Глава 7

1–13. Journey of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. – 14–53. Speech of Christ in the church and His speeches. John 7:1. After this, Jesus walked through Galilee, for He did not want to walk through Judea, because the Jews were looking to kill Him. At the Easter holiday, the approach of which John mentioned in the previous chapter (John 6:4), Christ obviously was not present. He traveled at this time and in the summer months following the said Passover in Galilee, since it was dangerous for Him to go to Judea at this time due to hostile plans on the part of the Jews. During this Galilean journey, events occur that are described in the Gospels of Matthew (Matthew 15) and Mark (Mark 7:1–8:10): a dispute with the Pharisees about the traditions of the elders (Matthew 15:1–20), Christ’s journey through upper Galilee to the borders of Phenicia, where He healed the daughter of a Canaanite woman, returning from there to the northeastern region of the Sea of Galilee and the second feeding of the people, after which Christ With his disciples he crossed the sea to the country of Dalmanutha, located in the region of Gennesaret (Matthew 15:21–39; Mark 7:24–8:10), where the Pharisees and Sadducees then demanded from Him a sign from heaven. It was precisely at this time, between the return to the country or region of Gennesaret and the demand for a sign with which the Pharisees and Sadducees turned to Christ, that, in all likelihood, Christ’s departure to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles took place. John 7:2. The Jewish holiday was approaching - the setting up of tabernacles. For the Feast of Tabernacles, see comments on Lev. 23:33 et seq. John 7:3. Then His brothers said to Him: Get out of here and go to Judea, so that Your disciples may see the works that You do. John 7:4. For no one does anything in secret, and seeks to be known. If You do such things, then reveal Yourself to the world. From the words of the brothers of Christ (about the brothers of Christ, see comments on Matthew 1:25, 13:55) it is clear that they knew, on the one hand, about the decrease in Christ’s followers in Galilee (John 6:66), on the other, that during His time in Jerusalem the Lord gathered a large number of listeners around Him (John 3:26, 29, 4:1; cf. John 2:23). “There, in Jerusalem,” the brothers say to Christ, “you are the only one who can now find disciples for yourself, if you have any disciples at all!” It is before these disciples that Christ must do His work, because the people there are more reliable than the frivolous Galileans. It is necessary for Christ to go to Judea also because He lays claim to the title of Messiah, for only in Jerusalem are people able to evaluate as they should the activity of Christ. There, in Jerusalem, the Messiah must announce the opening of His Kingdom and from there rule over the entire land of Israel and over the whole world. “If You do such things,” i.e. wonderful deeds that can justify Your claims, then You must not remain in provincial obscurity, but appear before the entire Jewish world, and in a suitable place. John 7:5. For even His brothers did not believe in Him. In explaining the offer of the Lord's brothers, the evangelist says that then they did not believe in Him. They, in fact, could not recognize in Him the One He declared Himself to be and follow Him, as the 12 apostles did. They saw the signs that Christ performed, but still did not come to such faith in Him as He would like to see from them. In this they agreed with other Jews (cf. John 12:7). But, on the other hand, they have not interrupted communication with their named brother, they value His honor and want the world to quickly recognize Him in His dignity, then they too will follow Him. John 7:6. To this Jesus said to them: My time has not yet come, but for you there is always time. John 7:7. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify about it that its deeds are evil. John 7:8. You go to this holiday; but I will not yet go to this holiday, because My time has not yet been fulfilled. The Lord does not answer the brothers in essence, because they were not then able to understand His words as they should. He tells them only what is completely understandable to them, namely, he points out the dangers to which He would expose Himself if He now went to Jerusalem. His "time", i.e. the time for the full discovery of His dignity has not yet come. Of course, this time of revealing the Messianic dignity for Christ must come, but it will not take place on the Feast of Tabernacles, but on the next Feast of Passover. John 7:9. Having told them this, he remained in Galilee. John 7:10. But when His brothers came, then He also came to the holiday not openly, but as if secretly. However, the Lord, after His brothers left for the