Discuss: How did you get on with your siblings? What about your children, do they get on one with the other? Why or why not?
What sort of family jokes or ‘ribbings’ do your kids dish out to each other?
1. What does verse 1 reveal about this stage of Jesus’ public ministry?
2. How would you describe what Jesus’ younger brothers say to him? Why do they say what they say? (vv. 2-5)
3. How is Jesus’ response to his brothers similar to his response to his mother? (vv. 6, 8, cf. 2:4) What might he mean, and why would he want to go up secretly? (vv. 9-10, cf. John 12:12-19, 13:1).
4. What can we learn from Jesus’ brothers’ response to Jesus?
Note: There is a theme of ‘openness’ in this chapter of John (cf. vv. 4, 10-13, 26, 32), as well as its opposite, ‘hiddenness’ (vv. 4, 11). Jesus is openly teaching in the temple at the mid-point of the feast (vv. 14, 26), and on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus is crying out in the middle of the temple (vv. 28, 37).
5. The festival of tabernacles brought crowds of Jewish pilgrims from all over Judea, Galilee, and indeed the whole Roman Empire. What is their opinion about Jesus? (vv. 12-13, 20, 31, 43)
6. Jesus might not have attended one of the Rabbinical schools (vv. 14-15), but where did he get his teachings from, and why does he teach these things (vv. 16-18)?
7. What encouragement does Jesus give the crowds about them being able to determine the truthfulness of his teaching? (v. 17)
8. Jesus’ change of topic in verse 19-20 seems abrupt. Is the explanation paranoia, or something else? (John 7:1, 25, cf. 5:18)
9. What issues have aroused the anger of Jesus’ opponents? (vv. 21-24, 27-30, cf. 5:14-18)
10. What can we learn from the crowd’s response to Jesus? (vv. 12-13, 20, 31, 43)
Note: The issue of where Jesus is from has been raised previously (vv. 27-29, 41-42, cf. John 1:46, 6:42), but in his ‘Gospel from above’, John the Evangelist has given us as readers the benefit of his hindsight (John 1:1-3, 14, 18). The issue of Jesus’ origin goes to the credibility of his claim to be the Messiah. However, given the fact that unlike Matthew and Luke, John has no infancy narrative, it is interesting to note that he in 7:42 is happy to allow the question about the Messiah’s origin in Bethlehem to hang there without the resources within his Gospel to answer it. He certainly would have known the other Gospels and their infancy narratives, but it also suggests that John is more concerned with showing the divine origin of Jesus as the incarnate Word rather than his Davidic credentials, and in this John differs from the synoptic Gospels in emphasis.
11. What are the reasons for the failure of the attempt to arrest Jesus in chapter 7? (vv. 30-36, 44-46)
12. Are the Pharisees correct in the assertion that they make about their own number? (vv. 48-52)
13. Notice the challenge that the leaders and the Pharisees make to Nicodemus (v. 52). Leaving aside the potential snobbery about Galilee, are the experts correct if we indeed “look into it”? (Isa 9:1-2, 6-7; cf. Matt 4:13-16)
14. What should we learn from the expert opinion about Jesus?
Note: At the time of Jesus, a water ceremony was conducted during the festival of tabernacles that had not been commanded in the Old Testament, but had gone on since about 160 BC, possibly in connection with prayer for rain. It involved drawing water from the pool of Siloam, publicly processing with it into the Court of the Women, after which the priests continued into the temple proper and poured the water at the foot of the altar (Keener 2003: 1:722).
15. What does Jesus openly offer to all on the greatest day of the feast of tabernacles? Why? (vv. 37-39, cf. John 2:6, 3:5, 4:10-15, 6:35: Zech 14:8, Ezek 47:1-10)
16. Have you accepted Jesus’ offer?
The big question in life is, ‘Who is Jesus?’ It is the question. Everyone must answer that question. And in fact everyone does have an answer to that question. According to John’s Gospel, our eternal destiny hangs on our answer to that question. And there are four possible answers to that question.
The first is that Jesus was a liar. He knowingly deceived others.
Or the second is that Jesus was a lunatic. He was self-deceived. Indeed, in John’s Gospel, Jesus is accused of being demon possessed and raving mad.
Third is that Jesus was a legend. The kernel of truth about Jesus was blown out of all proportions by Christians who didn’t know better.
There is a fourth view, of course. That is our view, the view of historic Christianity. This view is that Jesus was, and therefore still is, Lord. He fulfils the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, the Holy One. He died on the cross for our sins as promised by Scripture. He was buried. He rose from the third day as prophesied by Scripture. And one day he will return.
This of course was John’s view. And it is the view of any apostolic church. The apostle John writes to us so that we can know who Jesus is, John 20:31:
20:31But these are written so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you have life in his name.
