Bible Commentaries
John 7

Verse 1

John 7:1

“Jewry” meant the land of Judea. In Judea, the Jews (see notes on John 1:19) were seeking to kill Jesus (Mark 3:6, Luke 6:11, John 5:16). Jesus was willing to follow the Father’s will all the way to the cross, but His time to die had not yet come (John 7:6). Since Jesus had already decided to avoid Samaria (see notes on John 4:4), and in order to stay in Palestine (Matthew 10:5-6, Matthew 15:24, Mark 7:25-30), Galilee was all that was left (see notes on John 4:3).

Verse 2

John 7:2

See Leviticus 23:34, Deuteronomy 16:13-17, and notes on John 5:1.

Verse 3

John 7:3

“His brethren” referred to His mother’s other sons from Joseph ... His half-brothers (Matthew 12:46-47, Mark 3:31, Luke 8:19, Acts 1:14, Galatians 1:19). Jesus has siblings. In Mark 15:40-41, we read that Mary, the mother of James the less, the “Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:19), had a son named Joses and a daughter named Salome, and Mark 15:40 concurs with Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3. In Mark 6:3, we also learn that Jesus had more than one sister.

So, put all of this together, and His brothers’ names are James, Joses, Simon, and Judas (or Jude ... as mentioned in Judges 1:1), and one of His Sister’s names is Salome.

These verses are mentioned, because some scholars believe Jesus was an only child and that Mary remained a virgin. If that were true, why then is Jesus called Mary’s “prototokos” or first-born son in Luke 2:7 and not simply her son?

Verse 4

John 7:4

Jesus’ own brothers (see notes on John 7:3), although likely well intended, were “giving advice” that went outside the will of God for Jesus’ ministry. In the next verse (John 7:5), we learn that His brothers weren’t yet converted.

Ministers should be aware that well meaning people, as well as those that seek the servant’s harm, will give logical council that if followed may damage the mission. Receive instruction, but test everything through the filter of the Holy Spirit. Likewise any person really that has chosen to follow the Lord may be led astray by the words of others, if they are not securely grounded in the Word of God (Luke 21:15, 1 Corinthians 2:5, 1 Corinthians 2:13, James 1:5).

Verse 5

John 7:5

Now we see that Jesus’ own brothers (see notes on John 7:3) didn’t really believe right away that He was the Christ (Matthew 13:57, Mark 6:4, John 4:44).

Verse 6

John 7:6

On other occasions, Jesus spoke prophetically of the cross with the use of the phrase, “my time” (Matthew 26:18, John 2:4). However, here He seems to be referring to His death only in a roundabout way. He is talking about going to the feast, as we see in John 7:8. Apparently Jesus knew that it wasn’t a good time to be out in the open, as He would have to be in order to go to the feast, because the Jews (see notes on John 1:19) were seeking to kill Him (John 7:1). His brothers, on the other hand, were not wanted outlaws, and they could come and go as they pleased.

“Your time is always ready,” because NOW is the time (2 Corinthians 6:2). We ought to live in the now and be ready at any time for what the Lord wants us to do (Romans 1:15, 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 4:2).

Verse 7

John 7:7

Most people dislike hearing negative things about themselves. Those in the darkness don’t want the light turned on their ways, because it will reveal the ugly truth in their lives (John 3:19-20). The truth is; they are stained with sin (2 Peter 2:13), and they are numb to their condition (1 Timothy 4:2). They don’t notice their wickedness (Romans 7:11, Galatians 6:7, 2 Timothy 3:13, Titus 3:3). They even are deceived into thinking that they are good (Hebrews 3:13, 1 John 1:8), but no one is good (Psalms 14:3, Psalms 53:3, Matthew 19:17, Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19, Romans 3:12). They think their good works makes the scales tilt in their favor (Isaiah 64:6). Yet Jesus spoke the truth in love saying, “No man comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He shined a light on their evil, and they hated Him for it. They were slaves to sin, but Jesus came to free us from sin’s bondage (Romans 6:14, Ephesians 5:26-27, 1 John 1:7).

Verse 8

John 7:8

See notes on John 7:6.