holiday, Himself went to Jerusalem, albeit alone, as if secretly. This change in the decision made gave the Neoplatonist Porphyry a reason to reproach Christ for inconsistency, for being unfaithful to His word. But to this objection, repeated even now by rationalists, it must be said that Christ told the brothers that he would not go to the Feast of Tabernacles openly, with triumph, like the Messiah-king, but He did not say that he would not go to Jerusalem at all, even as an ordinary pilgrim. He now goes to the holiday like such a pilgrim, without arousing anyone’s attention to Himself. John 7:11. The Jews looked for Him at the festival and said: Where is He? John 7:12. And there was a lot of talk about Him among the people: some said that He was good; and others said: no, but he deceives the people. John 7:13. However, no one spoke about Him openly, fearing the Jews. The absence of Christ at the holiday - probably at the very beginning, in the first days of the holiday - was noticed by the Jews, who, obviously, now expected to capture Christ into their own hands. And in the crowd they talked about Christ. Some called Him “good,” i.e., as we say, an honest public figure, while others called Him a people’s troublemaker. But they were afraid to express the first opinion out loud in front of all the people, since the Jews, the enemies of Christ, could declare those who held this opinion to be disciples of Christ and subject them to detention. John 7:14. But halfway through the feast, Jesus entered the church and taught. The exact day on which the Lord arrived in Jerusalem is unknown. But he “entered” the church (more precisely, “ascended”; the church was indeed at a certain height in relation to the city buildings) “halfway”, i.e. the fourth day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which lasted seven days. "Learned" . This time the Lord appears in Jerusalem no longer as a simple pilgrim, as He went to Jerusalem and as He came to Jerusalem on last year’s Feast of Tabernacles, but as a teacher of His people, as a preacher. If the previous time He had to enter into a dispute with the Jews, this was caused by the accusations that his enemies began to voice against Him. Now He appears in the church on His own initiative. John 7:15. And the Jews marveled, saying, How does he know the Scriptures without having studied? The Jews are amazed at the knowledge of the law and sacred books in general discovered by Christ. “He met and reflected the opinions of the rabbis with the subtlest and most original references to the Holy Scriptures. It penetrated further than the written word - all the way to the spirit” (Geiki). Since this bewilderment expressed by the Jews contained a hint that the education Christ received not in a rabbinical school could not be a completely reliable guarantee of His Orthodoxy or orthodoxy, and did not provide a guarantee of the truth of Christ’s teaching, Christ speaks a whole speech in defense of the truth of His teaching and in general about His divine messenger. Christ's speech is divided into three parts. In the first (verses 16–24) the Lord defends His teaching as having divine origin. In the second (verses 25–30) He proves His own origin from God. In the third (verses 31–34) He foretells to His opponents His imminent departure to the Father. John 7:16. Jesus, answering them, said: My teaching is not Mine, but that of Him who sent Me; In response to the evil remark of the Jews regarding the unknown origin of the teachings of Christ, Christ affirms here, firstly, that His teaching is truly His teaching, a teaching not borrowed from any rabbi (this is indicated by the expression ἡ ἐμὴ διδαχή, which much more strongly expresses the idea that the teaching belongs to Christ than another, parallel ἡ διδαχή μου ). Secondly, He says that He Himself received His teaching from Him who “sent” Him, i.e. from God. John 7:17. whoever wants to do His will will know about this teaching, whether it is from God, or whether I speak from Myself. How, however, can one be convinced that Christ speaks the truth about the origin of His teaching from God? It's very simple. It is only necessary for the connoisseurs of the teachings themselves to create, or even just want, strive to do the will of God, expressed in Scripture, and then they will easily and quickly be convinced that the teaching of Jesus Christ is from God. This teaching is so close to everything that God proclaimed to Israel in the Old Testament! “To learn religious truth, you need to have a heart that desires teaching from God, a heart that loves God and wants to know His will, no matter how much it contradicts each person’s own will. He whose soul does not love the truth and any agreement with God cannot recognize the truth even when he hears it” (Geiki). John 7:18. The speaker seeks his