John - Chapter 7

Jesus goes up to Jerusalem

^{1 ①} After this Jesus went around Galilee; he would not go about in Judea because the Jews wanted to kill him. ²Now the Jewish feast of the Tents was at hand. ³So the brothers of Jesus said to him, “Don’t stay here; go instead to Judea and let your disciples see the works you are doing. ⁴Anyone who wants to be known doesn’t work secretly. Since you are able to do these things, show yourself to the world.”

⁵His brothers spoke like this because they didn’t believe in him. ⁶Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.

⁷The world cannot hate you; but it hates me because I bear witness and I show that its deeds are evil. ⁸Go up to the feast! I am not going to this feast, because my time has not yet come.”

⁹Jesus spoke like this and remained in Galilee. ¹⁰But after his brothers had gone to the festival, he also went up, not publicly but in secret. ¹¹The Jews were looking for him at the festival and asked, “Where is he?” ¹²There was a lot of talk about him among the people. Some said, “He is a good man,” but others replied, “No, he is misleading the people.” ¹³For fear of the Jews no one spoke openly about him.

¹⁴When the festival was half over, Jesus went to the Temple and began to teach. ¹⁵The Jews marveled and said, “How is it that he knows Scriptures when he has had no teacher?”

¹⁶And Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but it comes from the One who sent me. ¹⁷Anyone who does the will of God shall know whether my teaching is from God or whether I speak on my own authority.

¹⁸Those who speak on their own authority wish to gain honor for themselves. But the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is truthful and there is no reason to doubt him.”

¹⁹Moses gave you the Law, didn’t he? But none of you keep the Law. Why, then, do you want to kill me?” ²⁰The people replied, “You have a demon; who wants to kill you?” ²¹Jesus said to them, “I performed just one deed, and you are all astounded by it. ²²But remember the circumcision ordered by Moses – actually it was not Moses but the ancestors who began this practice. You circumcise a man even on the Sabbath, ²³and you would break the Law if you refused to do so because of the Sabbath. How is it, then, that you are indignant with me because I healed the whole person on the Sabbath? ²⁴Do not judge by appearances, but according to what is right.”

^{25 ②} Some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Is this not the man they want to kill? ²⁶And here he is speaking freely, and they don’t say a word to him? Can it be that the rulers know that this is really the Christ? ²⁷Yet we know where this man comes from; but when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.”

²⁸So Jesus announced in a loud voice in the Temple court where he was teaching, “You say that you know me and know where I come from! I have not come of myself; I was sent by the One who is true, and you don’t know him. ²⁹I know him for I come from him and he sent me.”

³⁰They would have arrested him, but no one laid hands on him because his time had not yet come. ³¹Many people in the crowd, however, believed in him and said, “When the Christ comes, will he give more signs than this man?”

³²The Pharisees heard all these rumors among the people; they and the chief priests sent officers of the temple to arrest him. ³³Jesus then said, “I shall be with you a little longer; after that I shall go to him who sent me. ³⁴You will look for me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.”

³⁵The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go where we shall not find him? Will he go abroad to the Jews dispersed among the Greek nations and teach the Greeks also? ³⁶What does he mean when he says: ‘You will look for me and not find me,’ and: ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”

The promise of living water

^{37 ③} On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “Let anyone who is thirsty, come to me; ³⁸and let the one who believes in me drink, for the Scripture says: Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.”

³⁹Jesus was referring to the Spirit which those who believe in him were to receive; the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet entered into his Glory.

Dispute on the origin of Christ

⁴⁰Many who had been listening to these words began to say, “This is the Prophet.” ⁴¹Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some wondered, “Would the Christ come from Galilee? ⁴²Doesn’t Scripture say that the Christ is a descendant of David and from Bethlehem, the city of David?” ⁴³The crowd was divided over him. ⁴⁴Some wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

⁴⁵The officers of the Temple went back to the chief priests who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?” ⁴⁶The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man.” ⁴⁷The Pharisees then said, “So you, too, have been led astray! ⁴⁸Have any of the rulers or any of the Pharisees be lieved in him? ⁴⁹Only these cursed people, who have no knowledge of the Law!”

⁵⁰Yet one of them, Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier, spoke out, ⁵¹“Does our law condemn people without first hearing them and knowing the facts?” ⁵²They replied, “Do you, too, come from Galilee? Look it up and see for yourself that no prophet is to come from Galilee.”

⁵³And they all went home.