Jesus was at this time in Galilee; but as the time for keeping the Feast of Tabernacles was drawing near, the brethren, or rather near kinsmen of Jesus, begged Him to go into Judæa, and let all the people, who would then be assembled in Jerusalem, see His works. They said, "If thou do these things, show thyself unto the world. For neither did his brethren believe in him." To a certain degree, His kinsmen did believe in Jesus; but like the Jews in general, they expected that the Messiah would be great and powerful upon earth, publicly acknowledged and worshipped by all nations: and when they saw Jesus in such very different circumstances, they had not faith enough to feel quite sure that He was indeed the Messiah: they therefore wanted Him to take this opportunity to make Himself known, by working miracles at Jerusalem: this open display of His power would, they thought, strengthen the faith of all who were already His disciples, and force the great men among the Jews, as well as all the strangers collected together, to acknowledge Him as the Messiah. Jesus, who in all things sought only to do His Father's will, told those who wished Him to go up at once to the Feast of Tabernacles that it was not yet time for Him to do so: that, instead of receiving Him as the Messiah, worldly men, who thought but little of God, would all be against Him, because He showed them their sinfulness. But He told His brethren, and those about Him, to "go up unto this feast." After they were gone, our Lord followed them, privately taking His journey through the country on the other side of the Jordan. Again the people resorted unto Him, and He taught them as He was wont: "and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them there." It is likely that the Jews, expecting Jesus to go up to this feast, had laid some plot for taking Him on His way: but it was not yet time for Him to lay down His life, and therefore He thus avoided the danger; setting us an example, not to run unnecessarily into danger, when we can avoid doing so without neglecting any duty.