own glory on his own behalf; but He who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. However, most people do not have this dignity behind them - they do not follow the path indicated by God in the Old Testament. How can this majority be convinced of the truth of the teachings of Christ? It must appeal to simple common sense. The latter says: “if any preacher does not seek honor for himself, but cares only about the glory of the one who sent him, he obviously deserves all trust.” But Christ does exactly this, from which we can conclude that His teaching is true. John 7:19. Didn't Moses give you the law? and none of you walks according to the law. Why are you seeking to kill Me? "None of you". Here one cannot see indications of universal sinfulness in relation to the Law of God, because if the fact of universal sinfulness was meant here and if Christ referred to this fact as proof that sinners do not have the right to judge Him for an imaginary violation of the law, then He would thereby give reason to deny the legitimacy of all judges. No, here the Lord is referring to a special case, which He speaks about below (verse 22). John 7:20. The people answered, “Are you not a demon?” who seeks to kill you? "People", i.e. a crowd of pilgrims who came from various countries distant from Jerusalem and were not familiar with the position that the hierarchy occupied in relation to Christ rudely interrupted Christ, pointing out the groundlessness of His accusations against the Jews. John 7:21. Jesus, continuing his speech, said to them: I have done one thing, and you all marvel. John 7:22. Moses gave you circumcision [although it is not from Moses, but from the fathers], and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. The Lord, not paying attention to the words of the people, continues His speech, and addresses mainly the Jews. He reminds them of one thing He accomplished, i.e. about the healing of the paralytic at Bethesda. Because of this one incident of Christ breaking the Sabbath, the Jews became so embittered against Christ that they began to seek His death. Meanwhile, they themselves constantly violate the Sabbath - precisely when on the Sabbath day they have to circumcise a baby, who according to the law should have been circumcised on the 8th day after birth (Lev.12:3; cf. Gen.17:12). John 7:23. If a person receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with Me because I healed the whole person on the Sabbath? The difference between the violation of the law that Christ committed and those that the Jews allow themselves to do is not that He violated the law in a separate case, but those - constantly. What is more important is that, through violation of the law, they only achieved the introduction of the baby into external communication with God, made him a member of the theocratic society, and Christ at Bethesda granted the paralytic complete - both external and internal - salvation (the expression “the whole person” contains the idea of ​​​​the special importance of the miracle of healing in comparison with the act of circumcision of the baby, which was not “whole” sanctified by this act). By giving such a benefit to the paralytic, Christ, one might say, did not violate, but fulfilled the highest divine commandment about love for one’s neighbor, which was the central point of the teaching of the law and the prophets (cf. Matt. 5:43, 7:12, etc.). John 7:24. Do not judge by appearances, but judge with righteous judgment. If now for this matter Christ is accused of violating the law, then this is a trial based on the external side of the act, and not on the merits, a formal trial that takes into account only the fact that Christ committed a violation of the law that others did not commit. After all, these “others” also broke the law in even more important cases. Why not judge them too? John 7:25. Then some of the Jerusalemites said, “Isn’t this the one they are trying to kill?” John 7:26. Behold, He speaks openly, and they say nothing to Him: were not the rulers convinced that He is truly the Christ? John 7:27. But we know Him where He comes from; When Christ comes, no one will know where He comes from. Christ's words apparently caused His enemies to hide in the crowd. In fact, they could not help but realize that their attitude towards Christ was picky to the point of obvious injustice. And rabbis, for example, Elazar ben Azariah, compared circumcision with healing the whole body in order to prove that saving a human life on the Sabbath is just as good as performing circumcision; the law on the sanctity of the Sabbath is not violated through this (tractate Tosefta). Then some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who, of course, were well aware of the attitude of the hierarchy towards Christ, express their surprise at