Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 7:28
Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.
28. Then cried Jesus ] Better, Jesus therefore cried aloud. The word translated ‘cried’ signifies a loud expression of strong emotion. He is moved by their gross misconception of Him, a fact which the weakening of ‘therefore’ into ‘then’ obscures. Comp. Joh 7:37, Joh 1:15, Joh 12:44.
in the temple ] S. John well remembers that moving cry in the Temple; the scene is still before him and he puts it before us, although neither ‘in the Temple’ nor ‘as He taught’ is needed for the narrative (see Joh 7:14).
Ye both know me, &c.] Various constructions have been put upon this: (1) that it is a question; (2) that it is ironical; (3) a mixture of the two; (4) a reproach, i.e. that they knew His Divine nature and maliciously concealed it. None of these are satisfactory. The words are best understood quite simply and literally. Christ admits the truth of what they say: they have an outward knowledge of Him and His origin (Joh 6:42); but He has an inner and higher origin, of which they know nothing. So that even their self-made test, for the sake of which they are willing to resist the evidence both of Scripture and of His works, is complied with; for they know not His real immediate origin.
and I am not come of myself ] ‘Of Myself’ is emphatic; and ( yet) of Myself I am not come. Comp. Joh 8:42. The ‘and’ introduces a contrast, as so often in S. John: ‘ye know My person, and ye know My parentage; and yet of the chief thing of all, My Divine mission, ye know nothing. See on Joh 7:30.
but he that sent me is true ] The word for ‘true’ here is the same as occurs Joh 1:9 in ‘the true Light’ (see note there): the meaning, therefore, is not ‘truthful’ but ‘real, perfect;’ He that sendeth Me is a real sender, One who in the highest and most perfect sense can give a mission But perhaps here and in Rev 3:7; Rev 19:11 the distinction between the two words for ‘true’ is not very marked. Such refinements (the words being alike except in termination) have a tendency to become obscured.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ye know whence I am – You have sufficient evidence of my divine mission, and that I am the Messiah.
Is true – Is worthy to be believed. He has given evidence that I came from him, and he is worthy to be believed. Many read this as a question – Do ye know me, and know whence I am? I have not come from myself, etc.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 28. Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am] Perhaps they should be read interrogatively: Do ye both know me, and know whence I am? Our Lord takes them up on their own profession, and argues from it. Since you have got so much information concerning me, add this to it, to make it complete; viz. that I am not come of myself; am no self-created or self-authorized prophet; I came from God:- the testimony of John the Baptist, the descent of the Holy Ghost, the voice from heaven, the purity and excellence of my doctrine, and the multitude of my miracles, sufficiently attest this. Now, God is true who has borne testimony to me; but ye know him not, therefore it is that this testimony is disregarded.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am; you might have known me by the doctrine which I have taught, and the miracles which I have wrought among you; and you had known me, if you had not shut your eyes against the light, which shone in your face: or, you say and think that you know me. Others think that it is an irony, or as a question, Do you know me so well? If you did, you would know that I came not of myself, but was sent by my Father; and he that sent me is truth itself: but you know not the Father, and therefore cannot know me as indeed I am.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28, 29. cried Jesusin alouder tone, and more solemn, witnessing style than usual.
Ye both, &c.thatis, “Yes, ye know both Myself and My local parentage, and (yet)I am not come of Myself.”
but he that sent me is true,&c.Probably the meaning is, “He that sent Me is the onlyreal Sender of any one.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught,…. Overhearing the reasonings of these men, however, knowing what they said; so the Persic version adds, “having secretly known this”; exalted his voice as he was teaching in the temple, and in the midst of his discourse, publicly before all the people, in the temple, spoke out with a loud voice, that all might hear:
saying, ye both know me, and ye know whence I am; some, as the Ethiopic version, read these words by way of interrogation, “do ye both know me, and do ye know from whence I am?” no; you do not. Or they may be considered as an ironical concession; yes, you know me, and you know whence I am; you know me to be Jesus of Nazareth, but you are wrong, I am not of Nazareth; you suppose I come, from Galilee, but that is your ignorance; you take me to be the real son of Joseph, to be begotten by him on Mary, but that is your mistake: such is your knowledge of me: you know me indeed who I am, and from whence I come.
