7 It is not possible for you to be hated by the world; but I am hated by it, because I give witness that what it does is evil.
If you are hated by the world, keep in mind that I was hated by the world before you. If you were of the world, you would be loved by the world: but because you are not of the world, but I have taken you out of the world, you are hated by the world.
And this is the test by which men are judged: the light has come into the world and men have more love for the dark than for the light, because their acts are evil.
He who gives teaching to a man of pride gets shame for himself; he who says sharp words to a sinner gets a bad name. Do not say sharp words to a man of pride, or he will have hate for you; make them clear to a wise man, and you will be dear to him.
They are of the world, so their talk is the world's talk, and the world gives ear to them.
The hater of authority has no love for teaching: he will not go to the wise.
But he who does evil to me, does wrong to his soul: all my haters are in love with death.
He who has hate for me has hate for my Father. If I had not done among them the works which no other man ever did, they would have had no sin: but now they have seen, and they have had hate in their hearts for me and my Father. This comes about so that the writing in their law may be made true, Their hate for me was without cause.
And if any man would do them damage, fire comes out of their mouth and puts an end to those who are working against them: and if any man has a desire to do them damage, in this way will he be put to death. These have the power to keep the heaven shut, so that there may be no rain in the days when they are prophets: and they have power over the waters to make them into blood, and to send every sort of disease on the earth as their pleasure is. And when they have come to the end of their witness, the beast which comes up out of the great deep will make war on them and overcome them and put them to death. And their dead bodies will be in the open street of the great town, which in the spirit is named Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was put to death on the cross. And the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will be looking on their dead bodies three days and a half, and will not let their dead bodies be put in the earth. And those who are on the earth will have pleasure and delight over them; and they will send offerings one to another because these two prophets gave great trouble to all on the earth. And after three days and a half the breath of life from God went into them, and they got up on their feet; and great fear came on those who saw them.
We gave you very clear orders not to give teaching in this name: and now Jerusalem is full of your teaching, and you are attempting to make us responsible for this man's death. But Peter and the Apostles, answering, said, We have to do the orders of God, not of man. The God of our fathers gave Jesus back to life, whom you had put to death, hanging him on a tree. Him God has put on high at his right hand, as a Ruler and a Saviour, to give to Israel a change of heart and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who keep his laws. But when these words came to their ears, they were cut to the heart, and had a mind to put them to death.
And the Lord said to him, You Pharisees make the outside of the cup and the plate clean; but inside you are thieves and full of evil. O you foolish ones! did not he who made the outside in the same way make the inside? But if you give to the poor such things as you are able, then all things are clean to you. But a curse is on you, Pharisees! for you make men give a tenth of every sort of plant, and give no thought to right and the love of God; but it is right for you to do these things, and not let the others be undone. A curse is on you, Pharisees! for your desires are for the most important seats in the Synagogues and for words of respect said to you in the market-place. A curse is on you! for you are like the resting-places of dead men, which are not seen, and men go walking over them without knowledge of it. And one of the teachers of the law, answering, said to him, Master, in saying this, you give a bad name to us as to them. And he said, A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for while other men are crushed under the weight of the rules you make for them, you yourselves do not put so much as one finger to them. A curse is on you! for you make resting-places for the bodies of the prophets, but your fathers put them to death. So you are witnesses and give approval to the work of your fathers; for they put them to death and you make their last resting-places. For this reason the wisdom of God has said, I will send them prophets and teachers, and to some of them they will give death and cruel pains; So that punishment may come on this generation for the blood of all the prophets which was given from the earliest days; From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who was put to death between the altar and the Temple. Yes, I say to you, It will come on this generation. A curse is on you, teachers of the law! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you did not go in yourselves, and you got in the way of those who were going in. And when he had come out of that place, the scribes and the Pharisees came round him angrily, questioning him about more things; And watching him, for a chance to get something from his words which might be used against him.
And I will come near to you for judging; I will quickly be a witness against the wonder-workers, against those who have been untrue in married life, against those who take false oaths; against those who keep back from the servant his payment, and who are hard on the widow and the child without a father, who do not give his rights to the man from a strange country, and have no fear of me, says the Lord of armies.
And in one month I put an end to the three keepers of the flock; for my soul was tired of them, and their souls were disgusted with me.
This is what he let me see: and I saw the Lord stationed by a wall made straight by a weighted line, and he had a weighted line in his hand. And the Lord said to me, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A weighted line. Then the Lord said, See, I will let down a weighted line among my people Israel; never again will my eyes be shut to their sin: And the high places of Isaac will be unpeopled, and the holy places of Israel will be made waste; and I will come up against the family of Jeroboam with the sword. Then Amaziah, the priest of Beth-el, sent to Jeroboam, king of Israel, saying, Amos has made designs against you among the people of Israel: the land is troubled by his words. For Amos has said, Jeroboam will be put to the sword, and Israel will certainly be taken away as a prisoner out of his land. And Amaziah said to Amos, O seer, go in flight into the land of Judah, and there get your living by working as a prophet: But be a prophet no longer at Beth-el: for it is the holy place of the king, and the king's house.
For every word I say is a cry for help; I say with a loud voice, Violent behaviour and wasting: because the word of the Lord is made a shame to me and a cause of laughing all the day.
The Lord who takes up Israel's cause, even his Holy One, says to him whom men make sport of, who is hated by the nations, a servant of rulers: Kings will see and get up from their places, and chiefs will give worship: because of the Lord who keeps faith; even the Holy One of Israel who has taken you for himself.
And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is still one man by whom we may get directions from the Lord, Micaiah, son of Imlah; but I have no love for him, for he is a prophet of evil to me and not of good. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
You whose hearts are hard and whose ears are shut to me; you are ever working against the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets was not cruelly attacked by your fathers? and they put to death those who gave them the news of the coming of the Upright One; whom you have now given up and put to death; You, to whom the law was given as it was ordered by angels, and who have not kept it. Hearing these things, they were cut to the heart and moved with wrath against him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on John 7
Commentary on John 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
In this chapter we have,
Jhn 7:1-13
We have here,
Jhn 7:14-36
Here is,
Here the people rudely interrupted him in his discourse, and contradicted what he said (v. 20): Thou has a devil; who goes about to kill thee? This intimates,
He concludes this argument with that rule (v. 24): Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. This may be applied, either,
Jhn 7:37-44
In these verses we have,
Jhn 7:45-53
The chief priests and Pharisees are here in a close cabal, contriving how to suppress Christ; though this was the great day of the feast, they attended not the religious services of the day, but left them to the vulgar, to whom it was common for those great ecclesiastics to consign and turn over the business of devotion, while they thought themselves better employed in the affairs of church-policy. They sat in the council-chamber, expecting Christ to be brought a prisoner to them, as they had issued out warrants for apprehending him, v. 32. Now here we are told,