CHAPTER VII. Jesus attends the Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem, and instructs the People. AFTER these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would for the human soul. While his pa- CHAPTER VII. 1. This verse probably belongs to chap. v., from which it is severed by the interposition of chap. vi., which is located, by Carpenter, between ver. 54 and 55 of chap. xi. After these things. These words show the connexion, and give the reason why Jesus withdrew into Galilee; it was not, surely, on account of the events related in chap. vi., for it was in Galilee that he met with the opposition therein recorded; but it was on account of what occurred in chap. v., which showed the deadly malignity of the Jews of Judea. -Walked, i. e. went about. Acts x. 38.-Jewry. Judea. This verse teaches us, that our Lord did not court persecution, as some of his misguided followers have done, but preserved his life as long as he could do it consistently with his duty. 2. Feast of tabernacles. Lev. xxiii. 39-43; Deut. xvi. 13-15. This was one of the three great national festivals of the Jews. It was held in September or October, and lasted eight days. It was designed to commemorate that period in their history when their forefathers, escaping from Egyptian slavery, dwelt in tents or tabernacles, during their sojourn in the wilderness of Arabia. It was also a season of joyful thanksgiving, like our autumnal festival, for the fruits of the second harvest were gathered in, and furnished offerings and sacrifices. The people dwelt, during the feast, in arbors or tents, made of the boughs of trees, (hence the Germans call it the feast of the leaf-tabernacle,) and arranged throughout Jerusalem, in the streets about the temple, and on the roofs of the houses, thus making the city one vast wilderness of green. It was the most magnificent of the three festivals, and the last day, denominated the Great Hosanna, from the songs and other ceremonies, was unusually imposing and solemn. Ver. 37. - 3. Brethren. Cousins or relatives. See note on Mat. xii. 46. — Depart hence, &c. According to Carpenter's Calendar of our Lord's Ministry, see vol. i., the intervening months of June, July, and August, the period of most intense summer heat in that climate, were passed in comparative retirement in Galilee. The relatives of Jesus began to be impatient of his quiet labors of love among them, and, with the keen-sighted wisdom of the children of this world, chided him for his unostentatious life in Galilee, bidding him, if he wished to do any thing great, and gain adherents and proselytes, go up to the holy city, the heart of the nation. How true to nature is this little glimpse of the feelings of his kindred! They hope that he will prove to be the Messiah, and that they shall share in his glory; but they blame his course as impolitic, and give him, as they suppose, sage advice; but little did they think that under this calm and holy thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there 4 is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world. (For neither did his brethren believe in him.) Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come: but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, 7 because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. Go ye 8 up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come. When he had said these words unto 9 them, he abode still in Galilee. But when his brethren were 10 gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, exterior of wise instruction and active benevolence, dwelt a being mightier than king or conqueror, whose sun of glory and of righteousness would rise never to set, until the heavens and earth passed away. 4, 5. There is no man, &c. If a man wishes to be known, he places himself on the public stage of the world, where he and his works can be seen. If thou do these things, &c. If you have the power of working miracles, make the most of it, push forward your claims to the notice of mankind, and seize the golden prize of distinction. For neither did, &c. i. e. They did not believe in him as the Messiah. A vein of irony mingled with their remonstrances. But they were afterwards numbered among his disciples. Acts i. 14. 6. My time is not yet come. The proper moment for me to go up to Jerusalem has not yet arrived; but there is nothing to prevent your going at any time, for you are private and obscure men, whose lives are in no danger. 