John Calvin Commentary John 7:1

"And after these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Judaea, because the Jews sought to kill him." — John 7:1 (ASV)

Jesus walked in Galilee. The Evangelist appears not to pursue a continuous narrative, but to select from what occurred at different times those events that were worthy of being related. He says that Christ stayed for a time in Galilee, because He could not remain safely anywhere among the Jews. If anyone thinks it strange that Christ sought a place of concealment, who, by the mere act of His will, could break and render powerless all the efforts of His enemies, it is easy to reply that He remembered the commission He had received from the Father and determined to confine Himself within the limits which belonged to Him as man; for,

having taken upon Him the form of a servant,
He emptied Himself, till the Father exalted Him
(Philippians 2:6–8).

If it is objected that, as He knew the time of His death, which had been foreordained and determined in the purpose of God, He had no reason for avoiding it, the former solution applies here also; for He conducted Himself as a man who was liable to dangers, and therefore, it was not proper that He should throw Himself at random into dangerous situations.

In encountering dangers, it is not our business to inquire what God has determined respecting us in His decree, but what He commands and enjoins on us, what our office requires and demands, and what is the proper method of regulating our life. Besides, while Christ avoided dangers, He did not turn aside a hairsbreadth from the course of duty; for to what purpose would life be maintained and defended, if not that we may serve the Lord?

We ought always to take care, therefore, that we do not, for the sake of life, lose the reasons for living. When a small and despised corner of Galilee grants a lodging to Christ, whom Judea cannot endure, we learn from it that piety and the fear of God are not always to be found in the chief places of the Church.