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JOHN CHAPTER 7
OBSERVATION STAGE
The purpose of
the observation stage is to maintain focus on the text at hand in
accordance with the framework in which it was written: a framework which
is defined by the normative rules of language, context and logic. Rules
which do not impose undue, unintended meanings to the text
,
and which largely limit the observer to the content offered by the Gospel
of John. In order for any passage from elsewhere to be considered, it must
have a relationship with the context at hand, such as a Scriptural
quotation or a specific cross reference in the passage at hand by the
author. This will serve to avoid going on unnecessary tangents elsewhere;
and more importantly, it will provide the framework for a proper and
objective comparison with passages located elsewhere in Scripture.
Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.
The first verse in John chapter seven has the phrase, "after these things" which continues the literal, historical narrative from chapter 6 which in turn continued the historical narrative from chapter 5, which included a potentially deadly confrontation with Jewish authorities who pursued Jesus in order to kill Him for claiming equality with God and allegedly violating the Sabbath. Their deadly pursuit of Jesus continued to be referred to at the beginning of chapter 7, wherein Jesus decided to remain for a season in Galilee rather than to go back to Judea where the Jewish authorities sought Him.
*** EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 5 ***
..........OR
SKIP TO JN 7:1
HENCE JESUS DECLARED THAT HE HAD GREATER TESTIMONY THAN JOHN'S - THE FATHER'S:
AND JESUS SAID THAT THE FATHER WHO SENT HIM TESTIFIED OF HIM
(Jn 5:17 NKJV) But Jesus answered them [the Jews, (Jn 5:16), 'My Father has been working [lit., works, present tense] until and now and I have been working [lit., work, present tense]. (Jn 5:18 NAS) For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. (Jn 5:19 NKJV) Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. (Jn 5:20 NKJV) For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. (Jn 5:21 NKJV) For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. (Jn 5:22 NKJV) For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, (Jn 5:23 NKJV) that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him. (Jn 5:24 NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him Who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. (Jn 5:25 NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. (Jn 5:26 NAS) For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself. (Jn 5:27 NAS) and He gav e Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. (Jn 5:28 NAS) Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, (Jn 5:29 NAS) and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. (Jn 5:30 YLT) I am not able of Myself to do anything; according as I hear I judge, and My judgment is righteous, because I seek not My own will, but the will of the Father Who sent Me. (Jn 5:31 NKJV) If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. (Jn 5:32 NKJV) There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know [lit., have known] that the witness which he witnesses of Me is true. (Jn 5:33 NKJV) You have sent [Jewish authorities] to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. (Jn 5:34 NKJV) Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. (Jn 5:35 NKJV) He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. (Jn 5:36 NKJV) But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish - the very works that I do - bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. (Jn 5:37 NAS ) And the Father Who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. (Jn 5:38 NAS) You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him Whom He sent. (Jn 5:39 NAS) You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; (Jn 5:40 NAS) and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. (Jn 5:41 YLT) Glory from man I do not receive, (Jn 5:42 YLT) but I have known you, that the love of God ye have not in yourselves. (Jn 5:43 YLT) I have come in the name of My Father, and you do not receive Me; if another may come in his own name, him you will receive; (Jn 5:44 NAS) How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? (Jn 5:45 NAS) Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope; (Jn 5:46 YLT) for if [you] were believing Moses, [you] would have been believing Me, for he wrote concerning Me; (Jn 5:47 NAS) But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?" =
Jesus said to the Jews that if He bore witness to Himself it would not be true; not in the sense that what He was saying was false, but in the sense that it would be insufficient evidence to be taken by men as valid. The implication is that a man cannot testify to his own credibility, for that would be not be sufficient for a single witness was not acceptable according to the Mosaic Law, (Num 35:30; Dt 17:6); nor to the Jewish authorities, (Jn 5:31). Note that Jesus had already testified to the Jews of Who He was, and they had not only rejected that truthful testimony, but sought all the more to kill Him, (Jn 5:17-30).
On the other hand, Jesus mentioned another testimony who bore witness of Him whose testimony He had known was true: that of John the Baptist to whom the Jews had sent authorities to investigate, (cf. Jn 1:19-27). Jesus again declared that John the Baptist's testimony about Him was true, (Jn 5:32-33); but He told them that He received testimony from no man - even John the Baptist, implying that only the Father's testimony will do.
(Jn 3:31 NKJV) "He Who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He Who comes from heaven is above all.
(Jn 3:32 NKJV) And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony."
When Jesus said He received testimony from no man, for only the Father's testimony will do, the Jews having rejected Jesus' and John's testimony; He indicated that he said these things because there was greater testimony from the Father which the Jews might choose to believe and be saved. For John was the burning and shining lamp of truth; but the Jews were only willing for a while to rejoice in his light until they found out that he was not the Christ, or the Prophet Who was to come, (Jn 1:19-27). Hence He declared that He had greater testimony than John's: the works that He did which the Father had given Him to finish which bore witness of Who He was - that the Father had sent Him, (Jn 5:33-36). Previously, Jesus indicated that the works of the Father defined Who He was and what He, Jesus, did.
"Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner."
Note that Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews acknowledged that Jesus had come from God... for no one was able to do the works He did if God were not with Him:
(Jn 3:1 YLT) "And there was [a] man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus his name, [a] ruler of the Jews,
(Jn 3:2 YLT) this one [Nicodemus, (v. 1)] came unto Him by night, and said to Him, 'Rabbi, we have known that from God [you have] come - a teacher, for no one these signs is able to do that [which you do] if God [is] not... with Him.' "
And Jesus said that the Father Who sent Him testified of Him. The Greek verb "memarturEken" rendered "has testified" in Jn 5:37 is in the perfect tense which refers to God's ongoing revelation about His Son, Jesus, to men and through the Scriptures of their time, i.e., Moses and the Prophets, which stipulated the works that Jesus would do. So Jesus said to the Jews that the Father Who sent Him had testified of Him. The point is implied that if you observed what Jesus did and compared it to Who the Father was and what He testified to in Scripture, it would verify Who Jesus was and in Him you would see the Father. But since the Jews neither believed that the works Jesus performed were those given to Him by the Father to do, nor believed that He was the One Whom God sent so that they might have eternal life; Jesus concluded that the Jews had neither heard the Father's voice nor seen His form, nor did they have His word abiding in them in the sense of it knowing it and having it operate in their lives, (Jn 5:37-38). Jesus went on to say, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life," in the sense that they believed that the act of searching the Scriptures in the subjective false manner that they did, twisting them to serve their own purposes, yet unwilling to believe in the testimony they provided about Jesus, would give them eternal life. Jesus said, ironically, that the Scriptures testified about Him implying that their futile self-serving search of the Scriptures resulted in them being unwilling to accept the message in Scripture that one may come to Him by faith so that they might have eternal life, (Jn 5:39-40). He concluded that He was not motivated to seek glory from man because He knew that the character of man was not trustworthy.
