John 7
The Message
7 1-2 Later Jesus was going about his business in Galilee. He didn’t want to travel in Judea because the Jews there were looking for a chance to kill him. It was near the time of Tabernacles, a feast observed annually by the Jews.
3-5 His brothers said, “Why don’t you leave here and go up to the Feast so your disciples can get a good look at the works you do? No one who intends to be publicly known does everything behind the scenes. If you’re serious about what you are doing, come out in the open and show the world.” His brothers were pushing him like this because they didn’t believe in him either.
6-8 Jesus came back at them, “Don’t pressure me. This isn’t my time. It’s your time—it’s always your time; you have nothing to lose. The world has nothing against you, but it’s up in arms against me. It’s against me because I expose the evil behind its pretensions. You go ahead, go up to the Feast. Don’t wait for me. I’m not ready. It’s not the right time for me.”
9-11 He said this and stayed on in Galilee. But later, after his family had gone up to the Feast, he also went. But he kept out of the way, careful not to draw attention to himself. The Jews were already out looking for him, asking around, “Where is that man?”
12-13 There was a lot of contentious talk about him circulating through the crowds. Some were saying, “He’s a good man.” But others said, “Not so. He’s selling snake oil.” This kind of talk went on in guarded whispers because of the intimidating Jewish leaders.
Could It Be the Messiah?
14-15 With the Feast already half over, Jesus showed up in the Temple, teaching. The Jews were impressed, but puzzled: “How does he know so much without being schooled?”
16-19 Jesus said, “I didn’t make this up. What I teach comes from the One who sent me. Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it’s from God or whether I’m making it up. A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn’t tamper with reality. It was Moses, wasn’t it, who gave you God’s Law? But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?”
20 The crowd said, “You’re crazy! Who’s trying to kill you? You’re demon-possessed.”
21-24 Jesus said, “I did one miraculous thing a few months ago, and you’re still standing around getting all upset, wondering what I’m up to. Moses prescribed circumcision—originally it came not from Moses but from his ancestors—and so you circumcise a man, dealing with one part of his body, even if it’s the Sabbath. You do this in order to preserve one item in the Law of Moses. So why are you upset with me because I made a man’s whole body well on the Sabbath? Don’t be hypercritical; use your head—and heart!—to discern what is right, to test what is authentically right.”
25-27 That’s when some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this the one they were out to kill? And here he is out in the open, saying whatever he pleases, and no one is stopping him. Could it be that the rulers know that he is, in fact, the Messiah? And yet we know where this man came from. The Messiah is going to come out of nowhere. Nobody is going to know where he comes from.”
28-29 That provoked Jesus, who was teaching in the Temple, to cry out, “Yes, you think you know me and where I’m from, but that’s not where I’m from. I didn’t set myself up in business. My true origin is in the One who sent me, and you don’t know him at all. I come from him—that’s how I know him. He sent me here.”
30-31 They were looking for a way to arrest him, but not a hand was laid on him because it wasn’t yet God’s time. Many from the crowd committed themselves in faith to him, saying, “Will the Messiah, when he comes, provide better or more convincing evidence than this?”
32-34 The Pharisees, alarmed at this seditious undertow going through the crowd, teamed up with the high priests and sent their police to arrest him. Jesus rebuffed them: “I am with you only a short time. Then I go on to the One who sent me. You will look for me, but you won’t find me. Where I am, you can’t come.”
35-36 The Jews put their heads together. “Where do you think he is going that we won’t be able to find him? Do you think he is about to travel to the Greek world to teach the Jews? What is he talking about, anyway: ‘You will look for me, but you won’t find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you can’t come’?”
37-39 On the final and climactic day of the Feast, Jesus took his stand. He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in me this way, just as the Scripture says.” (He said this in regard to the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)
40-44 Those in the crowd who heard these words were saying, “This has to be the Prophet.” Others said, “He is the Messiah!” But others were saying, “The Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? Don’t the Scriptures tell us that the Messiah comes from David’s line and from Bethlehem, David’s village?” So there was a split in the crowd over him. Some went so far as wanting to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.
45 That’s when the Temple police reported back to the high priests and Pharisees, who demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him with you?”
46 The police answered, “Have you heard the way he talks? We’ve never heard anyone speak like this man.”
47-49 The Pharisees said, “Are you carried away like the rest of the rabble? You don’t see any of the leaders believing in him, do you? Or any from the Pharisees? It’s only this crowd, ignorant of God’s Law, that is taken in by him—and damned.”
50-51 Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus earlier and was both a ruler and a Pharisee, spoke up. “Does our Law decide about a man’s guilt without first listening to him and finding out what he is doing?”
52-53 But they cut him off. “Are you also campaigning for the Galilean? Examine the evidence. See if any prophet ever comes from Galilee.”
[Then they all went home.
John 7
Lexham English Bible
Jesus’ Brothers Do Not Believe in Him
7 And after these things Jesus was going about in Galilee. For he did not want to go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. 2 Now the feast of the Jews—the feast of Tabernacles—was near. 3 So his brothers said to him, “Depart from here and go to Judea, so that your disciples also can see your works that you are doing. 4 For no one does anything in secret and yet he himself desires to be publicly recognized.[a] If you are doing these things, reveal yourself to the world!” 5 (For not even his brothers believed in him.)
Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles
6 So Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I am testifying about it, that its deeds are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not[b] going up to this feast, because my time is not yet completed.[c] 9 And when he[d] had said these things, he remained in Galilee.
10 But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not openly, but (as it were) in secret. 11 So the Jews were looking for him at the feast, and were saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was a lot of grumbling concerning him among the crowds; some were saying, “He is a good man,” but others were saying, “No, but he deceives the crowd.” 13 However, no one was speaking openly about him for fear of the Jews.
14 Now when the feast was already half over,[e] Jesus went to the temple courts[f] and began to teach.[g] 15 Then the Jews were astonished, saying, “How does this man possess knowledge,[h] because he[i] has not been taught?” 16 So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not mine, but is from the one who sent me. 17 If anyone wants to do his will, he will know about my[j] teaching, whether it is from God or I am speaking from myself. 18 The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory. But the one who seeks the glory of the one who sent him—this one is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law, and none of you carries out the law? Why do you seek to kill me?”
20 The crowd replied, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered and said to them, “I performed one work, and you are all astonished. 22 Because of this Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses would not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a whole man well[k] on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge according to outward appearance, but judge according to righteous judgment!”
Is Jesus the Christ?
25 Then some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem began to say,[l] “Is this not the one whom they are seeking to kill? 26 And behold, he is speaking openly and they are saying nothing to him! Can it be that the rulers truly know that this man is the Christ? 27 Yet we know where this man is from, but the Christ, whenever he comes—no one knows where he is from!”
28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple courts,[m] teaching and saying, “You both know me and you know where I am from! And I have not come from myself, but the one 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 one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 But from the crowd many believed in him and were saying, “Whenever the Christ comes, he will not perform more signs than this man has done, will he?”[n]
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers in order to take him into custody .[o] 33 Then Jesus said, “Yet a little time I am with you, and I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will seek me and will not find me,[p][q] and where I am, you cannot come.”
35 So the Jews said to one another, “Where is this one going to go, that we will not find him? He is not going to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he?[r] 36 What is this saying that he said, ‘You will seek me and will not find me,[s][t] and where I am, you cannot come’?”
The Promise of the Spirit
37 Now on the last day of the feast—the great day—Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let him drink, 38 the one who believes in me.[u] Just as the scripture said, ‘Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.’”[v] 39 Now he said this concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were about to receive. For the Spirit was not yet given,[w] because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)
Different Opinions About Jesus
40 Then, when they[x] heard these words, some from the crowd began to say,[y] “This man is truly the Prophet!” 41 Others were saying, “This man is the Christ!” But others were saying, “No, for the Christ does not come from Galilee, does he?[z] 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 there was a division in the crowd because of him. 44 And some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 So the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees. And they said to them, “Why[aa] did you not bring him?” 46 The officers replied, “Never has a man spoken like this!” 47 Then the Pharisees replied to them, “You have not also been deceived, have you?[ab] 48 None[ac] of the rulers or of the Pharisees have believed in him, have they?[ad] 49 But this crowd who does not know the law is accursed!”
50 Nicodemus, the one who came to him previously—who was one of them—said to them, 51 “Our law does not condemn a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?”[ae] 52 They answered and said to him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you?[af] Investigate and see that a prophet does not arise from Galilee!” [[53 And each one went to his own house.[ag]
Footnotes
- John 7:4 Literally “with openness”
- John 7:8 Most manuscripts read “not yet” here, but this is obviously an easier reading intended to reconcile the statement with Jesus’ later actions
- John 7:8 Or “fulfilled”
- John 7:9 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had said”) which is understood as temporal
- John 7:14 Literally “now it being already in the middle of the feast”
- John 7:14 Here “courts” is supplied to distinguish this area from the interior of the temple building itself
- John 7:14 *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to teach”)
- John 7:15 Literally “know letters”
- John 7:15 Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“been taught”) which is understood as causal
- John 7:17 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- John 7:23 Or “a man entirely well”
- John 7:25 *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to say”)
- John 7:28 *Here “courts” is supplied to distinguish this area from the interior of the temple building itself
- John 7:31 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “will he”
- John 7:32 Literally “that they could seize him”
- John 7:34 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- John 7:34 Some manuscripts explicitly state “me”
- John 7:35 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “is he”
- John 7:36 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- John 7:36 Some manuscripts explicitly state “me”
- John 7:38 An alternative punctuation of vv. 37–38 reads: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and let him drink. 38 The one who believes in me, just as the scripture said, ‘Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.’”
- John 7:38 A quotation from the Old Testament of uncertain origin; texts most often suggested are Isa 44:3; 55:1; 58:11; Zech 14:8
- John 7:39 A few manuscripts supply the participle “given” here; while it is unlikely this represents the original reading, many English versions nevertheless supply “given” to avoid the impression that the Spirit did not exist prior to this point
- John 7:40 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
- John 7:40 *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to say”)
- John 7:41 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “does he”
- John 7:45 Literally “because of what”
- John 7:47 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “have you”
- John 7:48 Literally “not anyone”
- John 7:48 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “have they”
- John 7:51 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “does it”
- John 7:52 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “are you”
- John 7:53 John 7:53–8:11 is not found in the earliest and best manuscripts and was almost certainly not an original part of the Gospel of John; one significant group of Greek manuscripts places it after Luke 21:38
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software