7. The world cannot hate you. Or, can have no reason to hate you. Not that they were particularly sinful, or complied wickedly with the practices and passions of the world, but that they had done nothing to merit the resentment of the Jewish rulers, and call down the imprecations of the people. Because I testify of it, &c. 8,9. I go not up yet. Or, now; but he designed to go before the feast was over. The charge of inconstancy of purpose, at this time, in Jesus, first brought by Porphyry, plainly shows to what miserable shifts infidelity is reduced in maintaining its dark cause against the sunlight of the gospel. For good reasons, best known to himself, our Saviour chooses to let the people assemble at the feast, before he ventures upon the perilous journey into the province of his enemies. His way would thus be more safe, and, appearing suddenly in the midst of the vast and crowded festival, their fear of the people would overawe his foes, and render him comparatively safe. 10. Here the above view receives additional confirmation.-Not openly, 11 but as it were in secret. Then the Jews sought him 12 at the feast, and said, Where is he? And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the peo13 ple. Howbeit, no man spake openly of him, for fear of the Jews. 14 Now, about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the 15 temple and taught. And the Jews marvelled, saying, How 16 knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. but as it were in secret. Jesus waits till the immense crowds of people had passed along to the holy city, and the roads had become in some degree quiet and solitary, before he takes his journey. The check, so to speak, which he put upon himself, and upon his countrymen, never suffering himself or them to be carried away with a blind and headlong enthusiasm, though he worked the most amazing wonders, this composure, moderation, reserve,- is one of the most remarkable traits of his character, and shows his unequalled greatness. 11, 12. The Jews sought him at the feast. Their attention had already been powerfully attracted to him, on account of the miracles he had wrought at Jerusalem. And there was much murmuring, &c. This refers rather to the manner than the matter of the conversations, and represents the people as talking and inquiring, in a low, murmuring sound, whispering, in contrast with speaking openly, in ver. 13. The whole scene is depicted in a manner so expressive and natural as to lead us to exclaim at once, "Here is the description of an eye-witness, the very impress of truth!" 13. For fear of the Jews. The hostility of the leading men at Jerusalem against Christ, was known to the people, and it deterred them from speaking as freely of his claims as they would otherwise have done; for his adherents were liable to excommunication. 14. Now about the midst of the feast, &c. Appearing suddenly in the midst of the crowded assembly, Jesus felt himself comparatively safe from the machinations of his enemies; for his interested hearers, his Galilean friends, his disciples, and those who had enjoyed the benefit of his miracles, would not suffer him to be seized in open day, without an uproar. Mat. xxvi. 5.-Taught. He courageously employed these public opportunities, in spreading abroad a knowledge of his gospel among those from distant parts. 15. Letters, i. e. learning, or the sacred literature, which constituted the principal erudition of the educated class among the Jews. -Having never learned. Though Jesus had attended no rabbinical school, nor sat at the feet of any of the great doctors of the law, yet his wisdom and power of instruction drew, even from unwilling lips, testimonies of admiration. Ver. 46. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether 17 it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of 18 himself, seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the 19 law? Why go ye about to kill me? The people answered and 20 said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? Jesus 21 answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and all ye strength, and wise with the wisdom, of God. 17. If any man will do his will, &c. Or, is minded, or, desires, to do his will. A beautiful and striking verse. He proposes a simple test, by which his claims might be tried. If any one did the will of God as far as he knew how, he would possess within himself the means of perceiving the reality of Christ's divine mission; for that sincere purpose of goodness, would be a clear-sighted judge between good and evil, in his own bosom. Our knowledge, too, of the gospel depends far less upon mental acuteness than upon moral conscientiousness, upon earnest study than upon experimental growth in the Christian life. Said Seneca, "Pars magna bonitatis est, velle fieri bonum," The essence of goodness consists in wishing to be good. And it was one of the antitheses of Pascal, that "a man must know earthly things in order to love them; but that he must love heavenly things in order to know them." 18. He proposes another test of the truth of his claims, viz., his freedom from the desire of self-aggrandizement, and his constant reference to the will of God in his ministry. The disinterestedness both of our Saviour and his apostles, in the promulgation of Christianity, furnishes an unanswerable proof of its divine origin.