John 7 - CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible

7:3 Theodore of Mopsuestia: [Christ’s half] brothers, being led by their human thoughts, spoke these words to him. They wanted him to reveal himself before everybody through his signs so that they might also be glorified through him. They did not possess a perfect faith in him if they believed that he needed to reveal himself completely before everybody concerning the nature hidden in him and that he had to be exalted over everybody. Commentary on John 3 (7:1–5).

7:16 Cyril of Alexandria: Jesus says that his teaching belongs to God the Father either because Jesus’s teaching is exactly like that of God the Father or because Jesus himself is the wisdom of the Father, through which the Father speaks and orders all things. Commentary on the Gospel of John 4.5.

7:21 Augustine: [A]ll that they saw going on in the world was of his working, but they did not see him who made all things. But he did one thing—he made a man whole on the sabbath day—and they were all in commotion. They almost seem to imply that if any one of them had recovered from a disease on the sabbath, it was someone else who had made them well rather than he who had offended them by making one man whole on the sabbath. Tractates on the Gospel of John 30.3.

7:22-23 Irenaeus: The Lord reproved those who unjustly blamed him for having healed on the sabbath days. For he did not make void but fulfilled the law by performing the offices of the high priest, propitiating God for people, and cleansing the lepers, healing the sick and himself suffering death, that exiled people might go forth from condemnation and might return without fear to their own inheritance. Against Heresies 4.8.2.

7:24 Augustine: It requires a lot of work in this world to stay clear of the vice our Lord has noted in this place. It is difficult to maintain sound judgment and to stop judging by appearances. His admonition to the Jews is an admonition to us as well. . . . Let us not judge, then, by appearances, but hold to sound judgment. But who is it who does not judge according to appearances? It is the one who loves [all] equally. When there is equal love for all, then we do not accept people on the basis of who they are. We are not talking about a situation where we honor people in a different way because of their different degrees of status. This is not an instance where we should be afraid that we are accepting people on the basis [of who they are]. For instance, there may be a case to decide between father and son. We should not put the son on an equal footing with the father in point of honor. But, in respect of truth, if the son has the better cause, we should give him the preference. In this way we give each their due so that justice does not destroy merit. Tractates on the Gospel of John 30.7–8.

7:33-34 Cyril of Alexandria: Here Jesus is saying: I was sent to give you life, and with long suffering to bring back to God those who had stumbled through sin. I came to remove death which had fallen upon human nature because of transgression. I came to instill the divine and heavenly light in those in darkness and, moreover, to preach the gospel to the poor, to give recovery of sight to the blind, to preach deliverance to the captives, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. But, since it seems good to you in your senselessness to drive away the one who offers you such a rich bounty of heavenly goods, after a little while I will take myself back to him from whom I came, and you shall repent. Then, consumed by unavailing hindsight you will weep bitterly for yourselves and while you eagerly look to find the giver of life, you shall not be able to enjoy the one for whom you long. Having once turned aside and departed from my love towards you, I shall wholly deny you that which you seek. Commentary on the Gospel of John 5.1.

7:38 Theodore of Mopsuestia: Clearly they referred the words, “As the Scripture has said,” to the sentence following and began to ask where “shall flow streams of living water” is written. But the phrase rather should be referred to the previous sentence. Since in the holy books there are many prophecies about the Messiah, as he had already said in another passage. Jesus, inciting every person to faith in him, means: Anyone who follows the Scriptures and believes in me will be filled by grace, and it will not only be like a river that never dries up but will also flow out of him, so that it may provide not only for him but for many others. And so the apostles, after they received the Spirit, provided for many others thanks to the gift they had received. Commentary on John 3.7.37–39.

7:45-49 Cyril of Alexandria: The chief priests and Pharisees, fearing that the people of the Jews might be persuaded by the Savior’s words, send out officers to arrest him. They think that if Christ were out of the way they might no longer be concerned with him. But what they suspected might happen to the people actually happens to those whom they sent to arrest Jesus. Moreover, the chief priests and Pharisees shudder to hear a report from their own officers that contradicts them: “No man ever spoke like this man!” . . . In essence the officers are saying, “It is unreasonable for you to blame us for not being able to arrest Jesus, for how could one arrest a man who by his words possesses divine nature? For he spoke not as a man, nor were his words befitting man, but they unmistakably belong to one who is God by nature.” Commentary on the Gospel of John 5.2.

7:50-52 Augustine: Nicodemus indeed knew, or rather believed, that if only they were willing to give [Jesus] a patient hearing, they would perhaps become like those who were sent to take him but preferred to believe [see Vv. 45-48]. They answered, from the prejudice of their heart, what they had answered to those officers, “Are you also a Galilean?” that is, one seduced as it were by the Galilean. Tractates on the Gospel of John 33.2.