such an inexplicable change in their superiors, which clearly occurred in them. “If we assume,” the Jerusalemites thought, “that the leaders also believed in the Messianic dignity of Christ, then this is hampered by the fact that everyone knows about the origin of Christ, while the Messiah, according to the Jewish view, was supposed to appear suddenly and from an unknown country.” Indeed, the rabbis taught that the Messiah, after His birth in Bethlehem, would be carried away by spirits and winds and when He returned a second time, no one would know where He came from. John 7:28. Then Jesus cried out in the church, teaching and saying, “You know Me, and you know where I come from; and I did not come from Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. John 7:29. I know Him because I am from Him and He sent Me. John 7:31. Many of the people believed in Him and said: when Christ comes, will He really do more signs than He has done? John 7:32. The Pharisees heard such talk about Him among the people, and the Pharisees and the high priests sent servants to seize Him. In contrast to the Jerusalemites, many of the crowd of pilgrims who came from afar believed in Christ as the Messiah. Although Christ did not perform miracles here during this visit to Jerusalem, there is no doubt that rumors about His miracles in Galilee (“signs” are what the people call miracles, obviously following the view of miracles that Christ established, cf. John 6:26) reached the ears of these pilgrims. The Pharisees, of course, listened with attention to the words of the people about Christ, and since they, together with the high priests, were members of the Sanhedrin through their representatives (Matthew 2:4), they, together with the high priests, tried to put an end to the popular unrest by sending the ministers of the Sanhedrin to capture Christ. John 7:33. Jesus said to them: I will not be with you for a long time, and then I will go to Him who sent Me; John 7:34. You will seek Me and will not find me; and where I am, there you cannot come. In the crowd of listeners surrounding Him, Christ noticed these ministers of the Sanhedrin, and therefore, identifying all His listeners with these envoys of the Sanhedrin, He addresses the entire crowd with the announcement that He will soon go to the One who sent Him, where the listeners cannot follow Him, even if they wanted to. “You will seek Me” - of course, with the goal of bringing repentance for your disobedience to Christ (cf. John 8:28). John 7:35. At this the Jews said among themselves: Where does He want to go, so that we will not find Him? Doesn't He want to go into the Greek Diaspora and teach the Greeks? John 7:36. What do these words mean, which He said: You will seek Me and will not find me; and where I will be, there you cannot come? The words of Christ about going away to Him who sent Him were not understood by the people, who thought that Christ might want to go to some famous rabbi who lived in dispersion, i.e. outside the borders of Palestine. The “Hellenic dispersion” refers to Jews scattered in different regions of Greece. “There,” the people think, “in the Jewish synagogues, Christ could act as a traveling preacher, and then move on to preaching His teachings among real Greeks.” This is what the apostles subsequently did (Acts 11:19 et seq.; Acts 13:14 et seq.). But the words of the Jews undoubtedly contain a mockery of Christ. “Yes,” they seem to say, “You failed to spread Your teaching here, among the real Israelis, and now You want to experience happiness on a foreign side, where the Jews live, less familiar with the truths of the faith handed down from the fathers and therefore more susceptible to all sorts of innovations. So what? It will be little honor for You if You have some success there...” John 7:37. On the last great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” John 7:38. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. The Evangelist reports another saying of Christ, with which He addressed the people on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Since the evangelist calls this day “great,” it was, without a doubt, the seventh day. True, according to the law of Moses (Lev.23:35 et seq.; Num.29:35; cf. Neh.8:18) and according to the Jewish custom of the time of Christ, the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles were joined by another eighth day - also of a festive nature, called in the law a festive meeting ("Atzeret"), but this day had no resemblance to the previous days of the Feast of Tabernacles. Thus, the stay in the booths ended on the seventh day; solemn walks to the source of Siloam for water - as well. And, in addition, on the seventh day this walking with the singing of the 117th Psalm (Hosanna!) was performed seven times, which is why this day later