John 7

Chap. VII. Ver. 1—13. Jesus reproves his brethren; but Doddridge justly observes, this cannot be the same journey related in (Luke 9:61-56); which see. Ver. 17. If any man will.—Doddridge, “is determined.” Campbell and Pearce, “is minded to.” —Do his will, he shall know of (peri, concerning) Ver. 23. Every whit whole—Or sound throughout. See Doddridge. [Rather, “I have healed a whole man,” and not the circumcised member only: This reasoning was in perfect accordance with the principles of the Jews. O Tanchwma, “Circumcision, which is performed on one of the 248 members of (or could) lay hands on him, because his time was not yet come.” ‘They were bound by an invisible power, and he was “immortal till his work was done.”

But how shall we reconcile this declaration, “Ye both know me, and whence I am,” with his assertion in the next chapter, (verse 19,) ‘‘Ye neither know me nor my Father?’ This we explain by the following paraphrase:—‘Ye know me as the Son of Mary, the wife of Joseph the carpenter of Nazareth; but ye know me not as the Son of God from heaven; neither do ye know him that sent me; who is true, and who hath sent me in fulfilment of his promises of mercy to mankind.’ Nothing is here said of any particular miracles wrought on this occasion, yet such seem to be implied on their saying, “When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than this man hath done!” And many of the people believed on him. These he informed that he had not long to remain with them but was going whither, in present circumstances, they could not follow him—namely, to heaven; but they understood it of his design to go among the Gentiles: ‘‘Will he leave Judea, and offer himself, as the Messiah, to the Jews scattered in the surrounding nations?

or even to the Greeks themselves?” The last day of the feast of Tabernacles (at which they were now assembled) was considered as a great and high day; and on this it was customary to draw water in the sacred vases from the fountain of Siloah, (or Siloam,) which was a little without the wall, and was brought up to the temple with the sound of trumpets and with great rejoicings, and afterwards “poured out before the Lord” at the time of the evening sacrifice. The mystical design of this ceremony has been differently explained. Some suppose it to have been designed to supplicate rain upon the seed just sown; and others, to invoke the influences of the Holy Spirit; but we see no difficulty in embracing both, as the rain itself was the established emblem of the diffusion of the Spirit, ((Isaiah 55:10-11),) which has the express sanction of our Lord’s interpretation. For, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly,” or from his heart, “shall flow rivers of living water;” that is, copious streams of piety and benevolence. Believers in Christ are here compared to the golden vases of the temple—they are filled with the influences of the Spirit, as were the bellies of those vases with the living waters of Siloah. This passage undoubtedly received a signal accomplishment on the day of Pentecost, but is certainly not to be confined to that period, or to miraculous influences only, as we shall find abundant evidence, both in the sequel of our Lord’s discourses with his apostles, and in the history of that event.

The final remark in this section, that “the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified,” teaches us that the gifts of the Spirit, both ordinary and miraculous, are the fruits of Christ’s mediatorial work; and bestowed on us in his being exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on high. (See (Acts 2:33).) Ver. 40—53. Divers opinions of Christ: and the Pharisees exasperated by the officers refusing to arrest him.—The discourses of Christ appear to have been equally convincing with his miracles, and sometimes even more effectual. An unction doubtless attended his ministry, and where his hearers were not converted, his addresses might often make a conerate impression, as in the case before us, for we are not told that any of them believed.

Some said, “Of a truth (or truly) this is the prophet”—namely, the great prophet long foretold by Moses. ((Deuteronomy 18:15).) Others said, this is the Christ, or Messiah, alluding probably to David, speaking of the Lord’s Anointed, (which is of the same import,) in the second Psalms. But an angry dispute, a division, here and other Psalms, arises among the people. Some say, “Shall Christ come out of Galilee?” And others of them are learned enough to ascertain that he was to be of Bethlehem, the city of David. True; but might he not be born in Bethlehem, and yet preach in Galilee? It seems, indeed, a little strange that, though they remembered well enough the obscure parentage and education of Jesus, they seem to have no tradition of the visit of the Magi, or of Herod’s subsequent cruelties at Bethlehem.

Among those who debated thus about Christ, were the officers sent by the Sanhedrim to apprehend him, but who were so overcome by the eloquence and unction with which he spake, that they could not execute their warrant. And when they returned, and were called to account, why they had not brought their prisoner, as honestly confessed the cause was, that, in their opinion, ‘‘Never man spake like this man.” Upon this the Pharisees fly into a rage, and exclaim, “Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers, or of the Pharisees, believed on him?” As if truth always dwelt with the higher ranks of society; and as if the lower orders were not accountable to their Maker for either their principles or conduct, but were bound to surrender their consciences to their superiors—a sentiment now happily exploded, as equally irrational and unscriptural; for “every one of us must give an account of himself to God.”

((Romans 14:12).) Nicodemus, one of the rulers, is here again introduced to notice—the same who came to Jesus by night for fear of the Jews, and who now assumes a little more courage, and ventures to put in a word on his behalf:—‘‘Doth our law”—the law of Moses and of God—“judge a man before it hear him?” Certainly not; but his wise fellow-senators, instead of answering that question, give a sneering reply—‘‘Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look; for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.” And yet here they betray their ignorance; for the prophets Jonah and Nahum, as Doddridge observes, (if no others,) were both of that country. In consequence of this dissension among the people, the demur of Nicodemus, and especially the disobedience of the officers, the council appears to have broken up without coming to any determination, and every man departed to his own house. Jesus, however, retired to the Mount of Olives; but whether he spent the whole night in devotion, as he sometimes did, or retired afterwards to rest at the house of Lazarus, in Bethany, at the foot of it, we are not informed: we find him, however, in the temple early on the following morning.

Notes on the verses

Chap. VII. Ver. 1. After these things.—Campbell and others join this verse to the preceding chapter.—Judea, or Judea, as distinguished from Galilee and Samaria, contained the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Simeon, and Dan, being bounded on the north by the village Annach or Dorceus, on the borders of Samaria; on the south, by a village called Jarda, in Arabia; and extending in breadth from the river Jordan to Joppa and the Mediterranean, having Jerusalem in its centre. Josephus.—Bagster Ver. 2. The Jews’ feast of tabernacles—Or “of ingathering,” as it is sometimes called. See (Exodus 33:16). (Numbers 29:12). Ver. 3. His brethren.—We have repeatedly remarked the vague and extensive sense in which this term is often used in Scripture: here it seems to intend his half brethren, or cousins rather, who resided in the same family.

Ver. 4. If thou do.—Campbell, “Since thou performest.” Ver. 6. Your time is always ready—i.e. you are never backward to show yourselves to the world. Ver. 8. I go not up yet.—A few MSS. and versions omit the last word, yet; but the sense seems to require it, and the words imply it. [Porphyry here accuses our Lord of falsehood; but He does not say, “I will not go to this feast,” but merely, “I go not yet,” i.e. at present.]—Bagster. Ver. 10. In secret.—Campbell, “privately.” Ver. 12. Much murmuring.—Campbell, “Whispering;” private inquiry among each other, which sense the word sometimes bears. This may refer more particularly to strangers from distant parts, come up to the feast.

the doctrine (which I preach) whether it be of (ek, from) God. Ver. 18. No unrighteousness.—Doddridge, “imposture, deception.” Ver. 20. Thou hast a devil, (or demon.)—So ch. x. 20, “He hath a devil, and is mad;” which “plainly shows, (says Doddridge,) that they (the Jews) thought that (at least) some of the worst kinds and degrees of lunacies proceeded from the agency of some demon; as many considerable Greek writers Ver. 21. One work—Namely, healing the infirm man.—And ye all marvel (or wonder) on every man else. Ver. 22. Moses therefore—The word therefore, (in Greek, dia touto,) begins this verse in our common Greek Testaments, and is therefore included in it by our translators; but Doddridge, Campbell, Wesley, and most modern translators, (following Theophylact and Beza,) attach it to the preceding verse as the ground of the Jews’ marvelling.

Thus Wesley, (ver. 21.) “I did one work and ye all marvel at it.”—Not because (Doddridge, “that”) it was of Moses, but as the early patriarchs, namely, Abraham. (Genesis 17:16). ‘A man, vacates the sabbath; how much more the whole body of a man?’—B. Ver. 24. Judge not according to the appearance.—Literally, according to the face, or outward surfaces of things; weigh the evidence before you, and judge equitably, or, righteous judgment. Ver. 25. He, whom they seek to kill?—Notwithstanding some of the people affected to think Jesus mad, because he said, “‘Ye go about to kill me,” yet it is very evident from this, and several other expressions in this chapter, that they really had such a design, and had made no great secret of it.

Ver. 26. The very Christ.—The word (alethos) “very,” or “true,” Campbell remarks, is wanting in many MSS. and versions, and in some early editions, and is not necessary to the sense. Ver. 28. Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am.—Bishop Chandler, who is followed by Doddridge, Campbell, and Wesley, reads these words interrogatively; but, we humbly conceive, without sufficient reason. Ver. 30. His hour was not yet come—i.e. the time in which he was to be delivered up. Ver. 34. Where I am—i.e. where I reside; namely, in heaven. Ver. 35. The dispersed—i.e. the Jews dispersed among the Gentiles. Ver. 38. As the scripture hath said.—There is no one passage which says this verbatim; but there are several which speak of the blessings of the Gospel to be bestowed through the Messiah, under the image of streams of water, milk, and wine, to which all are freely invited.

See (Isaiah 55:1, 10), &c.—Out of his belly—i.e. from within him, alluding to the sacred vessels. The first instance remarked of pouring out water before the Lord, occurs (1 Samuel 7:6). Ver. 39. Should receive.—This was spoken prophetically, of the effusion of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. See Acts, ch. ii. Ver. 43. There was a division (Gr. schism) among the people.—“A warm dissension,” an angry debate;” so the word signifies, whether it be attended with separation or not.—Doddridge. Ver. 44. No man laid hands on him.—Compare verse 30. Ver. 46. Never man spake, &c.—Doddridge quotes from Plutarch, as a proof of the extraordinary eloquence of Mark Anthony, that when Marius sent soldiers to kill him, he addressed them with such eloquence, that he quite disarmed their arms and made them weep into tears.

But these were disarmed not by an appeal to their passions, but their consciences. Ver. 50. He that came to Jesus.—Greek, “to him” is to be understood. Ver. 53. Every man went unto his own house.—Wesley, and some others, attach to this sentence the first verse of the following chapter. “But (Greek de) Jesus went to the mount of Olives.”