(Jn 2:23 NAS) Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.
(Jn 2:24 YLT) and Jesus himself was not trusting himself to them, because of his knowing all [men],
(Jn 2:25 NKJV) and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man."
And for this reason He declared that the Jewish authorities did not have the love of God in them.
When Jesus said that He did not receive glory from man, He implied that He received glory from His Father, not the least of which was conveyed through His miracles and works which were prophesied in Scripture as coming from God, (cf. Jn 3:1-2). Jesus said that He came in His Father's name but the Jews did not receive Him; yet if another came in his own name, they would receive him, (Jn 5:41-43). He declared in a rhetorical question, "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another [from fellow men] and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?" In conclusion, Jesus said for them not to think that He would accuse them before the Father, for the one who accused them was Moses, in whom they had set their hope of eternal life. He implied that they had actually not been believing in what Moses wrote, because He said that Moses wrote concerning Him giving evidence that they did not believe in Moses, so He asked them rhetorically how then would they believe in His words, (Jn 5:44-47).
*** END OF EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 5 ***
*** EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 6 ***
..........OR
SKIP TO JN 7:1
(Jn 6:42 NAS) "[And] they were saying, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? [alt. Therefore] How does He now say, 'I have come down out of heaven?' ... (Jn 6:52 YLT) The Jews, therefore, were [arguing] with one another, saying, 'How is this One able to give us [His] flesh to eat?' (Jn 6:53 YLT) Jesus, therefore, said to them, '[Truly, truly], I say to you, If [you do] not eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and [you do] not drink His blood, [you] have no life in yourselves; (Jn 6:54 NIV) Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day; (Jn 6:55 YLT) for My flesh truly is food, and My blood truly is drink; (Jn 6:56 NAS) He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. (Jn 6:57 NKJV) As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. (Jn 6:58 NAS) This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever. (Jn 6:59 YLT) These things He said in a synagogue, teaching in Capernaum. (Jn 6:60 YLT) "Many, therefore, of His disciples having heard, said, 'This word is hard; who is able to hear it?' (Jn 6:61 YLT) And Jesus having known in Himself that His disciples are murmuring [lit., grumbling] about this, said to them, '[Does] this [offend you causing you to stumble]?' (Jn 6:62 NKJV) What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? (Jn 6:63 YLT) The Spirit it is [Who is the life giving One]; the flesh [does] not profit anything; the sayings that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life; (Jn 6:64 YLT) but there are [some] of you who do not believe;' for Jesus had known from the beginning who they are who are not believing, and who is he [Judas, (cf. Jn 6:71)] who will deliver Him up, (Jn 6:65 YLT) and he said, 'Because of this I have said to you - No one is able to come unto Me, if it may not have been given him from My Father.' (Jn 6:66 NKJV) From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more." =
Most of those that followed Jesus - which included all of His disciples except the Twelve, followed Him for the wrong reasons. They willfully refused to believe in Him to be mankind's exclusive Source of Eternal life, (cf. Jn 6:42-52). This led them to reject His statements that eternal life was exclusively a matter of a moment of faith alone in Him alone. Then when He spoke of Himself as the Son of Man come down from heaven and that one who ate His flesh and drank His blood, (in the figurative sense of believing in Him), would have eternal life; they deliberately misconstrued Him to say that He was telling them to practice cannibalism and the drinking of His blood, (Jn 6:51-52). Their claim deteriorated further into the absurdity of live cannibalism and the drinking of His blood while it pulsed in His veins because Jesus spoke these words while He was alive - before He had provided Himself as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world to make His claim to be the Provider of eternal life valid and effective for all mankind. If Jesus had been conveying that His physical body was to be literally eaten, and He was not, there was not enough of Him to provide a morsal for the thousands who were following Him. Yet their willful unbelief led them into spiritual insanity. Today there are millions who espouse the belief that they are physically ingesting the actual physical body and blood of Jesus Christ to gain eternal life despite what He meant, (Jn 6:52-59, 63).
When many of His disciples grumbled amongst themselves, "This word is hard, who is able to hear it?" (Jn 6:60); Jesus, knowing within Himself (supernaturally) that they were grumbling about Him and would never choose to believe in Him; nevertheless He persisted with those who were not chosen by God, informing them that if they believed in Him they would have eternal life, affirming the doctrine of unlimited atonement. He asked them in a rhetorical sense, "Does this offend and cause you to stumble" in the sense of falling into a mindset of willfully blocking themselves from believing in Him. The Greek verb "skandalizei" literally, "offend" in Jn 6:61 meant being offended to the point of causing one to stumble, i.e., lose ones willingness to believe in Jesus which leads to deliberately misinterpreting Him, (Jn 6:61).
Note that Jesus' question, "[Does] this [offend you causing you to stumble]?" did not imply that He meant that people must be eaters of His flesh, i.e., cannibals and drinkers of His blood as some maintain; for Jn 6:63 stipulated that His words were "spiritual," i.e., figurative and not literal:
"The Spirit it is [Who is the life giving One]; the flesh [does] not profit anything; the sayings that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life."
Jesus addressed their rejection of Him especially when He spoke of coming down from heaven and of eating His flesh and drinking His blood, in the figurative sense of believing in Him in order to have eternal life. He stated how much the more would they be offended to disbelief were they to see the Son of Man, Himself, ascending to heaven from whence He came - foretelling His future ascension to heaven, (Jn 6:62).
He stipulated that His words were spirit, i.e., figurative for the spiritual and in that sense His words gave eternal life to those who believed them, (Jn 6:63-64). This corroborated the context conveyed throughout His ministry. He explained that it was the Spirit Who gave eternal life in the spiritual realm, (cf. Jn 3:5-6). So nothing in the physical realm gave eternal life, neither man, nor physical bread, nor physical eating, nor literal drinking, but God through the Holy Spirit as a result of a moment of faith alone in His Son alone.
Jesus proclaimed that it was the Father, the Son and the Spirit Who provided eternal life in such a manner that implied that they were One, (Jn 6:27; 32, 35, 40, 44, 48-51, 54, 63).
Jesus further revealed to them that He had known within Himself from the beginning, (supernaturally) who would not choose to believe in Him and who it was who would betray Him, (referring to Judas Iscariot, Jn 6:64; cf. 6:71).
Notice that the only operative word for man in order to receive eternal life throughout Scripture is "believe." And Jesus persisted in telling Who He was and how to have eternal life despite knowing that many, including most of His disciples, would never believe, and depart from Him, (Jn 6:64).
Whereupon Jesus said, "Because of this I have said to you - No one is able to come unto Me, if it may not have been given him from My Father," evidently implying that He said this more than once. The phrase, "No one is able to come unto Me, if it may not have been given him from My Father" in Jn 6:65 reiterates that although believing is volitional by definition, and anyone may choose to believe in Jesus for eternal life; only those to whom it has been given , (Jn 6:65), i.e., only those who are given to His Son, (Jn 6:37); drawn, (Jn 6:44); instructed, (Jn 6:45); and enabled by the Father, (Jn 6:65), will choose of their own volition to come to Jesus by faith in Him as the true Bread from heaven to receive eternal life.
