John 7
The Feast of Tabernacles
7:1 After this1 Jesus traveled throughout Galilee.2 He3 stayed out of Judea4 because the Jewish leaders5 wanted6 to kill him. 7:2 Now the Jewish feast of Tabernacles7 was near.8 7:3 So Jesus’ brothers9 advised him, “Leave here and go to Judea so your disciples may see your miracles that you are performing.10 7:4 For no one who seeks to make a reputation for himself11 does anything in secret.12 If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 7:5 (For not even his own brothers believed in him.)13
7:6 So Jesus replied,14 “My time15 has not yet arrived,16 but you are ready at any opportunity!17 7:7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I am testifying about it that its deeds are evil. 7:8 You go up18 to the feast yourselves. I am not going up to this feast19 because my time20 has not yet fully arrived.”21 7:9 When he had said this, he remained in Galilee.
7:10 But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then Jesus22 himself also went up, not openly but in secret. 7:11 So the Jewish leaders23 were looking for him at the feast, asking, “Where is he?”24 7:12 There was25 a lot of grumbling26 about him among the crowds.27 Some were saying, “He is a good man,” but others, “He deceives the common people.”28 7:13 However, no one spoke openly about him for fear of the Jewish leaders.29
Teaching in the Temple
7:14 When the feast was half over, Jesus went up to the temple courts30 and began to teach.31 7:15 Then the Jewish leaders32 were astonished33 and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?”34 7:16 So Jesus replied,35 “My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me.36 7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will,37 he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.38 7:18 The person who speaks on his own authority39 desires40 to receive honor41 for himself; the one who desires42 the honor43 of the one who sent him is a man of integrity,44 and there is no unrighteousness in him. 7:19 Hasn’t Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps45 the law! Why do you want46 to kill me?”
7:20 The crowd47 answered, “You’re possessed by a demon!48 Who is trying to kill you?”49 7:21 Jesus replied,50 “I performed one miracle51 and you are all amazed.52 7:22 However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision53 (not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers), you circumcise a male child54 on the Sabbath. 7:23 But if a male child55 is circumcised56 on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken,57 why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well58 on the Sabbath? 7:24 Do not judge according to external appearance,59 but judge with proper60 judgment.”
Questions About Jesus’ Identity
7:25 Then some of the residents of Jerusalem61 began to say, “Isn’t this the man62 they are trying63 to kill? 7:26 Yet here he is, speaking publicly,64 and they are saying nothing to him.65 Do the rulers really know that this man66 is the Christ?67 7:27 But we know where this man68 comes from.69 Whenever the Christ70 comes, no one will know where he comes from.”71
7:28 Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts,72 cried out,73 “You both know me and know where I come from!74 And I have not come on my own initiative,75 but the one who sent me76 is true. You do not know him,77 7:29 but78 I know him, because I have come from him79 and he80 sent me.”
7:30 So then they tried to seize Jesus,81 but no one laid a hand on him, because his time82 had not yet come. 7:31 Yet many of the crowd83 believed in him and said, “Whenever the Christ84 comes, he won’t perform more miraculous signs than this man did, will he?”85
7:32 The Pharisees86 heard the crowd87 murmuring these things about Jesus,88 so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers89 to arrest him.90 7:33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you for only a little while longer,91 and then92 I am going to the one who sent me. 7:34 You will look for me93 but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come.”
7:35 Then the Jewish leaders94 said to one another, “Where is he95 going to go that we cannot find him?96 He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed97 among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he?98 7:36 What did he mean by saying,99 ‘You will look for me100 but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?”
Teaching About the Spirit
7:37 On the last day of the feast, the greatest day,101 Jesus stood up and shouted out,102 “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and 7:38 let the one who believes in me drink.103 Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him104 will flow rivers of living water.’”105 7:39 (Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given,106 because Jesus was not yet glorified.)107
Differing Opinions About Jesus
7:40 When they heard these words, some of the crowd108 began to say, “This really109 is the Prophet!”110 7:41 Others said, “This is the Christ!”111 But still others said, “No,112 for the Christ doesn’t come from Galilee, does he?113 7:42 Don’t the scriptures say that the Christ is a descendant114 of David115 and comes from Bethlehem,116 the village where David lived?”117 7:43 So there was a division in the crowd118 because of Jesus.119 7:44 Some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.120
Lack of Belief
7:45 Then the officers121 returned122 to the chief priests and Pharisees,123 who said to them, “Why didn’t you bring him back with you?”124 7:46 The officers replied, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 7:47 Then the Pharisees answered,125 “You haven’t been deceived too, have you?126 7:48 None of the rulers127 or the Pharisees have believed in him, have they?128 7:49 But this rabble129 who do not know the law are accursed!”
7:50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus130 before and who was one of the rulers,131 said,132 7:51 “Our law doesn’t condemn133 a man unless it first hears from him and learns134 what he is doing, does it?”135 7:52 They replied,136 “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you?137 Investigate carefully and you will see that no prophet138 comes from Galilee!”