Christianity is a Jesus thing. Christianity is Christ. Before Christianity is about us, about you and me, it is all about Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus, and why did he do what he did? According to Jesus himself, the Jesus question is the key to life, the universe, and everything. And John writes, as someone who saw, touched, and heard Jesus for the duration of Jesus’ earthly ministry, to solemnly declare that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of God, God the only begotten Son, the Great I AM, the Word who was with God and was God (John 1:1, 18).
But not everyone believes that now. And not everyone believed it back then.
Who is Jesus? That is the question that John’s gospel is written to answer. And it is also the question at the heart of John chapter 7.
Is Jesus a deceiver? Is Jesus demon possessed? Is Jesus a good man, and that’s it? Is Jesus really from God? Is Jesus really the Christ?
This is what John Chapter 7 is all about. John 7 lets us peek into the controversy that Jesus stirred up about himself during one feast of tabernacles.
Suppose someone among us made great claims for himself or herself. How would we work out whether they were true or not? Suppose someone said, "I am the greatest, I have the answer to your basic problem, I am the Man, I have come to fix your life and your world." How might we assess such enormous claims?
We might find out about the person’s early life, his childhood, what he was like as a small child or a teenager. We might like to know what his family thinks of him. Does he have the trust and good opinion of his family, who’ve known him since infancy? What does his family think?
I don’t follow South Sydney, I follow St George in the Rugby League. But it was beautiful and touching to hear what Thomas Burgess said of his big brother, Sam. What does the little brother say of the big brother? “Sam Burgess is my hero”, Tom Burgess said. [1]
What about Jesus? Is Jesus hero to his younger brothers? No way. Look with me at chapter 7 verses 2 to 5:
7:2Now the Jewish festival of tabernacles was approaching. 7:3So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples also will see your works which you are doing.7:4For no one does anything in secret and everyone looks to show themselves openly before the public. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 7:5For his brothers didn’t believe in him either.
Tom and George Burgess might not suffer from sibling rivalry, but James, Joseph, Jude, and Simon drip with sarcasm and sibling rivalry.
Do you get sick of the sibling rivalry and sarcasm in your family? Mary and Joseph had to put up with it too! Even Jesus’ brothers did not believe in Jesus during his earthly ministry. The brothers niggle and dig and hassle their older half-brother. Only after Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his brother James, does Jesus’ brother believe in him (1 Cor 15:7).
Sometimes you can be so close to the truth, and yet so far away. You might have grown up with Jesus, hearing Jesus’ claims. But that doesn’t make you a believer. Jesus’ brothers knew what Jesus claimed, but didn’t believe them. Because familiarity breeds contempt. Hearing about Jesus, even being part of a family that listens to Jesus, is not enough. You have to believe in Jesus for yourself.
For James, it took seeing the risen Jesus. Only then would James and Jude move from sibling rivalry and sarcasm to calling Jesus ‘Lord’, and themselves as ‘Jesus’ servants’ (Jas 1:1; Jude 1). And I hope and pray that you will have that personal encounter with Jesus Christ that you need, to go from hearing Jesus’ claims, to living with Jesus as Lord. You and I need to have that personal encounter by looking into the Jesus of the Bible, getting to know him, and by believing in him.
When we hear big claims, we can also do what our media often does. We could drag in the expert and ask for his or her expert professional peer-reviewed opinion. We could get the treasury to do that mysterious ‘modelling’ that they do. The ABS could work their magic on the data and seasonally adjust it for us. The analysts could provide their forecasts and the commentators could give their expert opinion. After all, they have a PhD, and a Dr or Professor in front of their name. A great institution of learning stands behind them.
“Tell me, Dr Professor Expert PhD person, what do you think about the claims of Jesus?” Well, John gives us the opinions of the religious experts, that of the chief priests and the Pharisees.
7:45So the attendants to the high priests and Pharisees returned, and they said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him?” 7:46The attendants answered, “No one has ever spoken in this way!” 7:47So the Pharisees answered them, “You haven’t been deceived too, have you? 7:48None of the leaders or the Pharisees has believed in him, have they? 7:49But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed!”
7:50Nicodemus—the one who came to him the previous time [fn: see 3:1 above.], who was one of them—said to them, 7:51“Our law does not condemn a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he did, does it?” 7:52They answered and said to him, “You aren’t also from Galilee, are you? Look into it and see that a prophet does not arise from Galilee.”
The experts have spoken. They are not unanimous. Nicodemus, the secret Christian, throws up a little speed hump. But he fails the peer review. The academy, the establishment, has spoken. “Look into it. No Prophet comes from Galilee.”
Well, aren’t they confident! All the experts—except one maverick—have agreed. Look into it, and you will find that a prophet doesn’t come from Galilee. And so we close our Bibles with the assurances of the overwhelming majority of experts, that no prophet comes from Galilee.
Except that the experts are all wrong. The experts aren’t experts. They are ignorant at best, or at worst dishonest. It doesn’t matter where they are from or what they say they’ve learned or the letters before or after their names. Because when we look into it, when we do a little search on the term ‘Galilee’ in the Old Testament, we see Isaiah chapter 9 verses 1 and 2 (cf. Matt 4:13-16):
1Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, [2] by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—2The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. (Isa 9:1-2 NIV)
And why is Galilee of the gentiles honoured? Why is Zebulun and Naphtali raised from their humiliation and obscurity? Because they have seen a great light. And that light is a child who is born, the Messiah, the Son of David. Isaiah chapter 9 verses 6 to 7:
6For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. (Isa 9:6-7 NIV)
The experts, the Pharisees, are wrong, about Jesus and about the Old Testament. The Old Testament tells of “Galilee of the gentiles”, the land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, seeing the great Messiah, the Son of David. Sure, the Messiah comes from Bethlehem as well, and from out of Egypt, and from Judah and from David. And the Gospel of Matthew tells us how all this was and is and could be. Just like how I came to you from Shellharbour in the Wollongong Region beside the Sea, and Kingsgrove in the St George Area, and Bexley North, and Rooty Hill, and Moore College in Newtown, and the University of New South Wales, and all of those statements are true.
Friends, don’t trust the experts. The experts might round on you and humiliate you and shout you down and silence you by their numbers, as they did Nicodemus. They might have the microphone and the radio show and the invitation from the ABC and the column in the Herald and the letters after their name and the institutional backing. But don’t trust them. Go and read and study the bible for yourself. I hope you don’t trust me because I’ve got letters before or after my name, or I’ve got the backing of an institution. Be like the Bereans, who were of more noble character than the Thessalonians. They searched the Scripture to see if what Paul was saying was true. Get a bible, check out what I say. Do a google search on ‘Galilee’ in the Old Testament, and you will see what the Bible says. Only believe what I say if you find it in the Scriptures. Otherwise don’t believe it. That is un-Anglican. It is un-Anglican to believe anything that cannot be proved from Scripture, no matter how many bishops and professors and experts and PhDs and ministers and priests say it—and that especially includes Anglican priests and ministers and bishops and experts. They can be the worst!
Or maybe, in assessing the claims of a person, we could speak to the man in the street. The media do that all the time. They do a vox pop, to get the opinion of the crowd. The newspapers have the voice of the people, and the TV news will often get a vox pop of randoms in the street.
So what do we get when we grab our video camera and go into the temple courts and the streets of Jerusalem to get the opinion of the people. First of all, we discover that people aren’t very willing to talk. Chapter 7 verses 12 to 13:
7:12And there was much murmuring in the crowds about him. Some were saying, “he is good”, but others were saying, “no, but he deceives the crowd”. 7:13However, no-one was speaking openly about him, because of fear of the Jews.
No one will appear on camera. It’s all anonymous. And opinions are split. Jesus divides people. “I think he is a good man. No, he is a liar.” Or chapter 7 verse 20, when Jesus provokes the crowd, we read, “you have a demon”.
Jesus, you are a lunatic. You are mad, possessed by a demon.
But in chapter 7 verse 31, some people accepted Jesus and his claims. Verse 31:
7:31But many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, “When the Christ comes, he won’t do more signs than what this man has done, will he?”
These people saw him as Lord. He is the Christ. “Look at the signs he has done.” So verse 43 summarises the mind of the people.
7:43So a division occurred within the crowd because of him
The mind of the people is split. We have a hung jury friends. There is no clear majority. The people cannot make up their collective mind.
And friends, if you are going to look for the politically popular choice about Jesus today, if you are going to listen to the polls and popular opinion and do the politically wise thing, you will see that verse 43 still applies. The people are divided. Jesus divides people. He doesn’t bring people together, he divides. The one who will divide the sheep and the goats on the last day also divides family members and friends. One jumps one way on the Jesus question, and another jumps the other.
The atheist says Jesus was just a man, one of many Messianic claimants who died at the hands of the Romans. Jesus of Nazareth didn’t rise from the dead, they say, because men just don’t rise from the dead. After you die, your body just decomposes and becomes worm food. That’s it. There is no God for Jesus to be the Son of. Jesus was self-deluded, and the later church fluffed and puffed whatever historical kernel of truth there was about Jesus. That's what you will get from the atheist.
The Jewish view about Jesus was and still is that he is a deceiver, a sorcerer. By the Prince of Demons Jesus drove out demons. They think that he was rightly and justly crucified for his blasphemy under Pontius Pilate by the Jewish religious leaders. Jesus died and did not rise. Jesus was a liar, a deceiver, a bad man who did not fulfill the Old Testament prophecies. Jesus was not the Christ, the Messiah of God. And the Jews are still waiting for their Messiah.
The Muslim view about Jesus is that he was the Christ and a holy man and a prophet, and the fore-runner to Mohammad. But what they say with all the force of will and zeal that they can muster is this: Jesus Christ is not the Son of God. It is blasphemous to say God has a Son. Jesus Christ did not die on the cross. It is blasphemous to say God would allow his holy prophet to dies on the cross. And Jesus therefore did not rise, because he did not die.