Consider that our Lord knew from the beginning who would believe and who would not - a supernatural proclamation which attests to His diety. Yet He persisted even with those who would never choose to believe. The conclusion is that although one will not come to faith in Jesus, God's purpose is to make the information available for all to choose or to not choose. In either case it is apparent that provision was to be made for all mankind, (unlimited atonement), and that God's sovereignty will prevail without fail, (Jn 6:65).
*** END OF EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 6 ***
(Jn 7:1 YLT) "And Jesus was walking after these things in Galilee, for He did not wish to walk in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him,
(Jn 7:2 YLT) and the feast of the Jews was [near] - that of tabernacles -"
(Jn 7:1 YLT) "And Jesus was walking after these things in Galilee, for He did not wish to walk in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him, (Jn 7:2 YLT) and the feast of the Jews was [near] - that of tabernacles - (Jn 7:3 NKJV) His brothers therefore said to Him, 'Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. (Jn 7:4 NKJV) For no one does anything in secret while He Himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world. (Jn 7:5 KJV) For neither did his brethren believe in Him.' " =
In verse 7:1, the Greek words "meta tauta" rendered "after these things" in the YLT indicates a chronological sequence of events is in view. The verse conveys that a period of time had transpired since the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus' instruction to His disciples and the crowd in the Temple in Capernaum about the time of the Passover, (cf. Jn 6:1-66), until the time of the Feast of Tabernacles about 6 months later, (Jn 7:1-2). Author John did not report anything that occurred during Jesus' time in Galilee until the time of the Feast of the Tabernacles.
So after Jesus had miraculously fed more than 5,000; instructed the crowd; taught those that followed Him to Capernaum; and saw many of His disciples refuse to believe in Him for eternal life and follow Him no more, (Jn 6:1-71); He remained for about 6 months in Galilee because the Jewish authorities were seeking to kill Him. The Jews had sought Him since He healed the paralytic at the Bethesda Pool in Jerusalem, (cf. Jn 5:2-7; 18). From this point on, the opposition to Jesus by the rulers and the crowds became an increasingly prominent observation of author John's writing of His gospel, (Jn 7:1).
So at the time that chapter 7 begins, the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was nearing. The Feast of Tabernacles, also called the Feast of Ingathering or the Feast of Harvest, was at the time for seven days, (later on an 8th day was added, {Neh 8:14-16}). During this Feast the men of Israel were required to live in makeshift dwellings made of branches and leaves to commemorate their Forefathers' living in tents as they wandered in the desert for 40 years before entering the Promised Land, (cf. Lev 23:33-43; Deut 16:13-17). It was a time of harvest held in autumn on the fifteenth day of the seventh month about the second week of October. The Feast began five days after the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). It was a memorial to God for giving them the land, and an occasion for demonstrating gratitude to God for His provisions (Exodus 23:16; Deut 16:13-15). Note that on each day of the Feast of Tabernacles the priests brought forth, in golden vessels, water from the Pool of Siloam, which flowed under the temple-mountain. They solemnly poured it upon the altar as an offering to God in memory of the water that flowed from the rock when the Israelites traveled through the wilderness. Then the words of Isa 12:3 were sung, "Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation." This Feast was the greatest feast of joy of all the feasts of the Jews. Relative to the time frame of John chapter 7, the Feast was about six months after the events of chapter 6, which [the latter] took place shortly before the Passover, (Jn 7:1-2; cf. Jn 6:4).
(Jn 7:3 NKJV) "His [Jesus', (Jn 7:1), brothers therefore said to Him, 'Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.
(Jn 7:4 NKJV) For no one does anything in secret while He Himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.'
(Jn 7:5 YLT) For neither were His [brothers] believing in Him.
(Jn 7:6 NKJV) Then Jesus said to them, 'My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.'
(Jn 7:7 YLT) The world is not able to hate you, but Me it [does] hate, because I testify concerning it that its works are evil.
(Jn 7:8 YLT) [You] - go ... up to this feast; I do not yet go up to this feast, because My time [has] not yet been fulfilled;' "
(Jn 7:1 YLT) "And Jesus was walking after these things in Galilee, for He did not wish to walk in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him, (Jn 7:2 YLT) and the feast of the Jews was [near] - that of tabernacles - (Jn 7:3 NKJV) His brothers therefore said to Him, 'Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. (Jn 7:4 NKJV) For no one does anything in secret while He Himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.' (Jn 7:5 YLT) For neither were His [brothers] believing in Him.' (Jn 7:6 NKJV) Then Jesus said to them, 'My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.' (Jn 7:7 YLT) The world is not able to hate you, but Me it [does] hate, because I testify concerning it that its works are evil. (Jn 7:8 YLT) [You] - go ... up to this feast; I do not yet go up to this feast, because My time [has] not yet been fulfilled;' " =
The phrase "His [Jesus'] brothers" in Jn 7:3 refers to the sons of Mary and Joseph after Jesus' birth. The Greek word "adelphoi" which is rendered "brothers" in Jn 7:3 NKJV could not mean brothers in the faith as some contend because the context of brothers in this verse excludes the Disciples who are believers. Furthermore, the brothers in view in this verse are later declared to be unbelievers, not believers, (Jn 7:5).
Finally, Jn 7:7 implies that the phrase rendered "His [Jesus'] brothers" are evil and part of the world; hence could not mean brothers in the faith. Still others maintained that the Greek language had no word for cousin and that this was the reason that the Greek word "adelphoi" rendered brothers had to be used. But in fact, the Greek word transliterated "anepsios" is the word for cousin; and there are other words in the Greek for specific types of cousin Furthermore, all of the Lord's relatives in this passage were not cousins.
If a variety of distant relatives were intended in Jn 7:3, as some contend, then the language would reflect this, but it does not. The rest of Scripture indicates that if John, Paul or Mark had meant that James and Joseph and the others were simply kinsmen of Jesus, not cousins or brothers, then they would have used the Greek word transliterated 'sungenes' which is the generic word for kinsman - but they did not. "Sungenes" is used in this manner in Mark 6:4 and Romans 9:3 and elsewhere in the New Testament, but not to refer to Jesus' brothers.
In Galatians
1:19, in the Latin Vulgate, the Latin word 'frater' is used to refer to
the Lord's brother James. The Latin word 'nepos', meaning 'cousin', was
not used. Thus, there can be absolutely no doubt that Jesus had brothers
who were the biological children of Mary and Joseph.
.
So Jesus' brothers - sons of Joseph and Mary - confronted Him and told Him that He should go into Judea so that His disciples there might also see the works that He was doing, implying that He had performed no miracles there, (Jn 7:3). The brothers of Jesus were evidently skeptical that Jesus performed any miracles at all - despite His healing of the invalid at Bethseda Pool at the Temple in Jerusalem which was so well attested to that the Jews sought to kill Jesus for allegedly breaking the Law for healing on the Sabbath, (Jn 6:5-7).
