John 7
John 7:1 After
these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in
After feeding the 5000
and telling the people at the Synagogue in
The Feast of Tabernacles was
observed on the 15th day of the seventh month called Tishri, which
coincides with part of our September and October. It lasted for seven days. On
the first day and the eighth day following the feast there was a holy
convocation (Lev. 23:35-36). The feast was one of three pilgrimages the Jews
were required to attend in
Six months have passed
between chapter 6 and 7, and the remainder of John covers the last six months
of Jesus’ life. So, John has skipped over 6 months of Jesus’ Galilean ministry.
John 7:3 His
brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into
Jesus’ brothers could not
understand why Jesus was hiding out if He was the Messiah, and they think He is
wasting His time in
Jesus told them it was
not His time yet. He was waiting for the right moment to face these Jews in
Jesus’ brothers can go to
the feast because they have not made the Jews angry like He has. These Jews
despised Jesus and they want Him dead. They believed His works were evil and
from the devil. So, Jesus told his brothers to go to the feast without Him, and
He stayed in
John 7:10 But
when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly,
but as it were in secret. 11
Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?" 12 And there was much complaining
among the people concerning Him. Some said, "He is good"; others
said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people." 13 However, no one spoke openly of
Him for fear of the Jews.
Some believe that we have
a contradiction in these verses because Jesus said He is not yet going to the
feast, but we find Him going to the feast in verse 10. We need to understand
that Jesus did not say He was not going to the feast at all. Instead, He was
telling His brothers that He was not going to go at that moment. We find out in
verses 14 that He did not go to the feast until it was halfway over, and when
He went, He did so secretly.
The Jews hoped He would
show up so they could find someway to kill Him. Jesus had become one of the
main topics people were talking about, and they could not make up their minds
if He was good or bad. When they talked about Him, they did it quietly because
they knew if the Jews heard them talking about Him, they would have to face
their wrath.
John 7:14 Now
about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. 15 And the Jews marveled, saying,
"How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"
Without being seen, Jesus
shows up in the temple area and He began to speak. He captivates the Jews by
His knowledge of the Scriptures. Even at the age of twelve, He astonished the
teachers of His day (Lk. 2:46-47). The Jews that heard Jesus speak, cannot understand
how He could know the Scriptures so well when had not been in any rabbinical
schools. Only those who had studied for years under exceptional teachers could have
a similar knowledge like Jesus, but even the greatest student would not have
compared to Jesus’ knowledge.
John 7:16 Jesus
answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent
Me. 17 "If anyone wants
to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God
or whether I speak on My own authority. 18 "He who speaks from
himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him
is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.
19 "Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you
keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?"
Jesus claimed over and
over that the things He did and said were not His own because He was doing
everything the Father showed Him and told Him to do. This fact explains the
reason He has so much wisdom and knowledge of the Scriptures. So, the words
Jesus spoke were the words of God the Father. These Jews could test Jesus’
words by comparing them to the Scriptures. If Jesus was making things up, they could
prove He is speaking by His own authority, but if they searched the Scriptures
and learned that He was speaking the truth, they would have to conclude that
His words were from God.
Jesus compared the
difference between a person speaking for himself and speaking for God. The
person who speaks for himself seeks his own glory. This person might use some
of God’s Word, but they will end up adding their own wisdom and thoughts. They
think they know how to do things better than God, and they get people to follow
their false teachings. This is a great description of the Pharisees who had
made up several new laws for the Sabbath and made them binding as if they were
from God.
In comparison, Jesus said
the person who is speaking for God is a person that seeks out ways to give God
the glory. This means that person is humble in spirit and only wants to do
those things God has commanded in His Word. When someone has that attitude,
unrighteousness will not be found in him.
Jesus knew the Jews wanted
to kill Him, so He accused them of not keeping the Law of Moses. There are many
ways these Jews had not kept the Law of Moses especially when it came to all
their own rules of the Sabbath day. Jesus may also be referring to how these
Jews wanted to kill Him even though it would mean breaking one of the Ten
Commandments.
John 7:20 The
people answered and said, "You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill
You?"
Not everyone knew about
the plot to kill Jesus, which is why some would have answered this way because
no one was preventing Him from talking. It is also possible that some of the
Jews that wanted to put Him to death said this to hide their real intentions
even further. This was not the first time that Jesus had been accused of being
out His mind, and it would not be the last.
