John 7

Jesus teaches at the feast of Tabernacles

After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea, where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death.a ²But soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters, ³and Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles!

⁴You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!” ⁵For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.b ⁶Jesus replied, “Now is not the right time for me to go, but you can go anytime.c

⁷The world can’t hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of doing evil.d ⁸You go on. I’m not going to this festival, because my time has not yet come.” ⁹After saying these things, Jesus remained in Galilee.

¹⁰But after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view. ¹¹The Jewish leaders tried to find him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen him. ¹²There was a lot of grumbling about him among the crowds. Some argued, “He’s a good man,” but others said, “He’s nothing but a fraud who deceives the people.” ¹³But no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders.

¹⁴Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach. ¹⁵The people were surprised when they heard him. “How does he know so much when he hasn’t been trained?” they asked. ¹⁶So Jesus told them, “My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me.e

¹⁷Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own.f ¹⁸Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies.g ¹⁹Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it! In fact, you are trying to kill me.” ²⁰The crowd replied, “You’re demon possessed! Who’s trying to kill you?” ²¹Jesus replied, “I did one miracle on the Sabbath, and you were amazed.

²²But you work on the Sabbath, too, when you obey Moses’ law of circumcision. (Actually, this tradition of circumcision began with the patriarchs, long before the law of Moses.) ²³For if the correct time for circumcising your son falls on the Sabbath, you go ahead and do it so as not to break the law of Moses. So why should you be angry with me for healing a man on the Sabbath? ²⁴Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.”h

Is this the Christ?

²⁵Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem started to ask each other, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? ²⁶But here he is, speaking in public, and they say nothing to him. Could our leaders possibly believe that he is the Messiah? ²⁷But how could he be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, he will simply appear; no one will know where he comes from.” ²⁸While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he called out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I come from. But I’m not here on my own. The one who sent me is true, and you don’t know him.

²⁹But I know him because I come from him, and he sent me to you.” ³⁰Then the leaders tried to arrest him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. ³¹Many among the crowds at the Temple believed in him. “After all,” they said, “would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?” ³²When the Pharisees heard that the crowds were whispering such things, they and the leading priests sent Temple guards to arrest Jesus.

³³But Jesus told them, “I will be with you only a little longer. Then I will return to the one who sent me. ³⁴You will search for me but not find me. And you cannot go where I am going.” ³⁵The Jewish leaders were puzzled by this statement. “Where is he planning to go?” they asked. “Is he thinking of leaving the country and going to the Jews in other lands? Maybe he will even teach the Greeks!

³⁶What does he mean when he says, ‘You will search for me but not find me,’ and ‘You cannot go where I am going’?”

Rivers of living water

³⁷On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!i ³⁸Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”j ³⁹(When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)k

Division among the crowd

⁴⁰When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.” ⁴¹Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? ⁴²For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.”l ⁴³So the crowd was divided about him.

⁴⁴Some even wanted him arrested, but no one laid a hand on him.

The leaders refuse to believe

⁴⁵When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” ⁴⁶“We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded. ⁴⁷“Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked.

⁴⁸“Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? ⁴⁹This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them!” ⁵⁰Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up.

⁵¹“Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked.m ⁵²They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself—no prophet ever comes from Galilee!”n ⁵³[The most ancient Greek manuscripts do not include John 7:53–8:11.] Then the meeting broke up, and everybody went home.