Lesson 6 The Gospel of John, Chapter 7*

Jesus: The One Sent From God

Six months have passed between John 6 and 7. There seems to be great confusion about Jesus. Even Jesus’ brothers do not understand His kingdom; in fact, although Jesus’ brothers know He is someone great, John states that at this point they do not believe in Him. 

The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth) drew near, the most popular festival of the Jewish calendar. This was celebrated from the 15th to the 21st day of the Jewish month Tisri, which generally corresponds to our month of October. The Feast of Tabernacles was a thanksgiving festival for the harvest of corn and wine (Deuteronomy 16:13) and a festival of remembrance for the Lord’s abiding presence when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness and lived in huts (Leviticus 23:39–43). The Jews reenacted for one week the living in tents (“tabernacles”) outside the walls of Jerusalem. As you read this chapter, see yourself in Jerusalem as one of the participants.

Read John 7:1-13 (Jesus delays going to Judea)

Verse 3 mentions Jesus’ brothers. In Matthew 13:55 four of Jesus’ brothers are mentioned by name: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Jude). These would actually be half-brothers of Jesus (the children of Mary and Joseph). From the various references to the brothers of Jesus in the Gospels, we may assume that at first none of them believed in Jesus as the Son of God. This is obvious from this text, and from Mark 3:21, where they thought “he was out of his mind”.

However, after the resurrection of Christ, at least some of them changed their minds, and became believers (Acts 1:14). Later one of them, James, became one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem, and wrote the epistle of James in the NT. His brother, Jude, wrote the book of Jude in the NT.

  1. Why didn’t Jesus go to the feast right away?

  2. Why were the people in Jerusalem afraid to speak publicly about Jesus? (v. 13 and v.25)

  3. What causes people today to be afraid to openly testify about Jesus?

Read John 7:14-24 (Jesus teaches at the feast)

  1. Why were the people so amazed when Jesus began to teach in the temple courts? (see v. 15)

  2. In verses 17-18 Jesus teaches us one way to distinguish between one who teaches falsely and one who speaks the truth. What is that?

  3. Explain in your own words the force of Jesus’ argument in vs. 22-24. How were the Pharisees judging superficially?

Read John 7:25-44 (Is Jesus the Messiah?)

  1. The statement of the people in verse 27 shows how little some of them knew about the Messiah. They said, “When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” Didn’t the prophet Micah (5:2) say that he would come from Bethlehem in Judea? Didn’t the prophet Isaiah (7:14) write that he would be born of a virgin? Didn’t all the prophets say that he would come from the Father? They should know if they read the Scriptures. It was clear that they didn’t know Jesus to be the Son of God. But in verse 28, Jesus said that they didn’t even know the Father who had sent him. How could that be? They were all at the temple to worship God and observe the festival. How could Jesus say that they did not know the Father?

  2. What did Jesus mean when he said, “You will look for me, but will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come?” (verse 34）

Verse 37 tells us what Jesus taught “on the last and greatest day of the Feast.” On each of the seven festal days, the officiating priest took a golden vessel at the morning service, and filled it with water from the fountain of Siloam in the Kidron valley, mixed the water with the wine of the drink offering, and poured it into two silver bowls on the west of the altar for the burnt offering, while the trumpets were sounded and praise was sung. The people chanted Isaiah 12:3:* “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”

  1. What great invitation and promise did Jesus shout out at the climax to the Feast of the Tabernacles? (verses 37-39）

  2. In verses 41-43 we read that the people of Jerusalem were divided over whether Jesus could be the Messiah. What was the main cause of their confusion?

  3. In what ways are people still divided about Jesus today?

Read John 7:45-53 (The Pharisees reject Jesus)

  1. How did the Pharisees continue to show their pride and stubborn unbelief?

  2. In verse 50 Nicodemus, who had shown a willingness to consider the teachings of Jesus and had visited Jesus at night to ask him questions, suggested that they should at least give Jesus a fair hearing before condemning him, and he experienced ridicule for doing so. Would you agree or disagree that Jesus frequently gets judged by people today without ever giving Him a fair hearing?

Our next lesson will cover chapters 8 and 9 and will be a longer lesson than this one. Please begin work on it soon so that we are ready for discussion in class. PAGE 1

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