The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament (120 page)

7:13 fear of the Jews:
Rumors had leaked out that the Jerusalem authorities were plotting against Jesus (7:1, 11, 19). The crowds were thus reluctant to be associated with him or his teaching. 
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7:14 middle of the feast:
Either the third or fourth day of the week-long festival.
See note on Jn 7:2
. 
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7:15 never studied:
Jewish students were normally tutored by older rabbis in the interpretation of Scripture and in the traditions of their revered teachers. Jesus exhibits such profound insight into Scripture and spiritual things that many are shocked that he has no formal training (Mk 6:1-3; Lk 2:47). 
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7:18 the glory of him:
i.e., of his heavenly Father (5:44; 17:5). 
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7:21 I did one deed:
The healing of the lame man in 5:1-9. 
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7:22 circumcision:
A sign of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 17:10-14) that was later incorporated into the Mosaic covenant (Lev 12:3). According to Jewish tradition, the duty to circumcise newborn boys on the eighth day overrides the duty to observe the Sabbath rest when it falls on the same day. Jesus reasons that if
part
of the body may be lawfully tended to, then how much more should the
whole
body participate in the blessings of the covenant on the Sabbath (7:23) (CCC 2173). 
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7:26 the authorities:
Probably members of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.
See note on Mk 14:55
. 
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7:27 no one will know:
Two traditions regarding the birth and origin of the Messiah circulated in ancient Judaism.
(1)
Some expected the Messiah to grow up in obscurity and be manifested to the world only as an adult.
(2)
Others expected the Messiah to come from Bethlehem in accordance with the prophecy of Mic 5:2. The irony here is that both are true of Jesus: his heavenly origin in the Trinity is unknown to his audience (8:14), as is his birth in Bethlehem (Lk 2:4-7). 
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7:30 his hour:
See topical essay:
The "Hour" of Jesus
at Jn 4. 
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7:32 officers:
Temple police in Jerusalem (Acts 4:1-3; 5:2426). 
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7:35 Dispersion among the Greeks:
i.e., among the Jews and Gentiles scattered throughout the Mediterranean world. Although Jesus himself never undertakes such a mission, his disciples will do precisely this, showing that the advance of the gospel beyond the borders of Israel is unwittingly announced by Christ's adversaries (Mt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). 
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7:37 the great day:
The seventh and final day of Tabernacles.
come to me and drink:
Jesus is the source of the spiritual "water" (4:10) that quenches our deepest "thirst" (6:35). The symbolic meaning of this is that Christ is the source of the Spirit poured out upon the world (7:39; 20:22). Jesus is probably alluding to the water-drawing ceremony of the feast, thus inviting us to think of him as the heavenly counterpart to the pool of Siloam. See notes on Jn 7:2 and 9:7. 
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7:38 Out of his heart . . . living water:
Not a verbatim reference to any one OT passage, but a summary or synthesis of at least three. •
(1)
In Num 20:10-13, Yahweh quenched Israel's thirst in the wilderness by making water gush forth from a rock.
(2)
In Ezek 47:1-12, the prophet sees water streaming forth from the Temple and bringing new life everywhere it flows.
(3)
In Zech 14:8, Jerusalem of the last days is depicted as a spring of living water that flows when the Lord becomes king over the earth and the nations come to celebrate the "feast of booths" (Tabernacles) year after year (Zech 14:9, 16). These traditions point forward to Jesus: he is the rock that slakes our thirst (1 Cor 10:4), the true temple that channels life to the world (2:21), and the Lord who reigns as king over the world (12:13; 18:36).
See note on Jn 19:34
. 
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7:39 not yet glorified:
i.e., through his Passion and Resurrection (12:23; 17:1). Only then will the Spirit be poured out through the risen humanity of Christ (20:22) (CCC 728, 1287). 
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7:40 the prophet:
The awaited prophet like Moses from Deut 18:15-19.
See note on Jn 1:21
. 
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7:41 the Christ:
The awaited Messiah and king of Israel. See word study:
Christ
at Mk 14. 
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7:42 the Scripture:
The Davidic lineage of the Messiah is mentioned in 2 Sam 7:12-14, Is 9:6-7, Jer 23:5, and Ezek 34:23-24, while his birthplace in Bethlehem is noted in Mic 5:2. 
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7:51 a hearing:
Nicodemus pleads for due process and legal justice, only to be ridiculed by the Pharisees, just as the officers (7:47) and the people were (7:49). 
