John 7:1–30

Jesus and His Brothers

7After this, Jesus travelled in Galilee; he did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jewish authorities there were wanting to kill him. ^2*The time for the Festival of Shelters was near, ³so Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave this place and go to Judea, so that your followers will see the things that you are doing. ⁴No one hides what he is doing if he wants to be well known. Since you are doing these things, let the whole world know about you!” ⁵(Not even his brothers believed in him.) ⁶Jesus said to them, “The right time for me has not yet come. Any time is right for you. ⁷The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I keep telling it that its ways are bad. ⁸You go on to the festival. I am not going^p to this festival, because the right time has not come for me.” ⁹He said this, and then stayed on in Galilee.

Jesus at the Festival of Shelters

¹⁰After his brothers had gone to the festival, Jesus also went; however, he did not go openly, but secretly. ¹¹The Jewish authorities were looking for him at the festival. “Where is he?” they asked.

¹²There was much whispering about him in the crowd. “He is a good man,” some people said. “No,” others said, “he is misleading the people.” ¹³But no one talked about him openly, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities.

¹⁴The festival was nearly half over when Jesus went to the Temple and began teaching. ¹⁵The Jewish authorities were greatly surprised and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never had any training?”

¹⁶Jesus answered, “What I teach is not my own teaching, but it comes from God, who sent me. ¹⁷Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak on my own authority. ¹⁸A person who speaks on his own authority is trying to gain glory for himself. But he who wants glory for the one who sent him is honest, and there is nothing false in him. ¹⁹Moses gave you the Law, didn’t he? But not one of you obeys the Law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

²⁰“You have a demon in you!” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

²¹Jesus answered, “I performed one miracle, and you were all surprised. ^22*Moses ordered you to circumcise your sons (although it was not Moses but your ancestors who started it), and so you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. ^23*If a boy is circumcised on the Sabbath so that Moses’ Law is not broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? ²⁴Stop judging by external standards, and judge by true standards.”

Is He the Messiah?

²⁵Some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this the man the authorities are trying to kill? ²⁶Look! He is talking in public, and they say nothing against him! Can it be that they really know that he is the Messiah? ²⁷But when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from. And we all know where this man comes from.”

²⁸As Jesus taught in the Temple, he said in a loud voice, “Do you really know me and know where I am from? I have not come on my own authority. He who sent me, however, is truthful. You do not know him, ²⁹but I know him, because I come from him and he sent me.”

³⁰Then they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.