Having
said these things to them, he stayed in Galilee. But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but as it were in secret. The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, “Where is he?” There was much murmuring among the multitudes concerning him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others said, “Not so, but he leads the multitude astray.” Yet no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews. But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How does this man know letters, having never been educated?”
John 7:9-15
John 7 [6.] Jesus therefore said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, because my time is not yet fulfilled.”
John 7 [9.] Having said these things to them, he stayed in Galilee. But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly, but as it were in secret. The Jews therefore sought him at the feast, and said, “Where is he?” There was much murmuring among the multitudes concerning him. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others said, “Not so, but he leads the multitude astray.” Yet no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews. But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How does this man know letters, having never been educated?”
John 7 [16.] Jesus therefore answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me. If anyone desires to do his will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is from God, or if I am speaking from myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Didn’t Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill me?”
Meaning:
Jesus had told his unbelieving brothers that his time had not yet come (John 7:6-8). Now John describes what happened at the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem. Everyone was talking about Jesus, but no one dared to speak openly. Then, halfway through the feast, he appeared in the temple and taught, and his hearers were astonished.
- “Not publicly, but as it were in secret”
Jesus did not travel with the festival crowds, where he would have been hailed or seized before his time. The Jewish leaders in Judea were already seeking to kill him (John 7:1-5). He went up quietly, in obedience to his Father’s timing rather than his brothers’ advice. His secrecy was not fear; when the moment came, he taught openly in the most public place in the city.
- “Where is he?”
The authorities were looking for him. After he healed a man on the Sabbath at the pool of Bethesda, “the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill him, because he did these things on the Sabbath” (John 5:16). Their question was not curiosity but hostility.
- “He is a good man” … “he leads the multitude astray”
Among the pilgrims there was “much murmuring”, low, anxious talk. Some thought Jesus a good man. Others accused him of leading people astray. That was a serious charge: the Law warned against a prophet who would lead Israel away from God (Deuteronomy 13:1-3). After the crucifixion the chief priests and Pharisees still called him “that deceiver” (Matthew 27:63).
Neither opinion was enough. To call Jesus merely “a good man” falls short of who he claimed to be, and to call him a deceiver is to reject him. John wrote his Gospel “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:31).
- “No one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews”
In John’s Gospel “the Jews” often refers to the religious authorities in Jerusalem, not to the Jewish people as a whole; Jesus, his disciples and the crowds were themselves Jews. People feared these leaders. Later the parents of the man born blind would not speak freely “because they feared the Jews” (John 9:22), and even some rulers who believed “didn’t confess it” (John 12:42).
- “Jesus went up into the temple and taught”
In the middle of the feast Jesus came into the temple courts, crowded with worshippers, and began to teach. Malachi had promised that “the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple” (Malachi 3:1). The one they were whispering about stood among them.
- “How does this man know letters, having never been educated?”
Jesus had not studied under a recognised rabbi, yet he handled the Scriptures with mastery. His hearers could not explain it. In Nazareth people had asked, “Where did this man get this wisdom, and these mighty works?” (Matthew 13:54). Even as a boy in the temple, “all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers” (Luke 2:47). Jesus gives the answer in the next verse: “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me” (John 7:16).
The Significance of John 7:9-15
- Opinions are not enough
The crowd held many opinions about Jesus, but opinions held in private change nothing. Each person must come to a settled conclusion about who he is.
- Fear of people silences witness
“The fear of man proves to be a snare, but whoever puts his trust in Yahweh is kept safe” (Proverbs 29:25). Jesus calls his followers to confess him openly (Matthew 10:32).
- God’s wisdom is not limited by schooling
Later the council marveled at Peter and John, seeing “that they were unlearned and ignorant men”, and “recognized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). God gives understanding to those who listen to him.
Cross-References:
Malachi 3:1: "and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple;" The Lord appears in his temple.
Matthew 13:54: "Where did this man get this wisdom, and these mighty works?" The same astonishment in Nazareth.
Acts 4:13: "they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus." Wisdom learned from Jesus.
Proverbs 29:25: "The fear of man proves to be a snare," Why many stayed silent about Jesus.
Conclusion: Jesus went up to the Feast of Booths quietly, while the crowds argued in whispers about whether he was a good man or a deceiver, too afraid of the authorities to speak openly. In the middle of the feast he stood in the temple and taught with a wisdom no school had given him. The passage calls us to move beyond private opinions, to confess Jesus without fear, and to receive the teaching that comes from God himself.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible