John 7
John 7 is the seventh chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It recounts Jesus' visit to Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles, the possibility of his arrest and debate as to whether he is the Messiah. The author of the book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that John composed this Gospel. Alfred Plummer, in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, describes this chapter as "very important for the estimate of the fourth Gospel. In it the scene of the Messianic crisis shifts from Galilee to Jerusalem; and, as we should naturally expect, the crisis itself becomes hotter. The divisions, the doubts, the hopes, the jealousies, and the casuistry of the Jews are vividly portrayed." to is sometimes referred to as the "Tabernacles Discourse". Raymond E. Brown describes the Tabernacles Discourse as "a polemic collection of what Jesus said in replies to attacks by the Jewish authorities on his claims".
Text
The original text was written in Koine Greek. Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:- Papyrus 75
- Papyrus 66
- Codex Vaticanus
- Codex Sinaiticus
- Codex Bezae
- Codex Alexandrinus
- Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus
Old Testament references
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Sub-divisions
- = Jesus’ Brothers Disbelieve
- = The Heavenly Scholar
- = Could This Be the Christ?
- = Jesus and the Religious Leaders
- = The Promise of the Holy Spirit
- = Who Is He?
- = Rejected by the Authorities
- = An Adulteress Faces the Light of the World
The unbelief of Jesus’ brothers (verses 1–9)
Verse 1
Chapter 7 opens in Galilee, where the events and discourses of the previous chapter have taken place. In Galilee, Jesus had taught in the synagogue at Capernaum, but many people including many of his own disciples, had refused to believe. implies that nevertheless Jesus felt safe in Galilee, whereas in Judea or "Jewry", the Jews wanted to kill Jesus. He probably did not go to Jerusalem for the Passover mentioned in, although theologian John Gill suggested that "he went to Jerusalem, to keep the passover; and finding that the Jews still sought to take away his life, he returned to Galilee, and 'walked' there".Chapters 5, 6 and 7 all commence with the words μετα ταυτα, "after these things", "a typical Johannine transition".
Verse 3
The "brothers", unlike the "disciples", are still unbelievers. Plummer notes that He observes the bluntness of the suggestion in verse 3, Depart from here, "given almost as a command", which "shews that they presumed upon their near relationship. It would be more natural in the mouths of men older than Christ, and therefore is in favour of their being sons of Joseph by a former marriage".Verse 4
Johann Bengel describes the brothers' reasoning as a use of the rhetorical device diasyrmus. Irish Archbishop John McEvilly sees "selfish motives" in their pressing Jesus to go south.Verse 6
"My time" equates to "my hour" in John 2:4, which had also at that point "not yet come". The Jerusalem Bible notes that "this 'hour', the hour of his glorification and his return to his Father, is determined by the Father and can be anticipated". See also verse 8:Verse 8
Plummer suggests that "'this' is wanting in authority; we should read, 'go ye up unto the feast'".Feast of Tabernacles (verses 10–52)
Jesus does then go to Jerusalem for the feast. The evangelist unfolds his attendance in three steps:- He initially directs that his brothers will attend but He will remain in Galilee
- Afterwards he does go to Jerusalem, "not openly, but as it were in secret"
- "But when the middle feast day came, Jesus went up into the temple, and taught".
Verses 15-17
When Jesus began to teach in the Temple, he was perceived as being uneducated and yet learned, not having received rabbinical, priestly or Sadduceean training, but "knowing his letters", γράμματα not meaning "the scriptures" as such but what theologian Heinrich Meyer calls "scriptural erudition". Jesus was known not to have learned through contemporary routes of Jewish learning such as the House of Hillel or the House of Shammai, and it is likely that both the content and the style of his teaching were seen as distinct from the teaching of the "Jews" of these schools, to whom the evangelist refers. "His teaching on this occasion was expository", based on the Hebrew Bible: Albert Barnes writes that "Jesus exhibited in his discourses such a profound acquaintance with the Old Testament as to excite amazement and admiration" of other learned scholars, but He explains that His teaching is not His own, "but His who sent Me". Jesus does not disown His teaching, but He does not claim to be its originator or its authority:The evangelist has already referred to four witnesses to the validity of Jesus' testimony, and now adds that anyone who wants to do God's will know the authority of His teaching.
Learned discussion on Laws
In a discussion which demonstrates this point to the learned Jews, Jesus then refers to the Mosaic law, and to the law and tradition of the patriarchs. The law of circumcision prescribed by Moses originated with God's covenant with Abraham and required every male child to be circumcised on his eighth day. If this day was a Sabbath, the obligation to circumcise that day overrode the obligation to rest on the Sabbath. Jews familiar with both laws would also have been familiar with the rule of precedence between them. But Jesus then refers to the healing at the Temple on the Sabbath day of a man who had had an infirmity for thirty-eight years, on account of which the Jews wanted to kill Jesus :The responses to Jesus' teaching identified in this section are:
- Some people were impressed: "He is good"
- Others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people"
- Discussion is restricted: "no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews"
- Some people marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"
- Some wanted to kill Him
- Some suggested He was "crazy and perhaps paranoid": "You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?"
- Some were angry with Him
- Some recognized Him as the Messiah and believed in Him
- Some denied that He could be the Messiah: "We know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from"
- No one laid a hand on Him, because, "His hour had not yet come".
Jesus' impending departure
Then Jesus said "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come." The evangelist has noted twice in this chapter that Jesus' time has not yet come, but in a little while, the time will come for Jesus to depart. The word in, I go away, is a distinctively Johannine word, used 15 times throughout the gospel. The Pulpit Commentary suggests that "a little while" amounts to six months, as "six months would bring round the last Passover".The statement "You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come" produces consternation and the Jewish scholars suppose that Jesus might be intending to visit the Jews of the diaspora "where our people live scattered among the Greeks", and also to teach the Greeks themselves. According to , "there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven". The Jews therefore contemplate whether Jesus might be planning to visit their home cities and teach in their synagogues. Meyer regards the Jews' supposition as "an insolent and scornful supposition, which they themselves, however, do not deem probable ", non-conformist theologian Philip Doddridge described it as "a sarcasm", and the International Standard Version offers the translation as follows: