John 7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
7 After these things Jesus was walking in
Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to
kill Him. 2 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. 3
Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your
disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 4 For no one does
anything in secret [a]when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do
these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For not even His brothers were
believing in Him. 6 So Jesus *said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your
time is always opportune. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because
I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. 8 Go up to the feast yourselves; I do
not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.” 9 Having said
these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.
10 But when His brothers had gone up to the
feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret. 11 So
the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, “Where is He?” 12 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.” 13 Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews.
14 But when it was now the midst of the feast
Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. 15 The Jews then were
astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been
educated?” 16 So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but
His who sent Me. 17 If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the
teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. 18 He who speaks
from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who
sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
19 “Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet
none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?” 20 The crowd
answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I
did one [b]deed, and you all marvel. 22 For this reason Moses has given you
circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the
Sabbath you circumcise a man. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath
so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made
an entire man well on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge according to appearance, but
[c]judge with righteous judgment.”
25 So some of the people of Jerusalem were
saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? 26 Look, He is
speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really
know that this is [d]the Christ, do they? 27 However, we know where this man is
from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.” 28 Then
Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know
where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true,
whom you do not know. 29 I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” 30
So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His
hour had not yet come. 31 But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were
saying, “When [e]the Christ comes, He will not perform more [f]signs than those
which this man has, will He?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these
things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to
seize Him. 33 Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you,
then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and
where I am, you cannot come.” 35 The Jews then said to one another, “Where does
this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to
the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? 36 What is this
statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I
am, you cannot come’?”
37 Now on the last day, the great day of the
feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “[g]If anyone is thirsty, [h]let him
come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From
[i]his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 But this He spoke
of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit
was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Division of People over Jesus
40 Some of the people therefore, when they
heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.” 41 Others were
saying, “This is [j]the Christ.” Still others were saying, “Surely [k]the
Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? 42 Has not the Scripture said
that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the
village where David was?” 43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of
Him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
45 The officers then came to the chief priests
and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” 46 The
officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” 47 The
Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you? 48
No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? 49 But this
crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus (he who came to
Him before, being one of them) *said to them, 51 “Our Law does not judge a man
unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” 52 They
answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no
prophet arises out of Galilee.” 53 [[l]Everyone went to his home.
The Bible Panorama
John 7
V 1–5: REJECTION BY RELATIONS Jesus stays in
Galilee, rather than going to Judea. His half-brothers advise Him to go from
Galilee to Judea for the Feast of Tabernacles. They challenge Him to do His
miracles openly. They do not believe in Him yet, though later they will.
V 6–13:
SENSITIVITY ABOUT SECRECY Jesus knows that if He goes publicly to Judea now, He
will unnecessarily speed up the opposition against Him, and He knows that this
is not yet the right time for Him to die. He remains in a world that hates Him,
because of His testimony about the evil within it. Many want to kill Him. So He
goes in secrecy and indeed there is a lot of complaining and mixed opinion
about Him. Misunderstanding and murmuring is rife. Fear of the Jews silences
those who would like to commend Him.
V 14–24:
TEACHING IN TEMPLE At the middle of the feast, Jesus goes public by teaching in
the temple. The Jews cannot understand the source of His teaching. He declares
that His doctrine is from God. He asks why they want to kill Him. They respond
that this is not so and that He is demon-possessed. He shows the inconsistent
hypocrisy of their agreeing to circumcise on the Sabbath, while judging Him for
making someone well on the Sabbath. He accuses them of not judging righteously
and only with regard to external appearance.
V 25–31:
DIRECTNESS ABOUT DEITY Debate is on every hand about who Jesus is. Some
conclude from the rulers’ public silence that they agree that He is the Christ.
Jesus makes His claim to Deity clear by saying that He comes from God and has
been sent by God. Some seek to kill Him but are unable to do so, because His
time has not yet come. Many believe on Him, reasoning that Christ would not do
more signs than Jesus has done.
V 32–36:
MURMURING AND MISUNDERSTANDING The Pharisees hear the murmuring of the crowd
and, with the chief priest, send officers to take Him. He tells them that He is
going to go to God. Although they will seek Him, they will be unable to find
Him or to follow Him. The Jews misunderstand His statement and wonder if He is
going to go to the Greeks.
V 37–39: GIFT AFTER GLORIFICATION Jesus
promises the gift of the Holy Spirit, as rivers of living water, to those who
will believe in Him. The Holy Spirit will be given to believers after Jesus has
been glorified.
V 40–44: IGNORANT OF IDENTITY Opinions are
divided as to the identity of Jesus Christ. Many ignorantly say that if Jesus
really is the Christ, He would have come from Bethlehem! They seem ignorant of
the fact that Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus! Yet again, those wanting to
take Him are unable to do so.
V 45–53: CONFUSION ABOUT CHRIST The confusion
continues about the identity of Jesus Christ. The officers tell the chief
priest and the Pharisees that no one ever spoke like Jesus. The Pharisees
criticise them and the crowd. Nicodemus, who earlier came to Jesus by night,
tells them that a man should be heard and the facts looked at before he is
judged. At this stage their opposition is rationalised because they say that
Jesus came from Galilee. They argue that therefore Jesus cannot be a true
prophet. They do not realise that Jesus came from Bethlehem, not Galilee, and
in any case prophets did come from Galilee, including Jonah and Nahum! Biased
opposition seldom stops to look at the facts!
(There is debate whether chapter 7, verse 53 to
chapter 8 verse 11 is in the best original manuscripts. As with the very few
other occasions where differences of opinion arise concerning the content of
the original manuscripts, no doctrine is taken away or added to by the
inclusion or exclusion of the particular passage, because God’s Word stands as
a whole. It is also true that, after further research, some previously doubted
passages are now again given greater credibility than formerly, and we have to be
careful not to jump to wrong conclusions. These notes continue as if the
passage is in the original.)
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