received the name “Great Hosanna.” On this day, the branches with which it was decorated at the beginning of the holiday were also carried away from the altar. In a word, the seventh day was the final day of the holiday, a day of special festive revival. That is why the Lord on this day did not expect, as other teachers did, that the people would gather around Him while He was sitting (Jewish preachers usually taught while sitting, cf. Matt. 23:2), but, on the contrary, He Himself called the people to Himself, standing in the gallery of the church. Through the noise of the crowd, which moved from the altar to the Siloam spring, His call is heard throughout the church courtyard: “if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” The pilgrims in the courtyard of the church, who sang the hymn to the prophet Isaiah “draw with joy water from the fountains of salvation” (Is. 12:3), should have understood that Christ was calling to Himself as that “source of salvation” about which the prophet predicted. It should be noted that Christ here says something more than He once said to the Samaritan woman: there (John 4:10, 14) He portrayed Himself only as a dispenser of living water, but here - as this very living water. He thus refers to himself those words with which the Psalmist addressed Jehovah: “With You are the springs of life; in Your light we will see light” (Ps. 35:10). "Who Thirsts". These are people who are aware of the inadequacy of their own strength to obtain salvation (cf. Matt. 5:6). They will find complete satisfaction of their needs by believing in Christ, just as the Jews once found water for themselves in a wonderful rock while wandering in the Arabian desert. Here Christ, therefore, appears as the realization of the idea that was contained in this Old Testament prototype: He is a true rock, flowing from itself wonderful water that truly satisfies the thirst of humanity. Another promise: “whoever believes in Me...” has an independent meaning: it is new both in content and in form. It concerns not the satisfaction of the own needs of the one who comes to Christ with faith, but the results that a person who believes in Christ will achieve in relation to his environment. And the image here is different than in verse 37. There the Spirit of God is spoken of as water from a source that quenches a person’s thirst, and here the Holy Spirit is compared to canals and streams that, in dry times, irrigate this or that field or an entire country, protecting vegetation from destruction. This comparison places the believer in Christ on the same level as Christ as the source of living water. But still, not the man himself, not his heart or lips, but his womb (ἡ κοιλία) is called the source place from where streams of living water will rush over the parched earth. This expression - womb - in relation to a person means the human body, mainly in terms of its purpose as an organ of nutrition and reproduction (Deut. 28:4, 11 according to the translation of the Seventy; Judges 16:17; Job 1:21; cf. Luke 1:15; John 3:4). Consequently, not in the future, but in this earthly life, believers in Christ will become a source of sanctification and life for many other people. Such were, for example, the apostles, who watered the entire universe with the waters of their teachings, “the nourishers of all the universes,” as the Orthodox Church sings about them (stichera for the day of the apostles Peter and Paul). "As Scripture Says". There is no such saying in the Holy Scriptures, but there is something reminiscent of it. It is in the book of Isaiah that it is said: “And the Lord will always be your guide, and in times of drought he will satisfy your soul and make your bones fat, and you will be like a garden watered with water, and like a spring whose waters never fail” (Is. 58:11; cf. Zech. 14:8). What the prophets spoke about the significance of the people of Israel, which they themselves, being enlightened by God, would have for the pagan nations, is now applied by the Lord to those who believe in Him. Of course, this was to be fulfilled on believers when the Holy Spirit, sent into the world according to the merits of Christ, descended on them (John 16:13–14). John 7:39. This He said about the Spirit, which those who believed on Him were about to receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given to them, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Since the readers of the 4th Gospel were little familiar with the customs of the Feast of Tabernacles and their mysterious commemoration, as well as with the promises of Christ about the sending of the Holy Spirit, which are found only in John, the evangelist now considers it necessary to note that in this case Christ spoke about the Holy Spirit, which those who believe in Christ were supposed to receive and