There is an elapse of six months between chapters six and seven. We are filled in with regard to this elapse from two of the synoptic Gospels, Matthew and Mark. In John 6 we had a chapter which took place around the Passover – verse 4. John 7:2 tells us we now go to the time of the feast of the Tabernacles. This is an elapse of six months during which the Lord Jesus Christ left the synagogue at Capernaum and went up the Caesarea Philippi, a very desolate area. Now He is going to come back again to Galilee, and on His return we are going to have a rather interesting encounter with His four, at this time unsaved, half brothers.
In verses 1-13 we have the background.
Verses 14-32, the revelation of the Son of God.
Verses 33-39, the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
Verses 40-52, the audience reaction.
Basically, the messages which Jesus gave in chapter six were given at the synagogue at Capernaum. The ones we have in this passage were given in the temple during the feast of Tabernacles.
Verse 1 – the antagonism of the Jews. “After these things” gives us a phrase which indicates an elapse of time, six months in which Jesus avoided both Galilee and Judea. He went up into the north, Caesarea Philippi which was the tetrarchy of Philip, one of the sons of Herod the Great. In Judea the Lord Jesus Christ was rejected. In Samaria He has success. Now He has been out of Galilee for six months and is now returning.
“Jesus [always the title of His humanity] walked” – imperfect linear aktionsart, which means He moved about in Galilee; “for he would not walk in Jewry.” “Jewry” is an obsolete word. It is a word for the Jews, plus a suffix; an anachronistic suffix which means absolutely nothing. The word in the Greek is Judea. The words “would not” is an expression of His human volition – qelw, imperfect linear aktionsart. It means to will or desire with a purpose or design behind it. It was His purpose based on is observation of the situation but it was not time for Him to return as yet to Judea. He did not desire to walk in Judea. He was rejected in Judea in John 5; He was rejected in Galilee in John 5.
“the Jews” refers to religious leaders; “sought” -- kept on seeking, imperfect linear aktionsart. They were constantly looking for Him.
“to kill” -- the word for “kill” a)pokteinw [a)po = ultimate source; kteinw = destroy]. They wanted to destroy from the ultimate source of self. That is religion’s attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? John 4:1, mental attitude sins. Religion always is involved with mental attitude sins. The religious leaders were jealous of the Lord Jesus Christ. The pattern of the Jewish mental attitude is expressed in Acts 13:45. The religious Jews were antagonistic and full of hatred because first of all they were jealous. Jealousy spawns a lot of different mental attitude sins. It is a basic one which leads to others.
Man’s true spiritual condition is always revealed by his mental attitude toward Jesus Christ. The unbeliever’s mental attitude is rejection or unbelief. The carnal believer has the attitude of indifference or apathy. The spiritual believer has the attitude of love – RMA, and the mature believer has not only love but rapport and occupation with Christ. So the mentality is always indicative of one’s spiritual condition. In other words, it isn’t how you act on the outside, it is what you think on the inside. The spirituality index is always based on what you are thinking.
Verse 2 – the time of this passage. “The Jews’ feast of tabernacles was at hand.” It was about to begin when Jesus had this conversation with His brothers. The Levitical feasts are taught in Leviticus chapter 23, they are a part of Codex #2 of the Mosaic law. Basically, under the doctrine of the Levitical feasts we have three concepts. First of all we have the feast which depicts the first advent of Christ. Secondly we have the gap, and then we have the feasts which are identified with the Second Advent. There are four feasts which are identified with the first coming of Christ: a) The Passover, which deals with the work of Christ on the cross. The reason it comes first is because the cross must always come before the crown. There is no eternal kingdom apart from the work of Christ on the cross. The second feast was the feast of unleavened bread which began immediately at the end of the Passover. It was one of the two feasts that lasted a week. It is a picture of the believer’s fellowship with God in time. The third feast occurred in the middle of the week of unleavened bread – the feast of the firstfruits, which depicts the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It always occurred on Sunday; Jesus Christ rose again from the dead on Sunday, on the day of the firstfruits. The fourth is the feast of Pentecost, and Pentecost (which simply means 50 days) is fifty days after the firstfruits, and this always occurred on Sunday. The purpose of the feast of Pentecost was a warning to the Jews that the fifth cycle of discipline will come very shortly. These four feasts are always connected with the first advent of Jesus Christ. Between them we have the gap.
Under the concept of the Gap, there was no feast between roughly the end of May (or, rarely, the first week of June) and the first of October – approximately six months. This represents the time of the fifth cycle of discipline, the time when the Jews are dispersed and no longer are recognised as a nation. During this time the Church replaces Israel. This is why the Church began on the day of Pentecost. Cursing is turned to blessing for the Jews during the period of the gap by means of salvation. When a Jew accepts Christ as saviour during the Church Age he is entered into union with Christ, becomes a member of the body of Christ, and cursing is turned to blessing.
The last three feasts are connected with the Second Advent. The first of these was the feast of the trumpets. The trumpet was used for assembly and the feast of the trumpets means the end of the fifth cycle of discipline. When Jesus Christ returns to the earth the fifth cycle of discipline will be completed. The next is the feast of atonement. It indicates that only born-again Jews go into the Millennium and into the eternal kingdom. The seventh and last feast is the feast of the tabernacles which depicts the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ.
Now we are dealing with the feast of the tabernacles. The last chapter, chapter six, had as its background the feast of the Passover. It was observed in Capernaum. So we have at least a six-month elapse of time between the two chapters.
In verses 3-9 we have an interesting conversation between the Lord Jesus Christ and His four half brothers. Matthew 13:55 gives us the names of these brothers.
Verse 3 – “His brethren therefore said unto him.” They have some sarcastic advice to give Him as they have not personally received Him as saviour.
“Depart hence” – apparently the brothers were on their way down south to the feast of tabernacles which was about to occur. The actual word here is not “depart.” The Greek word is metabainw [bainw = to go; meta = from place to place]. So they are suggesting that He go from place Galilee with them down to place Judah and to Jerusalem for the feast of the tabernacles. This is an aorist active imperative. “Hence” is an adverb which means “from this place.”
“and go” – the word for “go” is to go down to Jerusalem. No question as to which direction; “that” introduces a purpose clause, and this is a very sarcastic purpose clause.
“thy disciples” is a reference to believers in Judea. These believers in Judea have already been cited in John 2:23; 4:1. The half brothers heard six months ago about the defection of the disciples in Galilee – John 6:66, and they therefore assume that Jesus has no more disciples in Galilee except the twelve, and they suggest that He go down to Jerusalem and lose those. This is very sarcastic.
“may see thy works” – in other words, Look, there were 5000 plus who saw your works in Galilee, and where are they now? They scattered; they left you. “May see” is future tense. They doubt if any miracles can be performed so they put it in the future.
“thou doest” – keep on doing, present linear aktionsart. Sarcasm.
Verse 4 – the expression of doubt. “For no man doeth anything in secret.” This is, again, sarcasm. They are judging Jesus by their own pitiful standards.
“doeth” – keeps on doing; “anything in secret.” What they are saying is this. “If we could perform miracles as you claim you have we would let the whole world know about it.” They are judging Jesus by their own standards, by their won character. They are superimposing upon the Lord Jesus their own weaknesses and their own
failures.
