John 7:25-36

MIXED EMOTIONS CONCERNING JESUS

Text 7:25-36

25

Some therefore of them of Jerusalem said, Is not this he whom they seek to kill?

26

And lo, he speaketh openly, and they say nothing unto him. Can it be that the rulers indeed know that this is the Christ?

27

Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when the Christ cometh, no one knoweth whence he is.

28

Jesus therefore cried in the temple, teaching and saying, Ye both know me, and know whence I am; and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.

29

I know him; because I am from him, and he sent me.

30

They sought therefore to take him: and no man laid his hand on him, because his hour was not yet come.

31

But of the multitude many believed on him; and they said, When the Christ shall come, will he do more signs than those which this man hath done?

32

The Pharisees heard the multitude murmuring these things concerning him; and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to take him.

33

Jesus therefore said, Yet a little while am I with you, and I go unto him that sent me.

34

Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, ye cannot come.

35

The Jews therefore said among themselves, Whither will this man go that we shall not find him? Will he go unto the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?

36

What is this word that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me; and where I am, ye cannot come?

Queries

a.

What did the people of Jerusalem mean when they said, when the Christ cometh, no one knoweth whence he is.

b.

Did Jesus mean that they actually knew Him as the Messiah? (John 7:28)

c.

When would they seek Him and not find Him?

Paraphrase

Some of the Jerusalemites, recognizing the profound wisdom of Jesus-' words, said, Is not this the man whom the rulers seek to kill, yet behold, he speaks openly and boldly in the temple and they say not one word to Him. Some said, Can it be possible that our rulers have come to recognize this man as the Christ? Others replied, No, we know where this man comes fromwhen the Christ comes, no one will know where He comes from. Exasperated at their unbelief, Jesus cried aloud, as He taught in the temple and said, So you think you know me? and where I am from? To the contrary I have not come to you as a mere mortalon my own authority. He who sent me is the One True God, and Him you do not know. I know Him because I came from His very presence and He sends me with His commission. The rulers, hearing Jesus-' words, were eagerly seeking to arrest Him. However, in the Divine providence of God, His hour had not yet come, and no one laid a hand upon Him. Great numbers of the feast crowds were following Him and saying among themselves, When the Christ comes He will not do more signs than this man has done, will He? The Pharisees heard the crowd mumbling these things concerning Him and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple police in order that they might arrest Him. Then Jesus said, I am going to be with you only a little time more and then I go away unto Him that sent Me. You will look for Me but you will not find Me, and where I am you are not able to come. At this the Jews said among themselves, Where is this fellow about to go that we shall not be able to find him? Will He go to the Jews that are scattered in the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean when he says, You shall seek and shall not find me, and where I am you are not able to come?

Summary

There are many opinions concerning Jesus at the Feast. Some say He cannot possibly be the Christothers say He must bethe rulers are determined to kill Him. Jesus claims unequivocally to be sent from the very presence of God and soon to return to the Father. Jesus then warns the Jews of a time when they will diligently seek Him but they will not be able to find Him.

Comment

In John 7:25 John uses the word Hierosolumton (Greek for Jerusalemites) to make a distinction between the definitely hostile rulers of the Jews (John 7:15), the crowds of pilgrims from Galilee, Perea and Judea (John 7:20), and these city dwellers or Jerusalemites. Why their opinion of Jesus was important enough for John to include it in an extremely abridged account of the Life of Christ we do not know. But notice that they seem to be well informed as to the premeditated intentions of the rulers, while the pilgrims who have come from afar are shocked at the suggestion of Jesus-' impending execution (cf. John 7:19).

The Jerusalemites were shocked at the boldness with which Jesus openly denounced the rulers. Neither could they understand the hesitancy of the Jews to have Jesus silenced or arrested. Their amazed reaction is an impulsive, Can it be that the rulers-' have been persuaded that this man is the Christ? To say, as some commentators, that the question is asked in derision does not suit the context. These city dwellers knew very well the attitude of the rulers in the past (cf. John 5:18). But now the Nazarene was even more bold and there was no official action being taken. They could only conclude that the rulers had recognized Jesus as the Messiah.

Yet, with a moment's deliberation, they knew this man could not be the Messiah. The rulers may have made a mistake but not these peoplethey knew where Jesus was from! Some of them knew that He was from Nazareth and some, perhaps, knew His family.

There seems to have been a popular theory that the Messiah, when He came, would appear suddenly and no one would know where He came from. The origin of this theory is obscured by vagueness, but there are some passages in the Jewish apocryphal books and Rabbinical writings such as this extract: A roe appears and then is hid; so the Redeemer shall first appear and then be concealed, and then again be concealed and then again appear. So the Redeemer shall first appear and then be hid, and then, at the end of forty-five days, shall reappear, and cause manna to descend. (Barnes, Notes on the New Testament, Luke and John, Baker Book House, 1956, page 258.) There are also passages in the canonical books such as Isaiah 53:2; Isaiah 53:8; Daniel 7:13; Malachi 3:1, from which the people may have started this theory. On the other hand, it appears that many of the Jews knew the Messiah was to be born at Bethlehem (cf. Matthew 2:5 and John 7:42). Jesus may have been correcting their theory in Matthew 24:23, when He said, Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. And again in Matthew 24:26, If they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; behold, he is in the secret chambers, believe it not. When the great tribulation was to come upon Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the people in that city would certainly look in every direction for a sudden appearance of the Messiah.