And I am not come of myself; into this world, by incarnation, or the assumption of human nature, to work out the salvation of men; the Father called him to it, and he agreeing to do it, was in the fulness of time sent about it; this was not a device of his own, or an honour he took to himself; he was not alone in it; it was a mutual agreement between him and his Father, in consequence of which he was sent and came.
But he that sent me is true; to the covenant he made with Christ, and to the promises he made to the fathers of the Old Testament, concerning the mission of his Son; and he is true to be believed, in the testimonies he gave of him, particularly by a voice from heaven, declaring him his beloved Son.
Whom ye know not; so that notwithstanding all their boasted knowledge of him, they knew not his Father, from whence he came, and by whom he was sent; and notwithstanding also their boasted knowledge of the one, only, true, and living God, see Ro 2:17; yet they knew him not in a spiritual sense; they knew him not in Christ, nor as the Father of Christ; they knew neither the Father nor the Son: and this their ignorance of both was the reason of their hatred of Christ, and of his followers, Joh 15:21.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And I am not come of myself ( ‘ ). here=”and yet.” Jesus repeats the claim of verse 17 and also in John 5:30; John 8:28; John 12:49; John 14:10.
Whom ye know not ( ). Jesus passes by a controversy over the piece of popular theology to point out their ignorance of God the Father who sent him. He tersely agrees that they know something of him. Jesus says of these Jews that they know not God as in John 8:19; John 8:55.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Then [] . Rev., rightly, therefore, giving the reason for the succeeding words in Jesus ‘ emotion awakened by the misconceptions of the people.
Cried [] . See on Mr 5:5; Joh 9:24.
As He taught [] . Better, Rev., teaching. The expression cried teaching implies speaking in a peculiarly solemn manner and with an elevation of voice.
Me – whence I am. Conceding the truth of the people’s statement in ver. 27, we know this man whence he is, so far as His outward person and His earthly origin were concerned. He goes on to show that they are ignorant of His divine relationship.
True [] . True to the ideal of a sender : a genuine sender in the highest sense of the term. See on 1 9.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught,” (ekraksen oun en to hiero didaskon ho lesous) “Then Jesus cried out in the temple teaching,” as He publicly continued to give testimony of His Divine identity, so as not to be identified as a political aspirant. In this pursuit His voice ”was not heard in the street,” so as to avoid any mob type gathering around Him, Isa 42:2; Mat 12:19.
2) “Saying, Ye both know me,” (kai legon kame oidate) ”And saying you all both know me,” you all recognize me far too well, by birth, my travels, my family, my claims, and my deeds, Mat 1:1 to Mat 2:23; Luk 2:1-12; Isa 7:14; Isa 9:6; Mat 2:23; Mat 3:1-3; Mat 3:16-17; Joh 20:30-31.
3) ”And ye know whence I am: (kai oidate pothen eimi)”And you all know whence I am,” whence I exist, my origin or my roots. This is not any mystery, either in prophecy or in physical fulfillment, if your eyes are open to see, and your minds and hearts for an honest examination, Act 10:43.
4) ”And I am not come of myself “ (kai ap’emautou ouk elelutha) “And I have not come from myself,” Joh 5:43, of my own will, on my own commissioning, Joh 6:38; 2Co 8:9; Joh 17:4-5. This He seemed to say with very firm but a controlled voice.
5) “But he that sent me is true,” (all’ estin alethinos ho pempsas me) “But the one who sent me is genuine or true,” Joh 7:18; Joh 3:17; Joh 4:34; Joh 5:30; Joh 5:32; Psa 40:7-8; Mat 26:39; 1Jn 5:20; Rom 3:4. He was not sent by a fake is the idea.
6) “Whom ye know not.”(hon humeis ouk oidate) “Whom you all do not perceive, recognize, or really know,” Joh 1:18; Joh 8:55. This was a severe rebuke of the entire ceremonial-loaded religious system of formalism, then prevalent at and in Jerusalem, Mar 7:1-12; Rom 10:1-4; Eph 4:18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
28. Jesus therefore exclaimed in the temple. He bitterly reproaches them for their rashness, because they arrogantly flattered themselves in a false opinion, and in this manner excluded themselves from a knowledge of the truth; as if he had said, “You know all things, and yet you know nothing.” And, indeed, there is not a more destructive plague than when men are so intoxicated by the scanty portion of knowledge which they possess, that they boldly reject every thing that is contrary to their opinion.
