JOHN
CHAPTER 7
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
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.
*** EXCERPT
FROM CHAPTER 5 ***
..........OR
SKIP TO NEXT SECTION
(Jn
5:17-47) JESUS SAID TO THE JEWS WHO WERE SEEKING TO KILL HIM THAT IF HE
BORE WITNESS OF HIMSELF, (ALTHOUGH ACCURATE), IT WOULD NOT BE TRUE IN
THE SENSE OF IT BEING VALID TESTIMONY
HE
THEN SAID THAT ANOTHER BORE WITNESS OF HIM WHOSE WITNESS HE HAD KNOWN
WAS TRUE: JOHN THE BAPTIST, TO WHOM THE JEWS WERE SENT TO INVESTIGATE
BUT
JESUS SAID HE RECEIVED TESTIMONY FROM NO MAN, FOR ONLY HIS FATHER'S
TESTIMONY WILL DO. 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. SO THE
JEWS REJECTED JESUS' AND JOHN'S TESTIMONY
HENCE
JESUS DECLARED THAT HE HAD GREATER TESTIMONY THAN JOHN'S - THE FATHER'S:
THE
WORKS THAT HE DID WHICH THE FATHER HAD GIVEN HIM TO FINISH BORE WITNESS
OF WHO HE WAS - THAT THE FATHER HAD SENT HIM;
AND
JESUS SAID THAT THE FATHER WHO SENT HIM TESTIFIED OF HIM
SINCE
THE JEWS NEITHER BELIEVED THAT THE WORKS HE PERFORMED WERE 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 HAD THEY HIS
WORD ABIDING IN THEM IN THE SENSE OF IT OPERATING IN THEIR LIVES
HE
SAID THAT THEY SEARCHED THE SCRIPTURES THINKING THAT IT WOULD BRING THEM
ETERNAL LIFE - SCRIPTURES WHICH TESTIFIED ABOUT JESUS WHOM THEY WERE
UNWILLING TO COME TO SO THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE
JESUS
SAID THAT HE WAS NOT MOTIVATED TO SEEK GLORY FROM MAN BECAUSE HE KNEW
THAT THE CHARACTER OF MAN WAS NOT TRUSTWORTHY. HE DECLARED THAT THE
JEWISH AUTHORITIES DID NOT HAVE THE LOVE OF GOD IN THEM. HE RECEIVED
GLORY FROM GOD AND HE CAME IN HIS FATHER'S NAME AND YET THEY DID NOT
RECEIVE HIM. BUT IF ANOTHER CAME IN HIS OWN NAME, THE JEWS WOULD RECEIVE
HIM. HE DECLARED IN A RHETORICAL QUESTION, 'HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE WHEN YOU
RECEIVE GLORY FROM ONE ANOTHER AND 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 ACCUSES THEM IS MOSES, IN WHOM THEY
HAVE SET THEIR HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE. IF THEY HAD BELIEVED IN MOSES, THEY
WOULD HAVE BELIEVED IN JESUS, BECAUSE MOSES WROTE CONCERNING JESUS. AND
SINCE THEY DID NOT BELIEVE IN THE WRITINGS OF MOSES, HOW WOULD THEY
BELIEVE IN JESUS' WORDS?
1)
[Compare Jn 3:31-32]:
2)
[Compare Jn 5:19 NKJV]:
3)
[Compare Jn 3:1 YLT]:
4)
[Compare Jn 2:23-25 ]:
*** END
OF EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 5 ***
*** EXCERPT
FROM CHAPTER 6 ***
..........OR
SKIP TO NEXT SECTION
KNOWING
WITHIN HIMSELF (SUPERNATURALLY) THAT MANY OF HIS DISCIPLES WERE
GRUMBLING ABOUT HIM AND WOULD NEVER CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IN HIM, JESUS
PERSISTED EVEN WITH THOSE WHO WERE NOT CHOSEN - AFFIRMING THE DOCTRINE
OF UNLIMITED ATONEMENT. HE ADDRESSED THEIR BEING ESPECIALLY OFFENDED
WHEN HE SPOKE OF HIMSELF AS THE SON OF MAN COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN - THAT
ONE WHO ATE HIS FLESH AND DRANK HIS BLOOD, (IN THE FIGURATIVE SENSE OF
BELIEVING IN HIM), WOULD HAVE ETERNAL LIFE. HE LAMENTED THEIR WILLFUL
REFUSAL TO BELIEVE IN HIM AS MANKIND'S EXCLUSIVE SOURCE OF ETERNAL LIFE
BY SAYING HOW MUCH THE MORE THEY WOULD REJECT HIM WERE THEY TO SEE HIM,
THE SON OF MAN, ASCEND TO HEAVEN FROM WHENCE HE CAME - EVIDENTLY
FORETELLING OF HIS FUTURE ASCENSION. HE EXPLAINED TO THEM THAT IT WAS
THE SPIRIT - NOT ANYTHING OR ANYONE IN THE PHYSICAL REALM - WHO GAVE
ETERNAL LIFE. HENCE HE TOLD THEM THAT HIS WORDS WERE SPIRIT, I.E.,
FIGURATIVE FOR THE SPIRITUAL REALM AND IN THAT SENSE HIS WORDS GAVE
ETERNAL LIFE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVED THEM. 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). JESUS CONCLUDED THAT NO ONE WAS ABLE
TO BELIEVE IN HIM IF IT WERE NOT GIVEN HIM TO DO SO FROM HIS FATHER.
FROM THIS TIME ON ALL OF HIS DISCIPLES WHO REFUSED TO BELIEVE IN HIM
UNTO ETERNAL LIFE - WHICH LEFT ONLY THE TWELVE WHO BELIEVED IN HIM -
FOLLOWED HIM NO MORE
1)
[Jn 6:63 YLT]:
*** END OF
EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 6 ***
I)
[Jn 7:1-2]:
A)
AFTER HE 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; JESUS
REMAINED FOR A TIME IN GALILEE BECAUSE THE JEWISH AUTHORITIES WERE
SEEKING TO KILL HIM EVER SINCE HE HEALED THE PARALYTIC AT THE BETHESDA
POOL IN JERUSALEM
II)
[Jn 7:3-8]:
A)
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. BUT JESUS' HEALING OF THE INVALID AT THE BETHSEDA POOL IN
JERUSALEM WAS SO WELL KNOWN THAT THE JEWS SOUGHT TO KILL JESUS FOR
ALLEGEDLY BREAKING THE LAW BY HEALING ON THE SABBATH. FURTHERMORE,
JESUS' BROTHERS ADMONISHED HIM WITH SARCASTIC SKEPTICISM: 'FOR NO ONE
DOES ANYTHING IN SECRET IF HE LEGITIMATELY SEEKS TO BE KNOWN OPENLY.
THEY QUESTIONED HIS INTEGRITY WITH: "IF YOU DO THESE THINGS SHOW
YOURSELF TO THE WORLD." AUTHOR JOHN STIPULATED THAT JESUS' BROTHERS
WERE NOT BELIEVING IN HIM. JESUS ANSWERED THAT HIS TIME TO DECLARE
HIMSELF PUBLICALLY AND FULFILL HIS MISSION WAS NOT YET COME, BUT THEIR
TIME TO TRUST IN HIM FOR ETERNAL LIFE WAS ANYTIME / NOW. HE STATED THAT
THE WORLD WAS NOT ABLE TO HATE THEM, IMPLYING THAT THEY WERE PART OF IT;
BUT HE SAID IT DID HATE HIM BECAUSE HE INDICATED THAT ITS WORKS WERE
EVIL. SO HE TOLD THEM TO GO UP TO THE FEAST BUT HE WOULD NOT GO
PUBLICALLY WITH THEM BECAUSE HIS TIME HAD NOT YET BEEN FULFILLED FOR
HIM, (TO BE SEIZED AND SACRIFICED FOR THE WORLD'S SINS)
III)
[Jn 7:9-13]:
A)
(7:9-13) HAVING SPOKEN TO HIS BROTHERS RELATIVE TO THE MATTER OF NOT
GOING WITH THEM TO JUDEA TO CELEBRATE THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES, JESUS
REMAINED MOMENTARILY IN GALILEE; BUT WHEN HIS BROTHERS HAD GONE, HE ALSO
WENT, BUT IN SECRET. NEVERTHELESS, THE JEWISH AUTHORITY SOUGHT HIM AT
THE FEAST. MANY THERE SPOKE ABOUT JESUS, SOME SAID HE WAS GOOD, OTHERS
SAID THAT HE DECEIVED THE PEOPLE; BUT NO ONE SPOKE OPENLY OF HIM FOR
FEAR OF THE JEWISH AUTHORITY WHO SOUGHT TO KILL HIM
IV)
[Jn 7:14-18]:
A)
(7:14-18) JESUS, HAVING REMAINED IN SECLUSION UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF THE
FEAST OF TABERNACLES, WENT UP TO THE TEMPLE AND BEGAN TEACHING. THE JEWS
MARVELED AT HIS TEACHING. JESUS INDICATED THAT HIS TEACHING ORIGINATED
WITH THE ONE WHO SENT HIM - GOD HIS FATHER. HE DECLARED THAT ONE WHO
SPOKE FOR HIMSELF, SOUGHT HIS OWN GLORY; BUT ONE WHO SOUGHT THE GLORY OF
THE ONE WHO SENT HIM, MEANING GOD HIS FATHER, WAS TRUE; AND THERE WAS NO
UNRIGHTEOUSNESS IN HIM
1)
[Compare Jn 6:29]:
V)
[Jn 7:19-24]:
A)
(7:19-24) JESUS CONFRONTED THE JEWISH AUTHORITIES. HE ACCUSED THEM OF
NOT OBEYING THE LAW, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE THEY WERE SEEKING TO KILL HIM
WITHOUT GOOD CAUSE. MANY IN THE CROWD WERE EVIDENTLY IGNORANT OF THE
RULERS' MURDEROUS INTENT AND EXPRESSED BEWILDERMENT. THEY COMMENTED, "YOU
HAVE A DEMON, WHO IS SEEKING TO KILL YOU?" JESUS RESPONDED THAT
THEY SOUGHT TO KILL HIM BECAUSE HE HAD HEALED A MAN ON THE SABBATH; BUT
SINCE THEY MADE IT A PRACTICE OF CIRCUMCISING ON THE SABBATH WHEN IT WAS
THE EIGHTH DAY, HE QUESTIONED THE JUSTIFICATION OF THEIR ANGER TOWARD
HIM FOR HIS MAKING A MAN WHOLE ON THE SABBATH BY MIRACULOUSLY HEALING
HIM; ADMONISHING THEM FOR THEIR UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT TOWARD HIM
1)
[Compare Jn 5:45-46]:
2)
[Compare Jn 5:15-18]:
VI)
[Jn 7:25-53]:
A)
(7:25-27)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.
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. INDIVIDUALS IN THE CROWD DECLARED
THAT JESUS WAS NOT THE CHRIST BECAUSE THEY KNEW WERE HE WAS FROM,
MISTAKENLY THINKING THAT THE CHRIST WOULD SUDDENLY APPEAR AND NO ONE
WOULD KNOW WHERE HE WAS FROM
B)
(7:28-31) JESUS CRIED OUT WHILE TEACHING IN THE TEMPLE, 'YOU HAVE BOTH
KNOWN ME, AND YOU HAVE KNOWN WHENCE I AM' RELATIVE TO HIS HUMANITY. HE
FURTHER DECLARED THAT HE HAD NOT COME OF HIMSELF, BUT FROM GOD, HIS
FATHER, WHO SENT HIM, WHO WAS TRUE AND WHOM THEY DID NOT KNOW. BY THIS,
