John 7:14-53

Read John 7:14-24 Jesus has a contentious discussion about his authority

Jesus waits until the week-long celebration of the feast of Tabernacles is half-over before beginning to teach publicly in the Temple area.  Why do you think he comes secretly and then reveals himself?  How might this timing relate to the idea of kairos (the opportune times or special moments when God acts) that we talked about in the previous passage?

In verse 15, how do the religious leaders try to belittle Jesus’s qualifications?

They say he has never been taught – i.e., he has not gone through the traditional system of being trained by an older rabbi.

In verse 16, where does Jesus say he gets his teaching from?

In verse 17, Jesus says that the people who choose to do the will of God will know whether his teaching is from God.  This suggests that making a commitment to do God’s will comes first, and the ability to discern what is right comes after that.  Why is a commitment to do God’s will so important?

If we have not made the decision to follow the will of God, we will be tempted to assume that whatever we think is right is what God wants.  When we commit to God’s will first, we are more open to letting the Holy Spirit show us what is actually from God.

When Jesus says in verse 19 that they are trying to kill him, some people in the crowd are baffled.  They don’t know about what happened when he healed a man on the Sabbath (John 5:16-18).  Jesus may be speaking over their heads to the religious leaders when he argues that the healing he performed on the Sabbath was justified.

In verse 21, Jesus says he performed one miracle.  He is referring to the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath the last time he was in Jerusalem (John 5:1-9).  He points out that they don’t consider it a violation of the Law of Moses when they circumcise a baby on the 8^th day, even if it’s on the Sabbath.  If addressing the need of one part of the body on the Sabbath does not violate the Law of Moses, then addressing the need of the whole body on the Sabbath also does not violate the Law of Moses.  In verse 24, he urges them to exercise ‘just” or “right” judgment (i.e., judgment based on justice or righteousness) rather than judging by appearances.  What does just or right judgment look like?

Justice involves ensuring that everyone, including God, receives what is due to them.  It would not be just or righteous to withhold healing from someone if it is in our power to heal them, since we owe it to others, as an act of Christian love, to heal them if we can.

How is just or right judgment different from judging by appearances?

What principles guide you toward right or just judgment?

A variety of answers might be appropriate here: for example, following Jesus’s law of love, doing what the Bible says is justice, following the Golden Rule (do to others what you would want them to do to you), doing good whenever you can, etc.

Read John 7:25-31 People start to develop different opinions about Jesus

Although some people in the crowd have no idea that the leaders want to kill Jesus, some people who live in Jerusalem are aware of it (verse 25).  How do they react in verse 26?

In verse 27, some of the people say that no one will know where the Messiah comes from, and therefore Jesus can’t be the Messiah since they know where he comes from (i.e., Galilee).  That is one of two views that were common regarding where the Messiah would come from.  We will see the other view, based on Micah 5:1, that the Messiah will come from Bethlehem, in verse 42.

When Jesus again claims that he is from the Father (verses 28-29), how do the authorities respond in verse 30?

When John says in verse 30 that Jesus’s “hour” has not yet come, the Greek word is hora, which John uses to refer to the appointed time of Jesus’s Passion and death, when he will give his life as a sacrifice for all.  It is a concept John mentions repeatedly: that Jesus would move forward to the Crucifixion only at the hour appointed by God.  Why did it matter when the Crucifixion happened?  Are there things that needed to happen first?

He has not finished teaching his disciples and preparing them.  For example, he has not yet taught them that he is the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, and the Vine, or that he will be sending the Holy Spirit.  Also, in John’s Gospel, the Crucifixion happens at the same time that the Passover lambs are being slain in the Temple.  That can’t happen if he dies during the feast of Tabernacles.

How might our faith grow stronger if we give more attention to the importance of Jesus’s “hour”?

Although the leaders again seek to arrest Jesus, many in the crowd have a different reaction.  What does verse 31 tell us about them?

Three groups of people see the same things, but they have very different reactions.  The leaders become hardened against Jesus, some people begin to believe in him, and others are still unsure.  What happens in people that leads to such different reactions to the same events?

How do you respond when others seem indifferent or hostile to Jesus?

Read John 7:32-53 The arrest that went astray, and rivers of living water

Verse 32 tells us that some of the Pharisees are unhappy when they hear people in the crowd beginning to believe that Jesus is the Messiah (the Christ).  Why does this particularly trouble them as Pharisees?

The Pharisees are the ones who are trying the hardest to follow every detail of the Law, which Jesus is less concerned about.  Jesus is equating himself with God, which to them would be blasphemy.  And some of the Pharisees are members of the Sanhedrin; along with the chief priests they are concerned about how Jesus is undermining their leadership.

