John 7:14–36

Jesus Teaches at the Feast

¹⁴Jesus did nothing until halfway through the Feast. Then he went up to the temple courtyard and began to teach. ¹⁵The Jews were amazed. They asked, “How did this man learn so much without studying?”

¹⁶Jesus answered, “What I teach is not my own. It comes from the One who sent me. ¹⁷Anyone who chooses to do what God wants him to do will find out whether my teaching comes from God or from me. ¹⁸Someone who speaks on his own does it to get honor for himself. But someone who works for the honor of the One who sent him is truthful. There is nothing false about him.

¹⁹“Didn’t Moses give you the law? But not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

²⁰“You are controlled by demons,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

²¹Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. ²²Moses gave you circumcision, and so you circumcise a child on the Sabbath day. But circumcision did not really come from Moses. It came from Abraham. ²³You circumcise a child on the Sabbath day. You think that if you do, you won’t break the law of Moses. Then why are you angry with me? I healed a whole man on the Sabbath!

²⁴“Stop judging only by what you see. Judge correctly.”

Is Jesus the Christ?

²⁵Then some of the people of Jerusalem began asking questions. They said, “Isn’t this the man some people are trying to kill? ²⁶Here he is! He is speaking openly. They aren’t saying a word to him. Have the authorities really decided that he is the Christ? ²⁷But we know where this man is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸Jesus was still teaching in the temple courtyard. He cried out, “Yes, you know me. And you know where I am from. I am not here on my own. The One who sent me is true. You do not know him. ²⁹But I know him. I am from him, and he sent me.”

³⁰When he said this, they tried to arrest him. But no one laid a hand on him. His time had not yet come.

³¹Still, many people in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “How will it be when the Christ comes? Will he do more miraculous signs than this man?”

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering things like this about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

³³Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time. Then I will go to the One who sent me. ³⁴You will look for me, but you won’t find me. You can’t come where I am going.”

³⁵The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man plan to go? Does he think we can’t find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks? Will he go there to teach the Greeks? ³⁶What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you won’t find me’? And, ‘You can’t come where I am going’?”