He had a number of younger half-brothers, the sons of his mother Mary, and, unbidden, these half-brothers offered him some advice about his public career. Even at that time the hostile Jews were waiting for the opportunity to kill him, out of their hatred for him. So the question was, Would he expose himself publicly to them at Jerusalem at the autumn festival of tabernacles that was drawing near? As a Jew under God’s law through the prophet Moses, Jesus was obligated to be there. On his discussion with his half-brothers, we read:

⁸ “The Jews were seeking to kill him. However, the festival of the Jews, the festival of tabernacles, was near. Therefore his brothers said to him: ‘Pass on over from here and go into Judea, in order that your disciples also may behold the works you do. For nobody does anything in secret while himself seeking to be known publicly. If you do these things, manifest yourself to the world.’ His brothers were, in fact, not exercising faith in him. Therefore Jesus said to them: ‘My due time is not yet present, but your due time is always at hand. The world has no reason to hate you, but it hates me, because I bear witness concerning it that its works are wicked.’”​—John 7:1-7.

10. (a) What did Jesus say to his half-brothers was the cause of the world’s hatred of him? (b) Since Jesus did not go outside Jewry, how could it be said that his witness concerning the world’s works was correct?

¹⁰ What reason did he give for the world’s hatred of him? The reason, as stated to his half-brothers, was: “It hates me, because I bear witness concerning it that its works are wicked.” (John 7:7) Well, now, if the works of the Jews to whom Jesus had confined his preaching were “wicked,” what could be said about the works of the pagan world outside Jewry? They must have been no less wicked than those of the Jews hostile to Jesus Christ. Therefore, concerning the whole world of mankind, Jew and Gentile, the witness could be correctly given that its works were “wicked.” Is that not enough to stir up hatred on the part of the world?

11. (a) By what personal example did Jesus bear witness that the world’s works were wicked? (b) How did Jesus’ action at the temple near the beginning of his public career prove the world’s works to be wicked?

¹¹ How, though, did Jesus bear witness to the world and show that its works were “wicked”? Both by word of mouth and by action.