And then there is us, the historic Christian view, that he is the Son of God, God the Son, second person of the Trinity, God incarnate and fully human, who died for our sins and rose again and one day will come.
Friends, the people are divided. You will never get a consensus.
So then how then do we make a decision about Jesus Christ? His brothers got it wrong and changed their minds. The experts got it badly wrong and showed their incompetence. And the crowd is hopelessly divided. So how is little old you and me going to make our decision?
The good news is this: Jesus says that you’ve got all the resources you need to make a decision for yourselves. You don’t need Jesus’ siblings, experts, or the crowd. All you need is Jesus’ words.
You need to look at what Jesus says, and you have the answer. Jesus’ words are self-authenticating. Jesus’ words attest to themselves, for those who are taught by God. Look at what Jesus says in verses 16 and 17:
7:16In response, Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not my own but is from the one who sent me. 7:17If anyone wants to do his will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God, or whether I am speaking from myself.
You can find out whether Jesus’ teaching comes from God if you choose to do God’s will. And if you knew God and obeyed him, you would know that Jesus came from God, and Jesus' teaching is God’s teaching.
This is great. This frees up the Word of God. The Bible is unchained. Let the message of Jesus go. Send it out. Send out John’s Gospel. Send out the Bible. You can read the Gospel of John, and the words and acts of Jesus Christ, and if you want to do God’s will, you will know whether it is true or not. You don’t need me or anyone else to tell you it's true. God himself will convince you of its truth by himself. God is his own witness. God the Holy Spirit will testify to you that what you read about Jesus is the truth.
It’s like knowing whether it is light or dark. If you can see, and your eyes are working properly, you know that it is light. If your eyes are working, you don’t need anyone to tell you that it is daytime or that the sun is shining, because your eyes are made to receive and recognize the light.
A properly working radio receives radio waves. That’s just what it does, and what it is designed to do. Tune in to the right frequency, and you will receive the broadcast. A properly working telescope or microscope receives reflected light from its subject. Focus it right, and look in the eyepiece, and you will see.
And a properly working human being, one who has the Spirit of God and wants to do God’s will, will recognize in Jesus God’s only begotten Son, and that Jesus’ words are true. That’s just what humans are made to do. They are made to recognize their maker and their master, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit remakes them to give them that ability.
And what is the message that Jesus’ is broadcasting? It’s the same message that he spoke during that feast. Verses 37 to 39:
7:37Now on the last great day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, come to me and drink. 7:38The one who believes in me, as the Scriptures say, rivers of living water will flow from his belly.” 7:39Now he said this about the Spirit, whom the ones who believed in him were about to receive, for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Do you thirst? Jesus knows. He knows because he made you. He is the eternal Word. And he is the source of living water. He is the rock from which pure living water flows. He will give the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says, "I am the one who can satisfy your thirst". And you will not only satisfy your thirst. You will have rivers of life flowing from within you. You will not only satisfy yourself, you will be the means of satisfying others. It is not just water that will leave you thirsty again. Jesus promises us water that will well up into eternal life (cf. John 4).
Jesus himself makes enormous claims. There is no doubt about that. Those who think Jesus’ teaching was just love your neighbor and being nice, and all the rest doesn’t really matter, make a big mistake. They fundamentally misunderstand Jesus. Jesus’ message is about how we should think of and treat him long before it is about how we think about and treat others.
Jesus says, “come to me and drink”. He claims to know your deepest needs better than you do and promises to meet them for you. Reject those in the crowd that consider him a liar or a lunatic. Reject the experts who say he is a deceiver and self deceived. Reject the sarcasm and sibling rivalry of those too close to see clearly. And taste and see that the Lord Jesus Christ, your maker and judge, is good.
Let’s pray.
[1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2781041/Football-fans-line-streets-Olympic-Park-ahead-NRL-Grand-Final-South-Sydney-Rabbitohs-look-break-43-year-premiership-drought.html#ixzz3Foh5clzh
[2] JPS translates 'the district of the nations' which the LXX renders γαλιλαια των εθνων.
NA28
7:1Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα περιεπάτει ὁἸησοῦς ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ· οὐ γὰρ ἤθελεν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ περιπατεῖν, ὅτι ἐζήτουν αὐτὸν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἀποκτεῖναι.
2Ἦν δὲ ἐγγὺς ἡ ἑορτὴ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἡ σκηνοπηγία. 3εἶπον οὖν πρὸς αὐτὸν οἱἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ· μετάβηθι ἐντεῦθεν καὶ ὕπαγε εἰς τὴν Ἰουδαίαν, ἵνα καὶ οἱ μαθηταί σου θεωρήσουσιν σοῦ τὰ ἔργα ἃ ποιεῖς· 4οὐδεὶς γάρ τι ἐν κρυπτῷ ποιεῖ καὶ ζητεῖ αὐτὸς ἐν παρρησίᾳ εἶναι. εἰ ταῦτα ποιεῖς, φανέρωσον σεαυτὸν τῷ κόσμῳ. 5οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπίστευον εἰς αὐτόν.
