Gospel Light Christian Church Thru-The-Bible Series (3.2)

The Gospel Of John

John 7:1-39 - Read this Bible passage once through before referring to the notes below.

Jesus Teaches at the Feast

v.1 The word "Jewry" is better translated as Judea [1] (see v.3).

v.2 As a Jewish male, Jesus was obliged to attend this feast. [2]

v.3 His brethren refers to His half-brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Jude (MAT 13:55), and possibly His other relatives. His carnal brethren reasoned that if Jesus was doing miracles to prove Himself as the Messiah, then He should also do them in Judea where he also had disciples.

v.4 His brethren thought that Jesus did miracles for publicity and popularity. They did not realise that at this point Jesus had done enough miracles to prove His Messiahship, and any more would only cause unnecessary problems with the authorities.

v.5 Though they had seen His perfect life and astonishing miracles, they did not believe in Him. [3]

v.6 Jesus did the right things at the right time because He desired to be in the centre of God's will.

v.7 The world refers to the unconverted masses, including the many unconverted people in the church. The world was not troubled by the testimony and lives of Jesus' brethren because it was in harmony with theirs. Therefore, there was no reason for the world to hate them.

However, Jesus, by His life and preaching, was testifying against their pride, hypocrisy, selfishness, worldliness, etc. Therefore, the world hates Jesus. The world does not hate the high doctrines of Christianity (which most people do not really know), but they hate the high moral standards of Christianity. If our life does not testify against the evil lives of the unsaved people around us, then we are not having Christ-like lives. We must not feel discouraged when the world hates us for testifying against their sins (IJO 3:13).

v.8 If Jesus had gone early to this week-long feast, the Jewish authorities would have had enough time to plan His arrest. Furthermore, His brethren would probably have desired to rally attention around Jesus for their own benefit.

v.9 Jesus stayed on for a few more days.

v.10 He probably left Galilee unannounced, went along without preaching or doing miracles, and arrived in Jerusalem unannounced. [4]

v.11 The Jewish authorities (ie, Jews) were sure that He would come because He never broke the Law, and were waiting to arrest Him.

v.12 The sincere seekers of the truth said that Jesus was a good man, but those who hated Him because He testified against their sins said that He deceived the people. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy made at His birth (LUK 2:34 "Behold, this [child] is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel: and for a sign which shall be spoken against').

v.13 As the Sanhedrin had not yet made a made a decision on Jesus, the Jews were fearful to voice their opinion openly, in case their opinion was contradictory to that of the Sanhedrin.

v.14 Jesus had probably been in Jerusalem attending the feast from the beginning but was unrecognised. Only in the midst of the week (ie, about the fourth day of this seven day feast) did Jesus appear publicly. By this time, the Jewish authorities would have too little time to execute a proper plan to arrest Him. [5]

v.15 When the Jewish religious leaders saw Him teaching, they were shocked (ie, marvelled) that one who had not had been through an "accredited rabbinical school" would be so presumptuous as to teach in the Temple. Having never learned does not mean that Jesus was illiterate (LUK 4:16, JOH 8:6).

v.16 Jesus agreed that He has not been to rabbinical school, but only because He did not have to because He had received His doctrine from a higher source, namely, from God who sent Him to be the Saviour of the world. When Jesus said that "My doctrine is not mine," He did not mean that He did not agree with it, but meant "My doctrine is not mine only, but also is God's."

v.17 Jesus states a precondition for really knowing His doctrine, namely, one must be desirous to obey God's will first. [6] If the hearer was not willing to obey God's will, ie, if he was self-willed he would not be able to discern the truth of Jesus' doctrine. Therefore, unwillingness to do God's will is the commonest reason why many Christians do not understand the Bible.