“any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly.” This is what they would do, seek to be known openly. “To be known” is a present active infinitive, it is linear aktionsart, sand it expresses exactly what they would do. It is an idiom which means they would be in the public eye. So they ascribe to the Lord Jesus their own vanity of mind. If the situation had been reversed they would have been down in Jerusalem right then and there. They would have spent the last six months in Jerusalem performing miracles, making a public display of power. This is their own approbation and power lust being expressed.
1. Beware of judging people by your own actions and thoughts. Only God has the right to judge and only the Word of God has the right to condemn.
2. Unless God promotes you there is no promotion. God did not promote those four half-brothers. Joshua 3:7; 1 Peter 5:5,6.
“If” – 1st class condition of sarcasm; “thou do these things [this is sarcasm, ‘and we must assume that you do,’ is the way it is translated] shew thyself [manifest thyself] to the world” – aorist imperative. Obviously we can see what they want. If He becomes famous they would like to get a finger in the pot! They don’t care about His message. They have rejected His message; they will keep on rejecting His message; they will not accept the fact that He is the God-Man, even though they grew up with Him and never saw a sin or a failure of any kind.
Verse 5 – the explanation of their sarcasm. “For neither did his brethren believe in him.” The Greek says, “For not even were his brothers believing in him.” “Believe” is imperfect active indicative and the imperfect tense means habitual rejection. Out of these brothers we only have a record of two who were eventually saved – James, who received Christ as saviour after the resurrection, Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 15:7; James 1:1. He became a leader of the Jerusalem church, Acts 12:17, etc.; Jude was also saved and wrote the book of Jude.
Verses 6-9, Jesus answers His brothers.
Verse 6 – “My time is not yet come.” He is going to repeat this phrase once again. The first time He says this He is referring to the Second Advent. They want Jesus to be glorified, which puts Him into the Second Advent. Glory characterises the Second Advent. The first advent will be characterised by humiliation. The brothers want Him to go down and show Himself for what He really is. At the Second Advent Jesus comes to Jerusalem, and they had given Him the command, “God to Jerusalem and show your glory.” That is exactly what He will do at the Second Advent. “My time” is a reference to the Second Advent this time. The word karo is an epoch, so He uses “time” here as an epoch or a period, time as a change of period – Second Advent. He would receive the crown at the Second Advent. So Jesus is saying that the cross must come before the crown. The time for my coronation is not here, this is the time for my humiliation. If Jesus had come first for His glory there could be no kingdom of the regenerate. The citizens of God’s eternal kingdom must have eternal life. The only way they can have eternal life is for Jesus Christ to go to the cross. Literally this says, “My time is not yet present” – present active indicative of pareimi [e)imi = to be; par = beside] which comes to mean to be present. The time for the Second Advent is not now. He cannot fulfil the tabernacles until first of all He fulfils the Passover.
“your time is always ready” – they are going to down to observe the feast of tabernacles but it won’t mean anything to them because they are not believers. Ritual without reality is meaningless. The word “ready” does not mean ready here. The Greek word e)toimoj means prepared – “your time is always prepared.” The only way to be prepared for the eternal kingdom of God is to believe in Christ as saviour. Your time is now; this is the opportunity to be prepared for that glory when it comes. When the feast of tabernacles is fulfilled there is only one way to be prepared. These men are looking at their own half brother who is the only preparation for salvation and eternity.
Verse 7 – “The world” – kosmoj, which originally meant ideas. Since kosmoj is used for the world it is Satan’s world (Satan is the ruler of the world), so ideas that come from Satan represents the whole human viewpoint, the whole anti-biblical view of life. The kosmoj, a system of ideas, hates Jesus Christ. This is because Satan is the ruler of the kosmoj, according to Luke 4:5-7; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; Ephesians 2:2; 2 Corinthians 4:4, etc. The word “hate” is present linear aktionsart, keeps on hating, always will hate.
“cannot hate you” – this indicates, once again, their unbelieving state. While they are closely associated with Jesus Christ by birth, nevertheless the kosmoj cannot – present active indicative of dunamai, which means to be able, plus the negative: “keeps on being not able” – “to hate you [brothers, plural].” The kosmoj is not capable of hating you because you are a part of the kosmoj, is the idea here. Therefore, when these four brothers advise Jesus Christ to go down openly and expose Himself, give them a great burst of miracles and reveal His glory they are giving Him exactly the same advise that Satan gave Him when he said, “If you will worship me I will give you the kingdoms of the world.” In other words, it is possible for loved ones and friends to give you advice which is exactly what Satan would say. They have taken the words right out of Satan’s mouth. So Jesus makes it clear and tells them they think like the kosmoj, they are a part of the kosmoj, they are unbelievers. As unbelievers you can only give the wrong advice.
Notice that Jesus does not meet sarcasm with sarcasm. While they have been sarcastic He simply sticks with the facts, ignoring their sarcasm.
“but me – conjunction of contrast; “it keeps on hating” – present active indicative, linear aktionsart. Religion, legalism always hates grace; Satan always hates Jesus Christ.
Jesus challenges human viewpoint every time He speaks, and he uses the words, “because I testify concerning it.” The word for testify simply means to expose human thinking in all of its fallacies. Brilliant men do not like to have their views chopped down by divine viewpoint. The Pharisees were all brilliant, they some tremendous systems; they were all Satanic. Jesus has constantly bucked the tiger as far as religion is concerned. Grace keeps on testifying. And what has He hit? Human good! What does He testify to? To their works, not sins.
“the works thereof are evil” – Jesus made the issue between divine and human good. The word for “evil” is ponhroj, and while it means evil it also means useless, worthless, something that is spoiled [rotten, i.e. not eternal]. In other words, the human viewpoint of life is worthless and never solves anything. It cannot solve man’s problems. If it cannot solve his basic problems it cannot solve his collective problems. Human good will not solve man’s problems.
Verse 8 – “Go ye up to this feast.” In other words, take your own advice.
“I go not up yet” – He is going, but He is not going under their advice or under their system. He is not going to present Himself as King in the sense of showing His glory, He is going up there to present Himself as saviour because the cross must come before the crown.
“for my time is not yet fulfilled” – this is a different phrase from verse 6. This time “my time” refers to the cross. “Fulfilled” is in the perfect tense, fulfilled in the past with results that go one forever – the cross. If He goes up with His brothers He will be ambushed and killed. He is going to go up after the feast starts. They will relax their vigilance. Once He gets into the city He is safe, they will not assassinate Him in the city because it can be directly attributed to them and they would be discredited. “My time has not yet been fulfilled” means that His death is not to be fulfilled yet, other things have to be accomplished. So He refuses the bad advice of His brothers to go openly to the feast. Such a suggestion would have led to attempts upon His life. He has to fulfil the plan of the Father. The plan of the Father means that He must give some more messages in Jerusalem. During the feast of the tabernacles He will give two messages which are designed to reveal God.
Verse 9 – they went on to Jerusalem but He remained behind and would come late to the feast of the tabernacles.
Verse 10 – “But when his brethren were gone up.” They have already departed to go to the feast.
“not openly, but as it were in secret” – this is to avoid the ambush, the assassins, the religious crowd who had posted people on all the roads.
Verses 11-13 – in the meantime in Jerusalem. During the first four days of the feast Jesus is not there.