6λέγει οὖν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ὁ καιρὸς ὁ ἐμὸς οὔπω πάρεστιν, ὁ δὲ καιρὸς ὁ ὑμέτερος πάντοτέἐστιν ἕτοιμος. 7οὐ δύναται ὁ κόσμος μισεῖν ὑμᾶς, ἐμὲ δὲ μισεῖ, ὅτι ἐγὼ μαρτυρῶ περὶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ πονηρά ἐστιν. 8ὑμεῖς ἀνάβητε εἰς τὴν ἑορτήν· ἐγὼ οὐκ ἀναβαίνω εἰς τὴν ἑορτὴν ταύτην, ὅτι ὁ ἐμὸς καιρὸς οὔπω πεπλήρωται.
9ταῦτα δὲ εἰπὼν αὐτὸς ἔμεινεν ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ. 10Ὡς δὲἀνέβησαν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν ἑορτήν, τότε καὶ αὐτὸς ἀνέβη οὐ φανερῶς ἀλλ’ [ὡς] ἐν κρυπτῷ. 11οἱ οὖν Ἰουδαῖοι ἐζήτουν αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ καὶἔλεγον· ποῦ ἐστιν ἐκεῖνος; 12καὶ γογγυσμὸς περὶ αὐτοῦ ἦν πολὺς ἐν τοῖς ὄχλοις· οἱ μὲν ἔλεγον ὅτι ἀγαθός ἐστιν, ἄλλοι [δὲ] ἔλεγον· οὔ, ἀλλὰ πλανᾷ τὸν ὄχλον. 13οὐδεὶς μέντοι παρρησίᾳ ἐλάλει περὶ αὐτοῦ διὰ τὸν φόβον τῶν Ἰουδαίων.
14Ἤδη δὲ τῆς ἑορτῆς μεσούσης ἀνέβη Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὸἱερὸν καὶ ἐδίδασκεν. 15ἐθαύμαζον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι λέγοντες· πῶς οὗτος γράμματα οἶδεν μὴ μεμαθηκώς;
16ἀπεκρίθη οὖν αὐτοῖς [ὁ] Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν· ἡ ἐμὴ διδαχὴ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὴ ἀλλὰ τοῦ πέμψαντός με· 17ἐάν τις θέλῃ τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ ποιεῖν, γνώσεται περὶ τῆς διδαχῆς πότερον ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν ἢἐγὼ ἀπ’ ἐμαυτοῦ λαλῶ. 18ὁ ἀφ’ ἑαυτοῦ λαλῶν τὴν δόξαν τὴν ἰδίαν ζητεῖ· ὁ δὲ ζητῶν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ πέμψαντος αὐτὸν οὗτος ἀληθής ἐστιν καὶ ἀδικία ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν. 19Οὐ Μωϋσῆς δέδωκεν ὑμῖν τὸν νόμον; καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐξ ὑμῶν ποιεῖ τὸν νόμον. τί με ζητεῖτε ἀποκτεῖναι;
20ἀπεκρίθη ὁ ὄχλος· δαιμόνιον ἔχεις· τίς σε ζητεῖ ἀποκτεῖναι;
21ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ἓν ἔργον ἐποίησα καὶ πάντες θαυμάζετε. 22διὰ τοῦτο Μωϋσῆς δέδωκεν ὑμῖν τὴν περιτομήν– οὐχ ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ Μωϋσέως ἐστὶν ἀλλ’ ἐκ τῶν πατέρων– καὶ ἐν σαββάτῳ περιτέμνετε ἄνθρωπον. 23εἰ περιτομὴν λαμβάνει ἄνθρωπος ἐν σαββάτῳ ἵνα μὴ λυθῇ ὁ νόμος Μωϋσέως, ἐμοὶ χολᾶτε ὅτι ὅλον ἄνθρωπον ὑγιῆἐποίησα ἐν σαββάτῳ; 24μὴ κρίνετε κατ’ ὄψιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν δικαίαν κρίσιν κρίνετε.
25Ἔλεγον οὖν τινες ἐκ τῶν Ἱεροσολυμιτῶν· οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν ὃν ζητοῦσιν ἀποκτεῖναι; 26καὶ ἴδε παρρησίᾳ λαλεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτῷ λέγουσιν. μήποτε ἀληθῶς ἔγνωσαν οἱ ἄρχοντες ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός;
27ἀλλὰ τοῦτον οἴδαμεν πόθεν ἐστίν· ὁ δὲ χριστὸς ὅταν ἔρχηται οὐδεὶς γινώσκει πόθεν ἐστίν.