John 7:21 Jesus
answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel. 22 "Moses therefore gave you
circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you
circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23
"If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses
should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely
well on the Sabbath? 24
"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
It is believed that Jesus
is referring to the man He healed at
Jesus’ main point was
that they were making a judgment based on appearance and what they thought was
breaking the Sabbath Law. Instead of doing this, He wants them to judge with
righteous judgment, which means they need to judge His action based on what the
Word of God actually says. This is the same judgment we are taught to judge
with because Jesus judges this way (Jn. 5:30). However, we have no authority to
judge people based on appearance or to put ourselves in the place of God (Mt.
7:1ff).
John 7:25 Now some
of them from
This passage teaches us
that at least some of the Jews knew the Jewish rulers wanted Jesus dead. Since
they allowed Him to speak boldly without arresting Him, some began to speculate
that the rulers thought He was the Christ. However, they could not see how this
could be possible because they thought they knew where Jesus was from, which to
them meant that Jesus could not be the Christ.
John 7:28 Then
Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me,
and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me
is true, whom you do not know. 29
"But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me." 30 Therefore they sought to take
Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 And many of the people believed
in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these
which this Man has done?"
Jesus appears to be using
a little sarcasm here because these Jews thought they knew who Jesus was and
where He was from. If they really knew who He was and where He was from, they
would know He was sent by the Father in heaven. As Jesus said many times, no
human has seen the Father, except for Him. In fact, Jesus knows Him and is from
Him. Once again, Jesus established that He is the Son of God, and this makes
the Jewish rulers angry. They wanted to take Him away, but no one touched Him
because it was not His time to die. God’s providence was at work here.
Many of the people that
heard this believed in Him because it made sense that Jesus is the Christ. If
He was not the Christ, would a future Christ be able to do more signs than He did?
They could not see the being possible, which is why they believed in Him.
John 7:32 The
Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the
Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. 33 Then Jesus said to them,
"I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him
who sent Me. 34 "You
will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come." 35 Then the Jews said among
themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does
He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 "What is this thing that
He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot
come'?"
Normally the Pharisees
and Sadducees (chief priest), did not work together, but they did when it came
to Jesus. They did not like the idea of the crowds following Him, so they sent
some officers to arrest Him. Before we find out what happens to these officers,
John continues telling us more of what Jesus said.
In verse 33, Jesus is
teaching that He will not be on this earth much longer, and He will be going to
the Father in heaven. They will continue to look for Him, but they will not
find Him. When He says, “Where I am you cannot come,” He is saying that they
cannot follow Him into heaven especially in their physical bodies because flesh
and blood cannot enter heaven (1 Cor. 15:50). Jesus is not saying that no one
can go into heaven because those who faithfully follow Him will (Jn. 14:1-3;
12:26).
Some commentators suggest
that Jesus was saying that those who do not believe in Him will not be able to
follow Him to heaven. While it is true that nonbelievers will not step foot
into heaven, we find Jesus making this same statement to those that were
following Him in:
John 13:33
"Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek
Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,'
Since He is telling this
to His apostles, this teaches us that this is not a statement just for sinners
because He is saying that they cannot physically go into heaven right now.
Even though Jesus
statement was clear, these Jews began to twist what He said, and they avoided
grasping His simple message or perhaps they thought there was a hidden meaning
in what He said. They accused Him of planning to take His teaching to the
Greeks and hiding out among them. The more they discussed the matter, the more
confused they got.
John 7:37 On the
last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out,
saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 "He who believes in Me, as
the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living
water." 39 But this He
spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the
Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
The feast lasted for seven days, but it officially ended on the eighth day with a holy convocation, which marked the end of the feast when the people left their booths and went back to their homes. One of the highlights of the feast that happened everyday is pointed out by Mr. Woods:
Each day, during the feast a priest carried a golden pitcher to the pool (of Siloam), filled it and returned to the court of the temple, accompanied by throngs of people rejoicing greatly and poured it on the altar. Immediately, the Hallel, consisting of Ps. 113 -118 was chanted by the Levites and the people repeated each line after the priests. It was a ceremony of much joy and satisfaction. Ancient rabbis are quoted as having said that he who had never witnessed this ceremony did not really know what rejoicing meant. At the close of the singing of the Hallel there was a pause in the activities and it was evidently at this moment that the voice of the Lord rang out... (Woods, p. 155).
Also Westcott records:
On each of the seven preceding days water was drawn in a golden pitcher from the pool of Siloam and carried in procession to the temple and offered by the priests as the singers chanted Isa 12:3: "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation..." (Westcott).
