NLT Study Bible - Gospel of John - Flipbook - Page 23
John 7:24
1784
35The Jewish leaders were puzzled by
a man on the Sabbath? 24Look beneath the
surface so you can judge correctly.”
this statement. “Where is he planning to
go?” they asked. “Is he thinking of leaving
Is Jesus the Messiah?
25Some of the people who lived in Jer usa the count ry and going to the Jews in other
lands? Maybe he will even teach the Greeks!
lem started to ask each other, “Isn’t this the 36
What does he mean when he says, ‘You
man they are trying to kill? 26But here he is,
will search for me but not find me,’ and ‘You
speaking in public, and they say nothing to
cannot go where I am going’?”
him. Could our leaders possibly believe that
he is the Messiah? 27But how could he be? Jesus Promises Living Water
For we know where this man comes from. 37On the last day, the climax of the festi
When the Messiah comes, he will simply val, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds,
appear; no one will know where he comes “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!
38Anyone who believes in me may come
from.”
28While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, and drink! For the Script ures declare, ‘Riv
he called out, “Yes, you know me, and you ers of living water will flow from his heart.’ ”
know where I come from. But I’m not here 39 (When he said “living water,” he was
on my own. The one who sent me is true, speaking of the Spirit, who would be given
and you don’t know him. 29But I know him to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit
because I come from him, and he sent me to had not yet been given, because Jesus had
you.” 30Then the leaders tried to arrest him; not yet entered into his glor y.)
40When the crowds heard him say this,
but no one laid a hand on him, because his
some of them declared, “Surely this man is
time had not yet come.
31Many among the crowds at the Temple the Prophet we’ve been expecting.” 41Oth
believed in him. “After all,” they said, “would ers said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others
you expect the Messiah to do more miracu said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah
lous signs than this man has done?”
come from Galilee? 42For the Scriptures
32When the Pharisees heard that the clearly state that the Messiah will be born
crowds were whispering such things, they of the royal line of Dav id, in Bethlehem, the
and the leading priests sent Temple guards village where King Dav id was born.” 43So
to arrest Jesus. 33But Jesus told them, “I the crowd was div ided about him. 44Some
will be with you only a little longer. Then even wanted him arrested, but no one laid
I will return to the one who sent me. 34You a hand on him.
45When the Temple guards ret urned
will search for me but not find me. And you
without having arrested Jesus, the leading
cannot go where I am going.”
7:27 Some of the crowd thought that
since they could trace Jesus’ earthly
origins, he could not be the Messiah.
They believed that the Messiah would
simply appear.
7:29 I come from him: Jesus sidestepped the speculation (7:27, 40-44)
about his earthly origins and focused
on his heavenly origins. His astounding
claim provoked the religious leaders to
try to arrest him for blasphemy (7:30;
cp. 10:30-33).
7:30 Jesus’ opponents failed to arrest
him because in God’s sovereign plan,
his time (literally his hour), when he
would be glorified on the cross, had
not yet come (see note on 12:23; see
also 10:17-18; 18:6-8). All four arrest
scenes in chs 7–8 stress that Jesus was
in control, not the Jewish leaders.
7:32-36 Jesus announced his return to
the one who sent him, the Father in
heaven (17:1-7). However, the Pharisees
misunderstood, thinking he was leaving
Judea to go among Gentiles (whom
Pharisees would never visit). The
leaders would not find Jesus after his
ascension. you cannot go where I am
going: These Pharisees, still in darkness,
could not enter heaven, so Jesus would
be beyond their reach there.
7:35 the Jews in other lands? Or the
Jews who live among the Greeks?
7:37-38 living water: See “Living Water”
at 4:10-14, p. 1777. A water ceremony
was held each day during the Festival
of Shelters, with prayer for God to send
rain in the late autumn. The final day,
called “the great day,” was the climax
of the festival, when the ceremony
was repeated seven times. Water was
poured over the altar as Levites sang Isa
12:3 (see Zech 14:8; see also Mishnah
Sukkah ch 4). Anyone who is thirsty
may come to me! Jesus fulfilled an essential element in the Festival of Shelters. He himself is the source of living
water, available to anyone who believes.
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’: Or “Let anyone who
is thirsty come to me and drink. 38For
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, 10,
16-18
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
7:42
2 Sam 7:12
Ps 89:3-4
Mic 5:2
Matt 1:1; 2:5-10
Luke 2:4
John 7:52
7:43
John 9:16; 10:19
7:44
John 7:30
the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living
water will flow from the heart of anyone
who believes in me.’ ” The syntax of the
Greek allows for either interpretation.
7:39 In Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, his life and the Spirit were poured
out (see 19:34; 20:22). But the Spirit
had not yet been given: Several early
manuscripts read But as yet there was
no Spirit. Still others read But as yet
there was no Holy Spirit.
7:40 Surely this man is the Prophet
we’ve been expecting: See Deut 18:15,
18; Mal 4:5-6.
7:41-42 These Jews, different from
the crowd (7:25-27) who thought the
Messiah would appear mysteriously,
believed the prophecy that the Messiah
would be from Bethlehem of Judea (see
Mic 5:2). However, they stumbled over
the fact that Jesus seemed to be from
Galilee, where he grew up.
7:45-52 The story concludes with the
Jewish leaders frustrated and the world
divided over Jesus (cp. 7:25-27, 31-32).
guards returned: See 7:32.