Furthermore,
Jesus' brothers admonished Him with more sarcastic skepticism by
indicating that no one does anything in secret if He legitimately seeks to
be known openly. They impugned His testimony, the legitimacy of His
purpose and the validity of His performing miracles with: "If You do
these things show Yourself to the world." The Greek phrase "ei
tauta poieis" in Jn 7:4 rendered "If You do these things [{then}
show Yourself to the world]" is an "if-then" clause using "ei"
meaning "if" in the indicative mood..
The phrase "ei tauta poieis" implies in this context that Jesus'
brothers did not believe that He was performing miracles. They confronted
Him with sarcastic skepticism: "If, [for the sake of
argument], You actually did perform miraculous works and sought be be
known openly, then You should go to Judea," (Jn 7:4).
So they continued to suggest that it would better serve His purpose to
manifest His miracles in Judea openly before everyone in Jerusalem, where
people came from all over the world. Although it had been about 18 months
since Jesus had left Judea because the Jews there sought to kill Him, it
was still questionable why Jesus' brothers would suggest that He go back
to Judea where the Jews might still be actively seeking to kill Him, (and
they were, {Jn 7:19}). Author John corroborated Jesus' brothers'
skepticism with: "For neither were His [brothers] believing in Him."
The imperfect tense Greek verb "episteuon," rendered "were
(not) believing," speaks of an habitual attitude of unbelief, (Jn
7:5).
Jesus answered His brothers' rhetoric by telling them that His time had not yet come in the sense of it not being God the Father's time, i.e., that it was not yet His time to be taken by the authorities and through that provide for an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, (Jn 7:6; cf. Jn 1:12-13; 3:14-18; 6:33-40, 47).
Jesus' words implied that His life in His Humanity was to be lived by God His Father's predetermined plan. Hence He chose to minimize His exposure to the authorities to reduce their opportunities to seize Him before His Father's plan stipulated.
On the other hand, Jesus said that His brothers' time was "always ready," implying that they could go into Jerusalem at any time they chose; for their lives were not so directed by God as Jesus' was. Jesus went on to tell His brothers that the world was not able to hate them because it was evil, implying that they were part of it; but He said it did hate Him because He implied that He was not part of the world and because He testified continually that its works were evil, (Jn 7:7). So He told His brothers to go up to the feast without Him. For He would not go publically with them because His time had not yet come. Had He gone up openly with His brothers in a caravan, He would have easily been seen, putting Him in a position to be seized before His time. Although the Greek word "oupO" rendered "not yet" Jn 7:8 in the YLT does not occur in many MSS manuscripts, it does appear in the older papyri and in some of the older uncial MSS. Furthermore, since, "I am not going to this Feast," is the more difficult reading of the text, and since that reading can still be interpreted "I am not going to this Feast," in the sense of with you meaning Jesus' brothers; and since verse 7:10 later stipulates, "He Himself also went up," in the sense of going after His brothers had gone several days before; then the intent of Jesus' words on the matter of not yet going to the Feast firmly suppport His going later without any deception in view, (Jn 7:8).
(Jn 7:9 NAS) "Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.
(Jn 7:10 NAS) But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not [openly], but as [if], in secret
(Jn 7:11 YLT) the Jews, therefore, were seeking Him, in the feast, and said, 'Where is that one?'
(Jn 7:12 NAS) [And] there was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, 'He is a good man' others were saying, 'No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.' "
(Jn 7:13 NKJV) However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews."
(Jn 7:3 NKJV) "His [Jesus', (Jn 7:1), brothers therefore said to Him, 'Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. (Jn 7:4 NKJV) For no one does anything in secret while He Himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.' (Jn 7:5 YLT) For neither were His [brothers] believing in Him. (Jn 7:6 NKJV) Then Jesus said to them, 'My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.' (Jn 7:7 YLT) The world is not able to hate you, but Me it [does] hate, because I testify concerning it that its works are evil. (Jn 7:8 YLT) [You] - go ... up to this feast; I do not yet go up to this feast, because My time [has] not yet been fulfilled;' (Jn 7:9 NAS) Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee. (Jn 7:10 NAS) But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not [openly], but as [if], in secret (Jn 7:11 YLT) the Jews, therefore, were seeking Him, in the feast, and said, 'Where is that one?' (Jn 7:12 NKJV) 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.' (Jn 7:13 NKJV) However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews." =
So having spoken to His brothers relative to the matter of not going with them to Judea to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, (Jn 7:3-9); Jesus remained momentarily in Galilee, (Jn 7:9). Later when His brothers had gone up to Jerusalem, He also went up, not openly, but as if in secret, (Jn 7:10). Jesus was evidently trying to avoid a hostile scene with those in the crowd who held Him in animosity - especially the Jewish authorities. Nevertheless, the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem sought to kill Him and asked, "Where is that One?" The hostile Jews were adamant in their attitude and active in their search to destroy the One they detested so much, (Jn 7:11). There was much grumbling about Him amongst the people at the Feast in Jerusalem. Some said that He was good; others, said 'No, on the contrary, He deceives the people," (Jn 7:11-12), evidently referring to the time when Jesus healed the invalid on the Sabbath when He was accused of violating the Sabbath, (Jn 5:1-18; 7:23). However, no one in the crowd spoke openly about Jesus for fear of reprisal by the Jewish authorities, (Jn 7:13).
(Jn 7:14 YLT) And it being now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up to the temple, and He was teaching,
(Jn 7:15 NKJV) And the Jews marveled, saying, 'How does this Man know letters, having never studied?'
(Jn 7:16 YLT) Jesus answered them and said, 'My teaching is not Mine, but His Who sent Me;
(Jn 7:17 YLT) If any one may [desire] to [practice] His will, he shall know concerning the teaching, whether it is [from] God, or [whether] - I ... speak from Myself.
(Jn 7:18 Holman) The one who speaks for himself seeks his own glory. But He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him."
(Jn 7:9 NAS) "Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee. (Jn 7:10 NAS) But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not [openly], but as [if], in secret. (Jn 7:11 YLT) the Jews, therefore, were seeking Him, in the feast, and said, 'Where is that one?' (Jn 7:12 NAS) [And] there was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, 'He is a good man' others were saying, 'No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.' (Jn 7:13 NKJV) However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. (Jn 7:14 YLT) And it being now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up to the temple, and He was teaching, (Jn 7:15 NKJV) And the Jews marveled, saying, 'How does this Man know letters, having never studied?' (Jn 7:16 YLT) Jesus answered them and said, 'My teaching is not Mine, but His Who sent Me; (Jn 7:17 YLT) If any one may [desire] to [practice] His will, he shall know concerning the teaching, whether it is [from] God, or [whether] - I ... speak from Myself. (Jn 7:18 Holman) The one who speaks for himself seeks his own glory. But He who seeks the glory of the One Who sent Him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." =
According to
verses 11-12, Jesus' absence during the first half of the week of the
Feast of Tabernacles ,
had aroused the curiosity of many people. There was much grumbling about
Jesus going on in the crowd, from saying that He was a good man to
claiming that He led people astray; but none of the grumbling was done
openly for fear of reprisal by the Jewish authorities, (Jn 7:11-12). Jesus
had evidently remained in seclusion until the middle of the Feast at which
time, shortly after His brothers left for Judea to celebrate the Feast, He
had gone up to the Temple in Jerusalem "not openly but as if in
secret, (Jn 7:10)." When He got to the Temple court, where teaching
was done, He began teaching the people.
