John 7:1Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

How, then, did He later appear among them in the temple, during the feast, in the assembly of the people? How did He speak in the presence of His murderers about what most provoked them?

They themselves marveled at this and said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill? And behold, He speaks openly, and they say nothing to Him,” Jn 7:26.

What, then, is the meaning of these mysterious words? The Evangelist did not speak so that we should consider his words enigmatic. He wished to show that Christ revealed both the properties of the Godhead and the properties of humanity.

When he says that Christ did not have freedom, he speaks of Him as man, since He also did many things in a human manner. When he says that He stood among them and they did not seize Him, he clearly points to the power of His Godhead.

He fled as man and appeared as God, being truly both. That those who plotted against Him could not seize Him when He was among them showed His unconquerable and invincible power. That He withdrew confirmed His Incarnation and gave assurance of it.

Thus neither Paul of Samosata, nor Marcion, nor those infected with their disease, could say anything. By this He stops the mouths of all.

Now He goes away into Galilee. Since the time to suffer had not yet come, it would have been useless and needless for Him to move among His enemies. That would only give occasion for their malice to increase.

The Evangelist says that the Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.

“I have given the beloved of My soul into the hands of her enemies” (Jer 12:7). For Christ to be outside His own house because of the impiety of His persecutors, and to move to the Galileans, is this not plainly His giving His soul into the hands of her enemies?

The Gentiles were enemies of Christ because they served another master and worshiped the creature instead of the Creator. They had not yet received faith in Him.

He Himself will teach this clearly also in the words: “He who is not with Me is against Me” (Lk 11:23).

Everyone, I think, will say that before true knowledge of God and faith, the Gentiles are not with Christ. Therefore they were against Him and were numbered among His enemies.

If this is so and clear to all, then such an abomination reigned among the Israelites that it was far better for Christ to move among enemies.

It was more pleasing for Him to live with those with whom it was least fitting than with His kinsmen according to the flesh.

As such, they should even have loved Him. Therefore Christ very rightly moved to the Gentiles, as though already saying by the very deed that if they did not cease persecuting the Benefactor and hindering Him by their madness, He would give Himself wholly to outsiders.

Christ would move to the Gentiles. We think this is revealed both from the deed itself and again through a very ancient type, by which we can see that He threatened His departure from Jerusalem.

Thus, when He established the laws concerning sacrifices, as written in Leviticus, He first prescribed, as in a type of Christ, that a calf and a whole burnt offering be brought as a gift to the Lord (Lev 1:2 and following).

He also depicts Him in another way, saying: “If your gift to the Lord is from the sheep, from the lambs or goats, for a whole burnt offering, he shall bring a male without blemish.

“They shall slaughter it at the side of the altar toward the north before the Lord” (Lev 1:10-11). We must examine how the mystery concerning Christ is depicted for us here too.

First, I think, we must speak about the position of the Jerusalem temple itself and the divine altar. Then we may understand what it means that the sacrifice was slaughtered not directly before the altar, but turned toward the north.

The land of Judea lies in the southern parts of the earth. The temple faced east, and its entrance was illumined by the first rays of the sun.

The divine altar itself was built directly opposite the sanctuary, as though before the gaze of God. To those entering from the east, it first showed its front side.

Its two sides looked, one toward the south and the other toward the north. You may be assured that this was exactly as we have said by learning what is found in the prophet Ezekiel.

When he taught about the death of Pelatiah, evidently by spiritual contemplation, he spoke thus: “And I saw, and behold, about twenty-five men.

“Their backs were turned toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces opposite, toward the east. They were worshiping the sun toward the east” (Ezek 8:16; 11:13).

If the one worshiping the rising sun had the temple at the back of his body, must we not necessarily understand his face as turned toward the east?

Corresponding to this was the position and appearance of the divine altar itself, as we have said.

Therefore both the temple itself and the altar faced east. Of the two sides, one faced south and the other north. The remaining side, counted as the rear, looked west.

If this was so, then Galilee, neighboring Judea, will be the region lying toward the north. This is the country of the Gentiles, according to what is written: “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Is 9:1; Mt 4:15).

Since our Lord Jesus Christ, after His saving Passion, was to withdraw from the country of Judea and come into Galilee, that is, to the Church from the Gentiles, the sacrifice offered in type was slaughtered at the side of the altar.

