John 7,10-53
10 But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.
11 The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?”
12 And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.”
13 Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.
14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.
15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?”
16 So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
17 If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.
18 The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.
19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?”
20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”
21 Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it.
22 Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.
23 If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well?
24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
Can This Be the Christ?
25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?
26 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?
27 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.”
28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.
29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.”
30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
31 Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”
Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.
34 You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.”
35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?
36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”
Rivers of Living Water
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'”
39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Division Among the People
40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”
41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?
42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”
43 So there was a division among the people over him.
44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?”
46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”
47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?
48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them,
51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”
52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Hello everyone, I am kiki. Chinese name of our second phase of the program is “读经大讲堂”. The English name is “Bible study”.
We will adopt a relaxed also enjoyable learning mode to take you into a new learning world. Each time I will make a personal summary and analysis from the perspective of a learner, and then Sister Ingrid will help me conduct in-depth learning and problem discussions with everybody.
I hope that such an interesting and interactive process can bring new knowledge experience to you all. The following is my interview with my sister on related issues. Today is the twelveth lecture on the Gospel of John 。Everyone is welcome to leave a message in the comment area for discussion!
2.My summary of John twelveth time study:
Hello everyone, the following is a summary of my study this time.
Today’s content is a bit difficult to understand, so let me try to explain it.
In this story from the Bible, we see Jesus going to a feast but keeping a low profile at first.
Some people are talking about him, unsure if he is a good man or leading people astray .
Jesus then starts teaching in the temple, which surprises the people because he hadn’t studied formally.
There is a debate among the crowd about Jesus’s true identity.
Some start to believe he might be the long-awaited Christ, while others doubt it because of where he comes from.
The authorities send officers to arrest Jesus, but they are unable to do so because his time had not yet come.
Jesus talks about his true purpose and where he comes from. Some people believe in him, but there is also division among the crowd.
Some see him as a prophet, some as the Christ, while others question his background and where he is from.
Towards the end, Jesus makes a bold statement, inviting those who are thirsty to come to him and find spiritual fulfillment.
This statement about living water symbolizes the spiritual nourishment and guidance one can find through belief in Jesus.
Overall, this passage highlights the mixed reactions to Jesus’ teachings, the uncertainty about his true identity, and the ongoing conflict and skepticism among the people, including the religious authorities.
It shows the complexity of belief, doubt, and questioning that surrounded Jesus during his time.
Now let my sister Ingrid help me with additional explanations.
3.Sister’s comment from my studying summary:
Thank you sister, you have explained the text very well. The most important in this text is, that people asked, where Jesus had learned all this, not attending a official school or institute.
The questions of the people was therefore, if this teaching is from God or not. Some thought yes, others said, he has a demon. Jesus said about his teaching, those who want to do the will of whom he has sent him, will know if this teaching is from God or not.
And that is the point, when we are reading the bible: If we are willing to do what the scripture says, we will see, that it comes from God, if not it is only like a fairytale book, because we will not get the Holy Spirit who helps us to understand the bible.
Another important point is, that Jesus said, from the body of those who believed in him will flow waters of living water.
That is what follows on John 4. In John 4 Jesus says, that he is the living water. And here he says from his belivers will flow living water. That means: When we have received the living water of Jesus who stills the soul, we can have a positive influence in the live of others, too.
- Q list part: base on John 12th items: Okay.Base on above bible study content, now let me ask sister some related questions. We hope the following questions can be helpful to our brothers and sisters who have just become Christians.
- Sister,how did the Jews react to Jesus’s teachings in the temple?
They were surprised, as I mentioned, it was uncredible for them, that a person without a formal religious education can teach with authority and wisdom.
- Why did some people believe Jesus might be the Christ while others doubted it?
It is often our own intelect who closes the way to Jesus, we have forgotten to observe the things around us. We have learnt things at school and follow the common opinion about things, like the evolution theorie for example.
But Jesus said in another gospel, that we have to become like children to enter the kingdom of God. The brain of a child is pure and without critical thinking. It observes by itsself and takes a conclusion if things are true or not.
At the time of Jesus it was not different, some people believed what the Phariseans tought them and not what they have observed by their own while others observed what Jesus was doing , this is the origin of this confusion.
3.What did Jesus mean when he said, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me”?
God father sent Jesus to earth, because he loved the world so much, that he did not want that someone perish but have eternal life.
When Jesus taught, he taught about the kingdom of God, who has sent him.
- Why were the officers sent to arrest Jesus unable to do so?
The hour of Christ to arrest him yet not came. When God father is not allowing something, it will not happen.
When the devil wanted to harm Job in the book of Job, he had to go to God and ask for permission to harm him and Job suffered, because God gave permission that the devil tested him.
- What did Jesus mean by offering living water to those who thirst?
We all have an inner thirst in our soul and there are a lot of things we do for to calm it: We go shopping, voyages and a lot of other stuff. There ist nothing bad with going shopping and to travel, but if we do it for to calm our inner thirst it is like drinking salted water: The thirst will grow each time we drink.
When we come to Jesus, worship him and fellowship with him, our soul calmes down and we will not feel the thirst of the soul anymore.
- What caused the division among the people regarding Jesus’s identity?
For one part, Jesus was the Messiah, for the other part, he was the son of Josef and Mary from Nazareth. They said, he can t be the Messiah, because there was no prophet who came from Nazareth.
- Why did the Pharisees and chief priests want to arrest Jesus?
First of all, they were jealous in their heart. He had a lot of follower and a better teaching than they had. They defended the wish in their heart with the words, that he was leading the people astray, but the real reason was their heart and the envy.
- How did Nicodemus defend Jesus when questioned by the authorities?
Nicodemus said, they have to give a chance to defend to Jesus before judgement.
Later, when Jesus was crucified, Nicodemus was not present in the judgement of the Sanhedrin in the night and they did not give a chance to defend himself, too. He was judged in three unjust tibunals during the night before he was crucified next day.
- Why did the Pharisees doubt that Jesus could be the Christ based on where he was from?
The scripture says, that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. In fact, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but later his family moved to Eigypt for to be save in the persecution of Herodes, who killed all boys 2 years or younger in Bethlehem. When they came back to Israel, his parents still felt fear, so they moved to Galelea and Jesus grew up in Nazareth.
