Study Desk

After this, Jesus walked [from place to place] in Galilee, for He would not walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him.

"The world cannot hate you [since you are part of it], but it does hate Me because I denounce it and testify that its deeds are evil.

"Go up to the feast yourselves. I am not going up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come."

But [afterward], when His brothers had gone up to the feast, He went up too, not publicly [with a caravan], but quietly [because He did not want to be noticed].

"I know Him Myself because I am from Him [I came from His very presence] and it was He [personally] who sent Me."

So they were eager to arrest Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His time had not yet come.

But He was speaking of the [Holy] Spirit, whom those who believed in Him [as Savior] were to receive afterward. The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor).

So the crowd was divided because of Him.

Jesus replied, "Even if I do testify on My own behalf, My testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going.

Jesus said these things in the treasury, as He taught in the temple [courtyard]; and no one seized Him, because His time had not yet come.

"And He who sent Me is [always] with Me; He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him."

"I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you plan to kill Me, because My word has no place [to grow] in you [and it makes no change in your heart].

"Why do you misunderstand what I am saying? It is because [your spiritual ears are deaf and] you are unable to hear [the truth of] My word.

"You are of your father the devil, and it is your will to practice the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar and the father of lies and half-truths.

"But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me [and continue in your unbelief].

"Whoever is of God and belongs to Him hears [the truth of] God's words; for this reason you do not hear them: because you are not of God and you are not in fellowship with Him."

Then some of the Pharisees said, "This Man [Jesus] is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner (a non-observant Jew) do such signs and miracles?" So there was a difference of opinion among them.

His parents said this because they were afraid of [the leaders of] the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged Jesus to be the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue (excommunicated).

Because of this his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."

"If this Man were not from God, He would not be able to do anything [like this because God would not hear His prayer]."