John 7
7
Jesus at the Feast of Booths
1After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because #ch. 5:18; 8:37, 40; 11:53the Jews#7:1 Or Judeans; Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time were seeking to kill him. 2Now #ch. 5:1; 6:4 the Jews’ Feast of #See Lev. 23:34Booths was at hand. 3#ver. 5, 10; See Matt. 12:46So his brothers#7:3 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 5, 10 said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. 4For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, #[ch. 14:22; 18:20]show yourself to the world.” 5#[Matt. 13:57; Mark 3:21] For not even #ver. 3, 10his brothers believed in him. 6Jesus said to them, #[ver. 8, 30]; See ch. 2:4“My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7The world cannot hate you, but #ch. 15:18, 24 it hates me because I testify about it that #ch. 3:19; [Col. 1:21; 1 John 3:12]its works are evil. 8You go up to the feast. I am not#7:8 Some manuscripts add yet going up to this feast, for #See ch. 2:4my time has not yet fully come.” 9After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
10But after #ver. 3, 5his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. 11#ver. 1 The Jews #ch. 11:56were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” 12And there was much #ver. 32 muttering about him among the people. #[ver. 40-43] While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, #ver. 47he is leading the people astray.” 13Yet #ch. 19:38; 20:19; [ch. 9:22; 12:42]for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
14About the middle of the feast Jesus went up #ver. 28into the temple and began teaching. 15The Jews therefore #[ver. 46; Luke 2:47; 4:22; Acts 4:13]marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,#7:15 Or this man knows his letters when he has never studied?” 16So Jesus answered them, #ch. 8:28; 12:49; 14:10, 24; [ch. 3:34] “My teaching is not mine, but his #See ch. 3:17who sent me. 17#[ch. 8:31, 32; 14:21, 23] If anyone’s will is to do God’s#7:17 Greek his will, #[ch. 8:43; Ps. 25:9; Dan. 12:10; Phil. 3:15] he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I #See ch. 5:30am speaking on my own authority. 18The one who speaks on his own authority #ch. 5:41; 8:50seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. 19#ver. 23; See ch. 1:17 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. #ver. 1Why do you seek to kill me?” 20The crowd answered, #ch. 8:48, 52; 10:20; [Matt. 11:18; Mark 3:22; Luke 7:33]“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21Jesus answered them, “I did #ver. 23; ch. 5:2-9one work, and you all marvel at it. 22#Lev. 12:3 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but #Gen. 17:10from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, #ch. 5:16; See Matt. 12:2are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? 24#ch. 8:15; [Isa. 11:3; 2 Cor. 10:7]; See Deut. 1:16, 17Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
Can This Be the Christ?
25Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom #ver. 1they seek to kill? 26And here he is, #ch. 18:20 speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that #ver. 48the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27But #[ch. 6:42; 8:14, 19; 9:29] we know #ch. 19:9 where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, #[ver. 42]no one will know where he comes from.” 28So Jesus proclaimed, #ver. 14 as he taught in the temple, #[See ver. 27 above] “You know me, and you know where I come from. But #ch. 8:42; [ch. 5:43] I have not come of my own accord. #See ch. 8:26 He who sent me is true, #ch. 8:19; 15:21; [ch. 4:22; 8:55]and him you do not know. 29#ch. 8:55; See Matt. 11:27 I know him, for I come #ch. 6:46; 9:16, 33; [ch. 1:14] from him, and #See ch. 3:17he sent me.” 30#ver. 44; ch. 10:39; [Matt. 21:46] So they were seeking to arrest him, but #ch. 8:20 no one laid a hand on him, #ver. 6because his hour had not yet come. 31Yet #ch. 8:30; 10:42; 11:45; 12:11; [ch. 2:23; 12:42; Matt. 21:11] many of the people believed in him. They said, #Matt. 12:23“When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”
Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus
32The Pharisees heard the crowd #ver. 12 muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent #ver. 45, 46officers to arrest him. 33Jesus then said, #ch. 12:35; 13:33; 14:19; 16:16-19 “I will be with you a little longer, and then #ch. 16:5I am going to him who sent me. 34#ch. 8:21; 13:33You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? #[ch. 8:22] Does he intend to go to #James 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1; [Isa. 11:12; Zeph. 3:10] the Dispersion among #ch. 12:20the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36What does he mean by saying, #ver. 34‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”
Rivers of Living Water
37 #
Lev. 23:36; Num. 29:35; Neh. 8:18 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, #Isa. 55:1; See ch. 4:14 “If anyone thirsts, let him #See ch. 6:35come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, #[Isa. 12:3; Ezek. 47:1] as#7:38 Or let him come to me, and let him who believes in me drink. As the Scripture has said, #ch. 4:14; [Prov. 18:4] ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of #See ch. 4:10living water.’” 39Now #Isa. 44:3; [1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:14] this he said about the Spirit, #Joel 2:28; Acts 2:16-18; [ch. 1:33; 20:22; Luke 24:49] whom those who believed in him were to receive, #Acts 2:4, 33 for as yet the Spirit had not been #ch. 3:34; Luke 11:13 given, #ch. 14:16, 17; 16:7because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Division Among the People
40When they heard these words, #See ver. 31 some of the people said, “This really is #ch. 1:21; 6:14; See Matt. 21:11the Prophet.” 41Others said, “This is #ver. 26 the Christ.” But some said, #[ver. 52; ch. 1:46]“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes #[Ps. 89:3, 4]; See Matt. 1:1 from the offspring of David, and comes #Mic. 5:2; Matt. 2:1, 5; Luke 2:4 from Bethlehem, the village #1 Sam. 16:1where David was?” 43So there was #ch. 9:16; 10:19; [ver. 12]a division among the people over him. 44#ver. 30Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 # ver. 32 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46The officers answered, #See Matt. 7:29“No one ever spoke like this man!” 47The Pharisees answered them, #ver. 12“Have you also been deceived? 48#1 Cor. 1:20, 26; 2:8; [ch. 12:42]Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50#ch. 3:1; 19:39Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51#Deut. 17:6; 19:15; [Acts 23:3] “Does our law judge a man without first #Deut. 1:16; Prov. 18:13giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52They replied, #ver. 41 “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that #[2 Kgs. 14:25 with Josh. 19:13]no prophet arises from Galilee.”
[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.] # 7:53 Some manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11; others add the passage here or after 7:36 or after 21:25 or after Luke 21:38, with variations in the text
The Woman Caught in Adultery
53[[They went each to his own house,
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John 7
7
Jesus' Brothers Don't Have Faith in Him
1Jesus decided to leave Judea and to start going through Galilee because the leaders of the people wanted to kill him. 2#Lv 23.34; Dt 16.13-15. It was almost time for the Festival of Shelters, 3and Jesus' brothers said to him, “Why don't you go to Judea? Then your disciples can see what you are doing. 4No one does anything in secret, if they want others to know about them. So let the world know what you are doing!” 5Even Jesus' own brothers had not yet become his followers.
6Jesus answered, “My time hasn't yet come,#7.6 My time hasn't yet come: See the note at 2.4. but your time is always here. 7The people of this world cannot hate you. They hate me, because I tell them that they do evil things. 8Go on to the festival. My time hasn't yet come, and I am not going.” 9Jesus said this and stayed on in Galilee.
Jesus at the Festival of Shelters
10After Jesus' brothers had gone to the festival, he went secretly, without telling anyone.
11During the festival the leaders of the people looked for Jesus and asked, “Where is he?” 12The crowds even got into an argument about him. Some were saying, “Jesus is a good man,” while others were saying, “He is lying to everyone.” 13But the people were afraid of their leaders, and none of them talked in public about him.
14When the festival was about half over, Jesus went into the temple and started teaching. 15The leaders were surprised and said, “How does this man know so much? He has never been taught!”