Firstly, those who do not desire to obey God's word will subconsciously interpret it to suit their purpose.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit will not enlighten them with spiritual understanding. Those who give the excuse that they must first know everything before they obey will never know the truth. Unless they are willing to obey in the things that are already plain to them, they will not know more. Therefore, humility as well as intellect are necessary for understanding God' word.

v.18 Jesus did not exalt Himself (5:19. 7:16) but exalted the Father. Similarly, we can tell a true servant of God, by watching whether he speaks of himself or of God.   This statement must have hit the Jewish religious leaders at their weakest point because it was obvious to all that they loved to glorify themselves. [7]

v.19 These religious leaders prided themselves as the guardians of Moses' Law (which taught love and forbade killing), and yet they were full of hatred and were scheming Jesus' death!

v.20 The Jews who had come from all over the world to Jerusalem were not aware of the religious leaders' plot to kill Jesus, and they thought that Jesus was crazy to make such a statement.

v.21 Jesus identifies the incident (5:18) that precipitated the religious leaders' anger. They all marvelled (ie, were astonished) that Jesus had dared to do a miracle on the Sabbath.

v.22 All Jewish males are circumcised [8] on the eighth day irrespective of whether it was on the Sabbath day or not.

v.23 If they were so concerned to perform one of God's ceremonial rituals (ie, circumcision), how come they were so angry about Jesus' performance of a miracle that relieved the sufferings of one of God's children?

v.24 We must be careful that when we judge we do not do it superficially or biasly but we are obliged to verify the facts of the case - to the best of our ability before we pass judgement.

Superficially (ie, according to the appearance), Jesus indeed did a work on the Sabbath, but it was not a work that was for selfish gain or for fun, but it was to relieve the suffering of a man in need. Many of the Jewish leaders had made an unrighteous judgement, because they despised Jesus' lowly background and appearance and were envious of His popularity. We are very prone to make a hasty judgement against those that we dislike. Many Christians believe that it is wrong to judge another, but this verse commands us to judge righteous judgement.

v.25 Unlike the visiting Jews (v. 20), some of the more knowledgeable men of Jerusalem were aware of the Sanhedrin’s plot to kill Jesus.

v.26 These Jerusalem Jews were surprised that the Jewish authorities allowed Jesus to teach in the temple without arresting Him [9], and assumed that the authorities were now convinced that Jesus was indeed the very Christ. Or maybe this remark, that the authorities became believers, was made sarcastically!

v.27 They knew that Jesus was from a carpenter's family in Galilee, and were under the impression that the Christ would suddenly appear from nowhere (ie, no man knoweth whence he is) according to their misinterpretation of the prophecy in MAL 3:1.

v.28 Jesus sarcastically says "So you think you know me and where I'm from. But I am really from the true God, whom you claim to know and to serve, but whom you really don't know!" [10]

v.29 "You may know me, but you don't know God. But I know Him, because I am from him, and am sent by Him. And yet you reject me, who is sent by the God you claim to know and serve!”

v.30 The Jewish authorities obviously understood Jesus' claim of being the Messiah, and His accusation that  they did not know God nor His will, therefore, they sought to takehim. However, they were restrained from doing so by God. Similarly, all Christians are immortal till their work on earth is done. 

v.31 These ordinary people may have had a carnal idea of the Christ, yet the evidence of Jesus' miracles "convinced" them that He was the Christ.

v.32 The religious leaders (ie, the Pharisees and the chief priests, who were mostly Sadducees) panicked when they heard that the people were beginning to be convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. Therefore, the Pharisees and Sadducees set aside their long-time enmity, united together, and sent officers to take Jesus. [11]

v.35 They thought that Jesus was going to escape from the Jewish authorities and flee somewhere among the Jewish who were living abroad (ie, dispersed among the Gentiles) and continue to teach the Gentiles (since He had been rejected by the Jews). For a Jew to teach the Gentiles was sacrilegious to the Jews. Therefore, this statement was meant to incite the Jews against Jesus.

v.36 Though the Jews were puzzled by Jesus' saying, the last thing on their mind was Jesus' ascension.