You both know me, and you know whence I am. This is ironical language. With the false opinion which they had formed concerning him, he contrasts what is true; as if he had said, “While you have your eyes fixed on the earth, you think that every part of me is before your eyes; and therefore you despise me as mean and unknown. But God will testify that I have come from heaven; and though I may be rejected by you, God will acknowledge that I am truly his own Son.”
But he who hath sent me is true. He calls God true in the same sense that Paul calls him faithful
If we are unbelievers, says he, he remaineth faithful, he cannot deny himself, (2Ti 2:13.)
For his object is to prove, that the credit due to the Gospel is not in the smallest degree diminished by the utmost exertions of the world to overthrow it; that though wicked men may attempt to take from Christ what belonged to him, still he remains unimpaired, because the truth of God is firm and is always like itself. Christ sees that he is despised; but so far is he from yielding, that, on the contrary, he boldly repels the furious arrogance of those who hold him in no estimation. With such unshaken and heroic fortitude all believers ought to be endued; nay, more, our faith will never be solid or lasting, unless it treat with contempt the presumption of wicked men, when they rise up against Christ. Above all, godly teachers, relying on this support, ought to persevere in maintaining sound doctrine, even though it should be opposed by the whole world. Thus Jeremiah appeals to God as his defender and guardian, because he is condemned as an impostor:
Thou hast deceived me, O Lord, says he, and I was deceived, (Jer 20:7.)
Thus Isaiah, overwhelmed on all sides by calumnies and reproaches, flies to this refuge, that God will approve his cause, (Isa 50:8.) Thus Paul, oppressed by unjust judgments, appeals against all to the day of the Lord, (1Co 4:5,) reckoning it enough to have God alone to place against the whole world, however it may rage and storm.
Whom you knew not. He means that it is not wonderful that he is not known by the Jews, because they do not know God; for the beginning of wisdom is, to behold God.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(28) Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught.The word rendered cried, implies always an elevation of voice answering to the intensity of the speakers feeling. (Comp. in this Gospel Joh. 1:15; Joh. 7:37; Joh. 12:44.) Here this feeling has been roused by another instance of their misapprehension, because they think of the outward appearance only, and therefore do not grasp the inner truth. They know whence He is; they had been taught that no man should know the Messiahs origin, and therefore they think He is not the Christ. And this technical reason, the meaning of which they have never fathomed, is enough to stifle every growing conviction, and to annul the force of all His words and all His works! St. John is impressed with the fact that it was in the very Temple itself, in the presence of the priests and rulers, in the act of public teaching, that He uttered these words, and he again notices this, though he has told us so before (Joh. 7:14; Joh. 7:26).
Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am.He takes up their objection in order to refute it. There is, indeed, a sense in which it is true. Those features were well known alike to friend and foe. With minds glowing with the fire of love or of hate, they had gazed upon Him as He walked or taught, and His form had fixed itself on the memory. They knew about His earthly home and early life (Joh. 7:27), but all this was far short of the real knowledge of Him. It is but little that the events of the outer life tell of the true life and being even of a brother man. Little does a man know even his bosom friend; how infinitely far were they, with minds which did not even approach the true method of knowledge, from knowing Him whom no mind can fully comprehend!
And I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true.Once again He asserts that He claims no position of independence. He is the first great Apostle (comp. Heb. 3:1), but He is not self-commissioned. Had He not been the Christ, their objection that they knew His origin might have had force. But sent by Him who is the really existent One, and whom they knew not, His origin is unknown to them, and their technical test is fulfilled. In the fullest sense, they neither knew Him nor from whence He came.
For the meaning of the word true, see Note on Joh. 1:9. It is almost impossible to give the sense of the original except in a paraphrase. We must keep, therefore, the ordinary rendering, but bear in mind that it does not mean, He that sent Me is truthful, but He that sent Me is the ideally true One. You talk of person, and of origin, of knowing Me, and from whence I came, but all this is knowledge of the senses, and in the region of the phenomenal world. Being is only truly known in relation to the Eternal Being. He that sent Me to manifest His Being in the world is the truly existent One. In Him is My true origin, and Him ye know not.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. Cried Jesus Over the murmur and mutual disputation of the mixed multitude the voice of Jesus peals in one bold testimony to his own mission.
Ye both know me We do not here (like Stier and Alford) find any “irony;” but a firm affirmation that they knew his human, but not his divine origin. That during the testimony of John to Jesus, the parentage, descent, and birthplace of the latter should be made matter of inquiry and information we cannot doubt. Humanly, then, he was known to them. He whom ye know not God, indeed, they knew; but God as the Father and fountain of Christ they knew not.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Jesus therefore cried in the Temple, teaching, and saying, “You both know me, and know from where I am. But I am not come of myself, and he who sent me is true, whom you do not know. I know him because I am from him and he sent me”.’
Jesus now took them up on their certainty about His origins. He declared that, although the people claimed to know His origin, and in a sense did know it, they did not really do so. They knew Him as a well known Galilean. Well and good. But what they were unaware of was that He had been sent by the Father, and He was One Whom they did not really know. That is why they knew nothing about Jesus’ divine origin. But had they known the Father truly they would have seen things very differently. However, as they did not truly know Him, how then could they expect to know where Jesus was from, for His Father would not have revealed it to them? Here was the crux of the problem. They thought that they knew God and His ways, but they did not. Thus they were not able to come to know the truth about His being sent by the Father. He on the other hand did know Him, because He had come from Him and had been sent by Him He thus knew His own origin.
He spoke these words openly to all the people, not just to the questioners, for the questions had been going the rounds. They may have thought that they knew His origin, He says, but they did not. For if they had known it they would have known that He had not come at His own devising. They would have known that He was sent by God.
‘The One who sent me is true and you do not know him. I know him, for I come from him and he sent me’. He has in truth come from One Who is true but Whom they actually do not know (even though they thought that they did), so in that case, how can they claim to know His origins? On the other hand He Himself knows Him for He has come from Him. The ‘I’ is stressed. ‘ I know Him.’ His knowledge of the Father, He says, is unique.
Of course they would have claimed to know God, but Jesus was stressing that by failing to recognise the truth, they were in fact demonstrating that they were strangers to the One Who is true. For if they had really known the truth they would now recognise that He knew God and that God had sent Him. Then they would really have known where He came from and would have acknowledged Him. It is a reminder that genuine truth rings true in the hearts of good men who are in touch with God. This claim to unique and intimate knowledge of the Father is mentioned elsewhere in the Gospel in Joh 1:18; Joh 6:46; Joh 8:25 and Joh 17:25.
So the whole basis of His argument is that they have a settled body of teaching that they believe in, and that it is that very body of teaching that is keeping them from the truth. It is keeping them from knowing the Father, and from knowing Him.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 7:28-29 . The statement in Joh 7:27 , which showed how utterly Christ’s higher nature and work were misunderstood by these people in consequence of the entirely outward character of their judgments, roused the emotion of Jesus, so that He raised His voice, crying aloud ( , comp. Joh 1:5 , Joh 7:37 , Joh 12:44 , Rom 9:27 ; never means anything but to cry out; “clamores , quos edidit, magnas habuere causas,” Bengel), and thus uttered the solemn conclusion of this colloquy, while He taught in the temple, and said: , . . . The is in itself superfluous (see Joh 7:14 ), but serves the more vividly to describe the solemn moment of the , and is an indication of the original genuineness of the narrative.
, . . .] i.e., “ye know not only my person, but ye also know my origin .” As the people really had this knowledge (Joh 6:42 ), and as the divine mission of Jesus was independent of His human nature and origin, while He Himself denies only their knowledge of His divine mission (see what follows; comp. Joh 8:19 ), there is nothing in the connection to sanction an interrogatory interpretation (Grotius, Lampe, Semler, Storr, Paulus, Kuinoel, Luthardt, Ewald), nor an ironical one (Luther, Calvin, Beza, and many others; likewise Lcke, Tholuck, Olshausen, B. Crusius, Lange, and Godet, who considers the words “ lgrement ironique ,” and that they have “ certainement [?] une tournure interrogative ”), nor the paraphrase: “Ye think that ye know” (Hengstenberg). Least of all can we read it as a reproach , that they knew His divine nature and origin, yet maliciously concealed it (Chrysostom, Nonnus, Theophylact, Euthymius Zigabenus, Maldonatus, and most). No; Jesus allows that they have that outward knowledge of Him which they had avowed in Joh 7:27 , but He further in the words , . . . sets before them the higher relationship, which is here the main point, and which was unknown to them.
