1After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. 2Now the Jewish Feast of Booths was at hand. 3His brothers therefore said to Him, Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You do. 4For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, make Yourself known to the world. 5For neither did His brothers believe into Him. 6Then Jesus said to them, My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7The world cannot hate you; but it hates Me because I bear witness of it that its works are evil. 8You go up to the feast. I am not yet going up to the feast, for My time has not yet been fulfilled. 9When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee. 10But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. 11Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, Where is He? 12And there was much murmuring among the people concerning Him. Some said, He is good; others said, No, rather, He leads the multitudes astray. 13However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. 14Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. 15And the Jews marveled, saying, How does this Man know letters, having never studied? 16Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak out of Myself. 18He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and unrighteousness is not in Him. 19Did not Moses give you the Law, yet none of you keeps the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me? 20The people answered and said, You have a demon. Who seeks to kill You? 21Jesus answered and said to them, I did one work, and you all marvel. 22Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the Law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? 24Do not judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment. 25Then some of them from Jerusalem said, Is this not He whom they seek to kill? 26But behold, He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Perhaps the rulers truly know that this is truly the Christ? 27However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from. 28Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come from Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me. 30Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31And many out of the crowd believed into Him, and said, When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done? 32The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. 33Then Jesus said to them, I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. 34You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you are not able to come. 35Then the Jews said among themselves, Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? He does not intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does He? 36What is this thing that He said, You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you are not able to come? 37On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38He who believes into Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. 39But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing into Him were about to receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. 40Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, Truly this is the Prophet. 41Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Christ does not come out of Galilee. 42Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was? 43So there was a division in the crowd because of Him. 44And some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him. 45Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, Why have you not brought Him? 46The officers answered, No man ever spoke like this Man. 47Then the Pharisees answered them, Have you not also been led astray? 48Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed into Him? 49But this crowd that does not know the Law is accursed. 50Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, 51Does our Law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he does? 52They answered and said to him, Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee. 53And each one went to his own house.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 CHRIST AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. (John 7:1-53)
After these things--that is, all that is recorded after
Jn 5:18.
walked in Galilee--continuing His labors there, instead of going to Judea, as might have been expected.
sought to kill him--referring back to
Jn 5:18. Hence it appears that our Lord did not attend the Passover mentioned in
Jn 6:4 --being the third since His ministry began, if the feast mentioned in
Jn 5:1 was a Passover.
2 feast of tabernacles . . . at hand--This was the last of the three annual festivals, celebrated on the fifteenth of the seventh month (September). (See
Kpł 23:33, &c.;
Pwt 16:13, &c.;
Neh 8:14-
Neh 8:18).
3 His brethren said--(See on
Mt 13:54-
Mt 13:56).
Depart . . . into Judea, &c.--In
Jn 7:5 this speech is ascribed to their unbelief. But as they were in the "upper room" among the one hundred and twenty disciples who waited for the descent of the Spirit after the Lord's ascension (
Dz 1:14), they seem to have had their prejudices removed, perhaps after His resurrection. Indeed here their language is more that of strong prejudice and suspicion (such as near relatives, even the best, too frequently show in such cases), than from unbelief. There was also, probably, a tincture of vanity in it. "Thou hast many disciples in Judea; here in Galilee they are fast dropping off; it is not like one who advances the claims Thou dost to linger so long here, away from the city of our solemnities, where surely 'the kingdom of our father David' is to be set up: 'seeking,' as Thou dost, 'to be known openly,' those miracles of Thine ought not to be confined to this distant corner, but submitted at headquarters to the inspection of 'the world.'" (See
Ps 69:8, "I am become a stranger to my brethren, an alien unto my mother's children!")
6 My time is not yet come--that is, for showing Himself to the world.
your time is always ready--that is "It matters little when we go up, for ye have no great plans in life, and nothing hangs upon your movements. With Me it is otherwise; on every movement of Mine there hangs what ye know not. The world has no quarrel with you, for ye bear no testimony against it, and so draw down upon yourselves none of its wrath; but I am here to lift up My voice against its hypocrisy, and denounce its abominations; therefore it cannot endure Me, and one false step might precipitate its fury on its Victim's head before the time. Away, therefore, to the feast as soon as it suits you; I follow at the fitting moment, but 'My time is not yet full come.'"