Verse 11 – “The Jews” refers to the Jewish leaders; “sought him” – kept on seeking Him, imperfect linear aktionsart. They were seeking Him to take His life.
“Where is he?” They pretended to be searching for Him to ask questions. They were searching for Him to kill Him. So one of the things that was happening in the first part of the feast was a very intensive search to seek out and to slay the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 12 – the crowd is very much divided in their opinion. “And there was much murmuring” – imperfect linear aktionsart, there kept on being much murmuring, a lot of talk, a lot of conversation. Two opinions:
“for some said” – these are believers; “he is good” – the word ‘man’ does not occur in the original. “He is” – present linear aktionsart of e)imi, He always will be. The word “good” is a)gaqoj, good of intrinsic value. In other words, this is their way of saying that they accept Him as the ultimate good, divine good. So we have some who are believers and they stand up for the Lord. They don’t call Him a man, they say He is absolute good.
Then we have the reaction group: “others [unbelievers] said, No.” They contradicted this.
“but he deceiveth [keeps on deceiving] the people” – so we have a divided opinion among the people, the religious people are seeking to kill Him.
Verse 13 – a principle: Religion destroys human freedom. Remember that Christianity is not a religion. When religion becomes the state, you’ve had it.
“no man spoke openly of him” – many in the crowd were for Jesus Christ but they would not speak openly about Him because of fear. The words “for fear” is dia plus the accusative and it means “because of.” Because of fear of the religious leaders.
In verses 14-32 we have the first of two messages given in the temple during the feast
of the tabernacles. The first message deals with the revelation of Jesus
Christ as God. The second one deals with the revelation of the Holy Spirit as God. In verses 14-16, as in all messages, Jesus communicated doctrine. Everyone
who listened to Him, whether they were believers or unbelievers, regardless of their status in
life, recognised that when Jesus Christ spoke it was doctrine. It was
divine viewpoint categorically presented.
“Now about the middle of the feast [of the tabernacles]” – it had been going for three
or four days, so this is either Wednesday or Thursday when Jesus Christ arrives at the temple. He is able to arrive without being ambushed or assassinated due to the fact that once
the feast begins all of the assassin bands are pulled off the main highways, which indicated
that they were very religious.
“went up” means to make a journey from Galilee down to Jerusalem. He went up
directly to the temple when he arrived – aorist tense, in a point of time; “and taught” –
imperfect linear aktionsart, He kept on teaching. The word for teaching here is teaching in a
public assembly, standing before a lot of people and communicating doctrine. The very word
itself, didaskw, indicates this principle. The duplication of a word in the present tense
always has a special concept in the Greek. Usually, a duplication of a word like this indicates
the perfect tense. But there are certain words, such as the verb to give and the verb to keep,
which both have a duplication of a letter in the front of the word in two words. They usually
indicate some kind of s dynamic, powerful thing. They indicate that there is thought, and then
behind the thought there is an action. In the verb to give, didomi, which we have so many
times throughout the New Testament, there is the thought behind the action. The thought is
love – “God so loved the world that he gave …” Here, behind the word “teach” is thought. In
this case the thought is doctrine categorically residing in the human spirit of Jesus Christ and
now communicated to the crowd. So generally speaking the word didaskw is recognised as
not meaning to teach but to teach a public assembly, to communicate information on a
categorical basis to a large number of people. The imperfect tense of didaskw in this verse
means that He continued teaching for quite a while.
Verse 15 – the amazement of the well-educated religious leaders, the Pharisees, the
scribes, and the chief priests.
“marvelled” – qaumazw doesn’t means to marvel so much as to be absolutely,
totally amazed. These people wanted to kill Jesus but right now they couldn’t. Why? The
power of the Word of God. The issue is the Word of God; He sticks with doctrine. Imperfect
tense: they kept on being amazed all the time He taught.
“How knoweth” – the word “to know” is the word of absolute knowledge, which
means a total and thorough grasp. It is used for doctrine which resides in the soul. It is the
word for inherent knowledge – o)ida. Perfect tense used as a present tense for inherent
knowledge, knowledge in the soul.
“this man letters” – letters is an idiom for a formal education. How does this man
speak as though He had a better education than any of us?
“having never learned” – He had not been in the formal theological system of
education. Yet He astounds the greatest educated minds of the day.
Verse 16 – the word “answered” means He had an answer, a)pokrinomai [a)po = preposition of ultimate source; krinomai = to discern]. The word meant
originally to discern from the ultimate source of one’s self. Eventually it came to mean to
come back with an answer from this discernment. It is in the passive voice here, which means Jesus had an answer. He had an answer from doctrine in His frontal lobe; He had an answer because He knew the Word in the humanity of His human spirit.
“My doctrine” – the categorical teaching of the divine viewpoint; “is not mine” – I am
not going to take credit for these things. In other words, when it says that Jesus grew in
wisdom this means that the humanity of Christ learned doctrine.
“is not mine” – doctrine belongs to the Father. Jesus is speaking from His humanity.
Doctrine is also the mind of Christ – 1 Corinthians 2:16. Doctrine is also the voice of the
Spirit – Hebrews 3:6,7.
“but his that sent me” – aorist active participle. The first advent is a part of the plan of
God the Father. Doctrine is the divine plan stated in human language.
Verse 17 – the problem of heathenism. What about the people who have never heard?
Jesus is standing in the temple which speaks of Him. This is during the feast of tabernacles
which represents the Millennium. In the Millennium there are going to be all kinds of people.
If God has a perfect plan it must be fair to every person who has ever lived. It is important to
understand here that Jesus said that the doctrine comes from the Father. Jesus is speaking from
His humanity and He is saying that the design is perfect and the designer is perfect; the planner
is perfect the plan is perfect.
Here is the second great challenge to the plan. The first great challenge is legalism, or
man trying to get his oar in. Man trying to do something to get into the plan of God. The
second greatest challenge to the plan of God is, Is God fair? This is what man says in his
stupidity. But you have to go back to a principle: God is perfect; His plan is perfect. Now, if
His plan is perfect then everyone gets a fair shake.
“If” introduces a 3rd class condition, which recognises the existence of human volition.
In any section of the world where people exist, every single person who has ever lived since
the beginning of man’s history of failure has had a fair shake. Every single one has had equal
chance of salvation.
“any man” – ”man” is used generically and refers to male and female both. The Greek
word is tij and it means “anyone.”
“will” – present active subjunctive of the verb qelw, a word which has various
meanings. Basically, it is used in desire or the use of volition from the emotions.
Here qelw means to will or desire on the basis of awareness of a design or a plan. In other
words, a plan is presented and it is then accepted or rejected. The present tense means that at
the point of God-consciousness this person went on positive signals, and linear aktionsart
means that when you go positive at the point of God-consciousness you are periodically going
to have thoughts about God until it is all clarified by gospel hearing. The active voice indicates
that you make your own decision. Everyone has to make their own decision, no one can make
it for someone else. The subjunctive mood is potential – you have free will.
“[to] do” – present active infinitive, poiew. Present tense: a desire to get with this
plan. Active voice: you desire it – free will. Infinitive: it is your purpose to get with this plan.
You need some information.
“his will” – qelhma. This is a noun which indicates two things: a) purpose; b) design.
