John 7 - NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible

7:1 looking for a way to kill him. See 5:18.

7:1–13 Jesus Goes to the Festival of Tabernacles. Skepticism and uncertainty regarding Jesus continue, even among members of his own family.

7:2 Festival of Tabernacles. Commemorated God’s goodness to the people during the wilderness wanderings and celebrated the completion of the harvest (see note on Lev 23:34).

7:3–4 “Jesus’ brothers” (v. 3) most likely refers to the sons of Mary and Joseph, all younger than Jesus. Their request is ironic in three ways: (1) They want Jesus to put on a display, but John’s readers already know that such a display would pander to corrupt motives (6:14–15, 26–31) and would not ensure genuine faith (2:23–25; 4:48). (2) They want Jesus to show himself to “the world” (i.e., everybody at the festival), but the “world” is precisely what cannot receive him without ceasing to be the “world” (see notes on 1:9,29; 3:16). And in one sense, Jesus has no intention of showing himself to the “world” (see 14:22 and note). (3) They want Jesus to put on a display in Jerusalem, and it is in Jerusalem where Jesus later reveals himself most dramatically—not in the spectacular miracles the brothers want but in the ignominy of the cross.

7:5 For. Introduces the reason for the request in vv. 3–4. Jesus’ brothers did not perceive what Jesus’ signs signified. did not believe. Apparently, they did not follow Jesus until after his resurrection (Acts 1:14).

7:6 Therefore. Jesus explains that his brothers’ judgment is faulty because they projected onto him what they would have done under similar circumstances (cf. 2:4). time . . . time. For going up to Jerusalem for this Festival of Tabernacles.

7:7 The world cannot hate you. Because they belong to it and the world loves its own (15:19). it hates me. Because Jesus does not belong to it and testifies that what it does is evil (v. 19; 3:19–20; 8:31–59; 9:39–41; 16:8–11; see notes on 1:9,29; 3:16).

7:8–10 I am not going up to this festival . . . he went also. The apparent contradiction is superficial: because the Father’s appointments regulate his life, Jesus is not at that time (see NIV text note on v. 8) going to the festival in line with when and how his brothers want him to go. He will go when and how the Father sanctions the trip.

7:10 not publicly, but in secret. Exactly the opposite of what Jesus’ brothers had in mind (see vv. 3–4 and note). If Jesus went publicly with the other pilgrims at the beginning of the festival, they may have forced a premature “triumphal entry” on him.

7:11 The Jewish leaders are hostile toward Jesus (v. 13).

7:12 The crowds are divided in their opinion of Jesus (see note on 5:23).

7:14 halfway through. See notes on vv. 8–10. Teaching in the temple courts did not foster privacy, but Jesus was concerned not about privacy but about obeying his Father. He went public with teaching, not miracles.

7:14–24 Jesus Teaches at the Festival. Jesus teaches a crowd that superficially judges him.

7:15 A rabbi did not train Jesus (cf. Matt 7:28–29).

7:16 My teaching is not my own. Rabbis say the same thing. But while they appeal to a long chain of human tradition, Jesus appeals to the Father (5:19–30; 8:28).

7:17 chooses to do the will of God. Commits to doing God’s will without setting themselves up as judging God and his ways. Hindrances to faith are fundamentally moral rather than intellectual (3:19–21; see note on 3:19).

7:18 on their own. Their egos are bound up with their witness. to gain personal glory. The real reason Jesus’ opponents cannot assess him rightly (5:44). a man of truth. Jesus is trustworthy and not self-seeking (8:46).

7:19 not one of you keeps the law. See Rom 2:17–29. trying to kill me. Evidence that they attempt to break the law (Exod 20:13). See “Law.”

7:20 The crowd assumes that Jesus is paranoid, perhaps suffering from delusions of grandeur (cf. 10:20).

7:21 one miracle. The healing at the pool when Jesus was previously in Jerusalem (5:1–15). amazed. Not astonishment that leads to praise but marvel that someone would actually tell another to carry their mat on the Sabbath (v. 23; see notes on 5:9b,10).

7:22 it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs. God instituted circumcision as a covenant sign while Abraham was still alive (Gen 17:10–14) and later formalized it as part of the Mosaic law (Lev 12:3). Since the Jews have put Moses on a pedestal, John includes this aside to lessen Moses a little and establish that circumcision existed before the Mosaic law and thus takes precedence over it (Gal 3:17). you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. The Jews faced a choice when an infant’s eighth day was a Sabbath: either obey the law to circumcise him on the eighth day or obey the law (as they understood it: see notes on 5:9b,10) to observe the Sabbath. They chose to circumcise their sons on the Sabbath, yet they were angry when Jesus healed a “man’s whole body” on the Sabbath (v. 23).

7:24 They judge by superficial criteria: they misconstrue Jesus’ character based on a fundamentally flawed set of deductions from OT law. judge correctly. Requires moral and theological discernment in the context of obedient faith (v. 17).

7:25 Some have naive doubts (vv. 19–20), but some from Jerusalem know that the Jerusalem authorities are trying to kill Jesus (v. 1; 5:16,18).

7:25–44 Division Over Who Jesus Is. People are divided whether Jesus is the Messiah.

