John
Chapter 7
John 7: This chapter contains more conflict with the Pharisees and more rebellion from those close to Yeshua. That seemed to be the order of the day. The religious people tried to refute Yeshua. Those who did follow Him were trying to tell Him how to do things or they were trying to follow their own reason and senses instead of that of Elohim’s.
(John 7:1 NASB) And after these things Jesus was walking in Galilee; for He was unwilling to walk in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.
John 7:1: “After these things..” John gives us a chronological order of events. The events here in this chapter happened about 6 months after the events in chapter 6.
This first verse tells us that there is a storm brewing ahead. Yeshua has threatened the religious traditions of the day by telling the people that He is the Bread of Life and teaching that no one can come to Him unless it is granted by the Father (John 6:44, 65). The offended religious leaders are not going to let up until they get hold of Him and kill Him.
But Yeshua is avoiding them by going to Galilee instead of Judea because His time is not yet.
(John 7:2 NASB) Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was at hand.
John 7:2: There were three feasts in which all males were to attend in Jerusalem. Yeshua kept His Father’s Torah. Since we are to be like Him, we should keep His Father’s Torah also. We do not know many details as to how they kept the Feast of Tabernacles other than they made booths, or Tabernacles, and lived in them for eight days with the first and last days being high Sabbaths. We are given a little more insight on this Feast in the book of Nehemiah (Neh. 8:14-18).
Yeshua went to Jerusalem for the feasts of Unleavened Bread, Tabernacles (Booths), and Weeks (Pentecost). This was the Feast of the Booths.
In future times, we are going to celebrate this festival with Elohim personally (Rev. 21:3).
(John 7:3 NASB) His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here, and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may behold Your works which You are doing.
John 7:3: The half-brothers of Yeshua are listed in Matthew 13:55 as James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude.
(John 7:4 NASB) “For no one does anything in secret, when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.”
(John 7:5 NASB) For not even His brothers were believing in Him.
John 7:5: The brothers of Yeshua did not believe Him. They had not yet been given the Spirit of wisdom. They wanted an open display of if His miracles. They were wanting to see proof if He was who He said He was.
We are told that after the death and resurrection of Yeshua, they became believers and followers (Acts 1:14). Two of the half-brothers, James and Jude, later wrote their own Epistles.
(John 7:6 NASB) Jesus therefore said^ to them, “My time is not yet at hand, but your time is always opportune.
John 7:6: They are attempting to give advice out of their own unbelief. They want Him to go to Judea, perform some miracles or signs, and display to everyone who He is.
Yeshua tells them that this is not the best time for Him to go. But they could go to the Feast at any time. Yeshua knew that many of the religious leaders were out to kill Him and that He needed to show up at the right time and according to His Father’s schedule. Just as He told His mother at the wedding feast at Cana, His time is not yet.
(John 7:7 NASB) “The world cannot hate you; but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.
John 7:7: The reason the world hates Yeshua because He testifies of it. He said earlier that light has come into the world and darkness hates light (John 3:19-21).. The Light shows the innumerable flaws in the world and the world doesn’t want to see that.
(John 7:8 NASB) “Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.”
(John 7:9 NASB) And having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.
John 7:9: Yeshua is going to the Feast, but He is not going to arrive with a group that the Pharisees would readily recognize. He is going to stay in Galilee for now.
(John 7:10 NASB) But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as it were, in secret.
(John 7:11 NASB) The Jews therefore were seeking Him at the feast, and were saying, “Where is He?”
John 7:11: Yeshua probably traveled with His disciples on a back road.
The “Jews” referred to here are the Pharisees. They were hoping to trap Yeshua once again. They tried on several occasions to trap Him with trick questions and with trying to get Him to heal on the Sabbath. This time they thought they could get Him for not attending the mandatory feast that Elohim commanded.
(John 7:12 NASB) And there was much grumbling among the multitudes concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the multitude astray.”
(John 7:13 NASB) Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews.
John 7:13: Yeshua was the main topic of discussion, but they kept it very low key. Anyone caught agreeing with Yeshua or commending Him, would be condemned by the religious leaders of heresy and treason.
(John 7:14 NASB) But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach.
(John 7:15 NASB) The Jews therefore were marveling, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?”
John 7:15: The Religious leaders were astounded at His knowledge and wisdom. They also knew that none of them saw Yeshua at their local Yeshiva. The manner and teaching of Yeshua was greater than any they had heard. The fact is that Yeshua studied Scripture on His own from His childhood (Luke 2:46-47, 52).