10 then went he . . . not openly--not "in the (caravan) company" [MEYER]. See on
Łk 2:44.
as it were in secret--rather, "in a manner secretly"; perhaps by some other route, and in a way not to attract notice.
11 Jews--the rulers.
sought him--for no good end.
Where is He?--He had not been at Jerusalem for probably a year and a half.
12 much murmuring--buzzing.
among the people--the multitudes; the natural expression of a Jewish writer, indicating without design the crowded state of Jerusalem at this festival [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].
a good man . . . Nay . . . deceiveth the people--the two opposite views of His claims, that they were honest, and that they were an imposture.
13 none spake openly of him--that is, in His favor, "for fear of the [ruling] Jews."
14 about the midst of the feast--the fourth or fifth day of the eight, during which it lasted.
went up into the temple and taught--The word denotes formal and continuous teaching, as distinguished from mere casual sayings. This was probably the first time that He did so thus openly in Jerusalem. He had kept back till the feast was half through, to let the stir about Him subside, and entering the city unexpectedly, had begun His "teaching" at the temple, and created a certain awe, before the wrath of the rulers had time to break it.
15 How knoweth . . . letters--learning (
Dz 26:24).
having never learned--at any rabbinical school, as Paul under Gamaliel. These rulers knew well enough that He had not studied under any human teacher--an important admission against ancient and modern attempts to trace our Lord's wisdom to human sources [MEYER]. Probably His teaching on this occasion was expository, manifesting that unrivalled faculty and depth which in the Sermon on the Mount had excited the astonishment of all.
16 doctrine . . . not mine, &c.--that is, from Myself unauthorized; I am here by commission.
17 If any man will do his will, &c.--"is willing," or "wishes to do."
whether . . . of God, or . . . of myself--from above or from beneath; is divine or an imposture of Mine. A principle of immense importance, showing, on the one hand, that singleness of desire to please God is the grand inlet to light on all questions vitally affecting one's eternal interests, and on the other, that the want of his, whether perceived or not, is the chief cause of infidelity amidst the light of revealed religion.
18 seeketh his own glory--(See on
Jn 5:41-
Jn 5:44).
19 Did not Moses, &c.--that is, In opposing Me ye pretend zeal for Moses, but to the spirit and end of that law which he gave ye are total strangers, and in "going about to kill Me" ye are its greatest enemies.
20 The people answered, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?--This was said by the multitude, who as yet had no bad feeling to Jesus, and were not in the secret of the plot hatching, as our Lord knew, against Him.
21 I have done one work, &c.--Taking no notice of the popular appeal, as there were those there who knew well enough what He meant, He recalls His cure of the impotent man, and the murderous rage it had kindled (
Jn 5:9,
Jn 5:16,
Jn 5:18). It may seem strange that He should refer to an event a year and a half old, as if but newly done. But their present attempt "to kill Him" brought up the past scene vividly, not only to Him, but without doubt to them, too, if indeed they had ever forgotten it; and by this fearless reference to it, exposing their hypocrisy and dark designs, He gave His position great moral strength.
22 Moses . . . gave unto you circumcision, &c.--Though servile work was forbidden on the sabbath, the circumcision of males on that day (which certainly was a servile work) was counted no infringement of the Law. How much less ought fault to be found with One who had made a man "every whit whole"--or rather, "a man's entire body whole"--on the sabbath-day? What a testimony to the reality of the miracle, none daring to meet the bold appeal.
24 Judge not, &c.--that is, Rise above the letter into the spirit of the law.
25 some of them of Jerusalem--the citizens, who, knowing the long-formed purpose of the rulers to put Jesus to death, wondered that they were now letting Him teach openly.
26 Do the rulers know, &c.--Have they got some new light in favor of His claims?
27 Howbeit we know this man, &c.--This seems to refer to some current opinion that Messiah's origin would be mysterious (not altogether wrong), from which they concluded that Jesus could not be He, since they knew all about His family at Nazareth.
28 cried Jesus--in a louder tone, and more solemn, witnessing style than usual.
Ye both, &c.--that is, "Yes, ye know both Myself and My local parentage, and (yet) I am not come of Myself."
but he that sent me is true, &c.--Probably the meaning is, "He that sent Me is the only real Sender of any one."