Public teaching in general was done by those who had gone to Rabinnical school to become Rabbis. The teacher usually provided the points of view of the elders as opposed to providing their own opinions. Jesus, on the other hand, presented the Scriptures and His interpretation which often clashed with the elders' opinions. The Jews - in the sense of the leading and most learned men among the priests and scribes - marveled at His teaching, (imperfect tense: lit., 'were marveling'), to the extent that they asked, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied" in the sense of His not having gone to a formal Rabbinic school such as the college of Hillel or Shammai in Jerusalem. There was an arrogant tone in their words which restricted only those who went to Rabbinical School to being learned in the Scriptures. On the other hand, they were astonished as to how learned He was. He indicated that His teaching was not His, in the sense that it did not originate with Him; but that it originated with the One Who sent Him, meaning God His Father. So Jesus implied that He was taught by the One Who sent Him: God His Father, (Jn 7:14-16).
Jesus went on to say that if one was truly motivated to practice the will of the One Who sent Him, referring to God His Father, then one would know whether Jesus' teaching originated from the Father or whether Jesus spoke only for Himself in the sense that He [Jesus] was the author of what He [Jesus] was teaching, and not the Father. Jesus further explained that if one spoke for oneself, in the sense of being the originator of the words which one spoke - as opposed to speaking the words of God - then one sought ones own glory as opposed to the glory of God. The test of the source of the teaching is by an examination of the motive which produced the teaching. If a man sought his own glory, he would teach and act from that motive. He would evidence this through words and phrases which have a self-aggrandizing tone - a lack of humility. Furthermore, when the truth was not being conveyed, there would be an absence of adequate proof of conclusions being made, a presence of a tone of distance and an unwillingness to be questioned.
Jesus further explained that the one who spoke for himself, i.e., the one who spoke out of his own authority, sought his own glory. On the other hand, Jesus said that He, meaning Himself, Who sought the glory of the One Who Who sent Him, meaning God His Father, was true; and there was no unrighteousness, i.e., no sinfulness, in Him. So Jesus proclaimed that He sought the glory of God His Father Who sent Him and that He and His teaching were true, in the sense that He spoke the words of God and that there was no sin in Him.
Note that Jesus had previously indicated that God had sent Him to provide for the salvation unto eternal life for those who believed in Him:
(Jn 6:27 YLT) "[Jesus said to His disciples] Work not for the food that is [the] perishing [kind], but for the food that is [the] [enduring] [kind] to life [eternal] which the Son of Man will give to you, from Him did the Father seal - [even] God.
(Jn 6:28 NKJV) Then they said to Him, 'What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?'
(Jn 6:29 NKJV) "Jesus answered and said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in Him Whom He sent."
(Jn 7:19 NKJV) [Has] not Moses [given] you the Law, ... none of you [practices] the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?'
(Jn 7:20 NKJV) The people answered and said, 'You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?'
(Jn 7:21 NKJV) Jesus answered and said to them, 'I did one work, and you all marvel.
(Jn 7:22 YLT) because of this, Moses [has] given you ... circumcision - not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers - and on a sabbath [you] circumcise a man;
(Jn 7:23 NKJV) 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 [sound] on the Sabbath?
(Jn 7:24 NKJV) Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
(Jn 7:9 NAS) "Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee. (Jn 7:10 NAS) But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not [openly], but as [if], in secret. (Jn 7:11 YLT) the Jews, therefore, were seeking Him, in the feast, and said, 'Where is that one?' (Jn 7:12 NAS) [And] there was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, 'He is a good man' others were saying, 'No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.' (Jn 7:13 NKJV) However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. (Jn 7:14 YLT) And it being now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up to the temple, and He was teaching, (Jn 7:15 NKJV) And the Jews marveled, saying, 'How does this Man know letters, having never studied?' (Jn 7:16 YLT) Jesus answered them and said, 'My teaching is not Mine, but His Who sent Me; (Jn 7:17 YLT) If any one may [desire] to [practice] His will, he shall know concerning the teaching, whether it is [from] God, or [whether] - I ... speak from Myself. (Jn 7:18 Holman) The one who speaks for himself seeks his own glory. But He who seeks the glory of the One Who sent Him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. (Jn 7:19 NKJV) [Has] not Moses [given] you the Law, ... none of you [practices] the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?' (Jn 7:20 NKJV) The people answered and said, 'You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?' (Jn 7:21 NKJV) Jesus answered and said to them, 'I did one work, and you all marvel. (Jn 7:22 YLT) because of this, Moses [has] given you ... circumcision - not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers - and on a sabbath [you] circumcise a man; (Jn 7:23 NKJV) 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 [sound] on the Sabbath? (Jn 7:24 NKJV) Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." =
Jesus confronted the Jewish authority, accusing them of not obeying the Law, especially because they were seeking to kill Him by asking the question, "Has not Moses given you the Law, none of you practices the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?" The statement Jesus made that they sought to kill Him, which was true, proves that they were violating the Law of Moses. And their lying about it only compounded their violation of the Law:
(Jn 5:45 NAS) "Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope;
(Jn 5:46 YLT) for if [you] were believing Moses, [you] would have been believing Me, for he wrote concerning Me; 'None of you [keeps] the Law.' "
(Jn 5:15 NAS) "The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus Who had made him well.
(Jn 5:16 YLT) and because of this were the Jews persecuting Jesus, and seeking to kill Him, because these things He was doing on a sabbath.
(Jn 5:17 NKJV) But Jesus answered them [the Jews, (Jn 5:16)], 'My Father has been working [lit., works, present tense] until and now and I have been working [lit., work, present tense].
(Jn 5:18 NAS) For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God."
When the crowd
heard Jesus' statements relative to the Jewish authorities' seeking to
kill Him, a number of the people in the crowd expressed bewilderment, "You
have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?" They evidenced a lack of
knowledge of the rulers' murderous intent, implying that the rulers'
decision to kill Jesus was not known by everyone in the crowd. On the
other hand, others in the crowd did acknowledge that the rulers were
seeking to kill Jesus, (cf. Jn 7:25). Jesus responded that the rulers
sought to kill Him because He had healed a man on the Sabbath, "Jesus
answered and said to them, 'I did one work, and you all marvel." By
this statement, He was not saying that He only performed one miracle. But
He was referring to the "one work" of the healing of the
paralytic man at the pool of Betheseda on the Sabbath which prompted the
rulers to seek to kill Him, (cf. Jn 5:1-18 ).