In verse 32, the chief priests and Pharisees send officers to arrest Jesus.  These are members of the Temple police, who are under Jewish authority –  not Roman officers.  We learn in verses 45-46 that they don’t arrest him.  What explanation do they give in verses 45-46 for failing to arrest Jesus?

Now let’s return to verses 33-34.  Jesus tells the Pharisees that they will look for him and not find him.  They are baffled.  They wonder: Will he leave Jewish territory, go out into the Greek-speaking part of the Roman Empire where there were Greek-, and preach there?  What does Jesus really mean?

They can’t accompany him in his ascension to heaven, and they won’t be able to find him on Earth when he has returned to heaven.  (They will, however, still be able to receive eternal life and spend eternity with him in heaven, if they are willing to believe.)

Verses 37-39: Rivers of Living Water

On the last day of the feast, Jesus stands up and in a loud voice makes an unusual proclamation (verse 37).  What does he offer?

We heard Jesus talk about this drink that quenches our thirst when he was talking with the woman at the well.  He is referring to himself.  In what ways does Jesus quench our spiritual thirst?

There are many great answers to this question.  He gives us salvation, forgiveness, unconditional love, etc.; he fills our thirst for truth, refreshes us when we are weary; etc.  How does he quench your spiritual thirst?

The quote in verse 38 is not an exact quote.  It appears to draw from several Old Testament images: in Exodus 17:5-6 and Numbers 20:10-13, God provided water to the Israelites when Moses struck the rock; in Ezekiel 47:1-12, Ezekiel had a vision of a river of flowing water streaming from Jerusalem; in Zechariah 14:8, Zechariah prophesied that when Jerusalem was restored, fresh water would flow from Jerusalem.

Verse 38 says, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”  The “his” could refer to Jesus or to the person who believes in him, but grammatically it appears to refer to the believer.  John explains in verse 39 that Jesus is referring to the Spirit, who had not yet been given.  When was the Spirit given, the first time?

How do these rivers of living water arise in our hearts?  When or how do we receive the Spirit in our time?

In what way is the Holy Spirit like a river of living water in you?

How do the rivers of living water from the Holy Spirit flow out of us?  What does it look like when the Holy Spirit is flowing from us?

How can you be more open to letting the Holy Spirit flow through you?

In verses 40-44, we see a whole range of reactions to Jesus.  On one side, some people want Jesus to be arrested.  On the other side, some say he is the Prophet who Moses said would come, and some say he is the Messiah.  Others don’t think he could be the Messiah because they expect the Messiah to come from Bethlehem based on Micah 5:1 and they don’t know that Jesus was born there.  We saw the alternate view in verse 27: that some people thought the Messiah would appear as an adult, seemingly from out of nowhere, and no one would know where he was from.  The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible points out the irony that there was partial truth in both of those views: unknown to the people, Jesus came from heaven (not from any earthly place), but he was also born in Bethlehem, not in Galilee (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, fn. to 7:27, p. 176).

What do verses 47-49 tell us about the attitude of the Pharisees toward the people?  What does their attitude tell us about how they viewed themselves?

In verse 50, Nicodemus tries to bring some orderliness to the actions of the leaders.  What does he ask in verse 50?

Why is the rule of law so important, from a Christian perspective?  How does the rule of law relate to God’s repeated demand for justice in the Old Testament?

We saw Nicodemus come to Jesus by night in chapter 3.  What do verses 50-51 tell us about his spiritual progress?  Was the meeting he had with Jesus in chapter 3 worthwhile?

The chief priests and Pharisees don’t believe the Messiah will come from Galilee.  But their derisive comment in verse 52 suggests that they hold a bias against people from Galilee, who lived far away from the important city of Jerusalem, which was both the religious and political capital of the Jews.  Are there ways that we might dismiss people because of where they are from?  What do we miss out on, when we have that kind of attitude?

Take a step back and consider this:

When we want water to flow freely in our houses, we turn on the tap.  If the flow is weak, we might check the supply line valve to see if it is fully open.  Engineers build dams to limit the flow of a river.  When they want the river to flow freely, they open the floodgates.

The Holy Spirit flows like water in our hearts.  But we may limit the flow.  If we want to let the Spirit flow freely, we may need to open the valves, open the floodgates.

How do you see the Holy Spirit flowing in your life?  In what ways have you seen the Spirit flow out of you to those around you?

What are things you might be doing or failing to do that might be limiting the Holy Spirit’s action like a partially closed valve or floodgate?

What can you do to let the Holy Spirit flow more fully in your life?