30 sought to take . . . none laid hands--their impotence being equal to their malignity.
31 When Christ cometh, will he, &c.--that is, If this be not the Christ, what can the Christ do, when He does come, which has not been anticipated and eclipsed by this man? This was evidently the language of friendly persons, overborne by their spiteful superiors, but unable to keep quite silent.
32 heard that the people murmured--that mutterings to this effect were going about, and thought it high time to stop Him if He was not to be allowed to carry away the people.
33 Yet a little while, &c.--that is, "Your desire to be rid of Me will be for you all too soon fulfilled. Yet a little while and we part company--for ever; for I go whither ye cannot come: nor, even when ye at length seek Him whom ye now despise, shall ye be able to find Him"--referring not to any penitential, but to purely selfish cries in their time of desperation.
35 Whither will he go, &c.--They cannot comprehend Him, but seem awed by the solemn grandeur of His warning. He takes no notice, however, of their questions.
37 the last day, that great day of the feast--the eighth (
Kpł 23:39). It was a sabbath, the last feast day of the year, and distinguished by very remarkable ceremonies. "The generally joyous character of this feast broke out on this day into loud jubilation, particularly at the solemn moment when the priest, as was done on every day of this festival, brought forth, in golden vessels, water from the stream of Siloah, which flowed under the temple-mountain, and solemnly poured it upon the altar. Then the words of
Iz 12:3 were sung, With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of Salvation, and thus the symbolical reference of this act, intimated in
Jn 7:39, was expressed" [OLSHAUSEN]. So ecstatic was the joy with which this ceremony was performed--accompanied with sound of trumpets--that it used to be said, "Whoever had not witnessed it had never seen rejoicing at all" [LIGHTFOOT].
Jesus stood--On this high occasion, then, He who had already drawn all eyes upon Him by His supernatural power and unrivalled teaching--"JESUS stood," probably in some elevated position.
and cried--as if making proclamation in the audience of all the people.
If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink!--What an offer! The deepest cravings of the human spirit are here, as in the Old Testament, expressed by the figure of "thirst," and the eternal satisfaction of them by "drinking." To the woman of Samaria He had said almost the same thing, and in the same terms (
Jn 4:13-
Jn 4:14). But what to her was simply affirmed to her as a fact, is here turned into a world-wide proclamation; and whereas there, the gift by Him of the living water is the most prominent idea--in contrast with her hesitation to give Him the perishable water of Jacob's well--here, the prominence is given to Himself as the Well spring of all satisfaction. He had in Galilee invited all the WEARY AND HEAVY-LADEN of the human family to come under His wing and they should find REST (
Mt 11:28), which is just the same deep want, and the same profound relief of it, under another and equally grateful figure. He had in the synagogue of Capernaum (
Jn 6:36) announced Himself, in every variety of form, as "the BREAD of Life," and as both able and authorized to appease the "HUNGER," and quench the "THIRST," of all that apply to Him. There is, and there can be, nothing beyond that here. But what was on all those occasions uttered in private, or addressed to a provincial audience, is here sounded forth in the streets of the great religious metropolis, and in language of surpassing majesty, simplicity, and grace. It is just Jehovah's ancient proclamation now sounding forth through human flesh, "HO, EVERY ONE THAT THIRSTETH, COME YE TO THE WATERS, AND HE THAT HATH NO MONEY!" &c. (
Iz 55:1). In this light we have but two alternatives; either to say with Caiaphas of Him that uttered such words, "He is guilty of death," or falling down before Him to exclaim with Thomas, " MY LORD AND MY GOD!"
38 as the scripture hath said--These words belong to what follows, "Out of his belly, as the scripture hath said, shall flow," &c. referring not to any particular passage, but to such as
Iz 58:11;
Jl 3:18;
Za 14:8;
Eze 47:1-
Eze 47:12; in most of which the idea is that of waters issuing from beneath the temple, to which our Lord compares Himself and those who believe in Him.
out of his belly--that is, his inner man, his soul, as in
Prz 20:27.
rivers of living water--(See on
Jn 4:13). It refers primarily to the copiousness, but indirectly also to the diffusiveness, of this living water to the good of others.
39 this spake he of the Spirit--who, by His direct personal agency, opens up this spring of living waters in the human spirit (
Jn 3:6), and by His indwelling in the renewed soul ensures their unfailing flow.
they that believe, &c.--As the Holy Ghost is, in the redemption of man, entirely at the service of Christ, as His Agent, so it is only in believing connection with Christ that any one "receives" the Spirit.
for the Holy Ghost was not yet given--Beyond all doubt the word "given," or some similar word, is the right supplement. In
Jn 16:7 the Holy Ghost is represented not only as the gift of Christ, but a gift the communication of which was dependent upon His own departure to the Father. Now as Christ was not yet gone, so the Holy Ghost was not yet given.
Jesus not yet glorified--The word "glorified" is here used advisedly, to teach the reader not only that the departure of Christ to the Father was indispensable to the giving of the Spirit, but that this illustrious Gift, direct from the hands of the ascended Saviour, was God's intimation to the world that He whom it had cast out, crucified, and slain, was "His Elect, in whom His soul delighted," and that it was through the smiting of that Rock that the waters of the Spirit--for which the Church was waiting, and with pomp at the feast of tabernacles proclaiming its expectation--had gushed forth upon a thirsty world.
40 Many . . . when they heard this . . . said, Of a truth, &c.--The only wonder is they did not all say it. "But their minds were blinded."
41 Others said, This is the Christ--(See on
Jn 1:21).
Shall Christ come out of Galilee?
42 scripture said . . . of the seed of David, and out of . . . Bethlehem, &c.--We accept this spontaneous testimony to our David-descended, Bethlehem-born Saviour. Had those who gave it made the inquiry which the case demanded, they would have found that Jesus "came out of Galilee" (
Jn 7:41) and "out of Bethlehem" both, alike in fulfilment of prophecy as in point of fact. (
Mt 2:23;
Mt 4:13-
Mt 4:16).
44 would have taken him; but, &c.--(See on
Jn 7:30).
45 Then came the officers--"sent to take him" (
Jn 7:32).
Why . . . not brought him?--already thirsting for their Victim, and thinking it an easy matter to seize and bring Him.
46 Never man spake like this man--Noble testimony of unsophisticated men! Doubtless they were strangers to the profound intent of Christ's teaching, but there was that in it which by its mysterious grandeur and transparent purity and grace, held them spellbound. No doubt it was of God that they should so feel, that their arm might be paralyzed, as Christ's hour was not yet come; but even in human teaching there has sometimes been felt such a divine power, that men who came to kill them (for example, ROWLAND HISS) have confessed to all that they were unmanned.
47 ye also deceived--In their own servants this seemed intolerable.
48 any of the rulers or . . . Pharisees believed--"Many of them" did, including Nicodemus and Joseph, but not one of these had openly "confessed Him" (
Jn 12:42), and this appeal must have stung such of them as heard it to the quick.
49 But this people--literally, "multitude," meaning the ignorant rabble. (Pity these important distinctions, so marked in the original of this Gospel, should not be also in our version.)
knoweth not the law--that is, by school learning, which only subverted it by human traditions.
are cursed--a cursed set (a kind of swearing at them, out of mingled rage and scorn).
50 Nicodemus--reappearing to us after nearly three years' absence from the history, as a member of the council, probably then sitting.
51 Doth our law, &c.--a very proper, but all too tame rejoinder, and evidently more from pressure of conscience than any design to pronounce positively in the case. "The feebleness of his defense of Jesus has a strong contrast in the fierceness of the rejoinders of the Pharisees" [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].
52 thou of Galilee--in this taunt expressing their scorn of the party. Even a word of caution, or the gentlest proposal to inquire before condemning, was with them equivalent to an espousal of the hated One.
Search . . . out of Galilee . . . no prophet--Strange! For had not Jonah (of Gath-hepher) and even Elijah (of Thisbe) arisen out of Galilee? And there it may be more, of whom we have no record. But rage is blind, and deep prejudice distorts all facts. Yet it looks as if they were afraid of losing Nicodemus, when they take the trouble to reason the point at all. It was just because he had "searched," as they advised him, that he went the length even that he did.
53 every man went unto his own home--finding their plot could not at that time be carried into effect. Is your rage thus impotent, ye chief priests?