This takes us into the whole plan of God for the salvation of the human race.
“he shall know” has to do with gospel hearing. To do His will is God-consciousness,
positive signals. This is a future middle indicative of the verb ginwskw which means to
know from experience, to know from the experience of hearing in this case. If goes on positive
signals at the point of God-consciousness, if he wills to know, “he shall know.” That means he
will be provided gospel information and he will express his positive signals then by faith in
Jesus Christ.
“the doctrine” is literally “concerning the doctrine.” He will get pertinent information.
It is future tense because it is future from positive volition at God-consciousness, which comes
first. The middle voice: the subject is benefited by the action of the verb. We are benefited by
going on positive signals at the point of God-consciousness because we will receive gospel
information, and as a result of receiving gospel information, positive signals expressed in a
non-meritorious manner resulting in eternal salvation. This is maximum benefit. The indicative
mood is the reality of gospel hearing after positive volition at the point of God-consciousness.
The doctrine has to do with two categories: soteriology and Christology.
“of God” is literally, “from God,” from the source of God the Father. This takes us
back to the fact that the Father is the designer, the planner.
“or whether I speak from the ultimate source of myself” – when He says “from God”
he uses the word e)k, ordinary source, but when He said “from myself”
Jesus says “this is not from the ultimate source of myself” – a)po, preposition of ultimate
source. In other words, pride is excluded. There are no mental attitude sins in
giving a straight message. Bible doctrine must be taught from a relaxed mental attitude, the
relaxed mental attitude comes from knowledge of doctrine plus the filling of
the Spirit. The Pharisees resent all of this, so Jesus has to clarify His own motivation. Jesus
says He is only communicating doctrine as He has learned it.
Verse 18 – the principle of motivation. “He that speaketh of himself” – a)po again, ultimate source. That is, communicating one’s own ideas rather than the plan of God. Jesus in His humanity is simply communicating what He has learned from God – “He grew in wisdom.” The word for speaking here is lalew and it means to communicate with words so that they make sense.
“seeketh” – the word which means to keep on seeking one’s own approbation; “keeps on seeking his own glory.” This glory is developed in two ways: a) In the old sin nature which
He doesn’t have, from the lust pattern. Primarily approbation lust followed by power lust. This is the greatest enemy of the believer, and of mankind.
“but” introduces a conjunction of contrast. Here is a contrast between human and divine good, here is the contrast between legalism and grace, here is the difference between man’s plan and God’s plan.
“he that seeketh [keeps on seeking]” – present active participle, linear aktionsart. The verb is zetew. There is another word for seeking – e)uriskw. Both of these words mean to seek. E)uriskw means to seek something you have lost, so it is never used in this passage. Wherever you find the word to seek in this passage, whether it is a negative or a positive statement, it always means exactly the same thing: to seek for and find something, to seek for something that you never had but through knowledge of doctrine you acquire it. Doctrine teaches doctrine.
“his glory” – the plan of the Father. It is revealed in the Word; it is doctrine; it is the category; it is the detail in the category; it is the plan of God and the grace of God. Remember that glory generally refers to the perfect character of God. Since God is perfect His plan is perfect. Here glory refers to the perfect plan or operation grace.
“of him that sent him” – in other words, the Father sent Jesus Christ. He is seeking the glory of God the Father.
“the same” – any individual who is oriented to the grace of God and the plan of God; “is true” – a)lhqhj means that He complies perfectly with the plan. The plan is declared in terms of doctrine, so “is true” means that he complies perfectly with doctrine and the standard of doctrine.
“and no unrighteousness is in him” – Jesus is speaking of Himself, He is simply following the plan of God. He is following doctrine; He is executing doctrine.
Verse 19 – the judgement of the Lord Jesus Christ. As soon as Jesus introduces Moses He introduces their favourite subject, first of all as a person and secondly as the writer of the first five books of the Bible, and also the one who received from God the Mosaic law. Moses is unique because he had the office of the prophet and the gift of prophecy.
“While Moses gave you the law, none of you keep the law.” This is quite a blow to the religious leaders who pride themselves on the fact that they are keeping the law in a very unusual way. Actually, Christ turns the tables on the Jews because Jesus has been accused by the religious hierarchy of not keeping the law. He healed a man on the Sabbath – John chapter 5. This started the whole problem. So it is the Jewish religious leaders who have broken the Sabbath and not the Lord Jesus Christ. However, they are going to try to show that He did and that He should be punished by death; in fact, they are using it as an excuse. But it is not working out that way very well because Jesus is now going to turn the tables on them. The Jews have obviously violated the Decalogue which says, “Thou shalt not kill.” They are trying to kill the Lord Jesus Christ. The religious leaders have imposed on Jesus their own sins and their own motivations; they accuse Him of breaking the law while they actually violate the law themselves. Jesus points this out when He says, “Why are you going about trying to kill me?” This is in violation of one of the commandments.
Verse 20 – the reaction of the crowd is immediate. “Thou hast a demon: who goeth about to kill thee?” This is something that the hierarchy had circulated. They anticipated the fact that they would be accused of murder so they pulled in certain people in the crowd and said, “When He accuses us of murder then you simply take this piece of theology and use it on Him – He is demon possessed.” This was the public attitude of the Pharisees as declared in Matthew chapter twelve. It is called blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Actually, it is not blasphemy against the Spirit as we would understand it today but it is rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have rejected Jesus Christ as saviour, they must find some way in which they can explain the miracles, the eloquence, and everything connected with His person. So they use the fact of demon possession, which is a true Bible doctrine, and they distort it and relate it to the Lord Jesus Christ. They knew that demons had power and understood in part the angelic conflict. They knew that demons were capable of all sorts of miraculous activity and having understood all of these things they were now ascribing them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was empowered by the Holy Spirit and they ascribe the ministry of the Spirit in His life to demons. This is indicative of their rejection.
In verses 21-24 Jesus goes back to the Sabbath miracle which He performed and He defends it being performed on the Sabbath. Up to this point the Sanhedrin is using the miracle of healing on the Sabbath as the basis for getting the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 21 – “I have done one work, and you all are amazed.” When He refers to the one work He is referring to what happened in John 5:16. This violated a pet taboo of the Pharisees. To carry a bed on the Sabbath was punishable by death and yet Jesus challenged them to touch this man whom He had healed. Of course, they did not because it had some fantastic and difficult implications.
“you all are amazed” – keep on being amazed. It was still the primary topic of conversation in Jerusalem even though it had occurred 18 months ago. Now Jesus is reading their minds. And having heard their conversation and knowing the trend in the Sanhedrin which was meeting at that very moment to find some way to kill Him, Jesus now cites a parallel situation. They claim that Jesus has broken the Sabbath. The Sabbath is taught in the Mosaic law, so Jesus takes something which they revere, also connected with the law. The religious leaders have a favourite activity called circumcision, a ritual which is connected with the law. They will practice circumcision on the Sabbath or any other day because the law demands that they do so. The whole principle of circumcision as a ritual is to show the relationship of the Jews to the Mosaic law. In showing this relationship a child had to be circumcised on the eight day after it was born. The problem is that if a child is born on Saturday, the Sabbath, it means that the eighth day will be the next Sabbath. That means that if they are going to obey the law they must circumcise the child on the eighth day and no other day. Jesus is going to ask, “What is the difference between an operation which is a religious ritual on the Sabbath and healing a man?” What is the difference between that an healing a man who has never had the use of his limbs, and have him walk up to the temple to fulfil the Mosaic law as far as his responsibilities after he has been healed? So Jesus is going to cite a parallel to stop them and now they are going to have to find a new way to get rid of Him, because He cut them off at the pass with this particular type of logic. He went right back to the same Mosaic law and showed how the Jews were violating the law constantly under their interpretation. He took their interpretation and used it with regard to circumcision and this immediately put them on the spot; they are violating their own law. They didn’t like this but they couldn’t get around the logic of it. This is found in verses 22-24.
