John 7:16–53 RSV

¹⁶ So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me; ¹⁷ if any man’s will is to do his will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. 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. ¹⁹ Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” ²⁰ The people answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did one deed, and you all marvel at it. ²² Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man upon the sabbath. ²³ If on the sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? ²⁴ Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Is This the Christ?

²⁵ Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? ²⁶ And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? ²⁷ Yet we know where this man comes from; and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” ²⁸ So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord; he who sent me is true, and him you do not know. ²⁹ I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” ³⁰ So they sought to arrest him; but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. ³¹ Yet many of the people believed in him; they said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

Officers Are Sent to Arrest Jesus

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd thus muttering about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. ³³ Jesus then said, “I shall be with you a little longer, and then I go to him who sent me; ³⁴ you will seek me and you will not find me; where I am you cannot come.” ³⁵ The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we shall not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What does he mean by saying, ‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

Rivers of Living Water

³⁷ On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸ He who believes in me, asthe scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division among the People

⁴⁰ When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This is really the prophet.” ⁴¹ Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? ⁴² Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” ⁴³ So there was a division among the people over him. ⁴⁴ Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

The Unbelief of Those in Authority

⁴⁵ The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” ⁴⁶ The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!” ⁴⁷ The Pharisees answered them, “Are you led astray, you also? ⁴⁸ Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed.” ⁵⁰ Nicode′mus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, ⁵¹ “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” ⁵² They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee.”