-No unrighteousness is in him. Or, no deceit is in him. A contrast is drawn between a true prophet and a selfish impostor. Some sup pose Jesus to have met with an interruption between this and the following verse. 19. He proceeds to touch still more closely upon the personal sins of his hearers, and compares their own disobedience of the law with their professed zeal for the truth, at the same time they were plotting his death. Why go ye about to kill me? Why do you aim the venom of your hostility against me in particular, as a violator of the law? when none of you keep it with fidelity, though sanctioned by the authority of Moses, the divine lawgiver. 20. Thou hast a devil, &c. Or, demon. i. e. Thou art mad or insane. The paraphrase of Farmer is, "What evidence have you of our wanting to murder you? If your understanding were not disturbed (by a demon,) you would not have advanced such a groundless charge." The mass of the hearers of Jesus were not, probably, privy to the plan of the Pharisees and chief-priests, and, therefore, repelled the accusation of Christ with anger. 21. I have done one work. He referred to the cure of the infirm man, in chap. v. The propriety of transposing chap. vi., as stated in the notes thereon, is here confirmed; for it is apparent, that Jesus had not been in Jerusalem since that miracle, and his reference to it, therefore, is easy and natural. But, if we suppose chaps. v., vi., and vii., are arranged in chronological order, according to the general view of harmonists, it is in 22 marvel. Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision, (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the Sabbath 23 day circumcise a man. If a man on the Sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on 24 the Sabbath day? Judge not according to the appearance, but 25 judge righteous judgment. Then said some of them of Jeru credible that Jesus should have spoken, ver. 23, so familiarly of a miracle performed more than a year before. Besides, it is not to be conceived, that he should fail to attend three or four of the great festivals, which, according to that hypothesis, had intervened since that miracle. -All marvel. All were astonished, or shocked, that he should perform such an act on the Sabbath day, besides the wonder they felt at the supernatural deed itself. 22. Therefore. This expression is connected, by many critics, with ver. 21, where it more properly belongs, reading thus, and ye all therefore marvel. Jesus would justify himself for performing the miracle of healing on the Sabbath day, by a reference to the rite of circumcision, which was often performed at that time. — Not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers. Gen. xvii. 1012. As much as to say, Moses is mentioned, not because he instituted the ceremony; for it was of a much higher antiquity, extending back even to the patriarchs. These words may be regarded as an explanatory clause, inserted by the evangelist, or, as some conjecture, a marginal annotation by a transcriber.-Ye on the Sabbath day, &c. Every male child was circumcised on the eighth day after birth, whether that day fell on the Sabbath or not. Thus the Talmuds say, "Danger of life vacateth the Sabbath; circumcision, also, and its cure, nulleth the Sabbath.” — A man, i. e. a male child. 23. That the law of Moses should not be broken. Or, as the margin reads, without breaking the law of Moses. The argument of Jesus is, if it be right to perform a mere external ceremony of the law on the Sabbath, then much more to do an act of benevolence to a suffering fellow-creature. In the paraphrase of Wakefield, "if that mutilating work be the preservation of the law, can my work of restoration be a breach of it?" The following sentence is found in the Talmuds illustrative of this passage: Circumcision, which is performed on one of the 248 members of the body, vacates the Sabbath; how much more the whole body (i. e. the healing of the whole body) of a man (vacates it!) See Mat. xii. 1-8, and illustrations. 24. Judge not according to the appearance. The comparison here stated, is between unrighteous and righteous judgment; for one who judged according to first or outward appearances, and consequently hastily and superficially, or one who judged, as Campbell translates it, from personal regards, i. e. the comparative dignity of Moses and Jesus, would judge unrighteously. If a right view of the subject were taken, it would be seen, that Jesus in reality observed the law in its spirit and design, by performing his benevolent miracle on the Sabbath, though in their prejudiced view he violated it in the letter. 25, 26. Then said some of them of Jerusalem. Calmet suggests, that there were three parties among Christ's hearers; his bitter enemies, the scribes and Pharisees; the inhabitants of Je |