The Gospel According to John Chapter 7

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The Gospel According to John Chapter 7

The Bible Text from https://www.bible.com/bible/111/JHN.7.NIV

The True Identity of Jesus (1)

Jesus Goes to the Festival of Tabernacles

1 After this (feeding crowd), Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. (Jesus stayed in Galilee due to the hostility of the Judean Jews.)

2 But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles(1, Fall Festival) was near,

3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do.

4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” (The brothers of Jesus(2) encouraged Jesus to go to Jerusalem and let the people know who Jesus truly is.)

5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him. (They did it because of lack of confidence for the Messiahship of Jesus. They also wanted who their brother Jesus is.)

6 Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do.

7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil.

8 You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.”

9 After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee. (Jesus, however, refused to go to Jerusalem because it is not the time yet.)

10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. (But Jesus went to Jerusalem later for the festival by Himself secretly.)

11 Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?” (The Jewish leaders were expecting Jesus to show up.)

12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” (The opinion of the crowds for Jesus was divided; good or bad.)

13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders. (But they did not talk about Jesus publicly because of the fear for the leaders.)

Jesus Teaches at the Festival

14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. (Jesus began to teach in the temple in the midst of the festival.)

15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?” (The people were amazed by the teaching of Jesus since, as far as they know, Jesus didn't learn in any prominent school.)

16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. (Jesus said that He learned from God who sent Him to the world.)

17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. (If anyone faithful to God should know the authenticity of Jesus originated from God.)

18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory (5:44), but he who seeks the glory of the one (God) who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. (Motivation matters. 1Co. 4:4. Why they do something, for Self or God?)

19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” (The Moses law prohibits murder but they were plotting to kill Jesus.)

20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?” (People accused Jesus of being possessed by the demon because they were unaware of the leaders' plot against Him.)

21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. (People were amazed with Jesus' healing miracles.)

22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath.

23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, (The law of Sabbath is not absolute for certain cases such as circumcision.) why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? (Healing a man in Sabbath, which is the manifestation of God's love and power, should not be a reason of accusation.)

24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” (The fair judgement is good enough knowing the truth.)

Division Over Who Jesus Is

25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? (The crowd came to know the plot of the leaders against Jesus.)

26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? (They wondered if Jesus is the Messiah because the leaders couldn't execute their plot publicly.)

27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.” (Also they got stuck with their knowledge of Jesus who came from Nazarene which was a very humble place. So they hesitated to believe Him. 1:46)

28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” (Jesus has two origins; Fleshly Nazarene and Divinely God.)

30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. (They tried to seize Jesus, but the time is not yet.)

31 Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?” (Many people began to believe in Jesus because of His teaching and healing ministries.)

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him. (Knowing the positive change among people, the Pharisees tried to arrest Jesus.)

33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me.

34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” (Jesus made clear that His future will be done not by any other but by Himself according to the God's plan for redemptive salvation; death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.)

35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?

36 What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?” (The Jews didn't understand what Jesus meant going somewhere they couldn't find.)

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.

38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (Jesus proclaimed that He is the source of life as the endless living water on the last day of the festival.)

39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (He meant the water to be the upcoming Holy Spirit on the Pentecost.)

40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”

41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.” (Some admitted their trust in Jesus.) Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? (Some were still in doubt.)

42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” (They didn't know that Jesus actually was born in Bethlehem, grew up and began the ministry in Galilee.)

43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. (Some came to know the Messiahship of Jesus, but some stayed in doubt.)

44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. (They failed to seize him because it was not the time yet.)

Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders

45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” (The temple guards came back empty-handed.)

46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. (The guards confessed their own opinion on the powerful Jesus.)

47“You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted.

48 “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?

49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law- there is a curse on them.” (The Pharisees rebuked the guards saying, none of those educated and prominent Pharisees believed in Jesus. They judged Jesus not according to the truthfulness but according to the social status and fame. They were coward admitting the truth.)

50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, (We saw Nicodemus in Ch. 3.)

51 “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” (Nicodemus argued that they need to be fair in their judgement on Jesus.)

52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” (The Pharisees were stuck yet in their discrimination on the regions.)

[The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53- 8:11. A few manuscripts include these verses, wholly or in part, after John 7:36, John 21:25, Luke 21:38 or Luke 24:53.]

53 Then they all went home, (The situation settled down temporarily. But the tension builds up.)

(1, The Festival of Tabernacles) (Google AI)

Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths, is a seven-day joyous Jewish festival (eight in the Diaspora) celebrated in autumn (September/October) to commemorate the 40-year wandering of the Israelites in the desert after the Exodus. It is a major pilgrim festival, also marking the harvest season.

Key Aspects of Sukkot:

The Sukkah: A temporary booth or hut with a roof of natural materials (branches/leaves) is built to represent the fragile, temporary shelters of the Israelites in the desert.

Dwelling in the Sukkah: Meals are eaten, and sometimes sleeping occurs, inside the sukkah to remember God's protection and providence.

The Four Species (Arba'at HaMinim): During the festival, special prayers are recited while waving a bouquet made of the etrog (citron), lulav (date palm branch), hadass (myrtle), and aravah (willow).

Significance:

It is a time for gratitude, hospitality, and joy, often referred to in Jewish tradition as Z'man Simchatenu (the season of our rejoicing).

Key Terms:

Sukkot: Plural for sukkah (booths), also the name of the festival.

Chag Sameach: A common greeting meaning "Happy Holiday".

Ushpizin: A custom of symbolically inviting 7 guests (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, David) to the sukkah.

The festival begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, four days after Yom Kippur. (Modern September-October.)

(2, The Brothers of Jesus) (Google AI)

The Bible identifies four brothers of Jesus- James, Joseph (or Joses), Simon, and Jude (or Judas)- along with unnamed sisters (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3). They are often depicted alongside Mary, Jesus' mother, and were initially skeptical of his ministry, though James later became a prominent leader in the Jerusalem church and wrote the Epistle of James.