NLT Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition - Flipbook - Page 39
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7:20
John 8:48, 52; 10:20
7:21-22
Gen 17:10-13
Lev 12:3
7:23
John 5:8-10, 16
Acts 7:8
7:24
Isa 11:3-4
John 8:15
7:27
John 9:29
7:28-29
John 8:26, 55; 17:25
7:30
John 8:20
7:31
John 2:23; 8:30;
10:42; 11:45; 12:11,
42
7:33
John 13:33; 16:5
7:34
John 8:21; 13:33
7:37
Isa 55:1
John 4:10, 14; 6:35
Rev 22:17
7:38
Prov 18:4
Isa 58:11
Ezek 47:1-10
Joel 3:18
7:39
John 14:17-18; 16:7;
20:22
Rom 8:9
1 Cor 15:45
2 Cor 3:17
7:40
Deut 18:15
John 6:14
7:41
John 1:46
•
J ohn
7
20The
crowd replied, “You’re demon possessed! Who’s trying to kill you?”
replied, “I did one miracle on the Sabbath, and you were amazed. 22But you
work on the Sabbath, too, when you obey M
oses’ law of circumcision. (Actually, this
tradition of circumcision began with the patriarchs, long before the law of M
oses.) 23For
if the correct time for circumcising your son falls on the Sabbath, you go ahead and do
it so as not to break the law of Moses. So why should you be angry with me for healing a
man on the Sabbath? 24Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.”
25Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem started to ask each other, “Isn’t this the
man they are trying to kill? 26But here he is, speaking in public, and they say nothing
to him. Could our leaders possibly believe that he is the Messiah? 27But how could he
be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, he will simply
appear; no one will know where he comes from.”
28While J
esus was teaching in the Temple, he called out, “Yes, you know me, and
you know where I come from. But I’m not here on my own. The one who sent me is true,
and you don’t know him. 29But I know him because I come from him, and he sent me
to you.” 30Then the leaders tried to arrest him; but no one laid a hand on him, because
his time* had not yet come.
31Many among the crowds at the Temple believed in him. “After all,” they said, “would
you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?”
21Jesus
Religious Leaders Attempt to Arrest Jesus (124)
32When the Pharisees heard that the crowds were whispering such things, they and the
leading priests sent Temple guards to arrest J esus. 33But Jesus told them, “I will be with
you only a little longer. Then I will return to the one who sent me. 34You will search for
me but not find me. And you cannot go where I am going.”
35The Jewish leaders were puzzled by this statement. “Where is he planning to go?”
they asked. “Is he thinking of leaving the country and going to the Jews in other lands?*
Maybe he will even teach the Greeks! 36What does he mean when he says, ‘You will search
for me but not find me,’ and ‘You cannot go where I am going’?”
37On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds,
“Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38Anyone who believes in me may come and
drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”*
39(When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to
everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given,* because J esus had not
yet entered into his glory.)
40When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is
the Prophet we’ve been expecting.”* 41Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said,
7:30 Greek his hour.
7:35 Or the Jews who live among the Greeks?
7:37-38 Or “Let anyone who is thirsty
come to me and drink. 38For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from the heart of anyone who
believes in me.’”
7:39 Several early manuscripts read But as yet there was no Spirit. Still others read But as yet
there was no Holy Spirit.
7:40 See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
do more than the moral law requires, not by adding to its requirements,
but by going beyond and beneath the mere dos and don’ts of the law
to the spirit of the law.
7:20 Most of the people were probably not aware of the plot to kill Jesus
(5:18). There was a small group looking for the right opportunity to kill
him, but most were still trying to decide what they believed about him.
7:21-23 According to the law given by God to Moses, circumcision was
to be performed eight days after a baby’s birth (Genesis 17:9-14; Leviticus
12:3). This rite was carried out on all Jewish males to demonstrate their
identity as part of God’s covenant people. If the eighth day after birth was
a Sabbath, the circumcision would still be performed (even though it was
considered work). While the religious leaders allowed certain exceptions
to Sabbath laws, they allowed none to Jesus, who was simply showing
mercy to those who needed healing.
7:26 John shows the many reactions people had toward Jesus. They
called him a good man (7:12), a fraud (7:12), demon possessed (7:20),
the Messiah (7:26), and the Prophet, whose coming had been predicted
by Moses (7:40). We must make up our own minds about who Jesus
is, knowing that whatever we decide will have eternal consequences.
7:27 There was a popular belief that the Messiah would simply appear.
But those who believed this tradition were ignoring the prophecy that
clearly predicted the Messiah’s birthplace (Micah 5:2).
7:38-39 Jesus used living water in 4:10 to indicate eternal life. Here he
used the term to refer to the Holy Spirit. The two go together: Wherever
the Holy Spirit is accepted, he brings eternal life. Jesus teaches more
about the Holy Spirit in John 14–16. The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus’
followers at Pentecost (Acts 2) and has since been available to all who
believe in Jesus as Savior.
7:38 Jesus’ words, “come and drink,” alluded to the theme of many Bible
passages that talk about the Messiah’s l ife-giving blessings (Isaiah 12:2-3;
44:3-4; 58:11). In promising to give the Holy Spirit to all who believed in
him, Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah, for that was something only
the Messiah could do. Jesus extends this open invitation to everyone
today. Come to him and accept his deeply satisfying love for you (see
Isaiah 55:1-2; Revelation 22:17).
7:40-44 The crowd was asking questions about Jesus. Some believed in
him, others were hostile, and others disqualified him in their minds as the
Messiah because he was from Nazareth, not Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). But
he was from Bethlehem because he was born there (Luke 2:1-7), although
most of his childhood years were spent in Nazareth. He may have had
a pronounced Galilean accent. If they had looked more carefully, they