. .] and though ye think that, on account of this knowledge of yours, ye must conclude that I am not the Messiah, but have come by self-appointment merely of myself ( , Nonnus) am I not come ; comp. Joh 8:42 . This , which must not be regarded as the same with the two preceding, as if it stood for (Baeumlein), often in John connects, like atque , a contrasted thought, and yet . See Hartung, Partikell . I. 147. We may pronounce the and with emphasis, and imagine a pause after it. Comp. Stallbaum, ad Plat. Apol . p. 29 B; Wolf, ad Leptin . p. 238.
] but it is a real one who hath sent me, whom ye (ye people!) know not . [266] is not verax (Chrysostom, Euthymius Zigabenus, Luther, Stolz, Kuinoel, Klee, B. Crusius, Ewald, and most), but, according to the invariable usage of John (see on Joh 1:9 ), a real, genuine one, in whom the idea is realized . The substantive belonging to this adjective is not , which Grotius gets out of ; but, according to the immediate context, it is to be inferred from , namely , a real sender , a sender in the highest and fullest sense (comp. Matthiae, p. 1533; Khner, II. 602). We cannot take . by itself as absolutely denoting the true essential God (Olshausen, Lange, Hengstenberg; comp. Kling: “one whose essence and action is pure truth”), because in the Johannean sense is not an independent conception, but receives its definite meaning first from the substantive of which it is predicated.
Joh 7:29 . I (antithesis to ) know Him, for I am from Him, have come forth from Him (as in Joh 4:46 ); and no other than He (from whom I am) hath sent me . This weighty, and therefore independent ., not to be taken as dependent upon , comprehends the full explanation of the in its higher sense, which was not known to the , and, with the , bears the seal of immediate certainty. Comp. Joh 8:14 .
[266] Of course in a relative sense, as in Joh 4:22 . If they had possessed the true and full knowledge of God, they would then have recognised the Interpreter of God, and not have rejected Him for such a reason as that in ver. 27. Comp. Joh 8:54-55 ; Mat 11:27 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
28 Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.
Ver. 28. Ye both know me ] Either this is an irony, or else a heavy aggravation of their sin; a proof that they sinned that sin unto death, 1Jn 5:16 , for which there remains no more sacrifice, Heb 10:26 . Two sorts of men in our times are in danger of this sin: 1. Hypocritical professors. 2. Those they call the wits of the world, your most knowing men.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
28, 29. ] , in the same open undisguised manner referred to in above; but , in the course of His teaching.
. ] It has been questioned whether these words are to be taken ironically, interrogatively, or affirmatively. I incline to the last view, for this reason: obviously no very high degree of knowledge whence He was is implied, for they knew not Him that sent Him (see also ch. Joh 8:14 ; Joh 8:19 ), and therefore could not know whence He was , in this sense. The answer is made in their own sense: they knew that He was from Nazareth in Galilee, see Joh 7:41 , and probably that He was called the son of Joseph. In this sense they knew whence He was; but further than this they knew not.
and moreover and besides this not = but .
The sense of must be gathered from the context. I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is ye know Him not; I know Him, for I came from Him, and He sent Me . The matter here impressed on them is the genuineness , the reality of the fact: that Jesus was sent , and there was one who sent Him , though they knew Him not, and consequently knew not . The nearest English word would be real: but this would not convey the meaning perspicuously to the ordinary mind; perhaps the E. V. true is better, provided it be explained to mean objectively , not subjectively , true: really existent , not ‘ truthful ,’ which it may be questioned whether the word will bear, although it is so maintained by Euthym [112] , Cyril, Chrys., Theophylact, Lampe, Baumgarten-Crusius, Tholuck, and many others. See on this, ch. Joh 8:16 and note. With the of the re [113] . omitted the sense becomes more emphatic. It was probably inserted on account of the apparent want of connexion, as has been the case very frequently throughout the Gospel. We have here an instance of a usage of which is very common in St. John, as emphasizing the main subject, not (as more commonly) diverting the attention to one more removed. In ignorance of this usage, Hilgenfeld, “Die Evangelia nach ihrer Entstehung, u. s. w.,” has argued from ch. Joh 19:35 , that the writer of this Gospel cannot himself have been an eye-witness of the crucifixion, because he there distinguishes that witness by from himself. In consequence of this assertion, an article appeared in the Stud. u. Kritik. for 1859, pt. 3, by G. E. Steiss, in which the use of by St. John is gone into, and Hilgenfeld’s mistake (which Kstlin had committed before him) was exposed. Referring to that article for the full treatment of the subject, I merely cite from among many other instances of the usage, ch. Joh 1:18 ; Joh 1:33 ; Joh 5:11 ; Joh 6:57 ; Joh 10:1 ; Joh 12:48 ; Joh 14:12 ; Joh 14:21 ; Joh 14:26 ; Joh 17:24 .