This was so that it might look toward the north, according to what the Psalmist said about Christ: “His eyes look upon the Gentiles” (Ps 65:7).

Since the blessed Evangelist says that He refuses to be with the Jews because they wished to kill Him, we shall add this to what has been said.

We must not count this withdrawal of Christ as cowardice, nor accuse of weakness the One who can do all things. It must be referred to the purposes of the divine economy.

For it was not prematurely, but at the proper time, that He had to endure the Cross for all.

Rather, by this very thing He gave an example for our weakness. Yes, He was seized only when He wished. He was executed only when He wished.

That is, by determining the time of His arrest and death, He thereby manifested His divine authority. His sufferings, as the Church teaches, were voluntary and not compelled.

But His members had to appear, that is, those who believe in Him. They would not possess the power that our God Himself possessed.

Therefore, when He hid Himself, and when He concealed Himself as though to avoid being killed, He showed that His members would also act in this way. He Himself would abide in them.

For Christ is not one thing in the Head and another in the Body. The whole Christ is in the Head and in the Body.

Therefore what His members are, that He Himself is. Yet what He Himself is, His members are not in every respect.

That is, believers, as the Body of Christ, are Christ. But Christ Himself, as God-man, differs from believers according to His divine nature.

For if His members were not Himself, He would not have said, “Saul, why do you persecute Me?” (Acts 9:4).

Saul was not persecuting Him Himself on earth, but His members, that is, believers. Yet He did not wish to say, “Why do you persecute My saints,” or “My servants,” or finally, more honorably, “My brethren.”

He said, “Why do you persecute Me,” that is, My members, whose Head I am?

After these preliminary words, I think it will not be difficult for us to understand the chapter that has just been read. For often what happened to the Head foretold what would happen to the Body.

“After this,” says the Gospel, “Jesus walked in Galilee, for He did not wish to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.” This is what I said.

He gave an example for our weakness. He did not lose His power, but consoled our weakness.

For, as I have already said, it may happen that someone who believes in Him hides so as not to be seized by persecutors.

So that the fact of his hiding should not be imputed to him as a crime, what would afterward be confirmed in a member first happened in the Head.

For it is said: “He did not wish to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him,” as though Christ could not walk among the Jews and still not be killed by the Jews.

He showed this power when He wished. Indeed, when He was already preparing to suffer and wished to be seized, He said to them: “Whom do you seek?”

They answered Him: “Jesus.” He said to them: “I am He” (cf. Jn 18:4-5). He did not hide Himself, but revealed Himself.

But they could not endure this manifestation. They drew back and fell to the ground (Jn 18:6).

Yet because He had come to suffer, they rose, seized Him, led Him to the judge, and killed Him. But what did they do?

They did what had once been said in Scripture: “The earth has been given into the hands of the wicked” (Job 9:24).

The flesh was given over into the power of the Jews. This was so that it might be torn open like a money bag, and our price might be paid from it.

Outside Jerusalem, the people for the most part showed a strong disposition toward Jesus Christ. Even His enemies were compelled to act against Him only by cunning. In Jerusalem, however, even the voice of those well disposed toward Him became weak.

This was because of the influence of the chief seat of government upon the people’s opinions. There His enemies could use even violent measures against Him with impunity.

From this there arose a strange confusion of ideas about Jesus in Jerusalem during the feast, and even a conflict of opinions about Him. Well-minded Galilean pilgrims judged Him in one way, the inhabitants of Jerusalem in another, and His personal enemies, openly rising against Him there, in still another.

These judgments sometimes came into open contradiction with one another. Moreover, they still remembered that a year and a half earlier, when He was in Jerusalem at Passover, He had allowed Himself to heal the paralytic. Under this pretext they had sought until now to put Him to death as a transgressor of the Law.

Jesus did not avoid death on the Cross. He Himself went to meet it when this was necessary for the fulfillment of the will of Him who sent Him. But that time had not yet come. Therefore He did not go to Jerusalem, but continued to preach in Galilee.

Therefore He soon withdrew into Galilee, Jn 6:1, and remained there for a long time. He did not come to Jerusalem even for the following Passover, Jn 6:4, and came only for the Feast of Tabernacles, Jn 7:2, 14.

