Jesus is demonstrating the power of God through the miracles he is doing and many recognize him and believe in John 7:31 But from the crowd many believed in him and were saying, “Whenever the Christ comes, he will not perform more signs than this man has done, will he?” yet some still ask for a sign that he is the Messiah. Jesus taught in the temple and in John 7:28–29 Then Jesus cried out in the temple courts, teaching and saying, “You both know me and you know where I am from!”. and again in John 7:37–38 Now on the last day of the feast—the great day—Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let him drink, 38 the one who believes in me. Just as the scripture said, ‘Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.’ ” and for many in the crowd, in John 7:40–41a Then, when they heard these words, some from the crowd began to say, “This man is truly the Prophet!” 41 Others were saying, “This man is the Christ!” but not everyone believed John 7:43 “So there was a division in the crowd because of him”. The works of Jesus are well recorded. The prophecies concerning him are well fulfilled. Can you deny that “This man is the Christ!”.
No One Was Speaking Openly About Him
John 7:6–13
How Does This Man Possess Knowledge
I Am From Him and He Sent Me
John 7:25–36
As Jesus is speaking out in Jerusalem and Galilee, there are those that are persecuting him and as he goes back to Jerusalem in
John 7:25 Then some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem began to say, “Is this not the one whom they are seeking to kill?
people are talking about Jesus, they are talking about the reaction of the religious leaders, there are statements being made about “the Christ” as in
John 7:27 Yet we know where this man is from, but the Christ, whenever he comes—no one knows where he is from!”
and in the midst of these rumors and murmurings and misunderstood words of prophecy, Jesus continues to speak out in
John 7:28–29 Then Jesus cried out in the temple courts, teaching and saying, “You both know me and you know where I am from! And I have not come from myself, but the one who sent me is true, whom you do not know. 29 I know him, because I am from him and he sent me.”
and many of the people believed what Jesus was saying, at least they responded to Jesus because there were many obvious miracles that he had done in
John 7:31 But from the crowd many believed in him and were saying, “Whenever the Christ comes, he will not perform more signs than this man has done, will he?”
The One Who Believes in Me
John 7:37–39
The context for this section is important and it begins in
John 7:2 Now the feast of the Jews—the feast of Tabernacles—was near.
Jesus had resisted his brother’s suggestion that he should go and make a public show in John 7:2-8 but later he did go and taught in the “temple courts” in John 7:15. This feast of Tabernacles, also called Booths and ingathering lasted eight days and part of the ceremony that is lost to us, involved pouring water over the altar as described here, “At the same time, a priest took a golden pitcher which held three logs—that is, about two pints—and went down to the Pool of Siloam and filled it with water. It was carried back through the Water Gate while the people recited Isaiah 12:3: ‘With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.’ The water was carried up to the Temple altar and poured out as an offering to God. While this was being done, the Hallel—that is, Psalms 113–18—was sung to the accompaniment of flutes by the Levite choir”.1
And, there was one other important part, that “In Deuteronomy 16:13–15 the Feast of Tabernacles is equated with the Feast of Ingathering and is said to be a celebration for all the ways God has blessed Israel. Every seventh year, the Jubilee, the people were to read the law during the Feast of Tabernacles (Deut 31:9–13), as Ezra does in Neh 8:13–18 (see also Ezra 3:4)”.2
and now we can understand that Jesus is not just interjecting an interesting thought or commenting on someone’s inquiry, but he is taking his place in the fulfillment of the purpose of this feast in
John 7:37–38 Now on the last day of the feast—the great day—Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let him drink, 38 the one who believes in me. Just as the scripture said, ‘Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
This Man is the Christ!
John 7:40–53
Some in the crowd, there in Jerusalem at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, recognized that there was something different about Jesus in
John 7:40 Then, when they heard these words, some from the crowd began to say, “This man is truly the Prophet!”
and some said in
John 7:41a Others were saying, “This man is the Christ!”
while others reacted negatively in
John 7:41b But others were saying, “No, for the Christ does not come from Galilee, does he?
There were those that believed and those that rejected Jesus just as it is today, so that in
John 7:43 So there was a division in the crowd because of him.
The words of Jesus were so powerful on this day that the officers of the chief priests who were charged with keeping order in the temple and who had been charged to seize Jesus returned without him saying in
John 7:46 The officers replied, “Never has a man spoken like this!”
Neither Do I Condemn You
John 8:1–11
I Am the Light of the World
John 8:12–20
Study Verses
- John 7:25–36 I Am From Him and He Sent Me
- John 7:37–39 The One Who Believes in Me
- John 7:40–53 This Man is the Christ!
Today’s Reading
- John 7:6-53
- John 8:1-20
References
- 1. Barclay, W. (2001). The Gospel of John (Rev. and updated., Vol. 1, p. 290). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.
- 2. Austin, B. M. (2016). Booths, Feast of. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