Verse 9

John 7:9

He stayed in Galilee despite His brothers’ ideas of what He should do, because His time had not yet come (John 7:1, John 7:6). Sometimes, despite what others are advising us to do, we are led to do the opposite by the Spirit. Jesus was led by the Spirit (Mark 1:12, Luke 2:27, Luke 4:1), and He always did as He was instructed by God (see notes on John 12:49). Let the promptings of the Spirit always trump what may even appear to be sound council from others (Romans 8:14).

Verse 10

John 7:10

After His brothers left, He secretly went to the feast. Since He told His brothers it wasn’t His time (John 7:8), they in all probability thought He meant He was skipping the festival entirely that year rather than be arrested and executed. However, Jesus meant He wasn’t ready to leave at that moment. Once they were gone, He was able to go to the feast also without even His brothers having knowledge that He was there. In that way, when the Jews would ask His brothers of Jesus’ whereabouts (John 7:11), they could truthfully reply that as far as they knew Jesus wasn’t even coming to the feast.

Jesus had a plan to teach during the middle of the feast (John 7:14), and He didn’t want to do it as a sought after outlaw figure. Rather, He simply wanted to teach the Father’s doctrine peaceably.

Verse 11

John 7:11

The Jewish leadership (see notes on John 1:19) thought that a rabbi (John 1:38, John 1:49, John 6:25), a teacher of the law (John 3:2), would certainly be at the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2) as set forth in the Mosaic Law (Deuteronomy 16:13, Leviticus 23:36, Nehemiah 8:18). Consequently, they must have decided not to waste the resources it would take to find Jesus somewhere in Palestine, but rather to wait where He’d likely show up until He came to them. The feast in Jerusalem would surely be such a time and place.

For more on the various feasts, see notes on John 5:1.

Verse 12

John 7:12

Although Jesus had not yet arrived at the feast, He was the center of attention. Look and see that no matter how good your works or correct your doctrine or applicable your teachings, some will still find fault in your ways. As a Christian, what you say and do is under scrutiny. Are you for real or a fraud, they will wonder? Jesus’ ministry was suspect. Don’t be surprised then that your convictions are doubted too. People have been taken in so many times and seen hypocrites so often that it is difficult for them to accept the genuine follower of God.

Verse 13

John 7:13

One would want to enjoy the celebration and not have to be pulled into a hearing or something to be questioned regarding this Jesus (John 5:10-12, John 9:15-34). Moreover, if perceived to be a follower, one might share Jesus’ fate along with Him. It might seem best to the carnal mind, the mind clouded by a sinful nature, to not openly display one’s interest in Jesus. However, to the mind enlightened by the truth of the gospel of Christ, it is unfathomable to keep one’s interest in Jesus a secret (Luke 11:33).

Verse 14

John 7:14

It was an eight day celebration and festival (Leviticus 23:36), so to come in the middle would mean He waited until about the fourth day.

Look at how Jesus didn’t merely attend the feast. He taught at it. Notice too that He could of taught anywhere in Jerusalem, but He chose to teach in the temple (John 18:20, Luke 19:47).

Verse 15

John 7:15

To the natural mind, knowledge comes only by education and education only by the course natural to man, i.e., books and classes led by teachers. Knowing that Jesus didn’t have any “formal education,” they wondered how it is that He came by such a great knowledge of the scriptures. Jesus had encountered this fallacy of reasoning most of His life (Luke 2:46-47).

Verse 16

John 7:16

In other words, Jesus does have a “formal education” (see notes on John 7:15). His training comes from God, the Father. There is no better professor. We too may be taught by God (Job 35:10-14, Job 36:22, Psalms 71:17, Isaiah 48:17, John 6:45, John 16:13, 1 Corinthians 2:13, 1 Thessalonians 4:9, 1 John 2:27, 1 John 5:6), if we are willing to attend the classes (see notes on John 7:17).

Verse 17

John 7:17

When you are doing the will of God, you are closer to Him and can discern what is truly of Him and from Him (Psalms 25:5, John 8:32). Pilate asked Jesus (John 18:38), “What is truth?” The Holy Spirit will lead you into what is true (John 14:17, John 15:26, John 16:13).