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7:53-8:11
Some ancient manuscripts of the Fourth Gospel omit this episode entirely. Other manuscripts place it elsewhere in John or even in the Gospel of Luke. According to the Council of Trent in the sixteenth century, the official canon of the Scriptures corresponds to everything included in the Latin Vulgate edition (Sess. 4, Dec. 1). This translation includes the episode as canonical. 
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8:6 to test him:
The Pharisees are not seeking legal advice from Jesus. Their question in 8:5 is a trap designed to incriminate or discredit him.
(1)
If Jesus
authorizes
the stoning, the Pharisees will report him to the Romans for criminal wrongdoing, for the Jews were not permitted to administer capital punishment under Roman rule (18:31).
(2)
If Jesus
forbids
the stoning, the Pharisees will discredit him as a false messiah who contradicts Moses, for the Torah classifies adultery as a capital crime (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22). 
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8:7 Let him who is without sin:
Many popular interpretations of this verse are unworkable because they lead Jesus straight into the trap set by the Pharisees in 8:4-5.
(1)
Some argue that Jesus is overturning the death penalty for adultery prescribed in the Torah. This could not have been so because the Pharisees would have immediately discredited him for contradicting Moses. In fact, Jesus is not addressing the status or legality of the death penalty at all; he is simply dodging the Pharisees' trap.
(2)
Others argue that Jesus permits the adulteress to walk free because no witnesses are present to testify against her. This could not have been so, first, because it wrongly implies that Jesus would have been caught off guard if the witnesses who caught the adulteress in the act did come forward and, second, because it wrongly implies that Jesus would then have authorized the stoning.
(3)
Others argue that Jesus brings the examination to a halt because the woman's partner is absent and so the process of incrimination cannot proceed. This could not have been so, first, because of a clear precedent in the OT where Susanna is falsely condemned for adultery without first establishing who and where her partner was (Dan 13:34-41) and, second, because it wrongly implies that Jesus would have authorized the stoning if the woman's partner had eventually been found. Against these views, it must be stressed that Jesus eludes the trap entirely—he neither authorizes the stoning (incriminating himself) nor contradicts Moses (compromising his teaching). The genius of his response is that it turns the tables on the Pharisees and forces them into their own trap. Although the Pharisees probably considered themselves sinless (like Saul, Phil 3:5-6), and thus qualified to administer the stoning, they realize that executing the adulteress will bring Rome's reprisal on
them
instead of Jesus, who is not truly authorizing the stoning because he does not truly think the Pharisees are without sin (9:40-41). On the other hand, by restraining themselves and walking away, the Pharisees are made to look like
sinners
and
compromisers
in the eyes of the crowd. 
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8:8 wrote . . . on the ground:
What Jesus inscribes in the dirt is unknown but probably symbolic. • The gesture may recall Jer 17:13, a warning that those who forsake the Lord "shall be written in the earth" because they have rejected the "fountain of living water". The Pharisees fall into this category for rejecting Jesus, who has just been identified as the source of "living water" (7:38). •
Morally
(St. Bede,
Hom. in Evan.):
Christ, who twice bends down to write on the ground, teaches us to bend low in humility to examine ourselves both before and after addressing the faults of our neighbor. If his example becomes our practice, we will avoid as he did the extremes of being unjust and unmerciful toward others. 
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8:9 the eldest:
i.e., the wisest, who were the first to detect the brilliance of Jesus' reply (8:7). 
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8:11 do not sin again:
Jesus neither condemns the woman nor condones her sins. He rather forgives her past and challenges her to live a life of purity in the future (see also 5:14). 
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8:12 the light of the world:
Christ enlightens the world with truth as the golden candelabras illuminated the Temple courts with fire during the feast of Tabernacles. The location of Jesus as he delivers these words supports this symbolism: he is standing in the "treasury" adjacent to the Court of Women (8:20), precisely where the lamp-lighting ceremony was recently conducted.
See note on Jn 7:2
. • Several OT themes prepared the way for Jesus, the "true light" (1:9).
(1)
Ex 13:21 describes how Yahweh, enthroned in a pillar of fire, enlightened the way for Israel to travel through the wilderness toward the Promised Land.
(2)
Ps 119:105 describes the Law of the Lord as a light for our path.
(3)
Is 42:6 and 49:6 call Israel to be a light to the nations. 
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