28ἔκραξεν οὖν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ διδάσκων ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ λέγων· κἀμὲ οἴδατε καὶ οἴδατε πόθεν εἰμί· καὶ ἀπ’ ἐμαυτοῦ οὐκ ἐλήλυθα, ἀλλ’ ἔστιν ἀληθινὸς ὁ πέμψας με, ὃν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε· 29ἐγὼ οἶδα αὐτόν, ὅτι παρ’ αὐτοῦ εἰμι κἀκεῖνός με ἀπέστειλεν.
30Ἐζήτουν οὖν αὐτὸν πιάσαι, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐπέβαλεν ἐπ’ αὐτὸν τὴν χεῖρα, ὅτι οὔπω ἐληλύθει ἡὥρα αὐτοῦ.
31Ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου δὲ πολλοὶἐπίστευσαν εἰς αὐτὸν καὶἔλεγον· ὁ χριστὸς ὅταν ἔλθῃ μὴ πλείονα σημεῖα ποιήσει ὧν οὗτος ἐποίησεν;
32ἤκουσαν οἱ Φαρισαῖοι τοῦὄχλου γογγύζοντος περὶ αὐτοῦ ταῦτα, καὶ ἀπέστειλαν οἱἀρχιερεῖς καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι ὑπηρέτας ἵνα πιάσωσιν αὐτόν. 33Εἶπεν οὖν ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἔτι χρόνον μικρὸν μεθ’ ὑμῶν εἰμι καὶ ὑπάγω πρὸς τὸν πέμψαντά με. 34ζητήσετέ με καὶ οὐχ εὑρήσετέ [με], καὶ ὅπου εἰμὶἐγὼ ὑμεῖς οὐ δύνασθε ἐλθεῖν. 35εἶπον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι πρὸς ἑαυτούς· ποῦ οὗτος μέλλει πορεύεσθαι ὅτι ἡμεῖς οὐχ εὑρήσομεν αὐτόν; μὴ εἰς τὴν διασπορὰν τῶν Ἑλλήνων μέλλει πορεύεσθαι καὶ διδάσκειν τοὺς Ἕλληνας; 36τίς ἐστιν ὁ λόγος οὗτος ὃν εἶπεν· ζητήσετέ με καὶ οὐχ εὑρήσετέ [με], καὶ ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ὑμεῖς οὐ δύνασθε ἐλθεῖν;
37Ἐν δὲ τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ μεγάλῃ τῆς ἑορτῆς εἱστήκει ὁἸησοῦς καὶ ἔκραξεν λέγων· ἐάν τις διψᾷ ἐρχέσθω πρός με καὶ πινέτω. 38ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμέ καθὼς εἶπεν ἡ γραφή, ποταμοὶἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ ῥεύσουσιν ὕδατος ζῶντος. 39τοῦτο δὲ εἶπεν περὶ τοῦ πνεύματος ὃἔμελλον λαμβάνειν οἱ πιστεύσαντες εἰς αὐτόν· οὔπω γὰρ ἦν πνεῦμα, ὅτι Ἰησοῦς οὐδέπω ἐδοξάσθη.
40Ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου οὖν ἀκούσαντες τῶν λόγων τούτων ἔλεγον· οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ προφήτης· 41ἄλλοι ἔλεγον· οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός, οἱ δὲἔλεγον· μὴ γὰρ ἐκ τῆς Γαλιλαίας ὁ χριστὸς ἔρχεται; 42οὐχ ἡ γραφὴ εἶπεν ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος Δαυὶδ καὶ ἀπὸ Βηθλέεμ τῆς κώμης ὅπου ἦν Δαυὶδ ἔρχεται ὁ χριστός; 43σχίσμα οὖν ἐγένετο ἐν τῷὄχλῳ δι’ αὐτόν· 44τινὲς δὲἤθελον ἐξ αὐτῶν πιάσαι αὐτόν, ἀλλ’ οὐδεὶς ἐπέβαλεν ἐπ’ αὐτὸν τὰς χεῖρας.
45Ἦλθον οὖν οἱ ὑπηρέται πρὸς τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ Φαρισαίους, καὶ εἶπον αὐτοῖς ἐκεῖνοι· διὰ τί οὐκ ἠγάγετε αὐτόν; 46ἀπεκρίθησαν οἱὑπηρέται· οὐδέποτε ἐλάλησεν οὕτως ἄνθρωπος. 47ἀπεκρίθησαν οὖν αὐτοῖς οἱ Φαρισαῖοι· μὴ καὶ ὑμεῖς πεπλάνησθε; 48μή τις ἐκ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐπίστευσεν εἰς αὐτὸν ἢ ἐκ τῶν Φαρισαίων; 49ἀλλ’ ὁὄχλος οὗτος ὁ μὴ γινώσκων τὸν νόμον ἐπάρατοί εἰσιν.
