John 7: John 7 features Jesus ' return to Galilee and then to Jerusalem, following his adventures abroad in Chapter 6. In that chapter, the disciples were focused on heavily in the narrative – they will not be mentioned in this chapter. Instead, the focused is placed upon Jesus ' role in the world of Judea. The concept of Jesus ' hour features heavily in this chapter, as he is to be arrested twice, neither of them being successful attempts on account that it was not his time. Jesus ' identity is a primary theme in this chapters, as well as the highlighting of the racism of the Pharisees (we will also see a return of Nicodemus).
7:1-24
This section immediately lets us know both Jesus ' setting (Galilee) as well as his rationale for avoiding Judea and the Judeans (they were trying to kill him). At this point in John’s gospel, the active seeking by the Judeans to kill Jesus is a major theme. They will directly question this from happening (7:20), even though that very section will be followed by the Judeans attempting to arrest him. Nevertheless, the author wants the reader to know that Jesus ' claim of such in this chapter is no exaggeration – it is actually happening. In v.2, we see that, once again, the Jews are mentioned as celebrating one of their many festivals. 7:3-9 contains a legitimate conflict between Jesus and his family, a first for this gospel. The conflict his brothers bring up, one regarding the momentum of his movement, is an extension of Jesus leaving the crowd whom he fed regarding their understanding of his as a king (6:14-15). Jesus, once again, is fully confident that, as long as he is doing the will of his father, then there is no need for him to concern himself with moving his movement to Jerusalem, in order to give himself a boost in popularity. For people like Jesus ' brothers, movements such as his cannot be considered successful until they are acknowledged as so by the systems available in the world. We know that, through Jesus ' critique of the temple in John, that he holds no value in such systems. To him, they are broken (2:18-20). Jesus is able to operate without the need to be authorized by the system – he trusts that the Father will bring people to him. As if to reiterate this point, the author stresses Jesus ' lack of education within the temple system (7:15-16). Yet, we do not see Jesus perturbed by their (correct) assertion that he had not received their education. Rather, he confidently responds with explaining just how he has been educated – Jesus knows he is authorized by the Father. It is important that we do not simply gloss over v.7, for it contains a very strong statement on the part of Jesus. Jesus recognizes that the world of the Jews is responding inhospitably to him. …show more content…
Anytime the location of Jesus ' origins comes into question, we have to turn back to his encounter with Nicodemus in John 3. Jesus is from the Father – his perspective is a heavenly one. When the Judeans, who conflict with Jesus, in this section question where he is from, then we can conclude that they are not from the Father. John has consistently presented the Judeans as those who do not understand Jesus (which will be made explicit, once again, in v.35-36). Jesus ' conclusion is that they do not understand him, not because he speaks with difficult words and confusing metaphors, but because they are not from the Father, and he is (7:28-29). As Jesus sees it, there is very little knowledge of the Father amongst those who are supposed to be his …show more content…
Here, we can identify that the Judeans are still having issues identifying the role of Jesus in their society. Considering the claim of Davidic connection being necessary for the Messiah (7:42), it is interesting that those from Judah, David’s kingdom, have the most trouble identifying Jesus ' role. V.43 includes the fourth mention of violence against Jesus, as well as the return of Nicodemus. In this case, Nicodemus, while not aligning himself with the most affronted Pharisees, makes a small point regarding giving Jesus a fair trial. He does not vouch for Jesus, thus I believe his stand could have been stronger. Nevertheless, he does provoke the racist response given in
7:1-24
This section immediately lets us know both Jesus ' setting (Galilee) as well as his rationale for avoiding Judea and the Judeans (they were trying to kill him). At this point in John’s gospel, the active seeking by the Judeans to kill Jesus is a major theme. They will directly question this from happening (7:20), even though that very section will be followed by the Judeans attempting to arrest him. Nevertheless, the author wants the reader to know that Jesus ' claim of such in this chapter is no exaggeration – it is actually happening. In v.2, we see that, once again, the Jews are mentioned as celebrating one of their many festivals. 7:3-9 contains a legitimate conflict between Jesus and his family, a first for this gospel. The conflict his brothers bring up, one regarding the momentum of his movement, is an extension of Jesus leaving the crowd whom he fed regarding their understanding of his as a king (6:14-15). Jesus, once again, is fully confident that, as long as he is doing the will of his father, then there is no need for him to concern himself with moving his movement to Jerusalem, in order to give himself a boost in popularity. For people like Jesus ' brothers, movements such as his cannot be considered successful until they are acknowledged as so by the systems available in the world. We know that, through Jesus ' critique of the temple in John, that he holds no value in such systems. To him, they are broken (2:18-20). Jesus is able to operate without the need to be authorized by the system – he trusts that the Father will bring people to him. As if to reiterate this point, the author stresses Jesus ' lack of education within the temple system (7:15-16). Yet, we do not see Jesus perturbed by their (correct) assertion that he had not received their education. Rather, he confidently responds with explaining just how he has been educated – Jesus knows he is authorized by the Father. It is important that we do not simply gloss over v.7, for it contains a very strong statement on the part of Jesus. Jesus recognizes that the world of the Jews is responding inhospitably to him. …show more content…
Anytime the location of Jesus ' origins comes into question, we have to turn back to his encounter with Nicodemus in John 3. Jesus is from the Father – his perspective is a heavenly one. When the Judeans, who conflict with Jesus, in this section question where he is from, then we can conclude that they are not from the Father. John has consistently presented the Judeans as those who do not understand Jesus (which will be made explicit, once again, in v.35-36). Jesus ' conclusion is that they do not understand him, not because he speaks with difficult words and confusing metaphors, but because they are not from the Father, and he is (7:28-29). As Jesus sees it, there is very little knowledge of the Father amongst those who are supposed to be his …show more content…
Here, we can identify that the Judeans are still having issues identifying the role of Jesus in their society. Considering the claim of Davidic connection being necessary for the Messiah (7:42), it is interesting that those from Judah, David’s kingdom, have the most trouble identifying Jesus ' role. V.43 includes the fourth mention of violence against Jesus, as well as the return of Nicodemus. In this case, Nicodemus, while not aligning himself with the most affronted Pharisees, makes a small point regarding giving Jesus a fair trial. He does not vouch for Jesus, thus I believe his stand could have been stronger. Nevertheless, he does provoke the racist response given in