John 7 (WEB)

John 7:1–13

Jesus and his brothers

After these things, Jesus was walking in Galilee, for he wouldn’t walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill him. Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was at hand. His brothers therefore said to him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that your disciples also may see your works which you do. For no one does anything in secret while he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, reveal yourself to the world.” For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.

Jesus therefore said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, because my time is not yet fulfilled.”

Having said these things to them, he stayed in Galilee. But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but as it were in secret. The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, “Where is he?” There was much murmuring among the multitudes concerning him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others said, “Not so, but he leads the multitude astray.” Yet no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews.

As the autumn Feast of Booths approaches, Jesus' brothers urge him to go to Judea and show himself publicly; John notes they did not believe in him. Jesus says his time has not yet come and stays behind, then later goes up to Jerusalem quietly. There, the crowds argue about him in low voices.

What does this mean?

"The feast of tabernacles" (KJV) or "Feast of Booths" (WEB) is the festival Jews call Sukkot. "My time" echoes Jesus' "hour" (2:4). "Shew thyself" means show yourself.

Historical context

At Booths, families lived in temporary shelters made of branches, remembering Israel's journey through the wilderness and celebrating the harvest; it was one of three pilgrimage festivals that drew crowds to Jerusalem. "Brothers" of Jesus are named in Mark 6:3. Christians differ on whether they were sons of Mary and Joseph, Joseph's sons by an earlier marriage, or cousins.

Why does it matter?

In verse 13, people who are themselves Jewish are afraid of "the Jews", which shows that John often uses the term for the authorities rather than the Jewish people as a whole. Chapters 7 and 8 are set during this festival.

Editorial notes, not scripture.

John 7:14–24

Teaching in the temple at Booths

But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How does this man know letters, having never been educated?”

Jesus therefore answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God or if I am speaking from myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Didn’t Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?”

The multitude answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill you?”

Jesus answered them, “I did one work and you all marvel because of it. Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is of Moses, but of the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a boy. If a boy receives circumcision on the Sabbath, that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man completely healthy on the Sabbath? Don’t judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

Midway through the festival, Jesus teaches openly in the temple. People wonder how he is so learned without formal training. Jesus says his teaching comes from the one who sent him, and he defends his Sabbath healing: if a boy may be circumcised on the Sabbath, why not make a whole man well?

What does this mean?

"Letters" means learning, particularly the formal study of Scripture under a teacher. "Hath a devil" (KJV) or "have a demon" (WEB) was a way of calling someone mad or deluded. "Judge righteous judgment" means judge fairly, not by appearances.

Historical context

The law required boys to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth, even if that day was a Sabbath, so one command could take priority over another. Jewish teachers debated exactly such cases. Jesus' "one work" refers back to the Sabbath healing at Bethesda in chapter 5.

Why does it matter?

The question of where Jesus' authority comes from runs throughout these chapters. Typically in John, the crowd and the authorities react differently: the crowd denies anyone is trying to kill him, though the reader knows otherwise (5:18, 7:1).

Editorial notes, not scripture.

John 7:25–36

Where does the Christ come from?

Therefore some of them of Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this he whom they seek to kill? Behold, he speaks openly, and they say nothing to him. Can it be that the rulers indeed know that this is truly the Christ? However, we know where this man comes from, but when the Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”

Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know me, and know where I am from. I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you don’t know. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”

They sought therefore to take him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. But of the multitude, many believed in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, he won’t do more signs than those which this man has done, will he?” The Pharisees heard the multitude murmuring these things concerning him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.

Then Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer, then I go to him who sent me. You will seek me and won’t find me. You can’t come where I am.”

The Jews therefore said among themselves, “Where will this man go that we won’t find him? Will he go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What is this word that he said, ‘You will seek me, and won’t find me;’ and ‘Where I am, you can’t come’?”

Some Jerusalem residents wonder whether the leaders now think Jesus is the Christ, but object that they know where he comes from. Jesus answers that they do not know the one who sent him; many believe, and the chief priests and Pharisees send officers to arrest him. Jesus says he will soon go where they cannot come.

What does this mean?

"The Dispersion" (WEB), or "the dispersed among the Gentiles" (KJV), means Jews living outside the land of Israel, scattered across the Greek-speaking world. "Officers" were temple police under the chief priests.

Historical context

Some Jewish traditions held that the Messiah's origins would be hidden until he appeared, which explains verse 27. The chief priests were the leading priestly families who controlled the temple; working with some Pharisees, they formed much of the Jerusalem leadership.

Why does it matter?

John often uses irony: the speakers think they know where Jesus comes from (Nazareth), while the Gospel's readers know from the prologue that he comes from God. The phrase "his hour had not yet come" explains why repeated attempts to seize him fail until the time of his death.

Editorial notes, not scripture.

John 7:37–44

Rivers of living water

Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.” But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus wasn’t yet glorified.

Many of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, said, “This is truly the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “What, does the Christ come out of Galilee? Hasn’t the Scripture said that the Christ comes of the offspring of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So a division arose in the multitude because of him. Some of them would have arrested him, but no one laid hands on him.

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus cries out that anyone who is thirsty should come to him and drink, and that rivers of living water will flow from within the one who believes. The narrator explains this refers to the Spirit. The crowd divides over whether he is the prophet, the Christ, or neither.

What does this mean?

"Belly" (KJV) means one's inner being. "Glorified" in John often refers to Jesus' death and resurrection as the moment his glory is revealed.

Historical context

Later Jewish sources describe a ceremony during the Feast of Booths in which water was drawn from the pool of Siloam and poured out at the altar, with prayers for rain. If this was practised in Jesus' day, as many scholars think, his words would have had special force. The Scripture Jesus refers to in verse 38 is not clearly identified; several passages have been suggested.

Why does it matter?

Some in the crowd object that the Christ must come from Bethlehem, not Galilee. Matthew and Luke place Jesus' birth in Bethlehem; John does not mention it, and interpreters differ on whether the passage is ironic.

Editorial notes, not scripture.

John 7:45–53

Nicodemus speaks up

The officers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him?”

The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!”

The Pharisees therefore answered them, “You aren’t also led astray, are you? Have any of the rulers or any of the Pharisees believed in him? But this multitude that doesn’t know the law is cursed.”

Nicodemus (he who came to him by night, being one of them) said to them, “Does our law judge a man unless it first hears from him personally and knows what he does?”

They answered him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and see that no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”

Everyone went to his own house,

The officers return without Jesus, saying no one has ever spoken like him, and the Pharisees scorn them and the crowd that "doesn't know the law". Nicodemus, one of their own, asks whether the law condemns a man without first hearing him, and is mocked as a Galilean. Then everyone goes home.

What does this mean?

"Rulers" are members of the governing council. "Cursed" here is contemptuous, meaning ignorant and beyond help. The claim that no prophet comes from Galilee is surprising, since 2 Kings 14:25 says Jonah came from a Galilean town; one early manuscript reads "the prophet".

Historical context

Jewish law did require that an accused person be heard before being condemned, so Nicodemus' point was legally sound. Verse 53 begins the story of the woman taken in adultery, which continues into chapter 8. That passage, 7:53 to 8:11, is in the KJV and WEB but absent from the earliest manuscripts.

Why does it matter?

Nicodemus moves from a night-time enquirer (chapter 3) to a cautious defender, and later appears at Jesus' burial (19:39).

Editorial notes, not scripture.