Plot against Jesus: The last time Jesus was in Judea, four months before today’s Gospel, after he had cured the paralytic on a Sabbath day, Jewish officialdom had made up their minds to kill him. Even in the face of that, now it is time for Jesus to go up to the Holy City again. Jerusalem is the right place for his message—there he would find the elite of Israel.
The feast of Booths (or Tabernacles) is an opportunity. One of the three major Jewish feasts (besides Passover and Yom Kippur), it is celebrated during the month of Tishri (September-October). It commemorates the desert wanderings after the Exodus and is usually celebrated in booths (Hebrew Succoth). It is a very popular feast, often the occasion of national uprisings. Indeed, the feast may in addition suggest to some of Jesus’ followers the idea of a Messianic demonstration.
The Law of Moses says that every male over 13 living in Judea is obligated to present himself in Jerusalem for this feast. This year Jesus, because of the plots of the wicked against him, prudently decides to go privately after his disciples have gone. Upon his arrival some of the people recognize him just the same, and they wonder whether this is the man the officials want to kill.
In the confrontation that ensues, some people claim that they know Jesus and his origins. Therefore, they doubt he is the Christ. Jesus replies that he alone knows God because he alone has been sent by God.