(John 7:16 NASB) Jesus therefore answered them, and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.
John 7:16: The difference in the teaching is due to the source. Yeshua is teaching the Words of His Father (Deut. 18:18-19). The rabbis received their teaching from man.
(John 7:17 NASB) “If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.
John 7:17: If one is willing to do the will of the Father, in other words, if he is willing to follow the Father’s Torah, they will understand whether or not a teaching is of Elohim or of the man teaching it (Psalm 25:8-12, 119:101-106, Micah 4:1-2). Conversely, if someone is not following the Father’s Torah, they will not understand his Word or the teaching that comes from the Father.
(John 7:18 NASB) “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
John 7:18: Yeshua is apparently saying that if someone is teaching according to man, he is teaching for His own glory. Yeshua already said that He did not come to receive glory from men, but if someone comes in his own name instead of the name of the Father, they will give him glory (John 5:41-43).
(John 7:19 NASB) “Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?”
John 7:19: The Pharisees prided themselves in teaching the Torah of Elohim given through Moses. Thought they taught the Torah, as well as their traditions, but they themselves did not keep Torah (Matt. 23:4-5). Yeshua said they were filled with self-indulgence and lawlessness (Matt. 23:23-28).
(John 7:20 NASB) The multitude answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?”
(John 7:21 NASB) Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one deed, and you all marvel.
John 7:21: The crowd was lying. They accused Yeshua of having demons and then denied the plot to kill Him.
The one deed referred to by Yeshua is the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda.
(John 7:22 NASB) “On this account Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man.
(John 7:23 NASB) “If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath?
John 7:23: Yeshua tells them that they follow the command to circumcise, not because the command was given by Moses, but originally by the fathers who preceded Moses (being Abraham).
If a son is born on the Sabbath, they circumcised him on the next Sabbath because he was to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth.
But if a man is not to do any work on the Sabbath, how can you follow both laws? Yeshua says that you always circumcise on the Sabbath when it is warranted, and they decided that this is in keeping with the Torah of Moses. If this allowed on the Sabbath, why not the healing of a whole man? They had no answer to Him.
(John 7:24 NASB) “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
John 7:24: This passage says that we are to judge actions according to Elohim’s Word. Yeshua is quoting Torah (Deut. 1:16-17, 16:18-19).
(John 7:25 NASB) Therefore some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill?
(John 7:26 NASB) “And look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they?
John 7:26: There are those in the crowd that know the religious leaders want to kill Yeshua. But the people don’t understand why they do not publicly refute His works and His words if that is what condemns Him. Why are the religious rulers silent? Why don’t they publicly tell Him the error of His ways?
(John 7:27 NASB) “However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.”
John 7:27: The people claimed that they would not know where Messiah would be from when He arrives.. But Scripture states that Messiah would be from Bethlehem Ephrathah (Micah 5:2). The people are divided over the issue of who Yeshua really is. This was in part caused by the hatred of the Sadducees and Pharisees toward Yeshua. They were the ones who were teachers of the Word of Elohim, but they were trying to kill Yeshua. It was also due to the fact that Yeshua was shining the Light to their dark world and most of them couldn’t handle that and walked away.
There was a big disagreement over who Yeshua is. That argument continues today.
(John 7:28 NASB) Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.
(John 7:29 NASB) “I know Him; because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”
John 7:29: Yeshua tells them they they know Him and they know where He is from. He grew up around these people. But they do not know who sent Him. What does He mean when He says they do not know Elohim? It means they do not follow his Torah. To know Him is to follow His Torah (Prov. 2:1-5, Hosea 4:1-6, 2 King 17:13-19). Elohim specifically said in Torah that forgetting Him means disobeying His commandments (Deut. 8:11-14).
In one of the most ignored passages by Christianity in the Brit Hadasha, John tells us that if we say we know Him and do not keep His commandments, we are liars (1 John 2:3-7).
(John 7:30 NASB) They were seeking therefore to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
(John 7:31 NASB) But many of the multitude believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ shall come, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”
John 7:31: Many of those present believed in Yeshua. They said, “If this guy isn’t the Messiah, what is the Messiah gonna do that He hasn’t done?” Yeshua made the blind see and the deaf hear and the lame walk. These are the things prophesied that would happen when Messiah arrives (Isa. 29:18-19, 35:4-6).
(John 7:32 NASB) The Pharisees heard the multitude muttering these things about Him; and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him.