Verse 18

John 7:18

Jesus is righteous, that is, He is in complete right-standing with God. His motives are driven by a pure heart that seeks to glorify the Father. If one teaches to receive honor from other people, the motive, and thus what they teach, can be suspect. Seeing though that the motives of Jesus are pure and true, and what he teaches does not serve to glorify Himself, the doctrine He teaches must also be pure and true.

The wonderful thing is, that by accepting Jesus’ truth and submitting to His teachings, we are given His righteousness (see notes on John 2:6, John 3:18, John 16:10, John 17:25).

Verse 19

John 7:19

The Jews (see notes on John 1:19) glorified Moses as a great prophet, and they compared Jesus’ miracle of feeding the multitude (John 6:1-15) to the Manna from Heaven miracle performed during Moses’ ministry (John 6:30-32). They thought Jesus’ food miracle paled in comparison to Moses’ food miracle (John 6:41). They saw ample reason to believe Moses was a prophet from God, but they thought Jesus to be only the son of a carpenter (John 6:42). Jesus reminded them that their great Moses gave them the Law and then He questioned their sincerity by pointing out that all of their belief in the greatness of Moses and the truth of the Law didn’t appear to be motivation enough for them to keep the commandments.

They obviously doubted Jesus’ assertion that they were indeed law breakers. To prove their sinfulness to them, Jesus used the Law and pointed out that their desire to kill Him made them murders already in their hearts (Matthew 5:21-22, 1 John 3:15). Since killing is against the Law (Exodus 20:13), they were breaking the Law. The Law shows us that we are sinners (Romans 3:20, 1 Corinthians 15:56, James 2:9, 1 John 3:4). To break the Law of God is to sin against God (Galatians 3:10, James 2:10, James 4:17).

Verse 20

John 7:20

Writing “the people” instead of “the Jews” showed that John was talking about regular Israelites in this verse and not the Jewish leadership (see notes on John 7:1 and John 1:19). The Jewish leadership (the Jews) was indeed seeking to kill Jesus (Mark 3:6, John 5:16, John 7:25). Although some of the people were aware of the murder plans (John 7:25), most of the people said Jesus was talking crazy, demon-possessed kind of talk (Matthew 17:15-18, Mark 5:2-15). They didn’t want to kill Him.

Verse 21

John 7:21

Notice how Jesus ignored their question and stayed on task in His response. He replied not to the people (see notes on John 7:20), but to the Jews (see notes on John 1:19) whose hearts were full of darkness. The “one work” referred to His healing of the man on the Sabbath in John 5:2-16 (see also John 7:23).

Verse 22

John 7:22

By saying, “Moses gave you circumcision” Jesus meant that Moses included it in the Law (Leviticus 12:3), because the ordinance was much older than Moses. Abraham practiced it (Genesis 17:10-14). The Jewish people kept the Law too, which said the circumcision should take place on the eighth day... even if the eighth day fell on a Sabbath day.

Verse 23

John 7:23

Jesus appealed to their logic. Does it seem consistent that they would think nothing of breaking the Sabbath, a day that even God observes (Genesis 2:2, Exodus 20:11) to keep something Moses wrote, and yet they are deeply concerned that a man was made completely healed on the Sabbath by the Son of God?

Verse 24

John 7:24

Things aren’t always as they appear at first glance. Often it is wise to not act upon first impressions, because with more information, preferably Spirit led, comes better decisions that are rooted in fair and balanced appraisals … not emotions. Emotionally based decisions are soulish in nature (see notes on John 5:42) and are not guided by the Spirit. Judgments made from soulish desires to fulfill the whims of the flesh are carnal and typical of our old sinful nature before we came to Christ. Prayerfully inquire of the Lord instead, and be led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14, Galatians 5:18), then you will make good judgments.

Notice that it is all right to make righteous judgments as led by the Spirit. We are to judge whether something is appropriate or good or right (Matthew 7:16-20, Philippians 4:8). However, there is a difference between making righteous judgments and being judgmental (Matthew 7:1, Luke 6:37, see notes on John 2:24, John 8:14, John 12:47, and look at 1 Corinthians 4:3).

