The Unbelief of Jesus’ Brothers
7 After this, Jesus traveled[a] throughout Galilee, because he didn’t want to travel[b] in Judea, since the Jewish leaders[c] there were trying to kill him. 2 Now the Jewish Festival of Tents[d] was approaching. 3 So his brothers told him, “You should leave this place and go to Judea, so that your disciples can see the actions that you’re doing, 4 since no one acts in secret if he wants to be known publicly. If you’re going to do these things, you should reveal yourself to the world!” 5 Not even his brothers believed in him.
6 Jesus told them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.[e] 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its actions are evil. 8 Go up to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival yet,[f] because my time hasn’t fully come.” 9 After saying this, he remained in Galilee.
Jesus Arrives in Jerusalem
10 But after his brothers had gone up to the festival, he went up himself, not openly but, as it were,[g] in secret. 11 The Jewish leaders[h] kept looking for him at the festival, asking, “Where is that man?” 12 And there was a great deal of discussion about him among the crowds.[i] Some were saying, “He is a good man,” while others were saying, “No, he is deceiving the crowds!” 13 Nevertheless, no one would speak openly about him because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.[j]
Jesus Openly Declares His Authority
14 Halfway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began teaching. 15 The Jewish leaders[k] were astonished and remarked, “How can this man be so educated when he has never gone to school?”
16 Jesus replied to them, “My teaching is not mine but comes from the one who sent me. 17 If anyone wants to do his will, he’ll know whether this teaching is from God or whether I’m speaking on my own. 18 The one who speaks on his own seeks his own praise. But the one who seeks the praise of him who sent him is genuine, and there’s nothing false in him. 19 Moses gave you the Law, didn’t he? Yet none of you is keeping the Law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?”
21 Jesus answered them, “I performed one action, and all of you are astonished. 22 Moses gave you circumcision—not that it is from Moses, but from the Patriarchs—and so you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man perfectly well on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by appearances, but judge with righteous judgment!”
Is This the Messiah?
25 Then some of the people of Jerusalem began saying, “This is the man they are trying to kill, isn’t it? 26 And look, he is speaking in public, and they are not saying anything to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?[l] 27 We know where this man comes from. But when the Messiah[m] comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
28 At this point Jesus, still teaching in the Temple, shouted, “So you know me and know where I’ve come from? I haven’t come on my own accord. But the one who sent me is true, and he’s the one you don’t know. 29 I know him because I’ve come from him, and he sent me.”
30 Because of this, the Jewish leaders[n] kept trying to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. 31 However, many in the crowd believed in him. They kept saying, “When the Messiah[o] comes, he won’t do more signs than this man has done, will he?”
Officers are Sent to Arrest Jesus
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd debating these things about him, so the high priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest Jesus.[p]
33 Then Jesus said, “I’ll be with you only a little while longer, and then I’m going back to the one who sent me. 34 You’ll look for me but won’t find me.[q] And where I am, you cannot come.”
35 Then the Jewish leaders[r] asked one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we won’t be able to find him? Surely he’s not going to the Dispersion[s] among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he? 36 What does this statement mean that he said, ‘You’ll look for me but won’t find me,’ and, ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
Rivers of Living Water
37 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me[t] and drink! 38 The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have rivers of living water flowing from his heart.” 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who were believing in him were to receive, because the Spirit[u] was not yet present[v] and Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Division among the People
40 When they heard these words, some in the crowd were saying, “This really is the Prophet,” 41 while others were saying, “This is the Messiah!”[w]
But some were saying, “The Messiah[x] doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Messiah[y] is from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” 43 So there was a division in the crowd because of him. 44 Some of them were wanting to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.
The Unbelief of the Authorities
45 Then the officers returned to the high priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?”
46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like that!”
47 Then the Pharisees replied to them, “You haven’t been deceived, too, have you? 48 None of the authorities or Pharisees has believed in him, have they? 49 But this mob that does not know the Law—they’re under a curse!”
50 One of their own, Nicodemus (the man who had previously met with Jesus),[z] asked them, 51 “Surely our Law does not condemn[aa] a person without first hearing from him and finding out what he is doing, does it?”
52 They answered him, “You aren’t from Galilee, too, are you? Search and see that no prophet comes from Galilee.” 53 Then all of them went to their own homes.
Footnotes
- John 7:1 Lit. walked
- John 7:1 Lit. to walk
- John 7:1 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
- John 7:2 Or Booths; also called Feast of Tabernacles
- John 7:6 Lit. ready
- John 7:8 Other mss. lack yet
- John 7:10 Other mss. lack as it were
- John 7:11 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. The Jews
- John 7:12 Other mss. read crowd
- John 7:13 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
- John 7:15 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
- John 7:26 Or Christ
- John 7:27 Or Christ
- John 7:30 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
- John 7:31 Or Christ
- John 7:32 Lit. him
- John 7:34 Other mss. lack me
- John 7:35 I.e. Judean leaders; lit. the Jews
- John 7:35 Or Diaspora; i.e. the Jewish communities outside the land of Israel
- John 7:37 Other mss. lack to me
- John 7:39 Other mss. read Holy Spirit
- John 7:39 Other mss. read given
- John 7:41 Or Christ
- John 7:41 Or Christ
- John 7:42 Or Christ
- John 7:50 Lit. him
- John 7:51 Or judge