21 Days in the Book of JohnSample

Chapter 6 was set in the month of April and Chapter 7 was in October meaning that there were 6 months of silence between them. This does not mean that Jesus didn’t do anything during that time, it simply means John chose not to write about it. At this time Jesus is in the last year of his life. The Jewish leaders are still angry about him healing a man on the Sabbath, a miracle that had happened 18 months prior.

Here are a few things I’d like to point out about Chapter 7:

1. Jesus’ brothers wanted Him to come boldly to Jerusalem and celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles with them. Jesus knew it was not His time. He would not celebrate this feast until His return. Instead, He traveled on side roads to give a message about His deity. Many Jews had hardened hearts and could not accept this doctrine.
2. It was well known that the leaders were plotting to kill Jesus. Verse 32 tells us the Pharisees heard He was near and sent temple guards to arrest Him. These would not have been Roman police officers but instead Levitical guards.
3. Jesus divided the people, divided the officers, and divided the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus was one of the people who believed He was who He said He was. The Pharisees told him to “look into it,” so that he would see that “a prophet does not come from Galilee”. They did not mean to search the Scriptures, as many prophets came from Galilee. This means they had a prejudice against Galilee and did not think it would be a good enough location to produce the Messiah.