Verse 25

John 7:25

Some of the people were aware of the plot by the Jewish leadership (see notes on John 1:19) to kill Jesus (Mark 3:6, John 5:16, John 7:25), but others were not (see notes on John 7:20). To those whom had been made aware that Jesus was a man sought by the authorities, it seemed incredible that He would come out in the open and then draw attention to Himself (John 7:26) by teaching in such a public gathering (see notes on John 7:2).

Verse 26

John 7:26

The Jews would normally have not only said something to Jesus, they would’ve seized Him. Remember that they wanted to kill Him (John 7:1), and they had been looking for Him at the feast (John 7:11). Why had they not arrested Jesus?

It wasn’t fear of the people’s response that restrained them from taking Jesus. Actually, the people were afraid of the Jews (John 7:13). It was as if the Jews didn’t yet have courage to take Him. The Holy Spirit was protecting Jesus from seizure, because it wasn’t yet time for His arrest (John 7:30). However, the Jews’ hesitation caused the people to wonder if the Jews actually were beginning to believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

Verse 27

John 7:27

Having reason to wonder if the Jews were starting to believe Jesus was the Christ (see notes on John 7:26), the people quickly judged the matter as well. They concluded that they knew Jesus and where He came from, and no one would know what the Messiah’s origins were (see notes on John 6:42). Since they knew Jesus, the people decided He couldn’t be the Christ.

The people didn’t understand the scriptures which plainly foretold where the messiah would come from (Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5, Jeremiah 30:21, Micah 5:2).

Verse 28

John 7:28

Some of the Jerusalem people (John 7:25) were contending that since; they know Jesus is the son of a carpenter, and they know where He grew up, and they are familiar with His family, He couldn’t be the Messiah (see notes on (John 7:27). Consequently, Jesus challenged them with the question, “So... you think you know me and where I’m from?” He added that He came, because someone sent Him. They may not have believed Jesus (John 6:36, John 8:45-46, John 10:38, John 12:44, John 16:9), but they would believe the one that sent Him (John 3:17, John 5:23-24, John 5:30, John 5:36-38, John 6:38-44, John 6:57, John 8:16-18, John 8:29, John 8:42, John 10:36, John 12:49, John 14:24, John 17:21, John 20:21). The trouble is... they don’t know God, the Father (John 8:19, John 8:55, John 14:7, John 15:21-24, John 16:3, John 17:25). If they knew God, they would have believed in Jesus and found eternal life (John 17:3, 1 Corinthians 15:34, 2 Corinthians 4:3-6, 2 Thessalonians 1:8, 1 John 5:12).

Lots of people yet today think that they know Jesus. They believe they have a pretty good understanding about Jesus and that their belief is enough (see notes on John 3:15). True belief though translates into obedience (John 14:15, John 15:10, Romans 1:5, Romans 6:16, Romans 10:16, 2 Corinthians 10:5-6, 1 Peter 1:2, 1 John 2:3, 1 John 3:22, 1 John 5:2-3, Revelation 14:12). Believers change (Romans 12:1-2, Romans 13:12, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:22, Colossians 3:8-9, 2 Timothy 2:19). Many pretended believers that think they are good enough will be disturbed to discover the results of their fallacy (Psalms 6:8, Matthew 7:22-23, Matthew 25:41, Luke 13:27).

Verse 29

John 7:29

However, Jesus told some of the people in Jerusalem (John 7:25) that were challenging His authority to say and do the things He had already accomplished (see notes on John 7:27), that He knows the one that sent Him, because He came from His house (... and He didn’t mean Joseph’s). They didn’t know the Father (see notes on John 7:28), but Jesus does.

Verse 30

John 7:30

Jesus’ words grabbed hold of their cold, hardened hearts, and they wanted Him to stop (John 7:19, John 8:37). They desired to make Him stop, and they were hungry for His blood. As the Lord sent an angel to restrain the mouths of the lions who desired to consume the prophet Daniel (Daniel 6:22), so to our God restrained the sin ravaged beasts that would tear Jesus asunder. Although their arms were still capable of causing death, they found themselves unable to do so. To them, it was inexplicable. To us that believe; it was the protection of God.

