John 7 - Expanded Bible (EXB)

Jesus’ Brothers Don’t Believe

7 After this, Jesus ·traveled [walked] around Galilee. He did not want to ·travel [walk] in Judea, because the ·Jewish leaders [^LJews] there ·wanted [sought] to kill him [see 5:18]. ² [^LBut] It was [^Lnear the] time for the Feast of ·Shelters [Tabernacles; Booths; ^Can important annual festival celebrating harvest, sometimes known as Ingathering, and commemorating the exodus from Egypt; Ex. 23:16; Lev. 23:33–44; Deut. 16:13–17]. ³ So Jesus’ brothers [^Cchildren of Joseph and Mary born after Jesus, or children of Joseph from a previous marriage; Mark 3:21, 31–35] said to him, “You should leave here and go to Judea so your ·followers [disciples] there can see the ·miracles [^Lworks] you do. ⁴ [^LFor] Anyone who wants to be ·well [publicly] known does not ·hide what he does [^Lact in secret]. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ ([^LFor] Even Jesus’ brothers did not believe in him.)

⁶ [^LTherefore] Jesus said to his brothers, “·The right time for me [^LMy time; 2:4] has not yet come, but any time is right for you [^Cthey could go to Jerusalem anytime; but Jesus had a special destiny to fulfill there]. ⁷ The world cannot hate you [^Cbecause they are part of it], but it hates me, because I ·tell it [testify concerning; witness to] ·the evil things it does [^Lthat its works are evil]. ⁸ So you go [^Lup] to the feast. I will not go [^Lup] yet^[a] to this feast, because ·the right time for me [my time] has not yet ·come [fully come; ^Lbeen fulfilled].” ⁹ After saying this, Jesus ·stayed [remained behind] in Galilee.

¹⁰ But after Jesus’ brothers had gone [^Lup] to the feast, Jesus went [^Lup] also. But he did not ·let people see him [^Lgo publicly, but in secret]. ¹¹ At the feast ·some people [the Jewish leaders; ^Lthe Jews] were ·looking for [watching for] him and saying, “Where is that man?”

¹² Within the large crowd there, many people were ·whispering [arguing; murmuring; grumbling] to each other about Jesus. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others said, “No, he ·fools [deceives; misleads] the people.” ¹³ But no one was brave enough to talk about Jesus openly, because they were afraid of the ·elders [the Jewish leaders; ^Lthe Jews].

Jesus Teaches at the Feast

¹⁴ When the feast was about half over, Jesus went to the Temple [courts; 2:14] and began to teach. ¹⁵ The people ·were amazed [marveled] and said, “This man has never studied in school. How did he learn so much?”

¹⁶ Jesus answered them, “The things I teach are not my own, but they come from him who sent me [^CGod]. ¹⁷ If people ·choose [desire; want] to do ·what God wants [^LGod’s will], they will know that my teaching comes from God and not from me. ¹⁸ Those who ·teach their own ideas [speak with their own authority] are trying to get ·honor [glory] for themselves. But those who try to bring ·honor [glory] to the one who sent them speak the truth, and there is nothing ·false [or unrighteous] in them. [^CThe Greek here is singular (“But the one who…”), so Jesus is speaking especially about himself.] ¹⁹ Moses gave you the law [^LHas not Moses given you the law?; Ex. 34:29–32], but none of you obeys that law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

²⁰ The people answered, “A demon has come into you [^LYou have a demon]. We are not trying to kill you [^LWho is trying to kill you?].”

²¹ Jesus ·said to [answered] them, “I did one ·miracle [^Lwork; deed; 5:1–15], and you are all ·amazed [astonished]. ²² Moses gave you the law about circumcision [Ex. 12:44–49]. (But really Moses did not give you circumcision; it came from ·our ancestors [^Lthe fathers/patriarchs; Gen. 17:9–14].) And yet you circumcise a ·baby boy [^Lperson] on a Sabbath day. ²³ If a ·baby boy [^Lperson] can be circumcised on a Sabbath day ·to obey the law of Moses [^Lso the law of Moses may not be broken], why are you angry at me for healing a person’s whole body on the Sabbath day? ²⁴ Stop judging by ·the way things look [outward appearances], but judge by ·what is really right [^Lright/just/righteous judgment].”

Is Jesus the Christ?

