1: After
these things Iesous walked in Galilee[1]
for he would not walk in Jewry [Judaea] because the Jews sought to kill him 2:
Now the Jew’s feast of Tabernacles was at hand[2] 3:
His brothers therefore said to him Depart from here and go into Judaea that your
disciples also may see the works that you do 4: For there is no one that
does anything in secret but they themselves seek to be known openly If you do
these things show yourself to the world 5: For neither did his brothers
believe in him[3]
6: Then Iesous said to them My time is not yet come
but your time is always ready 7: The kosmos
cannot hate you but me it hates because I testify against it that the works
thereof are evil 8: You go up to this feast I go not up yet to this
feast for my time is not yet fully come 9: When he had said
these words to them he abode still [remained behind] in Galilee 10: But after
his brothers had gone up then went he also up to the feast not openly but as it
were in secret 11: Then the Jews sought him at the feast and said Where
is he 12: And there was much secret debate among the people concerning
him for some said He is a good man others said No but he deceives the people 13:
However no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews [corrupt Jewish
leadership] 14: Now about the middle of the feast Iesous went up into the
temple, and taught 15: And the Jews marvelled saying How does this man
know scripture having never learned [studied with the masters][4] 16:
Iesous
answered them and said My teaching is not mine
but his that sent me 17: If any will do his will they shall know of the
doctrine whether it be from ho Theos
or whether I speak of myself 18: [They] that speak of themselves seek their
own glory but He that seeks His glory that sent Him the same is true and no
unrighteousness is in Him 19: Did not Moses give you the law and yet
none of you keeps the law Why do you go about to kill me 20: The people
answered and said you have a devil who goes about to kill you 21: Iesous
answered and said to them I have done one work
and you all marvel 22: Moses therefore gave to you circumcision not
because it is of Moses but of the fathers and you on the Sabbath day circumcise
a man 23: If a man on the Sabbath day receive circumcision that the law
of Moses should not be broken are you angry at me because I have made a man
every bit whole on the Sabbath day 24: Judge not according to the
appearance but judge righteous judgment 1 Samuel 16:7 25: Then said some [who were] from Jerusalem
Is not this he whom they seek to kill 26: But, look he speaks boldly and
they say nothing to him Do the rulers know [believe] indeed that this is most
certainly Christos 27: But [how can that be?] we know this man
from where he comes but when Christos comes no one knows where he will come from[5] 28:
Then cried Iesous in the temple as he taught exhorting You both know me and you know from where I AM and I am not
come of myself but he that sent me is true whom you know not 29: But I
know him for I am from him and he has sent me 30: Then they sought
to take him but no one laid hands on him because his hour was not yet come[6] 31:
And many of the people believed on him and said When Christos comes will he do
more miracles than these which this man has done Matthew 11:2-5 32:
The Pharisees heard that the people secretly conferred together [of] such
things concerning him and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to
take him 33: Then said Iesous to them Yet a little while am I with you and then I go to him that
sent me 34: You shall seek me and shall not find me and where I am there
you cannot come 35: Then said the
Jews among themselves Where will he go that we shall not find him will he go to
the dispersed among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles 36: What manner
of saying is this that he said You shall seek me and shall not find me and
where I am there you cannot come 2 Thessalonians 1:9. 37: On
the last day that great day of the feast Iesous stood and cried saying If anyone thirst let them come to me and drink 38: They
that believe on me as the scripture has said out of their bellies [spirits]
shall flow rivers of living water 39: But this spoke he of the [Holy] Spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet
given because that Iesous was not yet glorified 40: Many of the people
therefore when they heard this saying said Of a truth this is ho Prophet Deuteronomy 18:15.
41: Others said This is ho Christos
But some said Shall Christos come out of Galilee 42: Has not the scripture
said That Christ comes of the seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem
where David was[7]
43: So there was a division among the people because of him[8] 44:
And some of them would have taken him but no one laid hands on him 45:
Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees and they said to them
Why have you not brought him 46: The officers answered Never man spoke
like this man 47: Then the Pharisees answered them Are you also deceived
48: Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him 49:
But this people who know not the law are cursed[9] 50:
Nikodemos said to them (he that came
to Iesous
by night being one of them) 51: Does our law judge any before it hears
them and knows what they do 52: They answered and said to him Are you
also of Galilee[10]
Search and look for out of Galilee arises no prophet[11] 3:
And everyone went to their own house.