Verse 31

John 7:31

Having doubted Jesus to the point of desiring to kill Him for blasphemy (John 7:30, and see notes on John 5:18), and finding themselves in some miraculous way unable to do it (see notes on John 7:30), many people changed their minds about Him.

Verse 32

John 7:32

Seeing that the people were unable to take Jesus (see notes on John 7:30), but were now beginning instead to turn towards belief in Him (see notes on John 7:31), the Jews (see notes on John 1:19) sent the police to take Him.

Verse 33

John 7:33

Speaking to the Jewish leadership, Jesus prophetically proclaimed that He would die soon enough, but not yet (John 7:30). Notice how He told them that they won’t take Him either. He will freely go.

Verse 34

John 7:34

He would go back to His Father (John 7:33). No one comes to the Father except through Jesus (John 14:6). Since they don’t believe in Him, they could not go where He went to.

Verse 35

John 7:35

They asked, “What is He talking about?” They wondered if He was planning on fleeing Palestine to escape the Jews (see notes on John 1:19). Funny thing is... He was standing right in front of them. He wasn’t running, and He wasn’t hiding.

They thought too He might be motivated to flee into the Gentile nations and teach Jewish people in those lands. They hadn’t even considered though that He had come to the temple that day to teach the people there. He wasn’t interested in leaving yet.

Verse 36

John 7:36

They asked the same question again. See notes on John 7:35.

Verse 37

John 7:37

Jesus had come to the feast in the middle of it (John 7:14). The feast was seven days (Leviticus 23:34, Deuteronomy 16:13-17), and then a celebration on the eighth day (Leviticus 23:36), so He came about the third or fourth day. On the eighth day, Jesus stood in the temple and shouted, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”

Verse 38

John 7:38

Jesus was likely referring to Zechariah 14:8. He had already told the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:14, that He will fill us with living water. The point though is that we won’t just contain it. It will flow out of us. There must be an outlet as well as an inlet. With no flow, water grows stagnant and becomes useless in sustaining life.

Verse 39

John 7:39

Spoke what? “Out of his belly shall flow.” What shall flow? The Holy Spirit will flow. From this verse then we learn that,

· The Spirit was given after Jesus was glorified (Acts 2:1-4).

· The Spirit is given to all believers (see note on John 3:15 for what a believer is).

· Once given, the Spirit is intended to flow out of the believers and affect those in unbelief around them. This flow of the Spirit between believer and nonbeliever is intended to quench the spiritual thirst of one wasting away in the drought of their lives without Christ (Isaiah 44:3, Isaiah 58:11, Ezekiel 37:11, John 4:14, John 7:37).

· The Spirit resides in the belly of the believer.

For water to be living; there must be a flow (see notes on John 7:38).

For more on receiving the Holy Spirit, see notes on John 20:22.

Verse 40

John 7:40

Note that just Jesus’ words about the flow of the Spirit to a people not yet filled with the Spirit (see notes on John 20:22) caused some to believe Him to be Christ (John 7:41). If not the Christ, at least the great prophet they understood would come before the Messiah (see notes on John 1:21).

Verse 41

John 7:41

Their question was rooted in a lack of knowledge about Jesus’ birth and formative years as well as spiritual discernment. Although there was no specific prophecy about the Christ hailing from Galilee, there were other places Jesus was associated with that were referenced in prophecies. Actually, there were various prophesies indicating that the Messiah would come from different places. It is true, for example, that it was prophesied the Christ would come from the seed of David (Psalms 132:11, Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5) out of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), and Jesus did (Luke 2:11 and see notes on John 1:11). It was also foretold the Messiah would come out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1), and Jesus fulfilled that one too (Matthew 2:13-15).

Although they could see that Jesus’ impressive miracles made Him appear Christ-like (John 7:31), their prejudice against the Galileans hindered their acceptance of Him as the Christ (John 1:46, John 7:51). If ignorance causes unbelief, truly then people do perish for a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Be careful not to let prejudice and social snobbery hinder your receipt of the truth. Truth is truth no matter who brings it, and God’s chosen are His chosen regardless of where they come from or what they have done in the past (1 Corinthians 1:27).