John 7:32: The Pharisees see many of the people being swayed by Yeshua, His signs, and His Words.
(John 7:33 NASB) Jesus therefore said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me.
(John 7:34 NASB) “You shall seek Me, and shall not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
(John 7:35 NASB) The Jews therefore said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we shall not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He?
(John 7:36 NASB) “What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”
John 7:36: This is the Pharisees and religious rulers talking. They are ridiculing Yeshua and His Words saying that He will go where they cannot find Him. They think He means that He will go out to the Gentile nations.
(John 7:37 NASB) Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
(John 7:38 NASB) “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’”
John 7:38: Josephus tells us that a tradition grew a few centuries before the coming of Yeshua in that water was offered as a sacrifice in conjunction with the morning sacrifice. The water was poured out onto the altar to symbolize the blessing of adequate rainfall for crops, better yet, to signify the provision of water that Elohim supplied in the wilderness (Ex. 17:6).
Yeshua might be using this as an object lesson. Or He might be rejecting their tradition of this water sacrifice by telling them that they have it all wrong by adding to the prescribed offerings. He cries out saying, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” He is referencing Himself as the Fountain of Life from Scripture (Psalm 36:8-9, Isa. 12:2-3, 55:1-3). Yeshua makes this same statement in Revelation (Rev. 21:6, 22:17).
(John 7:39 NASB) But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
John 7:39: The Spirit was not yet poured out, but would be poured out on those who entrust Him after He is glorified (Isa. 32:15-17, Prov. 1:23, Isa. 44:3-6).
(John 7:40 NASB) Some of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.”
John 7:40: Once again, the people say that this is the one like Moses that was promised in Deut. 18:15, 18. The Words of Yeshua saying that He will provide living water, remind the people that Moses was used to provide water in the wilderness. They immediately think that He must be the prophet who is to come.
(John 7:41 NASB) Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?
John 7:41: Nazareth was in Galilee, and most of Yeshua’s signs and teaching had been in Galilee. They were just speaking of where Yeshua came from.
The people apparently did not link “the Prophet” with “the Messiah” until now.
(John 7:42 NASB) “Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”
(John 7:43 NASB) So there arose a division in the multitude because of Him.
John 7:43: The very argument they were ignorantly using against Yeshua is more proof that He is who He says He is.
(John 7:44 NASB) And some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
(John 7:45 NASB) The officers therefore came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?”
(John 7:46 NASB) The officers answered, “Never did a man speak the way this man speaks.”
John 7:46: The ones who were to arrest Yeshua were arrested by the Words of Yeshua (Luke 4:32).
(John 7:47 NASB) The Pharisees therefore answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you?
(John 7:48 NASB) “No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he?
John 7:48: The Pharisees are claiming that no one should believe in Yeshua and His Words because none of them believe in Him. Since the “religious leaders” do not believe in Yeshua, the people should not also. This is the same argument used today by Christians against Torah also.
(John 7:49 NASB) “But this multitude which does not know the Law is accursed.”
John 7:49: The Pharisees looked at the people as “ignorant folk” who need their leadership and guidance to know Torah. The people were starting to break away from their false teaching and the Pharisees were afraid to lose their power base.
(John 7:50 NASB) Nicodemus said^ to them (he who came to Him before, being one of them),
(John 7:51 NASB) “Our Law does not judge a man, unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?”
John 7:51: Nicodemus knew that Torah says they are to first hear from a man and be certain about his actions before they judge him (Deut. 1:17, 19:15-21, Prov. 18:13).
(John 7:52 NASB) They answered and said to him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”
John 7:52: The Pharisees are changing the subject that Nicodemus brought up and are accusing Nicodemus of being an old friend of Yeshua. They are discounting the message by discrediting the messenger. They are saying, “You are an old buddy of His and your opinion doesn’t count!” They were wrong, but they didn’t care. They just wanted to justify their own accusations.
If they are saying that no prophet was prophesied to come out of Galilee, they are correct. But it is not true that no prophet came from Galilee. Jonah and Nahum came from Galilee.
(John 7:53 NASB) <And everyone went to his home.
John 7:53: Starting with this verse and ending with John 8:11, is not in any of the ancient manuscripts and should not be used as justification for any teaching or doctrine. The NASB has this section in brackets <>.
Patrick McGuire
Copyright 2015
Patrick McGuire and Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly
All rights reserved, no portion of this Lesson may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations in articles and reviews.
Beit Yeshua Torah Assembly
Fort Smith, Arkansas