[1] Galilee, north of Samaria, was part of
the inheritance of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Nazareth, where Jesus was
raised, was part of Galilee, and was largely populated by gentiles. That is the
reason Nathaniel asked, “Could anything good come out of Nazareth?” Galilee was
not the hub of “Jewry,” so Jesus was relatively safe from the Jewish
leadership, who sought to kill him.
[2] The seven Feasts of the Lord were all
prophetic in nature Galatians 3:24, Hebrews 10:1. Each represented
some aspect of God’s redemption on our bodies, souls, and the earth itself
through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The feast of Tabernacles
foreshadowed the first 1000 years of Christ’s reign after he returns to earth
(with all the resurrected and caught up saints) and defeats his enemies at the
battle of Armageddon Isaiah 65:18-25, Revelation 19:11-14, 20:4-6.
[3] Two of Jesus’ natural brothers (sons of
Mary and Joseph) did become believers (whether before or after his death and
resurrection, we do not know). James and Jude, the brothers of Jesus, wrote the
books of the New Testament that bear their names.
[4] People, today, still put more faith in
theological credentials than in the calling of God and the ability of the Holy
Spirit to give understanding to his people accord to his Word.
[5] The scriptures revealed clearly where
Christ would come from, beginning with Micah who revealed that Messiah—whose
goings forth had been from “everlasting” (this identified him as the
Almighty)—would make his debut as a human, in Bethlehem. After that, he would
reside in Egypt followed by Nazareth (which was located in the largely gentile
province of Galilee).
[6] This refers to the appointed times and seasons of God Ecclesiastes 3:1, Acts 1:7,
who does not do things in a haphazard manner.
[7] God has promised that
he will do nothing without revealing his plans to his people Isaiah 48:3-5, Amos 3:7, John 16:13. These people should have known better. Messiah was
born in Bethlehem, but he was not raised there. Within a few years of his
birth, his family migrated to Egypt. After that, they returned to Israel and
settled in Nazareth, which became known as Jesus’ “home town.” All of this was
foretold. It was spoken by the prophets (apparently, part of the Jew’s oral
tradition, but well-known and widely accepted as true) that Messiah would live
in a town of Galilee, called Nazareth. That is the reason he was called a
Nazarene Matthew 2:19-23.
[8] The people were divided over Messianic
facts which were all true, in and of themselves. But they failed to connect the
dots (so to speak). They failed to see the big picture and were therefore
limited in their understanding of the biggest event in history—the coming of
the prophesied male child who would crush the serpent’s head Genesis 3:15.
They simply could not make sense of the fact that Messiah would come from three
different places, Bethlehem, Egypt, and
Nazareth. Their vision was limited because they chose not to believe that which
they could not understand. It is imperative that God’s people believe the
entire Word of God—even the parts we do not understand.
[9] Over and over, we see in scripture
where the educated elite despise the uneducated masses for their “ignorance.”
Yet, in this case, it was the educated elite who were ignorant. The common
people showed greater wisdom in receiving the prophets (including John the
Baptizer, whom the elite hated) and the Messiah (whom the elite also hated).
[10] This question was meant as an insult to
Nikodemos. The Pharisees did not have
an answer to his [true] rhetorical question, so they attacked him
personally.
[11] The verse in Matthew 2:23 shows that
the spoken
prophecy (obviously coming from more than one prophet), that Messiah would be
called a Nazarene, was not only well known but widely accepted as coming from
true prophets. The corrupt leaders of the day were therefore making a dishonest
play on words when they said, “search” (the canon of scriptures) and you will
find no mention of Nazareth in connection to Messiah.
Additional commentary pending for this
chapter. Questions and comments are welcome.
