John 7:19 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?"

NIV: Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"

NASB: Did Moses not give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why are you seeking to kill Me?'

CSB: Didn’t Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"

NLT: Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it! In fact, you are trying to kill me.'

KJV: Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?

NKJV: Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?”

Here, Jesus once again attacks the self-righteous, self-confident, self-centered religion of Jerusalem's spiritual leaders. To the people of Israel, there was no more important figure than Moses. There was no ideal higher than following the laws given to Israel by Moses. For Jesus to criticize their adherence to the Law was an attack on their very sense of identity. This is a criticism Jesus has posed in the past (John 5:39–47) and will bring up again (John 8:39–44). This meshes with the point Jesus made earlier (John 7:17–18): that those who refuse to obey God will not understand the truth. Worse, their refusal to accept Jesus is, in effect, a rejection of the very Scriptures they claim to uphold.

Despite the crowd's skepticism (John 7:20), Jesus is aware that the religious leaders of Jerusalem have sought to kill Him as a blasphemer (John 5:18). He is aware that their rejection of Him is not superficial—it is deadly serious (John 7:1). And it proves the very prediction made by Jesus in the early verses of this chapter: convicting the world of sin earns the world's hatred (John 7:7).

John 7:14–24 is a strong spiritual challenge issued by Jesus against the religious leaders of Jerusalem. Jesus makes the point that obedience is a necessary aspect of learning. The resistance of the scribes and Pharisees is ultimately a matter of rebellion, not knowledge. In the same way, Jesus criticizes their hypocritical attitude towards His miracles. This concludes with a powerful statement about the need to use ''right judgment,'' rather than shallow appearances.

Six months after the feeding of thousands, and the public debate which followed, Jesus plans to attend the Feast of Booths, also called the Festival of Tabernacles. Rather than going publicly, He chooses to arrive privately, and after His family. While teaching and preaching there, Jesus once again comes into conflict with local religious leaders. The crowds take note of His profound words, history of miracles, and the inability of the religious leaders to silence Him. This causes the people to openly question their spiritual leaders. This embarrassment is a milestone in the effort to permanently silence Jesus.

John chapter 7 is the beginning of the end of Jesus' public ministry. The feeding of thousands in chapter 6 was the pinnacle of His earthly popularity. That enthusiasm was dampened when Jesus explained the true meaning of His ministry. Here, in chapters 7 and 8, Jesus will confront His critics at a major Jewish festival, using metaphors drawn from ritual celebrations to highlight themes from His preaching. The following chapters include additional miracles and teachings from Jesus, as His eventual crucifixion draws nearer.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.