John 7:25–44

Can This Be the Christ?

²⁵Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom ^xthey seek to kill? ²⁶And here he is, ^yspeaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that ^zthe authorities really know that this is the Christ? ²⁷But ^awe know ^bwhere this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, ^cno one will know where he comes from.” ²⁸So Jesus proclaimed, ^das he taught in the temple, ^a“You know me, and you know where I come from. But ^eI have not come of my own accord. ^fHe who sent me is true, ^gand him you do not know. ^29hI know him, for I come ⁱfrom him, and ^jhe sent me.” ^30kSo they were seeking to arrest him, but ^lno one laid a hand on him, ^mbecause his hour had not yet come. ³¹Yet ⁿmany of the people believed in him. They said, ^o“When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd ^pmuttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent ^qofficers to arrest him. ³³Jesus then said, ^r“I will be with you a little longer, and then ^sI am going to him who sent me. ^34tYou will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” ³⁵The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? ^uDoes he intend to go to ^vthe Dispersion among ^wthe Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶What does he mean by saying, ^x‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

Rivers of Living Water

^37yOn the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ^z“If anyone thirsts, let him ^acome to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me, ^bas⁶ the Scripture has said, ^c‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of ^dliving water.’ ” ³⁹Now ^ethis he said about the Spirit, ^fwhom those who believed in him were to receive, ^gfor as yet the Spirit had not been ^hgiven, ⁱbecause Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division Among the People

⁴⁰When they heard these words, ^jsome of the people said, “This really is ^kthe Prophet.” ⁴¹Others said, “This is ^lthe Christ.” But some said, ^m“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? ⁴²Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes ⁿfrom the offspring of David, and comes ^ofrom Bethlehem, the village ^pwhere David was?” ⁴³So there was ^qa division among the people over him. ^44rSome of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.