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Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - John 7:11

‘The Judaisers therefore were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?”.’ True to form the Judaisers had had their spies out. There was no doubt that they had been looking for Him and had evil intentions towards Him. This was common knowledge to many, for people were fearful of talking about Him openly ‘for fear of the Judaisers’ (v. 13). And when it was seen that He was not with His brothers and His family the Judaisers were puzzled. This brings out the strength of the feeling... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - John 7:12-13

‘And there was much murmuring among the crowds concerning him. Some said, “He is a good man”. Other said, “That is not so, but he leads the mass of people astray”. However no man spoke openly of him for fear of the Judaisers.’ Huge crowds would arrive in Jerusalem and its surrounding districts for the Feast of Tabernacles, which was a popular Feast. And there was constant discussion among them. It is clear that Jesus’ ministry had been going on for some considerable time, and indeed was... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - John 7:14

‘But when it was now the middle of the Feast, Jesus went up into the Temple and taught.’ The Temple was the place where religious teachers would regularly go to pass on their teachings. They would sit to teach, and their disciples would gather round them while they sat and taught, whilst interested onlookers were welcome to listen and to ask questions (compare Luke 2:46). So Jesus waited until half way through the week, and then Himself went up to the Temple to teach. Although He was aware of... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - John 7:14-24

Jesus Teaches Openly In The Temple And Pleads For Right Judgment (John 7:14-24 ). But whilst Jesus was taking every precaution He knew that He could not allow His own safety to hinder the proclamation of His message, with the result that, once He was in Jerusalem He waited awhile to lull the authorities into inactivity, and then went openly to the Temple in order to teach the people. He knew that they would not dare to arrest Him whilst He was preaching in the Temple because he was popular... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - John 7:15

‘The Judaisers therefore marvelled saying, “How does this man know letters, having never learned?” ’ As they listened to Him even His enemies were impressed. They were amazed. They could not understand how He had such wide knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures when He had never been through the Rabbinical schools. His wide knowledge of the Scriptures and of current ideas about them impressed them and for a while held them back from acting against Him. Jesus thus taught many things of... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - John 7:16-17

‘Jesus therefore answered them and said, “My teaching is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man really wants to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself”.’ Jesus answered their amazement and explained the source of His teaching. ‘My teaching is not mine, but His Who sent me. If any man’s will is to do His will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority’. He wanted them to know that it was... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - John 7:18

‘He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true and in him there is no falsehood’. He pointed out that the one whose authority we claim is the one whose glory we seek. Thus those who speak in their own name or the name of their group are seeking their own glory. But Jesus did not do this. He spoke only in the Father’s name. This made it clear that He was seeking the Father’s glory. Thus He could only speak what was true and abhor... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - John 7:19

“Did not Moses give you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?’ He points to Moses in order to reveal one of the cracks in their position. The Judaisers constantly proclaimed Moses as their chief authority, the one who showed them the will of God. Well and good. But let them consider what Moses had said. He had declared that it was wrong to kill innocent men. Yet they were seeking to kill Him. They were thus demonstrating that with all their pretence they... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - John 7:20

‘The crowds answered, ‘you have a demon. Who is seeking to kill you?’ This suggestion upset the people who were listening. They may well have been standing round in the Temple area, listening to various teachers. Note that it was ‘the people’ who said this, some of whom were not aware of the dark overtones that were in the air. They thought that He was exaggerating. But the Judaisers knew exactly what He meant. They were uncomfortably aware that He was right. ‘You have a demon’ was probably the... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - John 7:21

‘Jesus answered and said to them, ‘I did one work and you all wonder at it’. This looks back to the man at the pool who was healed on the Sabbath (John 5:2-9). This was the incident that above all had turned the Judaisers against Him. By it He was seen not only as a Sabbath-breaker but also as One Who had encouraged others to break the Sabbath. And to make matters worse, in His defence He had claimed God as His own Father. ‘You all wonder at it.’ This could refer to the Judaisers and mean that... read more

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