which was not present to the believers before the glorification of Christ. “There was no... Holy Spirit.” More consistent with the ancient codes, this passage is read in the Slavic translation: “not with the Holy Spirit,” i.e. The Holy Spirit was not yet there. This, of course, does not show that the Holy Spirit did not exist then. No, He always existed and the evangelist himself says that the Holy Spirit was in the prophets (John 3:34), in Jesus (John 6:63), in godly people (John 4:23) and in all creation (John 6:63). Here we mean the action of the Holy Spirit in the Church, among believers in Christ. Such a Spirit is therefore called the Spirit of the risen and glorified Christ (John 20:22, 15:26, 16:7). This was indeed a new Spirit in relation to the form of manifestation, which was foretold by the prophets (Ezek. 11:19, 18:31, 36:26), although in essence, there was always, at all times, the same Spirit of God. John 7:40. Many of the people, hearing these words, said: He is truly a prophet. John 7:41. Others said: this is Christ. And others said: Will Christ come from Galilee? John 7:42. Doesn't the Scripture say that Christ will come from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, from the place where David was? John 7:43. So there arose a dissension among the people concerning Him. John 7:44. Some of them wanted to seize Him; but no one laid hands on Him. The words of Christ had a different effect on the listeners gathered around Him. Some recognized Him as a prophet, although they hardly connected a specific idea with this word (cf. John 6:14). Others called Him the Messiah. But there were also opponents to this opinion - those who thought that Christ did not come from the line of David and not from Bethlehem, the city of David. Some considered Christ a deceiver, harmful to Israeli society, and tried, although unsuccessfully, to detain Him and hand Him over to the authorities. John 7:45. So the servants returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them: Why did you not bring Him? John 7:46. The servants answered: Never has a man spoken like this Man. John 7:47. The Pharisees said to them, “Have you also been deceived? John 7:48. Did any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believe in Him? John 7:49. But these people are ignorant of the law, they are cursed. The ministers sent from the Sanhedrin could not detain Christ. Returning to the Sanhedrin, they declared that the speeches of Christ had an irresistible influence on the listeners and that they themselves submitted to this influence. The Pharisees present in the Sanhedrin are irritated by this statement and point out to the ministers that none of the authorities recognized Christ. Only the simple, uneducated mob follows Christ. "Cursed is he." This review of the common people reflected all the arrogance of the Pharisees, proud of their knowledge of the law, all their contempt for people of a different education and worldview. John 7:50. Nicodemus, who came to Him at night, being one of them, said to them: John 7:51. Does our law judge a person if they do not first listen to him and find out what he is doing? John 7:52. To this they said to him: “Are you not from Galilee?” look and you will see that no prophet comes from Galilee. John 7:53. And everyone went home. Amid the general excitement in the Sanhedrin, only the calm word of Nicodemus is heard (cf. John 3:1), who, according to his duties, as a member of the Sanhedrin, was also present during the interrogation of the ministers. He, for his part, also points to a law that the members of the Sanhedrin should have known, but which they have now forgotten. “The law,” says Nicodemus, “requires that a sentence against someone should be made only after the defendant has been heard in person and at the same time information about him has been collected” (cf. Ex. 23:1; Deut. 1:16). Irritated by this unexpected protest, the Pharisees express suspicion as to whether Nicodemus himself comes from Galilee, since he so stands for the Galilean teacher! Let him remember that there was no prophet from Galilee (more precisely, “a prophet does not arise”; according to a more reliable text, the verb here is read ἐγείρεται). What Nicodemus said to this: did he point to Jonah the prophet, who came from the city of the tribe of Zebulun (2 Kings 14:25; cf. Jonah 1:1), and to the fact that the origin of many prophets is unknown, and what was the general outcome of the whole argument - the evangelist does not report. Probably, no decision was made to take Christ into custody; Christ even after that appeared in the church as a teacher (John 8:20). "Everyone dispersed." As can be seen from John 8:1, the evangelist is speaking here about the listeners of Christ, and not about the members of the Sanhedrin. You might be interested in: