John Chapter 7

John Chapter 7

JC walked into Galilee and wouldn’t walk near the Jewry (I wonder if that’s like a nunnery) because those folks really wanted to kill him.

The Jewish feast of tabernacles was at hand. That sounds like fun, maybe it’s a big party under a lot of different tents. As we learned in previous gospels tabernacles are tents.

JC’s brethren told him to leave immediately and go into Judaea so everyone could see his great works. They told him that no man does things in secret (uh, I’m pretty sure that’s faulty logic, I think a lot of people do things in secret), but they say that anyone would want to be known for what Jesus could do. They told him that if he really does these things, he should show the world. Hmmm, I thought that’s what he was doing, but maybe I’m wrong. These relatives of him didn’t believe in him, according to John’s gospel.

Jesus told them that his time had not yet come, but their time is always ready. The world can’t hate them, but it does hate JC because he’s always pointing out the works that are evil. He tells them to go to their feast, he won’t go yet, why? Because his time hasn’t come yet. (Funny, I thought he’d feasted earlier in these chapters, and does their really need to be a your time and a my time for feasting… I say let’s ALL party!)

JC was still living in Galilee when he was chatting with his brothers. When they went up to the feast he decided to sneak in. Well, good thing he did, because the Jews were there (isn’t he a Jew?) and they asked his brothers where he was. It caused a minor uproar at the party with some people saying he was a good man and some people saying he was a deceiver. But, for all their murmuring no one would speak openly because they were afraid of these Jews (even though presumably most of the people at the party are also Jewish since it is a Jewish feast… just trying to keep it clear. I’m not a fan of anti Semitism, but I’m getting the felling that John the author is).

Right in the midst of the festival JC trotted up to the temple and began to teach. The Jews were mystified, he knows so many letters for someone who never learned. (How they know his education level is beyond me). Of course, Jesus lets them know that it’s his daddy’s doctrine that he’s talking about. He also informs them that if anyone wants to do god’s will he ought to know the doctrine whether it’s from his dad or whether he speaks it himself. To justify this showy little display of learning, JC tells the crowd that if you speak of yourself you’re just seeking glory (and that’s bad!), but if he seeks glory for god so there’s no unrighteousness in him. Okay JC, thanks for keeping it clear for us.

He asks them why they don’t keep Moses’ law? (I’m sure it was quite a shock to many to find out that they weren’t). Then he fairly asks them why they’re going around trying to kill him.

The people answer him that he has a devil in him and they question who is going around trying to kill him? (Oh, that’s an interesting twist, so IS JC just being paranoid, or are they being really sneaky?)

He tells them that he has done one work (which one counted as the one, I wonder), and all of them marveled. Then he gets into a strange talk about circumcision (yuck! Now, there’s a practice I just can’t understand, genital mutilation is pretty darn creepy to me). Moses therefore gave them circumcision (wow, what a gift), but it wasn’t because it was from Moses, but rather because it was of the ancestors that they circumcise men (hopefully babies… for men it seems even worse) on the Sabbath. If a man on the Sabbath receives a circumcision then the law of Moses isn’t broken. So, why are they angry at JC because he’s made a man whole on the Sabbath day? He tells them not to judge by the appearance, but by righteousness. I interpret that to mean use the intent of the law, not the letter.

Then some of the folks in Jerusalem seem to remember that someone does want to kill JC and they ask, is this THAT guy? But, that’s weird because he says some pretty bold stuff and they say nothing back to him. To the rulers know that this is Christ? They’re confused that they know where Jesus comes from, but when Christ comes they think that they won’t know where he’s from.

Jesus gets really upset and cries out to them that they know both! They know him and where he’s from and that he came from God and they don’t know God, but it’s all true! He’s knows his dad, he’s knows that’s where he comes from, and his dad sent him.

They wanted to take him in to trial, but no one laid hands on him. You see, gentle reader, his time had not yet come.

Of those that weren’t trying to kill him, some believed in him and asked if the Christ was going to do more miracles than this man whenever he decided to show up.

The Pharisees were getting darn tired of all the hoopla so they sent some officers to take him.

Jesus stopped them and told them that he was going to be with them a little while longer and then he would go back to his dad. He said that they would try to seek him but wouldn’t be able to find him because where he was going they couldn’t come. Nah nah, nah nah!

The Jews asked themselves where he would go that they wouldn’t be able to find him (even though, he’s made it abundantly clear that he is going up to heaven with his dad, people in this book aren’t really awesome at putting clues together). Will he go to the Gentiles and teach them? Why did he say that about us not being able to go where he was going?

In the last day of the feast Jesus yelled to everyone that anyone who was thirsty should come to him and drink. (I guess the officers were just cool with letting him go because he was going to leave fairly soon anyway). He tells them in they believe they’ll have rivers of living water in their bellys… hee hee, that makes me giggle. (John tells us… Jesus was talking about the Spirit that the believers would receive, because the Holy Ghost was not yet given and Jesus was not yet glorified… whoa, whoa, whoa… what? Aren’t the Spirit and the Holy Ghost the same thing? And Jesus is God’s only son, right? Isn’t that like glorious enough… oh yeah, right, he’s got to die for the sins of the world…. Yeah).

Well, some people were impressed, and some people were curious if Christ was really going to come from Galilee. They thought that Christ was supposed to come from the seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem.

The priests came to the group and asked the officers what was going on, apparently they’d actually been hanging out listening to him talk. Why haven’t y’all brought him to us, they asked.

The officers tell them that they’ve never heard anyone talk like this. The Pharisees basically asked if JC had tricked them into buying his nonsense. They said that none of the rulers or Pharisees believe him. But these people who don’t know the law are cursed.

Our old friend Nicodemus returns. He asks if their laws judge any man before hearing him.

They asked if he was also of Galilee, because no prophet comes from Galilee.

Then everyone went home.

Huh, a strange ending to be sure.