Verse 42

John 7:42

See notes on John 7:41.

Verse 43

John 7:43

Often times the truth will cut between belief and disbelief separating the wicked from those humbled enough to repent (Matthew 10:34). Even families can become divided over belief in Christ (Matthew 10:34-36, Luke 12:51-53) or how to worship Him.

Verse 44

John 7:44

Some of them wanted to take Him and kill Him, but they didn’t. Was it because they feared what the rest of the people would do? Did they fear judgment from the ruling Roman authorities? No, they were too amazed to take Him (John 7:45-46). Look and see how Jesus’ very words contained power of such a kind as to actually influence even His enemies to not do what they were predisposed to do and naturally inclined to do.

What had He said that was so significant (Proverbs 18:21)? In John 7:37-38 He had spoken of Himself as the source of living water. His words, words of truth and light, had broken through the dark barriers in their hearts and exposed their parched souls. Consequently, they felt thirsty for more. Killing Jesus then would be like throwing dirt and rocks into a well containing the precious water they had found (Genesis 26:15, 2 Kings 3:25).

Verse 45

John 7:45

The Jews (see notes on John 1:19) were waiting for the officers’ return with Jesus in chains, but they were disappointed to find the officers without Him.

Verse 46

John 7:46

See notes on John 7:44.

Verse 47

John 7:47

Shocked and dismayed that the officers the Jews (see notes on John 1:19) sent to carry out their order (in the hopes that they might keep this teacher from infecting more people with what they saw as blasphemous doctrine taught by a radical law breaking rabbi - see notes on John 5:10, John 5:12) was now themselves mesmerized by this man, they proclaim their ignorance and declare their unbelief by categorizing the officers’ actions as the result of crafty deception. The Jews thought the truth was deception and lies were the truth (Isaiah 44:20, Jeremiah 13:25, Amos 2:4, Romans 1:25, James 3:14).

Verse 48

John 7:48

The Jews (see notes on John 1:19) saw their knowledge of the law as wisdom to discern what is true (Proverbs 3:7, Proverbs 26:12, Isaiah 5:21, Isaiah 29:14-19, John 9:41, Romans 1:22, Romans 11:25, Romans 12:16, 1 Corinthians 3:18-20, James 3:13-18), but it was them that were deceived (Matthew 22:29, Titus 3:3); not the ones that believed in Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:20-21, 1 Corinthians 3:19). The Pharisees’ (see notes on John 8:3) “spirituality” wasn’t enough to save them (1 Corinthians 14:37).

Verse 49

John 7:49

The Jews (see notes on John 1:19) actually had convinced themselves that followers of Jesus were deceived (see notes on John 7:48) to the point of falling into a curse.

Verse 50

John 7:50

Nicodemus had exhibited a genuine curiosity for the ways of Jesus (John 3:1-4). It is right and wholesome to act upon one’s belief and defend the Lord’s good name.

Verse 51

John 7:51

Jesus’ accusers used the Law in John 7:48-49 to say those that believe in Jesus are foolish, unlearned and deceived by someone that twists and perverts the law. However, Nicodemus used that same Law to defend Jesus and asked for due process according to the Law (Deuteronomy 1:17, Deuteronomy 17:8-11, Deuteronomy 19:15-19).

The Jews (see notes on John 1:19) had used the Law to say that the believers in Jesus were foolish compared to them (see notes on John 7:48), but the book of wisdom said to make judgments without a good hearing of the issues is foolish in Proverbs 18:13.

Verse 52

John 7:52

Having come face to face with their own foolishness and mistake concerning the law (see notes on John 7:51), they resulted to personal attacks on both the individual that pointed out their error and on Jesus. It is an attempt to diminish the credibility of Nicodemus’ defense of Jesus by supposing that the only reason for the support is the sharing of country. Jesus said it best in Matthew 22:29.

Verse 53

John 7:53

Apparently, their tactic (see notes on John 7:52) didn’t work, and Nicodemus’ argument carried the day. They decided to break up the meeting and table the matter for a later time (Matthew 27:1-2, Mark 15:1, Luke 22:66, John 11:47).