JESUS WAS IMPLYING THAT HE WAS DIETY. THE JEWS SOUGHT TO TAKE JESUS;
BUT, ACCORDING TO THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD HIS FATHER, IT WAS NOT HIS
TIME. ON THE OTHER HAND, BECAUSE OF HIS MIRACULOUS SIGNS, MANY BELIEVED
IN HIM UNTO ETERNAL LIFE
1)
[Compare Jn 2:23-25 ]:
C)
(7:32-36) THE PHARISEES HEARD THE CROWD MURMERING ABOUT JESUS RELATIVE
TO WHAT THEY BELIEVED ABOUT HIM. SOME BELIEVED THAT HE WAS THE CHRIST /
THE MESSIAH UNTO ETERNAL LIFE. SO THE RULERS SENT OFFICERS TO TAKE JESUS
AND HAVE HIM KILLED. JESUS THEREFORE SAID TO THE CROWD THAT JUST A
LITTLE TIME HE WOULD BE WITH THEM AND THEN HE WOULD GO AWAY UNTO HIM WHO
SENT HIM, I.E, GOD HIS FATHER. HE SAID THAT THEY WOULD SEEK HIM BUT NOT
FIND HIM, FOR WHERE HE WAS GOING THEY COULD NOT COME, MEANING
HEAVENWARD. THE JEWS PONDERED IF HE INTENDED TO GO TO THE JEWS WHO WERE
DISPERSED AMONG THE GENTILES TO TEACH
D)
(7:37-44) ON THE LAST DAY OF THE FEAST, JESUS CRIED OUT IN THE TEMPLE, "IF
ANYONE THIRSTS, LET HIM COME TO ME AND DRINK. HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME,
[UNTO ETERNAL LIFE] OUT OF HIS HEART WILL FLOW RIVERS OF LIVING WATER"
REFERRING TO BELIEVERS RECEIVING THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT AFTER THE
LORD WAS CRUCIFIED, RESURRECTED, AND ASCENDED TO HEAVEN TO GOD HIS
FATHER IN A GLORIFIED STATE. UPON THESE WORDS OF HIS, MANY BELIEVED THAT
HE WAS THE PROPHET TO COME, OTHERS THE CHRIST / THE MESSIAH. STILL
OTHERS DOUBTED THAT HE WAS THE CHRIST, SAYING THAT THE MESSIAH WOULD
COME AS A DESCENDANT OF DAVID OUT OF BETHLEHEM WHERE DAVID WAS BORN, AND
NOT OUT OF GALILEE AS THEY THOUGHT JESUS HAD COME - IGNORANT OF HOW
JESUS' BIRTHPLACE AND ACTIONS PERFECTLY FULFILLED SCRIPTURE ABOUT THE
MESSIAH. ALTHOUGH SOME WANTED TO TAKE HIM, NO ONE LAID HANDS ON HIM
1)
[Compare Isa 9:1-7]:
E)
(7:45-53) THE OFFICERS WHO WERE SENT BY THE JEWISH RULERS TO SEIZE
JESUS, CAME BACK WITHOUT HIM. WHEN ASKED ABOUT THEIR FAILURE, THE
OFFICERS ANSWERED, "NO MAN EVER SPOKE LIKE THIS MAN!" THE
PHARISEES ANSWERED THEM SARCASTICALLY AND UNJUSTIFIABLY, "ARE YOU
ALSO DECEIVED? HAVE ANY OF THE RULERS OF THE PHARISEES BELIEVED IN HIM?"
THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER WAS THAT A NUMBER OF THEM HAD BELIEVED IN JESUS.
FURTHERMORE, THE RULERS ARROGANTLY AND ERRONEOUSLY DECLARED THAT BECAUSE
THE CROWD DID NOT KNOW THE LAW THEY WERE ETERNALLY ACCURSED. NICODEMUS,
A FELLOW RULER, DEFENDED JESUS' RIGHT TO HAVE HIS DAY IN COURT. THE JEWS
RESPONDED TO NICODEMUS WITH A SARCASTIC, IRRATIONAL AND PERSONAL ATTACK,
"ARE YOU ALSO FROM GALILEE? SEARCH AND LOOK, FOR NO PROPHET HAS
ARISEN OUT OF GALILEE?" THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER WAS THAT A NUMBER
OF PROPHETS WERE FROM GALILEE. THE MATTER WAS NOT PURSUED ANY FURTHER
THAT DAY
CONTINUE
TO CHAPTER 8 