Verse 22 – Circumcision is demanded by the Mosaic law in Leviticus chapter twelve. However, it is much earlier than that, it goes all the way back to Genesis 17:12 and 21:4. In the time of our Lord it had become simply a ritual.
Verse 23 – Jesus makes the analogy. “If” – 1st class condition, if and it is true – “a man on the Sabbath days receive circumcision.” He would receive it on the Sabbath day because he was born on Saturday; he had to be circumcised on the eighth day (Genesis 17) which was the Sabbath.
“are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day?” Jesus is saying that it is not only required by the law but from the standpoint of medicine the eighth day is the only day for it. That is why it is on the eight day. They do it to protect the child. Jesus did something on the Sabbath. He healed a man on the Sabbath. What wrong with Jesus healing a man on Saturday because there is no difference between what He did on Saturday and what they did on Saturday. They seek to kill Jesus for what He did on Saturday and yet Jesus is saying this is no different from their own modus operandi.
“angry” – xolaw doesn’t really mean angry. It comes from xolh which means to be bitter. It is the Greek word for gall. So this word refers to a mental attitude bitterness. They are bitter toward the Lord. Bitterness immediately destroys the perspective of anyone in society who is solid or stable and who is a pillar of society. When a person becomes bitter in their mental attitude there is a complete change in the behaviour pattern of the individual based on the fact that they lose orientation to the grace of God. Bitterness is designed to hurt someone else but it always has a boomerang, it always comes back and hurts the person involved.
Notice what happened to these religious leaders. First of all, they resented the miracle that the Lord performed on the Sabbath in John 5. This resentment led to rejection of the human freedom and the privacy of the Lord: by means of jealousy which is a subtle type of intrusion because it is not obvious, and then by bitterness. Jealousy always becomes bitterness. Bitterness is really a mental attitude which results from jealousy.
Verse 24 – He warns them; He tells them what they are doing. “Judge not.” This is a present active imperative and it means, “stop judging.”
“according to appearance” – here is an amplification. The word “according to” is the preposition of norm of standard, kata. “Judge not according to appearance.” The word for “appearance” is o)yij and it means external appearance. It means to judge by what you see on the outside without knowing any of the inner facts.
“but judge righteous judgments” – this is addressed to the religious leaders and they are guilty of legalism and misjudging. This actually means, “judge equitable judgments.” Equitable judgment demands knowledge of doctrine, which is the absolute criterion, and secondly, knowing all the facts in an individual case. So Jesus is saying stay out of the privacy of individuals, even though you are a ruler in the land you do not have the right to violate the privacy of a person. And secondly, when you sit as a court in the Sanhedrin you must know all the facts before you can come to any conclusion. Jesus knew all the facts when He healed the impotent man.
Legalism always criticises and seeks to destroy grace. The work of Jesus Christ was an act of grace, and act of divine good. Legalism despises divine good and it despises grace. Hence, the inevitable and continuous battle between legalism and grace. Judging or retaliation is the sin f legalism and therefore receives very heavy discipline.
Verses 25-27 – a second reaction of the people.
Verse 25 -- “Then said some of them from Jerusalem” – citizens who live in Jerusalem in contrast to people who had come from all over the world for the feast of the tabernacles; “Is not this he whom they seek to kill?” They are utterly astounded; they all know that for eighteen months the Sanhedrin was out to get the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 26 – “But, lo, he speaks with confidence and courage, and they say nothing unto him.” The reason they say nothing is because the logic of the Lord Jesus has shut them up.
“Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?” This is a little bit of sarcasm and a little bit of humour. In other words, “Maybe they’re being quiet because they really know He is the Messiah, but they are not telling us.” The people still have a sense of humour even though they are ruled by religious people.
Verse 27 – “Howbeit we know this man whence he is.” Here are people who are now expressing the negative volition.
“but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.” This is the smart-alec reactor. This is a person who has a little knowledge and has not related it dispensationally or any other way. They “know” a little bit; they assume it is everything. This is always the problem when you get someone who has a little knowledge plus a lot of pride.
“when Christ cometh” refers to His second advent’ “whence he is [he comes].” He is going to come suddenly. This is an idiom for coming suddenly and without warning. But they are talking about the second advent and this is the first advent. They are mixed up. Jesus isn’t doing what He should be doing on the second advent because He is doing what He should be doing on the first advent, so obviously they are going to be confused.
Verse 28 – no one is ever going to understand God until He comes the first time. Everything in the Old Testament is a shadow pointing to the reality and it is the cross where people learn about God.
“Then cried Jesus” – literally, He shouted. He raised His voice so everyone could hear Him; “as he taught [kept on teaching], saying [kept on saying], Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am.” They know Him because He has presented His credit card. He has performed a miracle which constitutes His credit card as Messiah. He made it very clear to them that He is from the Father.
“and I am not come of [from] myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not” – the word “true” here is doctrine. Doctrine is the basis of revealing God the Father. They have rejected salvation and they have therefore rejected the saviour. The saviour is the revealer of the Father; therefore they do not know the Father. The rejection of Christ is the rejection of the Father and the rejection of His perfect plan.
Verse 29 – “Bit I know him” – He is not only the revealer of the Father but He knows Him inherently; “for I keep on being from him.” This is from the immediate source of Him. The word for “from” here is para, the preposition of immediate source. This means that Jesus has come immediately from the Father, and para indicates the first advent in contrast to the second advent.
Verses 30-31, the reaction from the people.
Verse 30 – “Then they kept on seeking to seize him [violently] – imperfect linear aktionsart; “but no man laid hands [offered violence] on him – e)piballw. Ballw usually means to throw, but when put together with e)pi it means to throw over, to throw a blow, to punch, and it finally comes to mean violence. He was protected on this occasion.
“because his hour was not yet come” – the hour refers to the cross. He still has six months to go from the end of the feast of tabernacles and the next Passover. He will be crucified on the next Passover.
Verse 31 – “And many of the people believed on him.” This is where we have a turn in the tide; we now have people accepting Him as saviour. The word for “believe” is an aorist active indicative of pisteuw. This means non-meritorious thinking. It is also a transitive verb in the aorist tense and it refers to the point of time of the cross. Note that Jesus didn’t give an invitation, He simply gave them information.
“and said [kept on saying]” – after they believed they just kept saying this over and over.
“When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this one hath done?” In other words, they are no defending Him.
Verse 32 – this upset the Pharisees. “The Pharisees having heard” – aorist active participle, “that the people kept on murmuring things concerning him.”
“and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to seize him” – the word for “officers” is u(phrethj and refers to the temple police. Between verse 32 and versed 45 they are going to listen to what Jesus said.
