Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

John 7:35-36 The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?” Obviously, the Jews didn’t understand what Jesus said. They could only think in earthly...

John 7:33-34 Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” Jesus knew He was going to His Father soon—a few months. This feast of Tabernacles was a fall festival to be followed in the spring with Passover. He also knew this crowd would play a significant part in His return to h...

John 7:31-32 But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?” The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. John described what the Pharisees heard from the people as grumbling or muttering. It’s the same w...

John 7:30 So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. We see God’s providence at work in this verse. The rulers wanted to take Him into custody with the intent to kill Him, but they didn’t because God’s time for that to occur had not come. There was more work to be done, more truth to be spoken, more love revealed to those who were His. So...

John 7:28-29 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” Jesus reiterated what He had said previously in John 7:18 “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who...

John 7:27 is a continuation of the comments of the people of Jerusalem about Jesus. They had wondered, “The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they?” In a sense, they were asking, “Do the rulers know something we don’t know?” Then they reasoned that He can’t be the Christ. “However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.”...

John 7:25-26 So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? Apparently, Jesus’ reproof of the crowd for not judging righteously hit its mark. The Jewish leaders fell silent, and it didn’t go unnoticed. We note that J...

John 7:21-24 Jesus answered them, “I did one deed, and you all marvel. For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath, you circumcise a man. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? Do not judge accordin...

John 7:20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?” Some of the most challenging people to love are those who are deceived as this crowd. They sought to kill or delete Jesus from their lives because they thought He was from the devil, which is a stunning, and unthinkable judgment of Him. They are the ones that are under the influence of demons, but don’t recognize it. My heart...

John 7:19 “Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?” In the Law which Moses gave them, law number six commands, “You shall not murder.” Jesus asked the Jewish leaders why they were seeking to kill Him. He knew they wanted to kill Him, which means they have no intention of carrying out the Law. In fact, let’s connect this to what Jesus had...

John 7:18 He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. This verse informs us of what was and is going on in Jesus’ heart. He doesn’t seek His own glory. He seeks the glory of His Father, which makes Him true and righteous. Is there anyone like this other than Jesus? Only those who are ab...

John 7:17 If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. We learn in this verse that there’s a prerequisite to knowing and recognizing truth: a surrendered, obedient heart to God. One must be willing to do God’s will. Where does such a heart come from? It comes from God. Having ears to hear is a gift from God. It’s what makes...

John 7:16 So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.” This was Jesus’ response to the Jews’ question, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” Jesus received His learning from His Father. He wasn’t speaking on His own initiative, but passing on the teaching of the One who sent Him. So His authority is clear. It isn’t self-derived. Years ag...

John 7:14-15 But when it was now the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” The Jews recognized that Jesus was well-educated, knowledgeable about the Law and the things of God. His learning began early. Do you remember what He told His mother at the age of 12? In Lu...

John 7:13 Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews. Apparently the Jews, the Jewish leaders, were a very intimidating group of men. So much so that no one openly talked about Jesus at the feast of Booths. Those who thought He was a good man (vs. 12) must have made sure they only gave their opinion to people with whom they felt safe. Have you ever been intimidated into silence? Ha...

John 7:11-12 So the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, “Where is He?” There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.” We learn from these verses about the diverse opinions about Jesus and the settled hostility of some of the Jews, referring to the Jewish leaders w...

John 7:8-10 Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come. Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee. But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret.” Jesus encouraged His brothers to attend the Feast of Booths, but told them He wasn’t going to the feast because His t...

John 7:6-7 So Jesus said to them (that is, His brothers who had encouraged Him to go to the feast in Jerusalem to make Himself known publicly), “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.” What did Jesus mean by “My time?” He meant the time of His death. I conclude that first because in ve...

John 7:5 For not even His brothers were believing in Him. Jesus had four brothers and at least two sisters. In this verse, we learn that at the time of these events, none of the brothers believed that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah. In Luke 8:21, when Jesus was told that his mother and brothers had arrived, Jesus said, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it....

John 7:2-4 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. Therefore, His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” As we consider these verses, I want to bring something Jesus sa...

John 7:1 After these things, Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. What an interesting way to describe what Jesus was doing. He was walking in Galilee and not Judea. He wasn’t sitting or working in Galilee; He was walking. The idea was that Jesus conducted His daily affairs in Galilee. Galilee was His home region, so He conti...

John 6:70-71 Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him. The encouragement we may draw from these verses is that our Father is always working for our good, and therefore we can entrust ourselves to Him. Can you see that in what Jesus said? Jesus’ stat...

John 6:66-69 As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Simon Peter spoke up for the twelve and expressed what all belie...

John 6:64-65, “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.” This is the second time Jesus told the crowd that there were some who did not believe. In John 6:36...

John 6:61-63 But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” Somehow, Jesus knew His disciples were grumbling about His statement about eating His fles...