Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

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?”

^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?”