7:25-31
Jesus and the Crowd
The people in this passage are people who live in Jerusalem. They are aware of the plot to kill Jesus. (25) Those in the proper passage were not from Jerusalem and did not know of the plot.
The people began to speculate that the Jewish leaders might really know that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) since they did not arrest him despite his speaking openly.
But then, they fall back on a myth, that know will know where the Christ comes from when he appears. Jesus evidently heard this, and said “you know me and you know where I come from”. There are two ways to look at this sentence. First, it could be that Jesus made a statement acknowledging that they are correct to know something about him, but then goes on to say they know less than they think they do. The NIV seems to take this approach.
The second approach is to consider this statement a question. This is the approach taken by the ESV, which places a question mark at the end of the sentence. In this approach, Jesus is saying you think you know me, but you don’t.
Either way, Jesus exposes their lack of knowledge and understanding. It was not of utmost importance what town Jesus came from or who his parents are, because he did not come of his own will. Rather, the important fact is that who sent him. And the one who sent him is “true” and they did not him (the Father). The Greek word means true as in “real”. Jesus is saying the Father really is the one who sent him, regardless of what the Jews thought of him origin
Jesus went on to say the Jews did not know the true God. This would have been a shocking statement. The Jews would say they were the only ones who did know God, as evidence by their having the law. Jesus’ argument would be that, despite having the law, because the law pointed to Jesus. He said this in 5:46. If they had really know God through knowing the law, they would not have rejected Jesus as the Son of God and the Christ.
In contrast, Jesus said he knows the Father because he came from the Father and the Father sent him. (29)
These statements did not go over very well, because people in the crowd tried to seize him in a sort of citizen’s arrest. (30)
God did not let the crowd arrest Jesus, though. John does not tell us how this happened, but know one laid a hand on him. The reason for their failure is that his hour had not yet come. The Greek word for “hour” is “hora” and means God’s designated time for Jesus be be arrested and crucified. God had set a time for this to happen and it would not happen before then.
We see here the division that occurs when people are confronted with Jesus. This group rejected him and sought to arrest him. But many others believed in him. It appears they believed, at least in part, due to the signs that Jesus had done. (31)
Whenever you proclaim the gospel, there will be those who believe and those who reject.
We should not be surprised at this. Jesus told his disciples that he did not come to bring peace but a sword. He did not mean a literal sword, but instead meant his message would divide people, even family members. (Matthew 10:34)
For example, last week a young man was baptized at my church. His own parents did not come to see him baptized because they are adverse to Christianity.
The Authorities Seek To Arrest Jesus
7:32-36
The Pharisees heard the crowd and realized many people were believing in him. So, they joined with the chief priests, who were Sadducees, and sent officers to arrest Jesus. The Pharisees and Sadducees were normally enemies. But, as the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So the Pharisees and Sadducees joined together to seek the elimination of their common enemy, Jesus.
So, Jesus said to the crowds that he would be with the only a little longer and then he was going to the one who sent him, meaning the Father The would seek him and not find him and could not come to where he was. The crowd did not know what he meant, and speculated that he was going to leave Israel to teach the Greeks. (35)
But Jesus is speaking of returning to the Father. And he is assuming a set and foreordained time for it. Death was not the end for him. His crucifixion was the means of his being lifted up to where he was before, returning to the glory he had with the Father before the world began. (17:5)
These Jewish people, and even his disciples, could not follow Jesus back to heaven, at least while their physical bodies were alive.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
7:37-39
This passage shows that the days have progressed from the middle of the feast, when Jesus came to Jerusalem, to the last day of the feast. Evidently, Jesus has not spoken for a few days. But, on the last day he again addressed the crowd, crying out, or shouting. He said:
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”. (37-38)
John then explained hat Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit, who is given to all who believe in Jesus, but who had not yet been given. (39) The water was a metaphor for the Spirit.
Jesus’ statement about water seems to be a little strange and out of context, but it was not. During the feast, at the time of Jesus’ life, there was a ceremony every morning where the priests would take a golden container and fill it with water from the pool of Siloam. They would carry it in a procession led by the High Priest and go back to the Temple.