By this time He had performed other miracles, to which the Jews
conveniently remained ignorant, focusing on the one He had performed on
the Sabbath in order to invent an excuse to kill Him. The reference which
Jesus made to circumcision on the Sabbath implies that the Jewish rulers
were indeed making issue of Jesus' healing of a man on the Sabbath. He
stated that circumcision was given to Israel by Moses as part of the
Levitical system, under the Mosaic Law, (cf. Lev 12:3), which originated
with Abraham, (cf. Gen 17:9-14). So Jesus pointed out that the rite of
circumcision - the work of cutting away of the foreskin - was at times
performed by a priest on the Sabbath if it was the eighth day after the
child's birth. So Jesus said that since they found no fault in their
circumcising work on the Sabbath, then how could they find fault with
Jesus' healing of an entire man on the Sabbath? Jesus implied that healing
the whole man was superior to circumcision, for circumcision attested to
only a part of the body and that work was only ceremonial. Although the
Sabbath Law had value, the moral law was more important.
Furthermore, Jesus said to the Jews, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment," which implies that the Jewish authorities and scholars were superficial in their approach to this matter and Scripture in general. Jesus' admonishment calls for them to repent of this superficiality and their unrighteous judgment of Him, (Jn 7:19-24).
(Jn 7:25 NKJV) "Now some of them from Jerusalem said, 'Is this not He Whom they [the Jewish rulers] seek to kill?'
(Jn 7:26 CBL) And lo [= look], in frankness He [Jesus] speaks, and nothing to Him they say. Perhaps [the rulers] truly have recognized... that this is truly the Christ?
(Jn 7:27 NAS) However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.
(Jn 7:28 YLT) Jesus cried [out], therefore, in the Temple, teaching and saying, '[You have both known Me, and [you] have known whence I am; and I have not come of Myself, but He Who sent Me is true, Whom [you] have not known;
(Jn 7:29 YLT) and I have known Him, because I am from Him, and He did send Me.'
(Jn 7:30 CBL) Therefore they were seeking to take Him, but no one laid the hand upon Him, because His hour had not yet come.
(Jn 7:31 YLT) and many out of the multitude did believe in Him, and said - 'The Christ - when He may come - will He do more signs than these that this One did?'
(Jn 7:32 NKJV) The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.
(Jn 7:33 YLT) Jesus, therefore, said to them, 'Yet a little time I am with you, and I go away unto Him Who sent Me;
(Jn 7:34 NKJV) You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.
(Jn 7:35 NKJV) 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 [of the Jews] among the Greeks [i.e., Gentiles] and teach the Greeks?
(Jn 7:36 YLT) What is this word that He said, ''[You] will seek Me, and [you] shall not find [Me]? and, 'Where I am, [you] are not able to come?'
(Jn 7:37 NKJV) 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.
(Jn 7:38 NKJV) He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart [lit., belly] will flow rivers of Living Water'
(Jn 7:39 YLT) and this He said of the Spirit, which those believing in Him [lit., the believing ones] were about to receive; for not yet was the Holy Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
(Jn 7:40 NKJV) Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, 'Truly this is the Prophet.'
(Jn 7:41 KJV) Others said, 'This is the Christ.' But some said, 'Shall Christ come out of Galilee?'
(Jn 7:41 CBL) Others said, 'This is the Christ. And then others said, 'Not out of Galilee the Christ is coming,
(Jn 7:42 NKJV) Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethelehem, where David was?
(Jn 7:43 NAS) So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him.
(Jn 7:44 NKJV) Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
(Jn 7:45 NKJV) Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, 'Why have you not brought Him?'
(Jn 7:46 NKJV) The officers answered, 'No man ever spoke like this Man!;
(Jn 7:47 NKJV) Then the Pharisees answered, them, 'Are you also deceived?
(Jn 7:48 NKJV) Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?
(Jn 7:49 NKJV) But this crowd, that does not know the law, is accursed.
(Jn 7:50 NKJV) Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, [cf. Jn 3:1-18] being one of them) said to them,
(Jn 7:51 NKJV) "Does our Law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"
(Jn 7:52 NKJV) They answered and said to Him, 'Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.
(Jn 7:53 NKJV) And everone went to his own house."
(Jn 7:25 NKJV) "Now some of them from Jerusalem said, 'Is this not He Whom they [the Jewish rulers] seek to kill?' (Jn 7:26 CBL) And lo [= look], in frankness He [Jesus] speaks, and nothing to Him they say. Perhaps [the rulers] truly have recognized... that this is truly the Christ? (Jn 7:27 NAS) However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from." =
A number of individuals in the crowd pondered why the Jewish rulers did not seize Jesus while he was teaching in the Temple. They reasoned that perhaps the rulers thought that Jesus might be the Christ, the Messiah/Savior of the world. They did not consider that the rulers might be wary of causing an uprising if they seized Jesus while He had popularity and thereby bring Roman discipline down upon themselves, (cf. Jn 7:32). Individuals in the crowd declared that Jesus was not the Christ because they knew were Jesus was from, mistakenly thinking that the Christ would suddenly appear and no one would know where He was from.
Later verses report that the officers the rulers sent to take Jesus were hesitant to seize Him because of the authorative manner and the wisdom with which He spoke, (cf. Jn 7:31-46). The rulers had evidently not kept it a secret that they plotted to kill Him, for their intent was known by a number of individuals in the crowd, (cf. Jn 7:25-27).
(Jn 7:25 NKJV) "Now some of them from Jerusalem said, 'Is this not He Whom they [the Jewish rulers] seek to kill?' (Jn 7:26 CBL) And lo [= look], in frankness He [Jesus] speaks, and nothing to Him they say. Perhaps [the rulers] truly have recognized... that this is truly the Christ? (Jn 7:27 NAS) However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from. (Jn 7:28 YLT) Jesus cried [out], therefore, in the Temple, teaching and saying, '[You have both known Me, and [you] have known whence I am; and I have not come of Myself, but He Who sent Me is true, Whom [you] have not known; (Jn 7:29 YLT) and I have known Him, because I am from Him, and He did send Me.' (Jn 7:30 CBL) Therefore they were seeking to take Him, but no one laid the hand upon Him, because His hour had not yet come. (Jn 7:31 YLT) and many out of the multitude did believe in Him, and said - 'The Christ - when He may come - will He do more signs than these that this One did?' " =
In view of all the questions that arose about whether Jesus was the Christ / the Messiah, the crowd's misconceptions about Him, and the Jewish rulers' efforts to seize and kill Him; Jesus cried out while teaching in the Temple, "You have both known Me, and you have known whence I am" - in the sense of knowing of Him relative to His Humanity and where He geographically had come from in the sense of where He was brought up, namely, Nazareth. Note that they mistakenly thought He was born there. Jesus further declared that He had not come of Himself - in the sense that He had not come on His own behalf, but He had come on behalf of God His Father, (cf. Jn 6:57; 7:16-17). He declared that the One Who sent Him," meaning God His Father, "was true, Whom you have not known." The phrases "But He Who sent Me is true, Whom [you] have not known" refers to what Scripture reports about the absolutely true character of God Whom Jesus' audience was evidently not believing in especially relative to the Father's testimony from Scripture about His Son which pointed to Jesus as being His Son. To corroborate this point, Jesus, declared that He had known God His Father, because He was from Him, in the sense of His essence being something beyond His Humanity - even deity, (cf. Jn 1:1-3). He repeated that God His Father had sent Him, (Jn 7:28-29).