16Jesus replied:
I am not teaching something I thought up. What I teach comes from the one who sent me. 17If you really want to obey God, you will know if what I teach comes from God or from me. 18If I wanted to bring honor to myself, I would speak for myself. But I want to honor the one who sent me. This is why I tell the truth and not a lie. 19Didn't Moses give you the Law? Yet none of you obey it! So why do you want to kill me?
20The crowd replied, “You're crazy! What makes you think someone wants to kill you?”
21Jesus answered:
I worked one miracle,#7.21 one miracle: The healing of the sick man (5.1-18; see also the note at 2.11). and it amazed you. 22#Lv 12.3; Gn 17.10,11. Moses commanded you to circumcise your sons. But it wasn't really Moses who gave you this command. It was your ancestors, and even on the Sabbath you circumcise your sons 23#Jn 5.9. in order to obey the Law of Moses. Why are you angry with me for making someone completely well on the Sabbath? 24Don't judge by appearances. Judge by what is right.
25Some of the people from Jerusalem were saying, “Isn't this the man they want to kill? 26Yet here he is, speaking for everyone to hear. And no one is arguing with him. Do you suppose the authorities know he is the Messiah? 27But how could that be? No one knows where the Messiah will come from, but we know where this man comes from.”
28As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he shouted, “Do you really think you know me and where I came from? I didn't come on my own! The one who sent me is truthful, and you don't know him. 29But I know the one who sent me, because I came from him.”
30Some of the people wanted to arrest Jesus right then. But no one even laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.#7.30 his time had not yet come: See the note at 2.4. 31A lot of people in the crowd put their faith in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, he surely won't perform more miracles#7.31 miracles: See the note at 2.11. than this man has done!”
Officers Sent To Arrest Jesus
32When the Pharisees heard the crowd arguing about Jesus, they got together with the chief priests and sent some temple police to arrest him. 33But Jesus told them, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I will return to the one who sent me. 34You will look for me, but you won't find me. You cannot go where I am going.”
35The people asked each other, “Where can he go to keep us from finding him? Is he going to some foreign country where our people live? Is he going there to teach the Greeks?#7.35 Greeks: Perhaps Gentiles or Jews who followed Greek customs. 36What did he mean by saying that we will look for him, but won't find him? Why can't we go where he is going?”
Streams of Life-Giving Water
37 #
Lv 23.36. On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! 38#Ez 47.1; Zec 14.8. Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.” 39Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone that had faith in him. The Spirit had not yet been given to anyone, since Jesus had not yet been given his full glory.#7.39 had not yet been given his full glory: In the Gospel of John, Jesus is given his full glory both when he is nailed to the cross and when he is raised from death to sit beside his Father in heaven.
The People Take Sides
40When the crowd heard Jesus say this, some of them said, “He must be the Prophet!”#7.40 the Prophet: See the note at 1.21. 41Others said, “He is the Messiah!” Others even said, “Can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42#2 S 7.12; Mic 5.2. The Scriptures say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David. Doesn't this mean that he will be born in David's hometown of Bethlehem?” 43The people started taking sides against each other because of Jesus. 44Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.
The Leaders Refuse To Have Faith in Jesus
45When the temple police returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, they were asked, “Why didn't you bring Jesus here?”
46They answered, “No one has ever spoken like this man!”
47The Pharisees said to them, “Have you also been fooled? 48Not one of the chief priests or the Pharisees has faith in him. 49And these people who don't know the Law are under God's curse anyway.”
50 #
Jn 3.1,2. Nicodemus was there at the time. He was a member of the council, and was the same one who had earlier come to see Jesus.#7.50 who had earlier come to see Jesus: See 3.1-21. He said, 51“Our Law doesn't let us condemn people before we hear what they have to say. We cannot judge them before we know what they have done.”
52Then they said, “Nicodemus, you must be from Galilee! Read the Scriptures, and you will find that no prophet is to come from Galilee.”
A Woman Caught in Sin
53Everyone else went home,
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