Some believe that pouring out the water was done to acknowledge God for giving them rain for their crops. Others believe they did it to remember how God had given their forefathers water in the wilderness (Ex. 17:5-6; Num. 20:7-11). Perhaps both are correct. They also poured the water out looking forward to when the Spirit would be poured out during the time of the Messiah (Joel 2:28), which happened on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4, 16-17).
Since the golden pitcher was empty, Jesus was offering the rivers of water that would never dry up. Just as their forefathers thirsted in the wilderness and were physically satisfied by the water that came from the rock, Jesus was offering them to drink from Him, so they could become spiritually satisfied. Notice, Jesus said they must believe and come to Him, which proves that a person must have an active faith and be willing to obey what the Scriptures teach. Those who do this are promised the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit had not been given yet because Jesus would have to be glorified first (Jn. 16:7), which is speaking of His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. The Holy Spirit was given as promised on the day of Pentecost (Act 2).
John 7:40
Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly
this is the Prophet." 41
Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "Will the
Christ come out of
Once again, there is great confusion among these people.
Some thought He was the prophet Moses spoke of (Deut: 18: 15, 19), which they
did not understand was talking about Christ. Others thought He was the Christ.
One of their major problems they had with Jesus being the Christ was they knew He
had been raised in
John 7:45 Then
the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them,
"Why have you not brought Him?"
46 The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this
Man!"
These officers were sent to
arrest Jesus back in verse 32. However, after hearing Jesus speak with
authority, these officers were amazed and they did not arrest Him. They went
back to chief priest and Pharisees and they told them the reason they did not
arrest Him was because, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” Jesus’ words had impressed
these men enough that they were willing to disobey the orders of their
superiors, which show that Jesus was a masterful teacher.
John 7:47 Then
the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived? 48 "Have any of the rulers or
the Pharisees believed in Him? 49
"But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."
The Pharisees were not happy with the officers, and they questioned them about being deceived. The rulers refer to the Sanhedrin. Since the Jewish leaders were confident they knew the Law well, they made the argument that none of them believed in Jesus. Therefore, He must not be the Son of God, and the only reason the common people believed in Him, was because they were gullible and did not know the Law.
F.F. Bruce writes:
Even the liberal Rabbi Hillel, of the generation before Christ, summed up this attitude when he said, “No member of the common people is pious”. From the Pharisees point of view, the common people could easily be misled by any plausible teacher, because of their shocking ignorance of the true interpretation of the law (F.F. Bruce The Gospel & Epistles of John p.185).
These
men were so wise in their own eyes, they could not see the truth. When we read
the Scriptures, we discover that God tends to use those who are considered weak
or foolish. As Paul said: “But God has
chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has
chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty”
(1 Cor. 1:27 Also see 1 Cor. 3:18-20). Those who really wanted to know about
Jesus would stay with Him and learn more about Him, but the Jewish leaders were
too wise for that, so they would dismiss Jesus’ words without really listening
to them.
Unfortunately, there are many people who have this
same attitude these Jewish leaders had. They think they are so wise that they
have everything figured out. When we becomes wise in our own eyes, we become
impossible to reason with, and the Scriptures teach that there is more hope for
a fool than a person like that (Prov. 26:12). The Scriptures also state that we
should never become wise in our own eyes (Prov. 3:7; 12:15; Isa. 5:21; Rom.
12:16).
John 7:50 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by
night, being one of them) said to them, 51
"Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is
doing?"
This is the same Nicodemus we read about in John 3. He was a Pharisee and one of the rulers. These Jews could not rightly accuse Nicodemus of being ignorant of the Law of Moses or of their oral traditions, which is why he was able to remind them that a person must be heard first before he is judged (Ex. 23:1; Deut. 1:16). Even their rabbinic literature states, “Flesh and blood may pass judgment on a man if it hears his words; if it does not hear them, it cannot establish its judgment” (F.F. Bruce The Gospel & Epistles of John p.186). Nicodemus’ actions prove that not all the rulers were out to get Jesus. We also learn that some of these rulers believed in Jesus, but they were not willing to confess Him because they did not want be put out of the Synagogues (Jn. 12:42).
John 7:52 They
answered and said to him, "Are you also from
Since Nicodemus was willing to say something in defense of
Jesus, they accused him of being ignorant as well by asking him, “Are you also
from
Even though they were mistaken about this, their main goal
was to take away any possibility of anything great coming out of