Once at the Temple, the priests would walk around the altar sining the Hallel, which is Psalms 113-118, then pour out the water on the altar. This rite was to commemorate God’s provision of water to the Israelites in the wilderness, giving them satisfaction of their thirst.
So, Jesus probably stood up at the end of this ritual, when the water was all poured out. He makes a pronouncement that he is the fulfillment of the symbols of the Feast of Tabernacles. He is the one who can provide living water.
Jesus’ words are again very similar to his words to the woman at the well in chapter 4. He told that woman that the water he gave to those who believed in him would become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:14)
Here, John interpreted Jesus’ saying. Those who believe in Jesus will receive the Spirit, the living water or the water that gives life. When we are saved, we receive eternal life and we receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us life, guides us to live for God in righteousness, and is our pledge from God of eternal life. (Romans 8:1-11; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:14)
John ends this passage with a word about timing. The Holy Spirit had not yet come to indwell believers because Jesus had not yet been glorified. Jesus will develop this theme more in chapters 14-15, but we see that the Spirit is sent by the Father in the name of Jesus. (John 14:25)
7:40-52
More Division
Again we see division over Jesus and his message. Some believed that Jesus was the Prophet Moses spoke about. Some believed he was the Christ. Others questioned because they knew the Scriptural prophecies, but not the facts of Jesus life.
Some of the people wanted to arrest him. Again, though, John tells us no one laid a hand on him. (44)
The temple guards, the “officers” of verse 45, returned to the chief priests and Pharisees empty handed. They did not arrest Jesus because of the way he spoke. They said no one ever spoke like this man. (46) They had been affected by Jesus’ knowledge of Scripture and the authority with which he spoke.
The reaction of the Pharisees to the officers reveals their arrogance. They spoke harshly to them, asking them if they had been deceived. They saw themselves as the arbiters of truth, asking if any of the authorities (the Sanhedrin) or the Pharisees believed in Jesus. (48) After all, they were the educated ones who should decide what the truth is. If they did not believe, the officers should not have hesitated.
Next, the Pharisees insult the crowd of Jews that heard Jews. They accused them of not knowing the law and being accursed. (49) That is really harsh. They are basically saying their fellow Jews did not know their religion and were going to hell. It actually reminds me of things I have read on social media by some people who call themselves Christians.
Then Nicodemus spoke up. He cautioned the Sanhedrin about judging a man without giving him a hearing and learning what he does. (51) We may see here a tiny progression in Nicodemus. First, he was curious about Jesus, but lacking understanding of Jesus’ message. (John 3) Now, he is still not committing to belief, at least publicly, but is defending Jesus according to the law of the Jews.
The Sanhedrin did not listen, though. They rebuked him with a very “classist” question, asking him if he was from Galilee, too. Even though Jews from Galilee were part of the nation, Jews from Jerusalem looked down on them as rural, uneducated, and distant from the seat of their religion in Jerusalem.
They added a second insult by telling Nicodemus to search the scripture and see that no prophet arises from Galilee. Nicodemus surely knew the Scripture, or he would not have been one of the leaders. The insult was intended to identify him with the ignorant Galileans and shut him up.
Ironically, the leaders were the ones who were ignorant. They knew the prophecies, but did not know the facts about Jesus. They made assumptions, such as assuming since he had lived in Nazareth and Capernaum, he could not have been born in Bethlehem. But they did not ask.
They also assumed that, since Jesus’ parents were poor, they could not be descendants of David so that Jesus would be a son, or descendant of David, as the Scripture foretold.
Today, many people will tell you what Jesus would or would not do. But, they do not base it on Scripture, but their assumptions or their re-invention of Jesus to meet their own needs.
It is our job, as believers, to know the Scripture and to present Jesus accurately to people, even if they do not like the Jesus we present. They cannot be saved by believing in a Jesus they invented.
Then we rely on the Holy Spirit to draw to Jesus those he will. Some will believe and some will not. Some will get rude about it. When that happens, you can rejoice knowing that you have suffered what Jesus suffered: humiliation and rejection.
Others will believe and you will rejoice that you had a part in bringing them into the kingdom. And, sometimes, you will get a Nicodemus, one who walks away in doubt or unbelief. But, unseen by you, the Lord continues to work on that person and one day they step forward and confess Christ.
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