²⁵ Then some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, “·This is the man [^LIsn’t this the man…?] they are trying to kill. ²⁶ But he is ·teaching where everyone can see and hear him [^Lspeaking publicly], and no one is ·trying to stop [^Lsaying anything to] him. Maybe the ·leaders [rulers; authorities] have ·decided [come to recognize] he really is the ·Christ [Messiah]. ²⁷ But we know where this man is from. Yet when the real ·Christ [Messiah] comes, no one will know where he comes from.” [^CSome Jewish traditions claimed the Messiah would be unknown until he came to deliver Israel.]

²⁸ Jesus, teaching in the Temple [courts; 2:14], cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. But I have not come ·by my own authority [on my own initiative; ^Lfrom myself]. I was sent by the One who is true, whom you don’t know. ²⁹ But I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”

³⁰ When Jesus said this, they tried to ·seize [arrest] him. But no one was able to ·touch him [^Llay a hand on him], because ·it was not yet the right time [^Lhis hour had not yet come; see 2:4]. ³¹ But many ·of the people [^Lin the crowd] believed in Jesus. They said, “When the ·Christ [Messiah] comes, will he do more ·miracles [^Lsigns] than this man has done?”

The Leaders Try to Arrest Jesus

³² The Pharisees [see 1:24] heard the crowd ·whispering [arguing; murmuring; grumbling] these things about Jesus. So the leading priests and the Pharisees sent some Temple ·guards [police; officers] to ·arrest [seize] him. ³³ [^LTherefore] Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer. Then I will go back to the One who sent me. ³⁴ You will ·look for [seek] me, but you will not find me. And you cannot come where I am [^Cin heaven].”

³⁵ [^LTherefore] ·Some people [The Jewish leaders; ^LThe Jews] said to each other, “Where will this man go so we cannot find him? Will he go to the ·Greek cities where our people live [^Ldispersion/scattering among the Greeks; ^Cever since the Babylonian exile many Jewish people had lived outside the land of Israel] and teach the Greek people there? [^CThe Jews often used “Greeks” for Gentiles generally.] ³⁶ What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘You cannot come where I am’?”

Jesus Talks About the Spirit

³⁷ On the last and ·most important [^Lgreatest] day of the feast Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. [^CThe feast of Shelters/Tabernacles featured a water pouring ritual that may stand in the background of Jesus’ speech.] ³⁸ If anyone believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from that person’s ·heart [^Lbelly; gut], as the Scripture says [Is. 55:1; 58:11; Ezek. 47:1–12; Zech. 14:8, compare John 4:10–11; Rev. 7:17; 22:1].” ³⁹ Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been ·raised to glory [glorified]. But later, those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit.

The People Argue About Jesus

⁴⁰ When the people heard Jesus’ words, some of them said, “This man really is the Prophet [1:21; ^Cthe “prophet like Moses” of Deut. 18:15–18].”

⁴¹ Others said, “He is the ·Christ [Messiah].”

Still others said, “The ·Christ [Messiah] will not come from Galilee. ⁴² The Scripture says that the ·Christ [Messiah] will come from David’s ·family [offspring; ^Lseed; 2 Sam. 7:12–16; Ps. 89:3–4; Is. 9:7; 55:3] and from Bethlehem, the ·town [village] where David lived [Mic. 5:2].” ⁴³ So ·the people did not agree with each other [^Lthere was a division in the crowd] about Jesus. ⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to ·arrest [seize] him, but no one was able to ·touch [^Llay a hand on] him.

Some Leaders Won’t Believe

⁴⁵ [^LTherefore] The Temple ·guards [police; officers] went back to the ·leading [^Tchief] priests and the Pharisees, who asked, “Why didn’t you bring Jesus?”

⁴⁶ The ·guards [police; officers] answered, “·The words he says are greater than the words of any other person who has ever spoken [^LNo one has ever spoken like this]!”

⁴⁷ [^LTherefore] The Pharisees answered them, “So Jesus has ·fooled [deceived; led astray] you also! ⁴⁸ Have any of the ·leaders [rulers; authorities] or the Pharisees believed in him? No! ⁴⁹ But ·these people [^Lthis crowd], who know nothing about the law, are ·under God’s curse [accursed].”

⁵⁰ Nicodemus, who had gone to see Jesus before [see 3:1–21], was in that group. He said, ⁵¹ “·Our law does not [^LDoes our law…?] judge a person without hearing him and knowing what he has done.”

⁵² They answered, “Are you from Galilee, too? ·Study the Scriptures, and you will learn [^LSearch and see] that no prophet comes from Galilee.”

Some of the earliest surviving Greek copies do not contain 7:53—8:11.

|⁵³ And everyone left and went home.

Footnotes

1. John 7:8 yet Some Greek copies do not have this word.