What does John chapter 7 mean?

Chapters 7 and 8 represent the beginning of the end of Jesus' public ministry. In these passages, He will openly challenge the spiritual errors of the Jewish leaders, and declare His own role in the salvation of mankind. In response, the religious officials' approach to Jesus will turn further towards a plot for murder. John chapter 7 begins after another leap in the gospel's timeline. The events of chapter 6 occurred around one year prior to Jesus' crucifixion. The events of chapter 7, centered on the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles, happen about six months later. This feast was among the most important in Jewish tradition, and was a hub of religious and cultural activity.

This passage begins with Jesus' family mocking Him for the events of chapter 6. They assume that a man seeking publicity and fame ought to do His magic tricks at the most public festival of the year. The "brothers" mentioned here are, by all reasonable interpretations, the literal half-brothers of Jesus. That is, these are the biological sons of Mary. Jesus, however, is still sensitive to God's timetable, and chooses not to go to the feast with them. Instead, He will go later, and alone, in order to be more discreet.

This discretion only lasts a few days. Jesus will begin teaching and preaching in Jerusalem midway through the week-long feast. In this discourse, Jesus will criticize the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders. This criticism, along with His established reputation for miracles, will create a "crisis of confidence" in the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes. From the perspective of the people, there are only three possibilities: Either the leaders are too weak to stop a blasphemer, too confused to do anything, or they somehow accept His claims. This only adds fuel to the religious leaders' desire to silence Jesus permanently.

Over the course of this chapter, Jesus provokes rumor, discussion, and eventually argument among the people. The division caused by Jesus' words will even extend to the religious leaders themselves. Nicodemus, the same man who spoke with Jesus in chapter 3, will make an appeal for due process. In response, his peers ridicule him and reject his suggestion. This makes chapter 7 a crucial passage for understanding the Pharisees, in particular. Their example is a warning about how arrogance, ignorance, and tradition can cause spiritual blindness.

The last verse associated with chapter 7 begins the story of Jesus and the adulterous woman (John 7:53—8:11). Most scholars believe that this passage is an authentic, inspired account of a real event. However, they also believe that it was not originally found in this particular place in Scripture. Verse 12 of chapter 8 seems to flow very naturally from Jesus' teaching here as He continues declaring His role as Messiah using various metaphors.

While reading this chapter, it is important to recognize the meaning of John's terminology. At this time, Jerusalem would have been filled with local residents, foreign visitors, Jewish pilgrims, and many others. As such, there are three main groups involved in this narrative. "The Jews," as used most often in the gospel of John, is a reference to the religious leaders of Jerusalem, or those who support them. "The people" are the mixed crowd of those attending the festival. The third group are those Jewish people living in and around Jerusalem, most of whom would have sided with the opinion of the local religious leaders.