Verse 33 – the second message, given on the last day. Jesus Christ is now revealing the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age. Here is a prophecy with regard to the Church Age.
“Yet a little while” is an accusative of the extent of time. This covers the six-month period from the end of the feast of tabernacles to the next Passover; “I keep on being with you.” When Jesus says “I am with you” He is saying that even though there are police out there trying to arrest me now I am going to be with you. And there isn’t any way they can do anything about it. God has a plan and it is going to go on regardless of their antagonism, mental attitude sins, regardless of violence and all the things that man seeks to do. Regardless of the devil himself the plan of God will go right on.
“and I go” – the plan of God calls for His departure, u(pagw – depart suddenly. It refers to the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“to him that sent me” – aorist active participle, indicating that the Father sent the Son and that the Father has a plan for the Son, and the human race through the Son.
Verse 34 – When this occurs: “Ye shall seek me [future tense] and shall not find me.” But He leaves something behind that is really important – Bible doctrine. It is the Word of God that is so important to you today. Everything you know about Jesus Christ, your love for Jesus Christ, your capacity to love Jesus Christ, your rapport with Christ and your occupation with Christ depend upon your knowledge of Bible doctrine.
“and where I am, ye cannot come” – this is directed to the religious crowd. They are going to seek entrance on the basis of their human good, but human good is rejected by God, Isaiah 64:6.
Verse 35 – the reaction of the Jews to this comes before Jesus gets into the message which comes from the ascension. The ascension leads to the coming of the Spirit. “Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither shall he go that we shall not find him?” Now they are very sarcastic. They said there is one place they wouldn’t even go to look for Him.
“will he go to the dispersed [Hellenistic Jews] among the Gentiles and keep on teaching the Gentiles?” This indicates the rejection and the blasphemy of religious people. Jesus is not going to fulfil this. But there is someone who is going to. This is a prophetic description of the ministry of the apostle Paul.
Verse 36 – this is simply a repetition and they are quoting Him. They understand His words but they have attached a false implication to the ascension.
Verse 37 – 39, this is the key to everything that is done on the last day of the feast. The feast of the tabernacles depicts the Millennium. There are two dispensations in which the Holy Spirit is given. The Holy Spirit is given to all believers in the Church Age. Since Jesus Christ is absent from the earth at the right hand of the Father the purpose of the indwelling Holy Spirit is to produce the character of Christ. So the filling of the Holy Spirit produces the character of Christ – love, joy, peace, etc. In the Millennium the Holy Spirit is also given. Joel 2:28,29 tells us that the filling of the Spirit in the Millennium is characterised by ecstatics. Ecstatics is not spirituality in the Church Age.
Verse 37 – a salvation invitation is issued because you cannot have the crown apart from the cross and because God’s plan always begins at the cross.
“In the last day, the great day of the feast” – this is the eighth day of the feast of the tabernacles, a special Sabbath day. It was an activity which was different from the rest of the days put together.
“Jesus stood” – with the result that He kept on taking a stand; “and shouted, saying.” Stood: perfect tense; shouted: aorist tense; saying: present tense. He is taking a stand for the whole plan of God. He shouted, aorist tense to indicate that He was heard throughout His message, and He kept on teaching, present linear aktionsart.
There is a great deal of relationship between verse 17 and verse 37. Verse 17: “If any man will do his will.” Verse 37: “In the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst.” If any man will do his will; if any man thirst. Both of these passages begin with the word “if,” and in both cases “if” is a 3rd class condition, recognising human volition. The word “any man” is literally, “any one,” – tij, referring to the entire human race. If any person at the point of God-consciousness any person goes on positive signals, i.e. he desires relationship with God, God will provide pertinent information for that individual. This information will be provided in spite of geographical barriers, linguistic isolation, or any other situation that might exist. This is taught in John 7:17; Acts 17:27; Jeremiah 29:13; John 6:44.
Verse 17 – “If” introduces a 3rd class condition which recognises human volition at the point of God-consciousness. This means that the only people who are held accountable for salvation are people who have human volition in operation; “and many wills” – the word for “will” is a present active subjunctive of the verb qelw which means to desire, to will. Generally it means a desire which comes from the emotions but it may be a desire which faces a plan or a purpose or a design. When a person faces a plan, purpose or design and desires it this is the meaning of the word qelw. Present tense: the dramatic present which occurs when a person goes on positive volition at the point of God-consciousness, or even negative volition at the point of God-consciousness. The active voice: every individual must do this for himself. Subjunctive mood: positive volition at this point is potential.
“do” – present active infinitive, poiew. It is the purpose of God to save mankind and this purpose is only frustrated by man’s volition. 2 Peter 3:9.
“his will” – qelhma connotes a will or purpose or design. This refers to the plan of God, phase one. The Father wills that every person believes in Jesus Christ, that every person receives Jesus Christ as his saviour.
“he shall know” – gospel hearing. This is future middle indicative of ginwskw which means to learn from experience – the experience of hearing it and therefore understanding it; the experience of seeing it and therefore understanding it. It has the concept of hearing the gospel. Notice the word that is not used for gospel hearing here – o)ida, which means inherent knowledge and gospel hearing is not inherent knowledge. O)ida could be used for God-consciousness but ginwskw is used for gospel hearing.
Since John 7:17 is looking at the problem from the point of God-consciousness the word ginwskw is a future middle indicative. The future tense means future from the point of God-consciousness. Future from the point of God-consciousness there will be gospel hearing. The middle voice means that the subject is benefited by the action of the verb. We are benefited by going on positive volition at the point God-consciousness. The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that every person since time began has after God-consciousness positive signals had the opportunity to hear the gospel.
“of the doctrine” – peri: literally, “concerning the gospel. By doctrine here we are referring to that which saves, that which is necessary for salvation, often called the gospel. The gospel does not describe the content of this doctrine, it describes the impact of this doctrine. It is simply a descriptive concept, not for the content but the impact. Gospel means “good news.”
“if it be from God” – e)k, simple source. Simple message. The message isn’t complex until are you are saved.
“whether I speak” – present active indicative of lalew which means to communicate; “of myself” – a)po, preposition of ultimate source. When Jesus Christ presented the gospel He was not speaking from the ultimate source of Himself, He was communicating the plan of the Father.
Verse 37 – the same thing stated in slightly different language. “In the last day” – last day of the feast of the tabernacles. The custom was to take a golden pitcher out of the temple, usually carried by the high priest. They all dressed up and they had the orchestra and band and singers, and would come marching down through Jerusalem singing beautiful songs. Then they would stop at the pool of Siloam and have a big ceremony. During the course of the ceremony they would fill the golden pitcher with water from the pool of Siloam. They would they would go through the streets of Jerusalem, bands playing, all of the way to the temple steps where they would all break out in the passage from Isaiah 12:3, singing, “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” They did this every day during the feast of the tabernacles, except on the eighth day. They didn’t do it on the eighth day so Jesus did it for them in a very special way. “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” The rabbis used to say about this ceremony that you had never seen rejoicing until you had seen the golden pitcher march. They said it was the most beautiful and most exciting thing.
“that great day” – it was regarded as a very special Sabbath, and is so taught in Leviticus 23:36.
“Jesus stood up” – perfect tense. This is followed here by an aorist tense and then a present tense. For the perfect tense: “Jesus stood.” In other words, He stood up at that moment in front of the whole crowd in the temple with results that would go on forever. There were thousands of people in that crowd who had gone on positive volition at the point of God-consciousness; now they were ready for gospel hearing. Now God was going to fulfil to them the gospel-hearing principle. They were about to hear the gospel. Not only would they hear the gospel but the gospel was about to be related to the next dispensation. Active voice: Jesus Himself stood up and no one else stood up. Now we have the aorist tense: “and cried.” But the Greek word is krazw and it doesn’t means to cry, it means to shout. He shouted so that everyone could hear Him. The aorist tense means that He shouted through the entire message. He shouted because the temple has a lot of rooms, and in one of those rooms the Sanhedrin is meeting – the scribes, the Pharisees, the chief priests. And they heard every word that he said. They were meeting to find some way to kill Him. During this message they sent the u(perhthj, the temple police, down to arrest Him. And they were arrested by His message but they did not arrest Him. Jesus shouted because He was communicating the gospel. The whole point of communicating the gospel is to be heard. We finally go to the present tense – “saying.” He had something to say – legw, communicate something with content. Present linear aktionsart: He kept on communicating.
“If” – 3rd class condition, maybe yes, maybe no; recognition of human volition, divine institution #1.
“any man” – tij, same thing He said in verse 17, lit. “if any one [human race].” Since Christ died for everyone, everyone can be saved; “thirst” – present active subjunctive, diyaw. Jesus uses this because it is the one day they don’t go through the ceremony. For seven days they have been going down to the pool of Siloam, they have been putting water in a golden pitcher, carrying the water back to the temple, singing and chanting. On this eighth day the ceremony is discontinued but it is still no their minds and so Jesus now uses the ceremony. “If any man thirst” – positive volition at the point of God-consciousness; “let him come” – positive volition at the point of gospel hearing.
“If any man thirst” – present active subjunctive; “let him come” – present active imperative. This is a syntactical answer to the question: If people go on positive signals at the point of God-consciousness will they go on positive signals at the point of gospel-hearing? And this says yes. The subjunctive mood recognises their volition, and recognising their volition as positive the imperative is a command which says, in effect, yes.
“unto me” – ‘unto’ is the preposition proj plus the accusative, which means “face to face with me.” Face to face is intimacy; face to face is salvation.
“and drink” – the mechanics. Present active imperative of the verb pinw, which means to drink. Why is drinking used here for the mechanics? The ability to drink is non-meritorious.
Verse 38 – “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said.” This is a prophetical recognition of the New Testament canon before the New Testament canon was formed, completed. When John wrote this the NT canon was already partially in existence. So here we have the principle of the NT canon anticipated. Jesus is not quoting an Old Testament scripture.
“out of his [believer’s] belly” – ‘belly’ is koilia. It actually means a cavity. The same word is used for the womb in the Greek. It is often used for the inner self and that is what is meant here: “out of his inner self.”
“shall flow” – in keeping with the concept of water. Future active indicative – future tense: when the Church Age begins; active voice: the Holy Spirit will produce the character of the absent Christ; indicative mood: the reality of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age.
“rivers of living” – present active participle, “always living, always existing water.”
Verse 39 – “(But this spake he concerning the Spirit …” Living water refers to the Holy Spirit. The word “spake” here is not the usual word for speaking – fhmi, which means to affirm, to identify something with something else in the context, therefore we might say to confirm, confirming the fact that we are talking about the Holy Spirit. The word “of” is mistranslated. It is the preposition peri which means “concerning.”
“that they which believe” – aorist tense. These are people who are going to believe at different points in the Church Age.
“on him” – aorist active participle: on Jesus Christ; “should receive” – the word “should” means “about to receive.” In other words, the Church Age had not begun yet. The verb is mellw. This is a dramatic moment, this was not true in Old Testament times.
This brings up the seven unique factors of the Church Age:
1. Positional truth or union with Jesus Christ.
2. The universal indwelling of Christ.
3. The universal indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
4. The universal priesthood of the believer.
5. A completed canon of scripture.
6. We have a supernatural way of life which supersedes the Mosaic law.
7. Every believer is in full time Christian service – ambassadors for Christ.
The means of executing the Christian way of life is the filling of the Holy Spirit. If you are going to have a supernatural way of life God has to give a means of fulfilling it. The only means of fulfilling it is the Holy Spirit.
“about to receive” – present active infinitive, which anticipates the Church Age.
“because the Holy Spirit was not yet; because Christ was not glorified)” -- ‘was not yet glorified’ is an aorist passive indicative. Aorist tense: the point of Christ being seated at the right hand of the Father – Psalm 110:1; passive voice: the humanity of Christ received glorification. The deity of Christ does not receive glorification; the deity of Christ does not need glorification. The indicative mood is the reality of the glorification of Jesus Christ.
In verses 40-41 we have response to the message; reaction in the last part of verses 41 and in verse 42.
Verse 40 – “Many of the people therefore, when they heard this. “This” is the Word; when they heard the Word. What Jesus had to say is the Word.
“said [responded], this is the Prophet” – the words “having heard” is an aorist active participle to indicate that they heard before they made any kind of a response or reaction, and they said, “This keeps on being the Prophet,” and the prophet is the person mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:15. Moses is prophesying of a prophet who would come in the future. There are two people who are categorised as the prophet. In the Old Testament “the prophet” is Moses; in the New Testament “the Prophet” is Jesus Christ. Moses was a unique prophet because he had both the gift and the office of prophet. All the rest of the prophets in the Old Testament either had the gift or the office, but not both. The ones who wrote the second section of the canon of the Old Testament, call the prophets, had the office of prophet. The third section of the Old Testament writers had the gift of prophecy. People often wonder why Daniel isn’t with the prophets, but he is the third section called the writings. Daniel did not have the office of prophet, he only had the gift of prophecy. Same with David who didn’t have the office of prophet, he had the gift of prophecy, as did Solomon and others who wrote in the third section of the canon. So Moses said there would be a time in the future when there would be another “the Prophet.” And this is the way some people recognised Christ. They recognised that here was the Prophet of whom Moses spoke. This must be classified as positive volition toward Him through identification of an Old Testament passage, and this is the way some responded to the Lord – their knowledge of the Old Testament. This indicates the principle that the Word of God is a direct testimony to the Son of God.
Verse 41 – in the first half of the verse there were others who came to it in an independent way, apart from the scripture and directly from the message of the Lord Jesus Christ. “Others said, This is” -- this keeps on being, present linear aktionsart of e)imi, the verb of absolute status quo; this keeps on being, there never will be a time when He isn’t.
These two categories of people found Jesus Christ as saviour, these are the responders. These are the people who at the point of God-consciousness went on positive signals. When they came to the point of gospel hearing they went on positive volition again, and positive volition expresses itself by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In verses 41b and 42 we have the reaction: “But some said” – this refers to those who are going to react, and this is imperfect linear aktionsart, they kept on saying. They said it in the past and they still said it. In other words, “some” refers to those who at the point of God-consciousness went on negative volition. They had gospel-hearing a number of times, but we have the imperfect tense here. They kept on saying, every time they heard the message; they kept on rejecting, rejecting, rejecting.
