act in a manner honorable towards God, and work on acting better. 

My next post will show that Christ did go up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles just not as a Celebrity, such as His brothers urged.