[112] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
[113] The Textus Receptus or received text of the Greek Testament. Used in this Edition when elz and Steph agree
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
cried = cried aloud.
taught = was teaching.
true. Greek. alethinos (App-175.) See note on Joh 1:9.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
28, 29.] ,-in the same open undisguised manner referred to in above; but , in the course of His teaching.
.] It has been questioned whether these words are to be taken ironically, interrogatively, or affirmatively. I incline to the last view, for this reason:-obviously no very high degree of knowledge whence He was is implied, for they knew not Him that sent Him (see also ch. Joh 8:14; Joh 8:19), and therefore could not know whence He was, in this sense. The answer is made in their own sense:-they knew that He was from Nazareth in Galilee, see Joh 7:41,-and probably that He was called the son of Joseph. In this sense they knew whence He was; but further than this they knew not.
and moreover-and besides this-not = but.
The sense of must be gathered from the context. I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is -ye know Him not; I know Him,-for I came from Him, and He sent Me. The matter here impressed on them is the genuineness, the reality of the fact:-that Jesus was sent, and there was one who sent Him, though they knew Him not, and consequently knew not . The nearest English word would be real: but this would not convey the meaning perspicuously to the ordinary mind;-perhaps the E. V. true is better, provided it be explained to mean objectively, not subjectively, true: really existent, not truthful, which it may be questioned whether the word will bear, although it is so maintained by Euthym[112], Cyril, Chrys., Theophylact, Lampe, Baumgarten-Crusius, Tholuck, and many others. See on this, ch. Joh 8:16 and note. With the of the re[113]. omitted the sense becomes more emphatic. It was probably inserted on account of the apparent want of connexion, as has been the case very frequently throughout the Gospel. We have here an instance of a usage of which is very common in St. John, as emphasizing the main subject, not (as more commonly) diverting the attention to one more removed. In ignorance of this usage, Hilgenfeld, Die Evangelia nach ihrer Entstehung, u. s. w., has argued from ch. Joh 19:35, that the writer of this Gospel cannot himself have been an eye-witness of the crucifixion, because he there distinguishes that witness by from himself. In consequence of this assertion, an article appeared in the Stud. u. Kritik. for 1859, pt. 3, by G. E. Steiss, in which the use of by St. John is gone into, and Hilgenfelds mistake (which Kstlin had committed before him) was exposed. Referring to that article for the full treatment of the subject, I merely cite from among many other instances of the usage, ch. Joh 1:18; Joh 1:33; Joh 5:11; Joh 6:57; Joh 10:1; Joh 12:48; Joh 14:12; Joh 14:21; Joh 14:26; Joh 17:24.
