Jesus Goes to the Feast of Booths

7 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He stayed away from Judea on purpose. He knew that the Jews there were waiting to kill him.

2The Jewish Feast of Booths was near. 3Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You should leave here and go to Judea. Then your disciples will see the kinds of things you do. 4No one who wants to be well known does things in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5Even Jesus’ own brothers did not believe in him.

6So Jesus told them, “The right time has not yet come for me. For you, any time is right. 7The people of the world can’t hate you. But they hate me. This is because I give witness that what they do is evil.

8“You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast. For me, the right time has not yet come.”

9After he said this, he stayed in Galilee.

10When his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also. But he went secretly, not openly. 11At the Feast the Jews were watching for him. They were asking, “Where is he?”

12Many people in the crowd were whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others replied, “No. He fools the people.”

13But no one would say anything about him openly. They were afraid of the Jews.

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’?”

37It was the last and most important day of the Feast. Jesus stood up and spoke in a loud voice. He said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38Does anyone believe in me? Then, just as Scripture says, streams of living water will flow from inside him.”

39When he said this, he meant the Holy Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit later. Up to that time, the Spirit had not been given. This was because Jesus had not yet received glory.

40When some of the people heard his words, they said, “This man must be the Prophet we’ve been expecting.”

41Others said, “He is the Christ.”

Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42Doesn’t Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family? Doesn’t it say that he will come from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”

43So the people did not agree about who Jesus was. 44Some wanted to arrest him. But no one laid a hand on him.

The Jewish Leaders Do Not Believe

45Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees. They asked the guards, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

46“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

47“You mean he has fooled you also?” the Pharisees asked. 48“Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? 49No! But this mob knows nothing about the law. There is a curse on them.”

50Then Nicodemus, a Pharisee, spoke. He was the one who had gone to Jesus earlier. He asked, 51“Does our law find someone guilty without hearing him first? Doesn’t it want to find out what he is doing?”

52They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Look into it. You will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

————————————————

53Then each of them went home.