“Shall some come out of Galilee?” This is the Galilee gimmick. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, the home of David and David’s line since the days of Jesse. So for a thousand years Bethlehem has been hometown for David’s lineage. Jesus didn’t stay there very long because of danger to His life and as a baby He lived in Egypt. At age 12 we know that He was living in Galilee. Just because Jesus Christ lived in Egypt, it didn’t make Him an Egyptian, and just because from 12 on until adulthood it didn’t make Him a Galilean. He was born in Bethlehem. Furthermore, both of His parents were descended from David. The legal but not real father was descended from David through Solomon – the Matthew genealogy. His real mother of His humanity was descended from David through Nathan. This Galilean gimmick was used by those who rejected Him to discredit Him. It is a part of the name-calling device. And they backed it up with scripture. When the devil can’t make a direct attack because people know the scripture, what does he do? He takes the scripture and twists it, distorts it.
Verse 42 – “Hath not the scripture saith.” Listen to the vain, proud peacocks! Here is the sinless, perfect Son of God and they are trying to say the scripture doesn’t back Him. They were using the scripture against Him – “that the Christ cometh from the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David kept on being?” Imperfect linear aktionsart again. It is true that He was born in Bethlehem but He lived His childhood in a few other places, so they called Him a Galilean. This is a satanic thing – doctrine of demons, 1 Timothy 4:1. Whenever the scripture is taken and distorted to emphasise something that is false or evil there is always the demonism activity behind it. It becomes the devil’s communion table – 1 Corinthians 10, and doctrine of demons – 1 Timothy 4:1. They have distorted the scriptures.
Verse 43 summarises the fact that there was division among the people. Our Lord was too controversial.
“So there was” – ginomai means to become. Aorist tense: refers to the point of time at the end of the feast of the tabernacles. Since the time that Jesus arrived at the feast in the middle of the week they had been hearing Jesus speak.
“a division” – sxisma means a faction, no unity. You can have unity and disagreement. The Greeks also had a word where within the framework of the people they could have differences of opinion, but they still had law an order with their differences of opinions. Their disagreement did not lead to violence, they argued their case in the assembly of the Athenians and they still had law and order. The agreed to disagree and when they disagreed didn’t try to cut reach other’s throats. The word sxisma came along because when people disagreed and started fighting each other, that’s sxisma. The Jews went to war over Jesus. In other words, they divided up and started at each other. The word sxisma is used to show that Jesus was the most controversial person they had ever had in their midst. This controversial person is the perfect, impeccable God-Man.
In it’s true sense “controversial” really means this person is subject to a great deal of discussion and that people do not agree. So don’t immediately put down someone because they are supposed to be controversial. A person must be accepted or rejected on the basis of the content of his message. That is the only way to do it.
Why should a perfect person come into the world and become so controversial? Angelic conflict. Demonism. This is the devil’s world and Jesus can only approach people in the devil’s world by reaching their volition with information. All He can do is give them information. Divine institution #1: every member of the human race has a free will and should have freedom of choice. So when Jesus comes into the world He comes with a message to the soul of the individual so that the individual can make a decision. But He does not coerce their volition. The archenemy of our Lord is Satan himself, and he seeks to destroy that freedom.
Verse 44 – the divine protection of our Lord. “And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.” Introducing a third factor, the temple police. They had been set up by the Sanhedrin. Religion doesn’t take any chances. The word “would” means they desired to seize Him by force, but not one of them touched Him. When they heard the message they stood there unable to do a thing. The message hit home with them. Every man in that group had positive volition at the point of God-consciousness and now they are responding to His message. Here is divine protection. They came to do Him violence and they stayed to hear this wonderful message.
Verse 45 – “Then came the officers [u(perhthj] to the chief priests and the Pharisees; and they [the chief priests and the Pharisees] said unto them [the temple police], Why have you not brought him?”
Verse 46 – “Then answered them the Pharisees, Never a man spake like this man.” When it says “they answered” it is an aorist passive indicative of a)pokrinomai [krinomai = to judge; a)po = from the ultimate source of self], it means to discern so that you have an answer. They heard His message. Passive voice: the subject receives the action of the verb. They received an answer in themselves. A)po says their volition was going on positive signals. Krinomai – they were discerning, they listened, they heard what He said and there was a response in the volition of the soul. Aorist tense: point of time when they heard. Passive voice: they received an answer. Indicative mood: the reality of their persuasion; they were persuaded to receive Christ as saviour.
“Never” is not really never. It is o)udepote [o)ude = a negative, neither or nor; pote = enclitic particle which means ‘at any time’]. It should be translated, “Not ever, not at any time” has anyone ever spoken as this one did. To whom are they giving this report? The chief priests and the scribes teach in the temple. Most of the Sanhedrin teach in the temple. And who listens to them? People who have to; they can’t leave: the temple police. Where did they get the nerve to face their bosses and say, “Boy, you should have heard this message”? It was a slap in the face to the Sanhedrin. The word they used for “spake” [lalew] means that they got it categorically. They were so arrested by the message of Jesus that they can face their bosses and say, “You public speakers should have heard this one.” Here are some men who are not impressed by the fact that He healed the man on the Sabbath but they are impressed with the message.
Verse 47 – the Sanhedrin denounces the temple police. “Then answered them” – ‘them’ refers to the temple police. It should be “Then they, the Pharisees, answered them the Pharisees.”
“Are ye also deceived” – perfect tense, which means ‘you keep on being deceived.’
Verse 48 – “Have any of the rulers or of Pharisees believed on him? A beautiful piece of debater’s technique. In other words, “We are the leaders, you don’t see us walking in there and believing.”
Verse 49 – “But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.” In other words, just because a few people in there believe Him that is no reason to believe either. What was it that impressed the police? The message. And what is the attack of the Pharisees? Personality. “We,” the personalities who rule you. “We haven’t believed”! And again, personality: “The people have gone nuts”! They go to personality, but it should be, “Stick with the message; forget the personality.”
Verse 50 – the Pharisees are apparently not all in agreement. Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night, who has apparently received Christ as his saviour, has something to say about this.
“saith unto them” – to the Pharisees, “being one of them,” a Pharisee. In all of this hysteria of the Sanhedrin one person is still reasonable and sane.
Verse 51 – In effect he says, “You never judge until you get the facts,” and’ “With the facts you wouldn’t judge.”
“Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him?” The Jewish law was perfect. It is the people who are administering the law, the Sanhedrin, who are doing a bad job and using the law in a divisive way. The Jewish law says that a man is not guilty until he has had a trial, and then as a result of the trial he may guilty or he may not be guilty. Nicodemus is saying the Pharisees that they have condemned Jesus Christ without a trial.
Verse 52 – “Art thou also from Galilee?” There is no one in the Sanhedrin from Galilee, that’s for sure. They are all from the southern kingdom and they have just given him the biggest insult in the world. In other words, they get right back to personality. Remember, a false government can never stick to principle. A false government always becomes involved in personalities.
For a moment they are frustrated. A principle has been stated in the Sanhedrin and that shuts them up.
Verse 53 – “And every one went to his own house.” That means the temple police were off the hook because Nicodemus spoke up. He defended the whole principle and nothing was done, until they decided they couldn’t get Him through the law. So then they are going to get a woman caught in the act of adultery and use her to trip Him up.