[112] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116
[113] The Textus Receptus or received text of the Greek Testament. Used in this Edition when elz and Steph agree
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 7:28. , cried) with great earnestness, for the salvation of men; also on account of the great number of His auditors. Christ cried by no means often; Mat 12:19, He shall not strive, nor cry, neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets: For which reason the cries, which He did utter, had a weighty cause in each instance. See presently after Joh 7:37, In the last day-of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink; Joh 11:43, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth; Joh 12:44, Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on Me, believeth not on Me, but on Him that sent Me; Heb 5:7, When He had offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto Him that was able to save Him from death; Mat 27:50, Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.-, both me) There are persons, who suppose irony to be employed here: but you will never find an instance of our Lord having employed irony. The speech of the Jews had had two parts, this man and the Christ: in reply to which at Joh 7:27, the speech of our Lord has also two parts, the both Me and [I am not come] of Myself. The former makes a concession, and leaves the question of knowledge concerning Jesus and His birth, regarded from an external point of view, in some measure where he found it; for His wont is never Himself to bring it forward; comp. 2Co 5:16, Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more; but He denies that they have a just [correct] knowledge of Himself as sent by the Father; comp. Joh 7:33, etc., I go unto Him that sent Me; and Joh 7:36, What manner of saving is this that He said, Ye shall seek Me and shall not find Me, and where I am, thither ye cannot come; chap. Joh 8:14, Ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.- ) and yet I am not come of Myself, as ye suppose.-, true) This truth is of more consequence than that truly; Do the rulers know truly that this is the Christ?- , whom ye know not) We must understand after this the clause which follows, that I am from Him, and that He has sent Me. The very demand of the Jews concerning Christ, expressed at Joh 7:27, was realized in Jesus, When Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence He is.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 7:28
Joh 7:28
Jesus therefore cried in the temple, teaching and saying, Ye both know me, and know whence I am; and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.-Jesus knew what was passing in their minds and agreed that they knew in one sense whence he was, yet insisted that he had not come of his own will and they did not know him who had sent him. In that sense they did not know whence he was, or did not know God his Father.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Ye both: Joh 1:46, Joh 8:14, Mat 2:23, Luk 2:4, Luk 2:11, Luk 2:39, Luk 2:51
and I: Joh 3:2, Joh 5:43, Joh 8:16, Joh 8:42, Joh 10:36, Joh 12:49, Joh 14:10, Joh 14:31
is true: Joh 3:33, Joh 5:32, Joh 8:26, Rom 3:4, 2Co 1:18, Tit 1:2, Heb 6:18, 1Jo 5:10
whom: Joh 8:19, Joh 8:54, Joh 8:55, Joh 16:3, Joh 17:3, Joh 17:25, 1Sa 2:12, Psa 9:10, Pro 2:3-5, Jer 9:6, Jer 31:34, Hos 4:1, Hos 5:4, Hos 6:3-6, Mat 11:27, Luk 10:22, Act 17:23, Rom 1:28, 2Co 4:6, 1Jo 2:3, 1Jo 2:4
Reciprocal: Isa 45:19 – spoken Mar 14:49 – was Joh 7:37 – and cried Joh 11:42 – that thou Joh 12:44 – cried Joh 14:24 – and Joh 18:20 – I spake Rev 7:13 – whence
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The Living Water
Joh 7:28-39
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
1. Did the rulers know that Jesus was the Christ? They should have known it. They saw the works which He did, and His works showed that He was the Christ. He Himself said, “Believe Me * *: or else believe Me for the very works’ sake.” He also said that whatsoever the Father did, these things also the Son doeth. If the Father raised the dead, so also the Son quickened whomsoever He would. If the Father had life in Himself, so also had the Son. The miracles which He wrought declared Him as Son of God, for He wrought works that none other ever did.
The rulers should have known it. Christ was, in every detail, the fulfillment of the Prophets, which were read every Sabbath Day in the Temple. They themselves fulfilled the Prophets by their treatment of Him. How could they be so blind? The rulers knew what the Prophets said as to the city of His birth, for they told the Wise Men, and Herod that He was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea.
2. What Christ said of the knowledge of the rulers. Joh 7:28 tells the story: “Ye both know Me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is true, whom ye know not.”
Yes, the rulers knew, but they refused to believe. The things concerning Christ were not done in a corner. His birth was in plain and definite fulfillment of prophecy, and it was accompanied by an open and avowed annunciation of angel hosts in the suburbs of Bethlehem, upon the fields of the shepherds. The Wise Men of the East knew, and came to worship Him; the rulers knew, and worshiped Him not.
Some can preach an orthodox sermon, and yet their own sermon is to them no more than sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. Historically, they acknowledge the great facts of the Word and its Christ; yet doctrine to them is a mere creedal acknowledgment, without any vital power in its message.
The Lord said to the disciples, “Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not?” Without any hesitancy we can say as much of a great part of the church of today. They know the Scripture, “Ye must be born again,” yet the new birth is experimentally foreign to them. They know the Scripture, “Who healeth all thy diseases,” but they know nothing of His healing power. They know the Scripture, “Behold, I come quickly,” but they do not accept His Coming.
I. SEEKING CHRIST IN VAIN (Joh 7:33-34)
The Lord Jesus said: “Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto Him that sent Me. Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.”
All this suggests that light rejected brings darkness. It has always been so. When anyone turns away from the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, he will soon find himself engulfed in error. In Second Thessalonians is the expression, “They received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.”
When we think of heathendom, in its present-hour world condition, and in its ignorance of God, we must remember that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God.