The Jewish rulers sought to seize Him. But no one laid his hand upon Him, "because His hour had not yet come" in the sense of the time that God had ordained for His Son to be taken and crucified. On the other hand, author John reported that many in the crowd did believe in Him, especially as a result of His signs that He had performed and His corroborating testimony relative to Scripture that He was the Christ, the One from God. They exclaimed, "The Christ - when He may come - will He do more signs than these that this One did?" Note that the testimony of a number of individuals in the crowd corroborated that Jesus performed an impressive number of miracles. The faith that these individuals expressed in Jesus cannot be short of the reception of eternal life, as some contend. For author John omitted such limitation, and provided eternal life for one who trusted in Him elsewhere, (Jn 2:24; 3:15-18; 36 etc).
(Jn 2:23 NAS) "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.
(Jn 2:24 YLT) and Jesus Himself was not trusting himself to them, because of His knowing all [men],
(Jn 2:25 NKJV) and had no need that anyone should testify [to Him] of man, for He knew what was in man."
Note that a short time later in Jn 10:31-33, the issue of Jesus' declaring that He came from God His Father Who sent Him will again come up whereupon the Jewish rulers would specifically state that they were trying to kill Jesus because He made Himself out to be God, (Jn 7:30-33).
(Jn 7:31 YLT) "And many out of the multitude did believe in Him, and said - 'The Christ - when He may come - will He do more signs than these that this One did?' (Jn 7:32 NKJV) The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. (Jn 7:33 YLT) Jesus, therefore, said to them, 'Yet a little time I am with you, and I go away unto Him Who sent Me; (Jn 7:34 NKJV) You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come. (Jn 7:35 NKJV) "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 [of the Jews] among the Greeks [i.e., Gentiles] and teach the Greeks? (Jn 7:36 YLT) What is this word that He said, '[You] will seek Me, and [you] shall not find [Me]? and, 'Where I am, [you] are not able to come?' =
The Pharisees heard the murmuring of the crowd about Jesus. A substantial number seemed to have believed in Him unto eternal life, i.e., that Jesus was the promised Messiah. As a result, the Pharisees and chief priests sent officers to take Jesus captive in order to stop this momentum of favor toward Jesus and kill Him. The Greek word, "hupEretai" rendered "officers" in the NKJV means officers, ministers or servants depending upon context. In this case, the word refers to officers who were evidently Levites appointed as temple police.
Jesus declared, "Yet a little time I am with you, and I go away unto Him Who sent Me," in the sense that in a short while He would go away to be with God His Father Who sent Him, implying His imminent physical death and departure to heaven. He foretold that they would seek Him but not find Him, explaining, "and where I am you cannot come." The Jews reasoned amongst themselves about this. They refused to acknowledge that Jesus literally meant that He would die and go to be with God His Father in heaven. They pondered His words, "What is this word that He said, [You] will seek Me, and [you] shall not find [Me]? and, 'Where I am, [you] are not able to come?' " The scribes and Pharisees constantly perverted Jesus' words to ridicule Him. Here in Jn 7:35-36, they implied that since Jesus could not convince the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem of His teachings, that He was going to go away and hide Himself amongst the Hellenistic Jews of the dispersion and the Greeks (Gentiles) and try to teach them instead.
(Jn 7:37 NKJV) "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. (Jn 7:38 NKJV) He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart [lit., belly] will flow rivers of Living Water' (Jn 7:39 YLT) and this He said of the Spirit, which those believing in Him [lit., the believing ones] were about to receive; for not yet was the Holy Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified. (Jn 7:40 NKJV) Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, 'Truly this is the Prophet.' (Jn 7:41 KJV) Others said, 'This is the Christ.' But some said, 'Shall Christ come out of Galilee?' (Jn 7:41 CBL) Others said, 'This is the Christ. And then others said, 'Not out of Galilee the Christ is coming, (Jn 7:42 NKJV) Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethelehem, where David was?' (Jn 7:43 NAS) So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. (Jn 7:44 NKJV) Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him." =
Note that on
each day of the Feast of Tabernacles the priests brought forth, in golden
vessels, water from the Pool of Siloam, which flowed under the
temple-mountain, and solemnly poured it upon the altar as an offering to
God in memory of the water that flowed from the rock when the Israelites
traveled through the wilderness. Then the words of Isa 12:3 were sung, "Therefore
with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation." So on the
last day of the Feast of Tabernacles - a great day of that feast - Jesus
stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and
drink." He explained further, "He who believes in Me [unto
eternal life ]
out of his heart will flow rivers of Living Water," in the sense of
receiving the Living Water of God the Holy Spirit, (Ez 36:24-27);
.
Hence Jesus' words perfectly fit the context of the moment. Author John
explained that Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit, Whom "those
believing in Him were about to receive" after Jesus was glorified.
Author John was referring to the time following the LORD's crucifixion,
resurrection and ascension to heaven to God His Father in a glorified
state, (8:54; 12:28; 13:32; 14:13; 15:8; 16:14; 17:1, 4, 5, 10; 21:19).
Such a statement by Jesus in the Temple was followed by many in the crowd
declaring that He truly was the Prophet to come, (Dt 18:15-18). Most Jews
believed that the Prophet to come, which was predicted by Moses in Dt
18:15-18, was the Messiah - a fellow countryman, a Jew who would be
familiar to them. Other Jews believed that the Prophet Moses predicted was
the forerunner of the Messiah .
Others said, "This is the Christ." Still others indicated disbelief that the Christ / the Messiah was Jesus because they thought that Jesus came out of Galilee in the sense of having been born there; whereas Scripture declared that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem through the seed of David, the city where David himself had been born, (cf. Mt 1:1-16; 2:23; 4:13-16). Note that those in the crowd did not know that the Messiah was to come out of Galilee as Jesus had, (Isa 9:1-7); and that Jesus was born in Bethlehem through the seed of David.
(Isa 9:1 NKJV) "Nevertheless the [darkness] will not be upon her who is distressed As when at first He [the LORD] [treated with contempt] The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, And afterward more heavily oppressed her, By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In Galilee of the Gentiles.
