Jesus has recently healed a man on the Sabbath and drawn the ire of the Jewish leaders. Now the
Feast of Tabernacles draws near.
John 7: 1-9, Avoiding the Feast of Tabernacles
After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus' brothers said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world." For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come." Having said this, he stayed in Galilee.
The brothers of Jesus seem to taunt him, telling him to show himself. But Jesus refuses, insistent that there is an importance of timing....
John 7: 10-20, Appearance at the Feast
However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, "Where is that man?"
Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, "He is a good man." Others replied, "No, he deceives the people." But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews.
Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.
The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?"
Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"
"You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?"
There is confusion and dissension among the crowd. Among a variety of claims about him, good and bad, is the claim that he is demon-possessed. This reflect the other gospel writers' reports that Pharisees attributed his healings to the work of the devil.
John 7: 21-24, The Sabbath
Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath?
Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."
The accusations continue around a previous Sabbath healing.
John 7: 25-27, Where will the Christ come from?
At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, "Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from."
The people apparently believed the Messiah must come from an unknown source, a surprise.
John 7: 28-31, The true origins of Jesus
Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me."
At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, "When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?"
Some believe in Jesus because they cannot imagine the Messiah doing more than Jesus has been doing. The gospel writer again emphasizes timing; it is not yet time for the authorities to apprehend Jesus.
John 7: 32-36, Pharisees on the move
The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
Jesus said, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come."
The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? What did he mean when he said, `You will look for me, but you will not find me,' and `Where I am, you cannot come'?"
As the Pharisees make plans to arrest Jesus, Jesus announces that he will return to the Father. This confuses the crowds, who wonder if he will run away, into the "Greek" lands. As Jesus has always been friendly to the Gentiles, this is a reasonable guess.
John 7: 37-39, Living Water
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Jesus had offered eternal Fresh Water to the woman in Samaria. Now he makes his claim more public, telling everyone that they can come to him and never thirst again. This eternal flowing water is the Holy Spirit that will flow through those who believe in, follow Jesus.
John 7: 40-43, A people divided
On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet." Others said, "He is the Christ." Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?"
Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.
The Messiah was to be a descendant of David, presumably from the city of David, Bethlehem. Since Jesus grew up in Galilee, the people didn't see him as meeting that prophetic requirement. But both Matthew and Luke report Jesus's birth in Bethlehem and give a lineage to David.
John 7: 44-49, Guards delayed
Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?"
"No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared.
"You mean he has deceived you also?" the Pharisees retorted. "Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law--there is a curse on them."
The Pharisees scold the temple guards for being so concerned about the populous.
John 7: 50-53, Nicodemus expresses support
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, "Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?"
They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee." Then each went to his own home.
The Pharisees don't respond to the question of Nicodemus. Instead they ridicule him. That seems to be their pat response to challenges to their authority.