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Jesus delays his arrival at the festival

1-9 After this, Jesus moved about in Galilee but decided not to do so in Judea since the Jews were planning to take his life. A Jewish festival, “The feast of the tabernacles”, was approaching and his brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see what you are doing, for nobody works in secret if he wants to be known publicly. If you are going to do things like this, let the world see what you are doing.” For not even his brothers had any faith in him. Jesus replied by saying, “It is not yet the right time for me, but any time is right for you. You see, it is impossible for you to arouse the world’s hatred, but I provoke hatred because I show the world how evil its deeds really are. No, you go up to the festival; I shall not go up now, for it is not yet time for me to go.” And after these remarks he remained where he was in Galilee.

10-13 Later, after his brothers had gone up to the festival, he went up himself, not openly but as though he did not want to be seen. Consequently, the Jews kept looking for him at the festival and asking “Where is that man?” And there was an undercurrent of discussion about him among the crowds. Some would say, “He is a good man”, others maintained that he was not, but that he was “misleading the people”. Nobody, however, spoke openly about him for fear of the Jews.

Jesus openly declares his authority

14-15 But at the very height of the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began teaching. The Jews were amazed and remarked, “How does this man know all this—he has never been taught?”

16-18 Jesus replied to them, “My teaching is not really mine but comes from the one who sent me. If anyone wants to do God’s will, he will know whether my teaching is from God or whether I merely speak on my own authority. A man who speaks on his own authority has an eye for his own reputation. But the man who is considering the glory of God who sent him is a true man. There can be no dishonesty about him.

19 “Did not Moses give you the Law? Yet not a single one of you obeys the Law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

20 The crowd answered, “You must be mad! Who is trying to kill you?”

21-24 Jesus answered them, “I have done one thing and you are all amazed at it. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it came from Moses originally but from your forefathers), and you will circumcise a man even on the Sabbath. If a man receives the cutting of circumcision on the Sabbath to avoid breaking the Law of Moses, why should you be angry with me because I have made a man’s body perfectly whole on the Sabbath? You must not judge by the appearance of things but by the reality!”

25-27 Some of the people of Jerusalem, hearing him talk like this, were saying, “Isn’t this the man whom they are trying to kill? It’s amazing—he talks quite openly and they haven’t a word to say to him. Surely our rulers haven’t decided that this really is Christ! But then, we know this man and where he comes from—when Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”

Jesus makes more unique claims

28-29 Then Jesus, in the middle of his teaching, called out in the Temple, “So you know me and know where I have come from? But I have not come of my own accord; I am sent by one who is true and you do not know him! I do know him, because I come from him and he has sent me here.”

30-31 Then they attempted to arrest him, but actually no one laid a finger on him because the right moment had not yet come. Many of the crowd believed in him and kept on saying, “When Christ comes, is he going to show greater signs than this man?”

32-34 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about him, and they and the chief priests (of the Temple) sent officers to arrest him. Then Jesus said, “I shall be with you only a little while longer and then I am going to him who sent me. You will look for me then but you will never find me. You cannot come where I shall be.”

35-36 This made the Jews say to each other, “Where is he going to hide himself so that we cannot find him? Surely he’s not going to our refugees among the Greeks to teach Greeks? What does he mean when he says, ‘You will look for me and you will never find me’ and ‘You cannot come where I shall be’?”

37-42 Then, on the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If any man is thirsty, he can come to me and drink! The man who believes in me, as the scripture says, will have rivers of living water flowing from his inmost heart.” (Here he was speaking about the Spirit which those who believe in him would receive. The Holy Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.) When they heard these words, some of the people were saying, “This really is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is Christ!” But some said, “And does Christ come from Galilee? Don’t the scriptures say that Christ will be descended from David, and will come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”

43-44 So the people were in two minds about him—some of them wanted to arrest him, but so far no one laid hands on him.

45 Then the officers returned to the Pharisees and chief priests, who said to them, “Why haven’t you brought him?”

46 “No man ever spoke like that!” they replied.

47-49 “Has he pulled the wool over your eyes, too?” retorted the Pharisees. “Have any of the authorities or any of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, who know nothing about the Law, is damned anyway!”

50-51 One of their number, Nicodemus (the one who had previously been to see Jesus), remarked to them, “But surely our Law does not condemn the accused without hearing what he has to say, and finding out what he has done?”

52 “Are you a Galilean, too?” they answered him. “Look where you will—you won’t find any prophet comes out of Galilee!”

53 So they broke up their meeting and went home,

Jesus’ Brothers Do Not Believe in Him

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. Now the feast of the Jews—the feast of Tabernacles—was near. 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. 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!” (For not even his brothers believed in him.)

Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles

So Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I am testifying about it, that its deeds are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not[b] going up to this feast, because my time is not yet completed.[c] 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

  1. John 7:4 Literally “with openness”
  2. 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
  3. John 7:8 Or “fulfilled”
  4. John 7:9 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had said”) which is understood as temporal
  5. John 7:14 Literally “now it being already in the middle of the feast”
  6. John 7:14 Here “courts” is supplied to distinguish this area from the interior of the temple building itself
  7. John 7:14 *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to teach”)
  8. John 7:15 Literally “know letters”
  9. John 7:15 Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“been taught”) which is understood as causal
  10. John 7:17 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  11. John 7:23 Or “a man entirely well”
  12. John 7:25 *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to say”)
  13. John 7:28 *Here “courts” is supplied to distinguish this area from the interior of the temple building itself
  14. John 7:31 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “will he
  15. John 7:32 Literally “that they could seize him”
  16. John 7:34 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  17. John 7:34 Some manuscripts explicitly state “me”
  18. John 7:35 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “is he
  19. John 7:36 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  20. John 7:36 Some manuscripts explicitly state “me”
  21. 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.’”
  22. 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
  23. 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
  24. John 7:40 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
  25. John 7:40 *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to say”)
  26. John 7:41 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “does he
  27. John 7:45 Literally “because of what”
  28. John 7:47 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “have you
  29. John 7:48 Literally “not anyone”
  30. John 7:48 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “have they
  31. John 7:51 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “does it
  32. John 7:52 *The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “are you
  33. 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