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Jesus Teaches Openly at the Temple

10 But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view. 11 The Jewish leaders tried to find him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen him. 12 There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds. Some argued, “He’s a good man,” but others said, “He’s nothing but a fraud who deceives the people.” 13 But no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders.

14 Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach. 15 The people[a] were surprised when they heard him. “How does he know so much when he hasn’t been trained?” they asked.

16 So Jesus told them, “My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me. 17 Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own. 18 Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies. 19 Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it! In fact, you are trying to kill me.”

20 The crowd replied, “You’re demon possessed! Who’s trying to kill you?”

21 Jesus replied, “I did one miracle on the Sabbath, and you were amazed. 22 But you work on the Sabbath, too, when you obey Moses’ law of circumcision. (Actually, this tradition of circumcision began with the patriarchs, long before the law of Moses.) 23 For if the correct time for circumcising your son falls on the Sabbath, you go ahead and do it so as not to break the law of Moses. So why should you be angry with me for healing a man on the Sabbath? 24 Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.”

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Footnotes

  1. 7:15 Greek Jewish people.

10 But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then Jesus[a] himself also went up, not openly but in secret. 11 So the Jewish leaders[b] were looking for him at the feast, asking, “Where is he?”[c] 12 There was[d] a lot of grumbling[e] about him among the crowds.[f] Some were saying, “He is a good man,” but others, “He deceives the common people.”[g] 13 However, no one spoke openly about him for fear of the Jewish leaders.[h]

Teaching in the Temple

14 When the feast was half over, Jesus went up to the temple courts[i] and began to teach.[j] 15 Then the Jewish leaders[k] were astonished[l] and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?”[m] 16 So Jesus replied,[n] “My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me.[o] 17 If anyone wants to do God’s will,[p] he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.[q] 18 The person who speaks on his own authority[r] desires[s] to receive honor[t] for himself; the one who desires[u] the honor[v] of the one who sent him is a man of integrity,[w] and there is no unrighteousness in him. 19 Hasn’t Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps[x] the law! Why do you want[y] to kill me?”

20 The crowd[z] answered, “You’re possessed by a demon![aa] Who is trying to kill you?”[ab] 21 Jesus replied,[ac] “I performed one miracle[ad] and you are all amazed.[ae] 22 However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision[af] (not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers), you circumcise a male child[ag] on the Sabbath. 23 But if a male child[ah] is circumcised[ai] on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken,[aj] why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well[ak] on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge according to external appearance,[al] but judge with proper[am] judgment.”

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Footnotes

  1. John 7:10 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  2. John 7:11 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents. See the note on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 1.
  3. John 7:11 tn Grk “Where is that one?”
  4. John 7:12 tn Grk “And there was.”
  5. John 7:12 tn Or “complaining.”
  6. John 7:12 tn Or “among the common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities mentioned in the previous verse).
  7. John 7:12 tn Or “the crowd.”
  8. John 7:13 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents. See also the note on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 1.
  9. John 7:14 tn Grk “to the temple.”
  10. John 7:14 tn Or “started teaching.” An ingressive sense for the imperfect verb (“began to teach” or “started teaching”) fits well here, since the context implies that Jesus did not start his teaching at the beginning of the festival, but began when it was about half over.
  11. John 7:15 tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish authorities or leaders who were Jesus’ primary opponents. See the note on the phrase “the Jewish leaders” in v. 1.
  12. John 7:15 tn Or “began to be astonished.” This imperfect verb could also be translated ingressively (“began to be astonished”), but for English stylistic reasons it is rendered as a simple past.
  13. John 7:15 tn Grk “How does this man know learning since he has not been taught?” The implication here is not that Jesus never went to school (in all probability he did attend a local synagogue school while a youth), but that he was not the disciple of a particular rabbi and had not had formal or advanced instruction under a recognized rabbi (compare Acts 4:13 where a similar charge is made against Peter and John; see also Paul’s comment in Acts 22:3).sn He has never had formal instruction. Ironically when the Jewish leaders came face-to-face with the Word become flesh—the preexistent Logos, creator of the universe and divine Wisdom personified—they treated him as an untaught, unlearned person, without the formal qualifications to be a teacher.
  14. John 7:16 tn Grk “So Jesus answered and said to them.”
  15. John 7:16 tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.
  16. John 7:17 tn Grk “his will.”
  17. John 7:17 tn Grk “or whether I speak from myself.”
  18. John 7:18 tn Grk “who speaks from himself.”
  19. John 7:18 tn Or “seeks.”
  20. John 7:18 tn Or “praise”; Grk “glory.”
  21. John 7:18 tn Or “seeks.”
  22. John 7:18 tn Or “praise”; Grk “glory.”
  23. John 7:18 tn Or “is truthful”; Grk “is true.”
  24. John 7:19 tn Or “accomplishes”; Grk “does.”
  25. John 7:19 tn Grk “seek.”
  26. John 7:20 tn Or “The common people” (as opposed to the religious authorities mentioned in 7:15).
  27. John 7:20 tn Grk “You have a demon!”
  28. John 7:20 tn Grk “Who is seeking to kill you?”sn Who is trying to kill you? Many of the crowd (if they had come in from surrounding regions for the feast) probably were ignorant of any plot. The plot was on the part of the Jewish leaders. Note how carefully John distinguishes between the leadership and the general populace in their respective responses to Jesus.
  29. John 7:21 tn Grk “Jesus answered and said to them.”
  30. John 7:21 tn Grk “I did one deed.”
  31. John 7:21 sn The “one miracle” that caused them all to be amazed was the last previous public miracle in Jerusalem recorded by the author, the healing of the paralyzed man in John 5:1-9 on the Sabbath. (The synoptic gospels record other Sabbath healings, but John does not mention them.)
  32. John 7:22 tn Grk “gave you circumcision.”
  33. John 7:22 tn Grk “a man.” While the text literally reads “circumcise a man” in actual fact the practice of circumcising male infants on the eighth day after birth (see Phil 3:5) is primarily what is in view here.
  34. John 7:23 tn Grk “a man.” See the note on “male child” in the previous verse.
  35. John 7:23 tn Grk “receives circumcision.”
  36. John 7:23 sn If a male child is circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken. The Rabbis counted 248 parts to a man’s body. In the Talmud (b. Yoma 85b) R. Eleazar ben Azariah (ca. a.d. 100) states: “If circumcision, which attaches to one only of the 248 members of the human body, suspends the Sabbath, how much more shall the saving of the whole body suspend the Sabbath?” So absolutely binding did rabbinic Judaism regard the command of Lev 12:3 to circumcise on the eighth day, that in the Mishnah m. Shabbat 18.3; 19.1, 2; and m. Nedarim 3.11 all hold that the command to circumcise overrides the command to observe the Sabbath.
  37. John 7:23 tn Or “made an entire man well.”
  38. John 7:24 tn Or “based on sight.”
  39. John 7:24 tn Or “honest”; Grk “righteous.”