(Isa 9:2 NKJV) The people who [who are walking] in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt [are dwelling] in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined."
Note that the
great light in Isa 9:1-2 must refer to the Messiah to come for the rest of
the passage is certainly messianic:
(Isa 9:3 KJV) [You have] multiplied the nation. [Have You] not increased the joy? They [rejoice] before [You] according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice [to divide] the spoil.
(Isa 9:4 NKJV) For You have broken the yoke of his burden And the staff of his shoulder, The rod of his oppressor, As in the day of Midian.
(Isa 9:5 HOLMAN) [For the warrior's trampling sandle] and the garments [rolled in the blood of battle] will be burned as fuel for the fire.
(Isa 9:6 NKJV) For unto us [Israel, Isa 1:1, 8:18] a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
(Isa 9:7 NKJV)
Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the
throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with
judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the
LORD of hosts will perform this."
So the crowd gathered in the Temple was divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
(Jn 7:45 NKJV) "Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, 'Why have you not brought Him?' (Jn 7:46 NKJV) The officers answered, 'No man ever spoke like this Man! (Jn 7:47 NKJV) Then the Pharisees answered them, 'Are you also deceived? (Jn 7:48 NKJV) Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? (Jn 7:49 NKJV) But this crowd, that does not know the law, is accursed. (Jn 7:47 NKJV) Then the Pharisees answered, them, 'Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? (Jn 7:48 NKJV) Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? (Jn 7:49 NKJV) But this crowd, that does not know the law, is accursed. (Jn 7:50 NKJV) Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them [cf. Jn 3:1-18]) said to them, (Jn 7:51 NKJV) 'Does our Law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?' (Jn 7:52 NKJV) They answered and said to Him, 'Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.' (Jn 7:53 NKJV) And everone went to his own house." =
The Temple
officers, who were sent by the Jewish rulers to seize Jesus, came back
without Him. When the rulers indignantly asked the officers about their
failure to follow orders, the officers answered, "No [in the emphatic
sense of never did any] man ever [speak] like this man!" In the
Greek, the word "anthrOpos" rendered "man" in the NKJV
is in the emphatic position at the end of the sentence, implying that
Jesus was viewed as more than an ordinary human being. The officers, being
Levites, received extensive schooling in the details of the Law. They
evidently found no fault in the content of what Jesus taught in the Temple
relative to violations of the Law. They were greatly impressed with His
expertise in it, (cf. Jn 7:14-19) and the truths that He spoke.
Consequently they found no good reason to arrest Him. Note that this
information might have been received by author John through one of the
Pharisees who were present, such as Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, (cf.
Jn 3:1; 7:50). The Pharisees answered the officers they sent to seize
Jesus sarcastically, unjustifiably and evidently with a motive to
intimidate those who would disagree with them, even those of their own
group, "Are you also deceived?" They implied without presenting
any evidence that anyone who believed in Jesus had been deceived. The
rulers attempted to justify their point by asking the rhetorical question
(which answer was intended to be no), "Have any of the rulers of the
Pharisees believed in Him?" The truth of the matter was that at least
two Pharisees, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, (Jn 19:38-42), did
believe in Jesus. The rulers declared that because the crowd did not know
the Law, they were eternally accursed. They implied that anyone who
opposed them was declared to be ignorant of the Law - their interpretation
of it. It is interesting to note that the fellow rulers who were Sadducees
were vehemently opposed to the Pharisees in many points relative to
Scripture and the Law, yet both groups joined to condemn Jesus to death
without a trial. The rulers, who were Levites, Sadducees and Pharisees,
thought that wealth and education were proof of their acceptance with God.
On the other hand, the Jewish rulers' pursuit of Jesus in order to kill
Him without due course of trying Him under the provisions of the Law, and
their condemnation of the crowds were egregious violations of the Law.
Even when Nicodemus, one of their number, referred to the provision for
any Jew to have his day in court - defending Jesus' right to have His day
in court: "Does our Law judge a man before it hears him and knows
what he is doing?" (cf. Dt 1:16-17; 17:8, 9; 19:15-19), they brushed
aside the Law and ridiculed him. Note that Nicodemus, one of the rulers,
was the one who came to Jesus by night, (cf. Jn 3:1-18)
.
Despite Nicodemus' voice of reason and logic which accurately pointed out the provision of justice under the Law, the other rulers counter attacked him with an irrational, emotional and personal attack: ''Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee." The Jewish rulers were motivated to protect their positions of power and wealth regardless of the truth and the cost. For it was known that the prophets Jonah of Gathhepher, Elijah of Thisbe, Hosea, Nahum, and most likely Elisha and Amos were from the Galilean area.
Although the
rulers were not justified in their decision to kill Jesus, they continued
to contradict the truth about Jesus, the Law and Scripture, especially
relative to the coming of the Messiah through His birth in Bethlehem, (cf.
Micah 5:2), (where Jesus was born in the line of David). They did not
acknowledge the fact that the Scriptures referred to a light coming to the
Gentiles in Galilee corresponding to the work of the Messiah, (cf. Isa
9:1-7 ).
The rulers, having been unable to get all of the ruling body behind them
to wholly agree with one another on the agenda to kill Jesus, pursued the
matter no further that day.
The last verse of chapter seven, Jn 7:53, rendered "Everyone went to his own house" in the NKJV as well as Jn 8:1-11 in the next chapter do not appear in the earliest manuscripts and most likely are not part of the original text. Jn 7:53-8:11 appears in 05D, 017K, 021M, 030U, 036, 28, 700, byz., Gries, Word. These verses do not appear in p66, p75, 01, 02A, 03B, 04C, 019L, 029T, 032W, 037, 038, 33, 656, lect. sa. Lach, Treg, Alf, Tisc, We/Ho, Weis, Sod, UBS.
[Expositor's, Vol. 9, 1981, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Frank E Gaebelein, Editor, p. 91]:
"The textual status of this passage [7:53-8:11] is uncertain. It is lacking in the major papyri MSS of the early third century (P66 and P75), in the great uncials that precede the sixth century (Aleph, B probably A and C T W), in some of the later uncials (N, X, Theta, Psi), and in a considerable number of the best cursive MSS (33 157 565 and others). The oldest Syriac and Egyptian versions omit it, as do also the Georgian, Gothic, and some of the MSS of Old Latin. It is included by some of the representatives of the 'Western' text (D G) and by a number of the later uncials and cursives (28 700 et al.). One MS (225) places it after John 7:36; a few, after 7:44; some uncials append it to the end of the Gospel; and one family of MSS, the Ferrar Group, place it after Luke 21:38. No early commentator contains it, nor is it quoted in any of the church fathers before Irenaeus, and then only in the Latin version, which was translated possibly as late as the fourth century. The multiplicity of small variants within this pericope indicate that it may have had a checkered literary history."
On the other hand, it neither adds any new doctrine nor contradicts the rest of Scripture.