This long stay and activity of the Lord in Galilee is described in detail in the first three Gospels. John supplements them only with what he describes in chapter 6.

The events omitted by John are described by the other Evangelists: Mt 15:21-18; Mk 7-9; Lk 9:18-50. John especially wants to describe the discourses of Jesus. Thus he hastens to describe His discourses in the temple at the Feast of Tabernacles.

After Passover and until the Feast of Tabernacles, Christ traveled through Galilee, performing various miracles. He was in the region of Tyre, in Decapolis, in Magdala, near Bethsaida, in Caesarea Philippi, and in Capernaum.

He did not wish to travel in Judea, lest His enemies, who wished to kill Him, be stirred up to sinful and useless attempts on His life when the time for it had not yet come.

After the Feast of Tabernacles, however, the place of Christ Jesus’ activity was Judea alone: Lk 9:51-19:28; Mk 10:1-52; Mt 19:20, 34; Jn 7:2-12:11. This meant that everything had its appointed time.

The Feast of Tabernacles was established as a thankful remembrance of the Israelites’ dwelling in tabernacles, or tents, during their journey with Moses through the Arabian wilderness, Lev 23:42.

The feast began on the fifteenth day of the month Tishri, or October 12. It was one of the most solemn feasts, for which the Jews came to Jerusalem, Deut 16:16 and following; Zech 14:16.

We cannot determine with certainty whether the Lord lived in Jerusalem throughout this period, from October to January, or whether He withdrew to Galilee between the feasts, as before.

During these two feasts, and perhaps throughout all three months, the Lord continued His work of mercy and love. He constantly encountered the malicious opposition of the Pharisees and the "rulers." By the latter, as we have said, we must understand the almost atheistic party of the Sadducees. They were especially favored by the Romans and were in power.

The people appear as a wavering crowd, afraid of the Pharisees and the rulers, and carried now to one side, now to the other. All four chapters give a full picture of the passions and vacillations of Jerusalem's inhabitants, led by their fanatical religious teachers.

The people, the Pharisees, and the chief priests are restless, agitated by hatred and fear. They waver, doubt, and sometimes believe when they behold the majesty of the Lord's words and the works performed by Him. Then immediately afterward they take up stones to kill the Lord.

But in the council of the rulers and Pharisees, a real plot against the Lord's life finally matures. Cloaking themselves in political necessity, they declare through the mouth of Caiaphas the high priest their resolve to kill the Lord. It is plainly implied that they will do this by any means, lawful or unlawful.

Above, in connection with chapter 5, we saw that St. John Chrysostom, Homily 36 on John, considered the feast named there to be Pentecost, after the first Passover, Jn 2:13. The second Passover is mentioned in chapter 6:4. The Lord was then in Galilee, and apparently did not go up to Jerusalem for Passover that year.

In all probability, from the day of Pentecost in Jn 5 after the first Passover, until the Feast of Tabernacles in the second year, the Lord was not in Jerusalem. This was because "the Jews sought to kill Him," as is mentioned in Jn 5 in connection with the healing of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda.

All this time the Lord apparently spent in Galilee. This very period is described in detail by the Evangelist Matthew in chapters 12-18 and the parallels. We point to these chapters because in Matthew chapter 11 it is indicated that John the Baptist was already in prison. Compare Jn 3, where John is still at liberty.

In Matthew chapter 19 it is said: "And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan." We note in passing that in Mt 19 the Lord is questioned about divorce, while Jn 8:4 records the account of the adulteress.

We think that the question in the Gospel according to Matthew may have been prompted by this episode with the adulteress. We should note that although the Lord goes by the Transjordan route and not through Samaria, He nevertheless goes and enters Judea.

Concerning the phrase that Jesus "walked" in Galilee, peripatei, we draw the reader's attention to this point. This walking, or better, this passing from place to place, signified and contained all the works of love and mercy performed by the Lord.

It also contained all the gracious teachings carried by Him through many places, according to His own word: "Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish. Nevertheless I must walk today, tomorrow, and the following day, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside Jerusalem," Lk 13:32-33.

Therefore, when we see that the Lord enters Judea, we must remember that His walking through Judea was wholly like His walking through Galilee. It was accompanied by gracious words, healings, and the casting out of demons.

If not all the Lord's miracles and words have been recorded, this is only because, as John says in Jn 21:25, "even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."