John 7

Part of Light of the World and the Good Shepherd📖 John introduction

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¹After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. ✦ ²Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. ✦ ³His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. ✦ ⁴For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” ✦ ⁵For even His brothers did not believe in Him. ✦ ⁶Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. ✦ ⁷The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. ✦ ⁸You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come.” ✦ ⁹When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee. ¹⁰But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. ✦ ¹¹Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?” ✦ ¹²And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.” ✦ ¹³However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. ✦ ¹⁴Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught. ✦ ¹⁵And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?” ✦ ¹⁶Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. ✦ ¹⁷If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. ✦ ¹⁸He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. ✦ ¹⁹Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?” ✦ ²⁰The people answered and said, “You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?” ✦ ²¹Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. ✦ ²²Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. ✦ ²³If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? ✦ ²⁴Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” ✦ ²⁵Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill? ✦ ²⁶But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? ✦ ²⁷However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.” ✦ ²⁸Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. ✦ ²⁹But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.” ✦ ³⁰Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. ✦ ³¹And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?” ✦ ³²The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. ✦ ³³Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. ✦ ³⁴You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.” ✦ ³⁵Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ✦ ³⁶What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?” ✦ ³⁷On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ✦ ³⁸He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” ✦ ³⁹But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. ✦ ⁴⁰Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” ✦ ⁴¹Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? ✦ ⁴²Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” ✦ ⁴³So there was a division among the people because of Him. ✦ ⁴⁴Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him. ✦ ⁴⁵Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?” ✦ ⁴⁶The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” ✦ ⁴⁷Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? ✦ ⁴⁸Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? ✦ ⁴⁹But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” ✦ ⁵⁰Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, ✦ ⁵¹“Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?” ✦ ⁵²They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.” ✦ ⁵³And everyone went to his own house. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

John 7 ·49 John 8 ·29 John 1 ·16 John 6 ·16 John 12 ·14 John 5 ·14 John 9 ·13 John 17 ·13

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 7YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 7David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 7Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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