John

7:1-13

The signs of the Messiah, 2:13-12:50

5. Jesus the water of life, 7:1-8:59

i] Back to Jerusalem

THESE NOTES AWAIT COMPLETION

Synopsis

 
Teaching

 
Issues

i] Context: See 2:13-25. This fifth episode in The Signs of Messiah (Dodd has it as the fourth episode) is focused on the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. Jesus wasn't going to attend the festival, but then not only attends it, but during the festival he begins to teach the crowds in the temple. This prompts a series of controversies with the religious authorities and elements in the crowd. The episode concludes with Jesus leaving the temple, v59. The story of the woman taken with adultery, 7:53-8:11, has obviously been inserted between chapters 7 and 8 and is not really part of this episode. The main theme concerns Jesus' fulfillment of Israel's religious aspirations, both its rituals and law.

Dodd says of this episode that it consists of a "collection of miscellaneous material" presenting as a "series of controversial dialogues, often without clearly apparent connection." Dodd's assessment is somewhat harsh as it does seem that our author has an overall theme in mind: Jesus is the source of life-giving water, the life-giving Spirit who supersedes Israel's cult and Law. Dodd provides the following structure, which is reflected in these notes, although see Beasley-Murray for his more detailed take on the contents:

Narrative: Jesus attends the Feast of Tabernacles in secret, v1-13;

Dialogues:

#1. Moses and Christ, 7:14-24;

#2. Who is Jesus Christ?, v25-36;

#3. The promise of the Spirit, v37-44;

#4. The unbelief of the religious authorities, v45-52;

#5. The nature and evidence for the claims of Jesus, 8:12-20;

#6. The challenge of Jesus to the Jewish leaders, v21-30;

#7. Abraham, his "seed" and Christ, v31-59.

 

Stibbe proposes a chiastic structure:

A1. Jesus' elusive movements thwart the authorities, v1-13;

B1. Jesus' first dialogue, halfway through the feast, v14-24;

C. Jesus' second dialogue, v25-36;

B2. Jesus' third dialogue on the last day of the feast, v37-44;

A2. Jesus' elusive movements thwart the authorities again, v45-52.

 

ii] Background: The Feast of Tabernacles celebrates the wilderness wanderings of Israel under the guiding and sustaining hand of God. It was a seven day festival, with the eighth day a final rest day. It was held in September, or early October, such that it was aligned to the onset of the rainy season. On each of the seven days of the festival a bowl of water was taken from the pool of Siloam and poured over the alter. At the spring, singers would chant words from Isaiah 12:3, "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." They would then process through the Water Gate and into the temple. By the first century the festival was associated with prayer for rain.

The images of light and water in this discourse align with the rituals in the festival of Tabernacles, namely the illumination of the Court of Women and the water-pouring ceremony. It is within this context that Jesus reveals that he is the water of life, the source of the life-giving Spirit of God; he is the fulfillment of Israel's religious aspirations, replacing its rituals and law with the life-giving Spirit.

 

iii] Structure: This narrative, Back to Jerusalem, presents as follows:

 

iv] Interpretation:

 

v] Sources:

The disjointed nature of chapters seven and eight provides some evidence as to the way this gospel was formed. The author / editor shows his hand in 21:24 as someone who has taken the writings / homilies of John the apostle and assembled them into the gospel as we know it. The two chapters before us evidence the arrangement of a number of independent homilies / sermons / discourses on themes prompted by the Feast of Tabernacles. Bultmann sets out to reassemble the source material, but it is best to treat the text as it stands rather than try to outthink the editor / author. Lindars suggests the following distinct material types in chapter 7: a) material concerned with questions of messianic expectation, v1-14, 25-31, 40-44; b) supplementary material held over from the healing of the lame man, cf. chapter 5, v15-24; c) the attempted arrest of Jesus by the temple officers, v32-36, 45-52; d) Jesus the water of life, material thematically linked to chapter 4, v37-39. There is some evidence to support the view that these rather diverse elements have been stitched together by the editor to make the point that Jesus is the light of the world, and as light he is the source of life for those who believe, but for those who don't believe, there is nothing but condemnation for sin.

 
Text - 7:1

Back to Jerusalem, v1-13:

 

John Introduction

Exposition

 

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