50λέγει Νικόδημος πρὸς αὐτούς, ὁ ἐλθὼν πρὸς αὐτὸν [τὸ] πρότερον, εἷς ὢν ἐξ αὐτῶν· 51μὴ ὁ νόμος ἡμῶν κρίνει τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐὰν μὴ ἀκούσῃ πρῶτον παρ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ γνῷ τί ποιεῖ; 52ἀπεκρίθησαν καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ· μὴ καὶ σὺ ἐκ τῆς Γαλιλαίας εἶ; ἐραύνησον καὶἴδε ὅτι ἐκ τῆς Γαλιλαίας προφήτης οὐκ ἐγείρεται. 53Καὶἐπορεύθησαν ἕκαστος εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ,
My translation
7:1And after these things, Jesus was travelling [1] in Galilee, for he did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jews were looking to kill him.
7:2Now the Jewish feast of tabernacles was approaching. 7:3So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples also will see your works which you are doing. 7:4For no one does anything in secret and everyone seeks for himself to be in the open. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 7:5For his brothers didn’t believe in him either.
7:6 In response, Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always at hand. 7:7The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it that its works are evil. 7:8You go up to the feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, because my time is not yet completed.
7:9Now having said these things, he stayed in Galilee. 7:10But when his brothers went up to the feast, then he also went up, not openly but in secret. 7:11Therefore, the Jews were looking for him at the feast and were saying, “Where is he?” 7:12And there was much murmuring in the crowds about him. Some were saying, “he is good”, but others were saying, “no, but he deceives the crowd”. 7:13However, no-one was speaking openly about him, because of fear of the Jews.
7:14But now during the middle of the feast, Jesus went up to the temple and was teaching. 7:15 As a result, the Jews were amazed, saying, “How does this man know letters if he hasn’t studied?”
7:16In response, Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not my own but is from the one who sent me. 7:17If anyone wants to do his will, he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God, or whether I am speaking from myself. 7:18 The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of the one who sent him, this one is truthful, and there is no injustice in him. 7:19Moses gave you the law, didn’t he? And not one of you does the law. Why are you looking to kill me?”
7:20The crowd answered, “You have a demon. Who is looking to kill you?”
7:21Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, you are all amazed. 7:22For this reason, Moses gave you circumcision—not that it is from Moses but from the fathers—and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. 7:23If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry with me because I made the whole man well on the Sabbath? 7:24Do not judge by appearances but judge using just judgement.”
7:25For this reason, some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were saying, “Isn’t this the one who they are looking to kill? 7:26 And look, he speaks openly, and they are saying nothing to him. Perhaps the rulers truly know that this man is the Christ?”
7:27 “But we know where this man is from. But when the Christ comes, no one knows where he is from.”
7:28For this reason, Jesus cried out in the temple as he was teaching, and said, “And you know me and from where I am! I have not come from myself, but the one who sent me is truthful, whom you do not know. 7:29I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.”
7:30For this reason, they were looking to seize him, and no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come.
7:31But many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, “When the Christ comes, he won’t do more signs than what this man has done, will he?”
7:32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and the high priests and the Pharisees sent attendants to seize him. 7:33For this reason, Jesus said, “I am with you still for a short time and then I go away to the one who sent me. 7:34You will seek me and not find me, and where I am you cannot come. 7:35So the Jews said to themselves, “Where is this man going to go, so that we will not find him? He isn’t going to go to the diaspora of the Greeks and to teach the Greeks, is he? 7:36What is this word which he said, “You will seek me and you will not find me, and where I am you cannot come”?
7:37Now on the last great day of the feast, Jesus stood up and shouted out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, come to me and drink. 7:38 The one who believes in me, as the Scriptures say, rivers of living water will flow from his belly. 7:39Now he said this about the Spirit, whom the ones who believed in him were about to receive, for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
7:40For this reason some of the crowd, when they heard these words, were saying, “This truly is the Prophet.” 7:41Others were saying, “This is the Christ”, but others were saying, “Because the Christ does not come from Galilee, does he?” 7:42The scripture says, doesn’t it, that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” 7:43So a division occurred within the crowd because of him 7:44and some of them wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands upon him.
7:45So the attendants to the high priests and Pharisees returned, and they said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him?” 7:46The attendants answered, “No one has ever spoken in this way!” 7:47So the Pharisees answered them, “You haven’t been deceived too, have you? 7:48None of the leaders or the Pharisees has believed in him, have they? 7:49But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed!
7:50Nicodemus—the one who came to him the previous time, who was one of them—said to them, 7:51 “Our law does not condemn a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he did, does it?” 7:52 They answered and said to him, “You aren’t also from Galilee, are you? Look into it and see that a prophet does not arise from Galilee” 7:53And each person went to his house.
In verse 2, John mentions the approach of the Jewish ‘festival of tabernacles‘’ (ἡ ἑορτὴ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἡσκηνοπηγία), which was also called the festival of ‘ingathering’, or ‘booths’ (Exod 23:16, 34:22; Lev 23:33-36, 39-43; Deut 16:13-15). This gathering was commanded by God as one of Israel’s three national annual festivals (the first being the ‘Passover’ or the festival of ‘unleavened bread’, and the other being ‘Pentecost’ or the festival of ‘harvest’, or ‘weeks’). All of Israel’s males were to gather in Jerusalem, the place God chose for his name (Exod 23:14-17, 34:23-24; Deut 16:16-17). The men constructed booths made of palm branches and lived in them for the week of the festival.
In verses 3 to 9, Jesus’ brothers first sarcastically raise the issue of Jesus’ openness or boldness (ἐν παρρησίᾳ εἶναι: v. 4) in making his claims and showing his works publicly, and this theme of boldness and openness verses hiddenness (ἐν κρυπτῷ ποιεῖ: v. 4) continues throughout the chapter. Their challenge is for Jesus to show himself to the world (v. 5), but as with the request of his mother at the wedding in Cana (John 2:4), Jesus’ response is to follow his Father’s timeline (v. 6, ὁ καιρὸς ὁ ἐμὸς οὔπω πάρεστιν || “my time is not yet with us”; cf. v. 8, ὅτι ὁ ἐμὸς καιρὸς οὔπω πεπλήρωται || “my time is not yet completed”; v. 30, ὅτι οὔπω ἐληλύθει ἡ ὥρα αὐτοῦ || because his hour had not yet come). Jesus is not interested in his own glory, but the glory of the Father (v. 18), and following his Father’s time frame is one of the ways he brings glory to the Father.
Jesus does indeed go up to the feast not openly but in secret (v. 11: οὐ φανερῶς ἀλλ’ [ὡς] ἐν κρυπτῷ), but his secrecy will not be long maintained (cf. v. 14 and Jesus teaching in the temple at the mid point of the feast of tabernacles).
The secrecy theme is continued by the murmuring of the crowd about him (v. 12; cf. v. 32), and that no one was speaking openly about him (v. 13: 13οὐδεὶς μέντοι παρρησίᾳ ἐλάλει περὶ αὐτοῦ || no-one was speaking openly about him). By verse 14, at the mid point of the feast, he is publicly speaking, as confirmed by the comments of the crowd (v. 26, ἴδε παρρησίᾳ λαλεῖ || look, he is speaking openly). Jesus mode of teaching then moves from teaching, speaking (v. 14: ἐδίδασκεν; v. 26: λαλεῖ) to shouting, or crying out (vv. 28, 37: ἔκραξεν).
In verse 8, there is a textual issue. Aleph and D reads οὐκ (‘not’); P66, 75, B and Byz reads οὔπω (‘not yet’). It probably should read ‘not yet’.
Regarding verse 37, water symbolism has featured earlier in the Gospel of John (John 2:6, 3:5, 4:10-15), as has the issue of thirst (John 4:13-14, 6:35). Jesus’ reference to ‘water’ seems to refer to a ceremony on the last day of the feast that was current at the time of Jesus, but had not been commanded in the Old Testament directions for the festival, but had been instituted in the second temple celebrations of the feast after the exile (probably in the Maccabean period). It featured a ritual of water drawing, procession, and pouring, possibly in connection with prayer for rain. In the ceremony, water was drawn from the pool of Siloam, and processed to the court of woman for public participation, after which the priests continued into the temple proper and poured the water at the foot of the altar (Keener 2003: 1:722). If this is the case, Jesus is appropriating the symbolism of the current rituals to make a statement about himself.
In verse 37, the Scripture to which Jesus refers may be Zechariah 14:8, which speaks of the day of the LORD’s coming when “living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.” This has affinities with the longer vision of water flowing from the eschatological temple which Ezekiel saw and reported (Ezek 47:1-10). However, Jesus’ seems to be individualising the fulfilment, and spiritualizing it by making it a reference to the Spirit indwelling believers.
In verse 39, τοῦτο δὲ εἶπεν περὶ τοῦ πνεύματος ὃ ἔμελλον λαμβάνειν οἱ πιστεύσαντες εἰς αὐτόν· οὔπω γὰρ ἦν πνεῦμα, ὅτι Ἰησοῦς οὐδέπω ἐδοξάσθη || Now he said this about the Spirit, whom the ones who believed in him were about to receive, for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Clearly, the statement, “the Spirit was not yet” is not an ontological statement about the Spirit’s existence, but about his salvation historical ‘coming’. It is not yet the Spirit’s time, just as it is not yet Christ’s time.
In verses 48 and 50, the religious leaders mistakenly assert that none of the leaders of the Pharisee have believed in him. This is not true, as we saw initially in chapter 3, and indeed, John records that Nicodemus defends Jesus at this point. The rulers can’t even make true or reliable statements about their own number.
Moreover, in verse 52, the religious leaders’ confident claim and assertion to Nicodemus, about no prophet arising from Galilee, is patently false. “Galilee of the nations” (LXX renders this γαλιλαια των εθνων) will see a “great light” because they will see a child who is born, the Messiah, the Son of David (Isa 9:1-2, cf. vv. 6-7).
[1] Lit, ‘walking’.
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