The origin of their false theories about the Messiah is of minor importance here. Of major importance is the self-willed rejection of Jesus by these Jerusalemites and His ironic condemnation of their ignorance of the One True God.
Their unbelief vexed the Lord's heart. He was exasperated, yet heartbroken; ironic in tongue, yet concerned for their souls. He cried out, So you think you know me? and you know where I am from? We believe Jesus was using irony and was not making a statement of fact. We further feel the words of Jesus are better punctuated interrogatively. Our most ancient manuscripts indicate that there were no punctuation marks at all in the original New Testament. But time after time Jesus said emphatically the people did not know Him (cf. John 3:11; John 5:18; John 5:37-38; John 6:42; John 6:60-62; John 8:19; John 8:42-43; John 8:55-59; John 14:9). Jesus was not averse to using irony (cf. Luke 13:31-32; Mark 7:9).

They knew His mother and brothers and sistersthey knew His boyhood homebut they did not know Him. They were like so many of our modernists today. They accepted Jesus as a wise teacher, but they knew too much to accept Him as the Divine Son of God.

Then Jesus declares that He comes not on His own authority (see our comments on John 5:32, Vol. I, pages 192-193). Jesus comes forth from the presence of the One True God. It is no wonder they reject Him as the Divine Messiahthey do not know the One True God. Jesus had said essentially the same thing six months before at the Passover in this same city (cf. John 5:37-44), and He repeats it again and again (cf. John 8:19; John 8:55). They did not know God for the same reason the Gentiles of Romans 1:25; Romans 1:28 did not know Godthey did not want to know God. And for this reason, thousands of every generation do not know Godthey refuse to have Him in their lives because His Word condemns their carnal minds and deeds.

In John 7:29, Jesus claims to have come from the presence of the Father with a Divine commission. The Greek word apesteilen, from which we get apostle, means sent with a commission, or by the authority of another. This is the word Jesus uses for sent in John 7:29. Jesus is called the Apostle. of our confession in Hebrews 3:1.

The rulers of Jerusalem had sought to kill Jesus even before the close of His first year of ministry. At the second Passover of His public ministry they sought the more to kill Him (cf. John 5:18). Now they were trying again to take Him into custody (John 7:30). But, strangely enough, no one laid a hand on Him, The excuses His antagonists had for not taking action against Him at this time are not made known. Perhaps they were afraid of the multitudes of pilgrims who were in favor of His teaching (John 7:31). One thing is certain, the proper time for His suffering within the Divine scheme had not yet arrived and the Providence of an omnipotent God overruled the designs of evil men.

In contrast to the rejection of Jesus as the Messiah by the Jerusalemites and the rulers, many of the pilgrims there for the Feast of Tabernacles were clamoring after His teaching. We agree with Hendriksen that the words in John 7:31 many believed on him do not necessarily indicate true, living faith. There were many in Galilee who believed in Him until the time of testing at the Sermon on the Bread of Life. Then multitudes forsook Him.

Their materialistic attitude is revealed in the remainder of John 7:31. They were enamored of His wonderful miracles and signs. But six months later, in this same city, they, too, will forsake Him when they realize He is not to be a materialistic Messiah. The construction of the Greek in John 7:31 shows the people to have asked the question expecting a negative answer. In other words, the pilgrims are asking each other and expecting confirmation of each other that the wonders and signs of this man can only mean He is the Messiah they are looking for.

The Pharisees, hearing the teeming multitudes mumbling among themselves that the Nazarene is the long looked for Messiah, must take drastic steps for a serious situation. The Pharisees and chief priests were bitter enemies, yet they united in this Satanic pact to destroy a common foe, Jesus the Nazarene.

In John 7:33-34, Jesus speaks a solemn and fearful warning. Yet, He speaks it in a voice full of tenderness. They have decided secretly to kill Him, but He knows it and tries to tell them that He is aware of it. He warns them further that the time will come when they shall seek Him, but be unable to find Him. This does not mean that there would come a time when it would be impossible for these Jews to find Jesus unto salvation and forgiveness. We know, in fact, that many thousands did seek Him and find Him for salvation (cf. Acts 2:1-47; Acts 3:1-26; Acts 4:1-37; Acts 5:1-42). We believe Jesus refers to a time of great sorrow or tribulation when they would search desperately for the Messiah to lead, deliver and comfort them. Just such a time occurred in 70 A.D. at the destruction of Jerusalem (cf. Matthew 24:1-51; Josephus-' Wars of the Jews, Books V and VI). Jesus here warns that He will be unavailable for such leadership and deliverance. He will soon ascend unto His Father in Heaven (cf. John 13:33; John 13:36-38).

The Jews glibly cast aside any seriousness to His warnings. They joke about His prophetic warnings. Where will He go, they say, to our people who are scattered throughout the world (the Dispersion)? In sarcasm and ridicule they ask if He will go among the Gentiles and teach them. Little do they know how the gospel of Christ will be rejected by their countrymen and then taken by the apostles to the Gentiles (cf. Acts 13:46-52; Acts 28:25-28).

The Jews are perplexed (John 7:36). Their carnal minds are not able to comprehend that He was sent forth from the presence of Jehovah and will soon return to heaven. But amazingly, Jesus does not answer their question. He has more relevant teaching He wishes to give the multitudes. What He says in John 7:37-39 will be more pertinent at this time than a discussion of eschatology, and so the Lord merely ignores their sarcastic question.

Quiz

1.

Where would the people get the idea that the appearance of the Messiah would be sudden and secret?

2.

How do you think John 7:28 should be punctuated?

3.

What does the word apostle mean?

4.

Why was Jesus not arrested at this time?

5.

Do you think the belief of the multitudes was sincere or superficial?

6.

When would the Jews seek the Messiah and be unable to find Him?