v.37 Jesus claims to be the fountain of life [12], and the giver of satisfaction for troubled consciences. No prophet had ever made such an invitation.  The only “qualification” for coming to Jesus was spiritual thirst. Men thirst for many things but not for salvation, until the Holy Spirit works in their lives. "Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (MAT 5:6). The only remedy for spiritual thirst is to come unto Jesus Christ. That which is true for salvation is also true for Spirit-filled living.

v.38 This is loosely quoted from ISA 12:3, 44:3. Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, will not only have his spiritual thirst continually satisfied but will he able to satisfy others (see JOH 4:14), the same way that one who has rivers of waters will never thirst physically. This satisfaction will be found inside the believer (ie, out of his belly).

v.39 This promise was particularly fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost.



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Footnotes

[1] From April to October of year 29 A.D. Jesus was in Galilee, avoiding Judea, because the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Him for healing on the Sabbath (5:18). This period is sometimes called the Retirement Ministry because He retired from the crowds to spend more time with His disciples and prepare them for His coming sufferings. From Jesus’ actions we learn that Christians should not court martyrdom.

[2] Since attendance was compulsory for Jewish males, there was a huge crowd present to witness what Jesus did. This feast was one of extraordinary rejoicing. It was in the middle of the rejoicing that the events recorded here take place.

[3] This proves the truth of JOH 6:44. This also teaches us that it is common for natural brethren of godly men to be ungodly. The brethren of Abel, Isaac, Joseph, and David were ungodly. Christians should not be discouraged that they are the only ones in their family who are believers.

[4] The only time that Jesus sought publicity was when He entered Jerusalem at the last passover, just before His crucifixion, to draw attention to His great sacrifice.

[5] The pious Jews usually assembled in the outer court of the temple to be taught by the doctors of the law.

[6] The phrase "speak of myself “ can also mean "speak from myself." When we do the will of God we realise how wonderful it is, and are convinced that this doctrine must be of God.

[7] The phrase "speaketh of himself can also be translated "speaketh from himself." That is, "he that undertakes on his own responsibility, and without being sent by God, to speak to men about religion, will naturally seek to exalt himself." In other words, one speaking from himself will speak of himself. This is one of the best ways of discerning the real servants of God from the false.

[8] Though it was through Moses that circumcision was formally included into the Law (LEV 12:1-3), it was already practised by the earlier Jewish “fathers” (GEN 17:9-14).

[9] The people did not realise that Jesus' appearing in mid-week had taken the religious leaders by surprise, and more importantly that God had somehow restrained them from killing Him.

[10] Only on four other occasions we are told that Jesus cried aloud to emphasize a point (MAT 27:50, MAR 15:37, JOH 7:37, 12:44).

[11] v.33 *Jesus seems to be addressing the officers who were sent to arrest Him. They were not only restrained from arresting Him by fear of the crowd who believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but also by a direct restraint put by God into their hearts. Jesus seems to be telling them that they could not arrest Him now because His hour was not yet come, and later they would not be able to arrest Him because He would ascend to the Father in heaven.

v.34 Though Jesus is speaking of heaven, He does not say "where I will be" but rather ""where I am" because though He was on earth in the form of man, He was also the omnipresent God in heaven.

[12] There is probably an interval of three days between this verse and the previous one. It appears that Jesus taught during this period without being arrested. During the Feast of Tabernacles, a priest would fill a golden pitcher with water from the pool of Siloam, and then accompanied by a procession he would return to the Temple amidst the sound of trumpets and shouting of the multitudes. He would then pour the water through a funnel to the base of the Altar of Burnt Offering. This was done in remembrance of God's provision to their thirsty ancestors in the wilderness (EXO 17:l-7), and in anticipation of God's coming abundance. Therefore, Jesus used this occasion to invite all those who thirsted spiritually to come unto Him and drink.