John 7:25-44

New International Reader's Version

People Don’t Agree About Who Jesus Is

²⁵ Then some of the people of Jerusalem began asking questions. They said, “Isn’t this the man some people are trying to kill? ²⁶ Here he is! He is speaking openly. They aren’t saying a word to him. Have the authorities really decided that he is the Messiah? ²⁷ But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸ Jesus was still teaching in the temple courtyard. He cried out, “Yes, you know me. And you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority. The one who sent me is true. You do not know him. ²⁹ But I know him. I am from him, and he sent me.”

³⁰ When he said this, they tried to arrest him. But no one laid a hand on him. The time for him to show who he really was had not yet come. ³¹ Still, many people in the crowd believed in him. They said, “How will it be when the Messiah comes? Will he do more signs than this man?”

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering things like this about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

³³ Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time. Then I will go to the one who sent me. ³⁴ You will look for me, but you won’t find me. You can’t come where I am going.”

³⁵ The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man plan to go? Does he think we can’t find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks? Will he go there to teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you won’t find me’? And what did he mean when he said, ‘You can’t come where I am going’?”

³⁷ It was the last and most important day of the feast. Jesus stood up and spoke in a loud voice. He said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. ³⁸ Does anyone believe in me? Then, just as Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from inside them.” ³⁹ When he said this, he meant the Holy Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit later. Up to that time, the Spirit had not been given. This was because Jesus had not yet received glory.

⁴⁰ The people heard his words. Some of them said, “This man must be the Prophet we’ve been expecting.”

⁴¹ Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? ⁴² Doesn’t Scripture say that the Messiah will come from the family line of David? Doesn’t it say that he will come from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” ⁴³ So the people did not agree about who Jesus was. ⁴⁴ Some wanted to arrest him. But no one laid a hand on him.