7:27 They immediately dismiss the possibility that Jesus is the Messiah (v. 26) based on one of three popular notions about the Messiah that this chapter mentions (vv. 31,42). They presuppose that the Messiah would be unknown until he appeared to redeem Israel, but they “know” where Jesus came from: he sprang from Nazareth, and his family home was now in Capernaum. Ironically, they are not as informed about Jesus’ true origins as they think (1:1–3,14).

7:28 Jesus exposes their ignorance. true. Real; regardless of what they might think of Jesus’ origins, the Father is the one who sent him. You do not know him. They do not understand the law (5:46) or the God who gave it because they are rejecting the Son (8:19,42).

7:29 See 5:19–30.

7:30 because his hour had not yet come. John tells only why Jesus escaped, not how. hour. See note on 2:4.

7:31 Faith based on signs is better than nothing (10:38), but there is no hint that these people develop any deep understanding of the significance of the signs and grasp all that the signs show Jesus to be. They are simply impressed by the number of spectacular displays of power they have witnessed.

7:32 temple guards. A temple “police” force, drawn from the Levites, with primary responsibility for maintaining order in the temple area.

7:33 short time. Before the cross. This presupposes the Father’s foreordained schedule.

7:33–34 Jesus speaks of his imminent departure in words that are clear to any reader, especially after reading the entire book at least once.

7:34 You will look for me, but you will not find me. They will go on looking for the Messiah, but they will chase an ephemeral wisp because they have rejected the only Messiah there is. where I am, you cannot come. Returning to his glory with the Father (13:33; see 17:5).

7:35 teach the Greeks. Ironically, after Jesus’ ascension, the gospel will spread in Jewish and Gentile circles throughout the Roman Empire and beyond.

7:35–36 Once again, people misunderstand Jesus (see Introduction: Characteristics and Themes, 7): the Jews, who think they know all there is to know about Jesus’ origins (see v. 27 and note), cannot imagine that Jesus can go where they cannot find him.

7:37 festival. See note on v. 2. This included a well-known water-pouring rite that symbolized the fruitfulness that only rain can bring and anticipated the spiritual “rain” God promised to pour out in the Messianic age (Zech 13:1; 14:16–17). Jesus fulfills what the Festival of Tabernacles anticipated. Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Jesus supplies the drink and quenches thirst (Isa 55:1; Rev 22:17).

7:37–38 See 4:10–14; 6:35.

7:38 as Scripture has said. Refers generally to a matrix of OT teachings and may allude specifically to Neh 9:15, 19–20, where Israel observes the Festival of Tabernacles (Neh 8:5–18) and God’s providing manna and water symbolize his giving the law and the Spirit. rivers of living water will flow from within them. See NIV text note. The source of the water is Jesus. John explicitly connects the water and the Spirit in v. 39 (see notes on 4:10,14).

7:39 later to receive. God fully gave the Spirit to permanently indwell all believers after Jesus completed his mission (20:22; Acts 2:1–4). glorified. See note on 12:23.

7:40–41 the Prophet . . . the Messiah. Some Jews thought of these as two separate individuals (1:19–21), but Jesus is both. See notes on 1:20; 6:14.

7:41 from Galilee. Some Jews thought that Jesus was a Galilean and that the Messiah would be a descendant of David (2 Sam 7:12–16; Ps 89:3–4; Isa 9:7) and born in Bethlehem (Mic 5:2; Matt 2:1). They do not realize the irony: Jesus was “a descendant of David” (Rom 1:3; see Matt 2:1, 5–6) and born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:4,15).

7:43 divided. See 9:16; 10:19.

7:44 no one laid a hand on him. Because his hour had not yet come (see note on 2:4; see also 8:20).

7:45 The Jewish leaders had already authorized an official arrest warrant (v. 32).

7:45–52 Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders. The confrontational exchanges at the Festival of Tabernacles (vv. 14–44) lead to the first organized opposition from the Jewish authorities.

7:46 The guards speak truer than they know since Jesus is not merely a human being but the incarnate Word (1:14) whose every word and deed reveals the Father (5:19–30; 8:28–29).

7:47–48 The sneering question from the Pharisees (v. 47) mocks the guards not as police officers who should follow orders, but as Levites (see note on v. 32) who should follow the religious authorities and not be seduced by an imposter who does not deceive the real thinkers. The irony is threefold: (1) The Pharisees imply that no leader believes in Jesus, yet the Pharisee Nicodemus (3:1), “Israel’s teacher” (3:10), is about to speak on Jesus’ behalf (v. 51; cf. 12:42). (2) The Pharisees require the people to observe their law, but Nicodemus is about to highlight their own disregard for their law in this instance (v. 51; cf. Deut 1:16–17; 19:18). (3) The Jewish leaders boast that they have not been duped, but the substance of their boasting is precisely what has duped them (cf. Matt 11:25; 1 Cor 1:26–31).

7:49 knows nothing. The religious leaders view the common people condescendingly, presuming that they are easily deceived because they are ignorant. John’s irony continues to quietly chuckle in the background.

7:51 A procedural point that would work in Jesus’ favor. See note on vv. 47–48.

7:52 The Pharisees are frustrated and wrong: Jonah (and possibly Nahum and other prophets) came from Galilee. See note on v. 41.

7:53—8:11 The Woman Caught in Adultery. See bracketed and italicized NIV text after v. 52. Although this story probably recounts a real event from Jesus’ life, it almost certainly was not originally part of John’s Gospel. Modern English versions set it off from the rest of the text because these verses are absent from virtually all early Greek manuscripts we possess.