Thus it is with this age. The people have known God. Our own country was established by the Puritans who feared the Lord; slowly, but surely, they have wandered away from the truth of God into a cold formalism, which is deepening rapidly into a stoic unbelief.
Let us mark the result of failure to believe. Christ said, “Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me.” That is the first statement. When men know the truth but follow it not, they will soon become hardened against truth; and the Lord God will refuse to give them light. We read, in the Book of Amos, of certain ones who will seek the Word, but will find it not.
There is a second result: “Where I am, thither ye cannot come.” Think of it. Shut out, and shut out eternally. Lost, and lost without one ray of hope. They refused Christ and now they are refused. They shut the door to Him, and now the door is shut to them. They seek, but they seek too late. They cannot find Him. They want to enter in, but the door is closed.
It is like the ark of Noah’s day. The people would not go in, when the door was open, because of their unbelief. When the deluge, however, began to engulf them, they could not go in because God had shut the door.
II. A UNIVERSAL CALL (Joh 7:37)
1. What Christ saw. The last day of the Jewish feast had come. It was the great day of the feast. The Lord Jesus saw the people wearied and thirsty as the populace rushed hither and thither. It was then that His heart was stirred within Him. It is always so. Our Lord is a Lord of great compassion, and of unbounding pity. He saw and He sorrowed; He saw and He cried out.
2. What Christ said. We wish to divide the cry of our Lord into two statements:
(1) “If any man thirst.” This seems to be, at first, a universal call, because the Lord said, “If any man.” A little deeper look, however, circumscribes the “any man” to the one who thirsts.
This same truth is set forth in Joh 3:16. The Gospel call is unto “whosoever.” However, it is “whosoever” circumscribed by the word “believeth.” God does not ever suggest that all will be saved. He does suggest that ail who believe will be saved. The “whosoever” and the if “any man” are all-inclusive, and yet, from among the “whosoever” and the “any man” it is only the one who drinks, or the one who believes, that may come.
In the last chapter of the Bible it is plainly written, “whosoever will, let him take the Water of Life freely.” Of course, the “whosoever” is once more shut up to the willingness of the individual to come.
(2) “Let him come unto Me.” Is it not written, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out”? That same truth is tucked away in this Scripture. Any thirsty soul may come unto Him if he will come.
If someone argues that Joh 7:36 says, “Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me,” it must be remembered that these cannot find Him, because they refused to seek Him at the first. They cannot now come because they would not come when they might have come.
Joh 7:36 also carries with it the thought that they sought Him, not because they loved Him, but because they feared Him.
The people in Noah’s day no doubt sought to enter into the ark after the flood came, but they sought in vain, because they refused to enter in before the flood forced them to seek to enter through fear.
Christ is giving an invitation, in Joh 7:37, to the truly thirsty to come and drink.
III. SHUT UP TO FAITH (Joh 7:38)
It seems to me that the expression, “He that believeth on Me” should be added to Joh 7:37, thus: “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink; he that believeth on Me.” In Joh 1:12 we read: “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His Name.” This verse in Joh 7:1-53 may read the same way: “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink, even he that believeth on Me.”
In any event, the drinking is shut up to the one who believeth on Him. None other would come and none other would drink. With this before us, let us observe:
1. The blessings of the Gospel are for those alone who believe. We are shut up to faith. Unbelief never gets anything from God. It is written: “He that wavereth * * let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.”
It is according to our faith that it is to be unto us. He that believeth hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not shall be damned.
However, it is not in salvation alone we are shut up to faith. The blessings that ensue, and that belong to the believer, are for the most part, also shut up to faith. Take healing: it is written, “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.”
It is written again, “By faith Abel”; “By faith Enoch”; “By faith Noah”; “By faith Abraham”; etc. He that believeth is he who enters into the blessings of God; but he that believeth not, cuts himself off from those blessings.
2. The specific blessing of our verse refers to the drinking of Living Waters. Joh 7:38 says, “As the Scripture hath said, out of His belly shall flow rivers of Living Water.” We have capitalized the pronoun “His” because it is from Christ, primarily, that the Living Waters flow. He is the source of all blessing. Of course, the Waters likewise flow from us as we receive them from Him, and gave them to others. We are not the source of that Living Water, that carries blessings whithersoever it goes; we are merely the channels through which they flow.
IV. THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST (Joh 7:39)
Joh 7:39 reads: “(But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”
1. The Holy Spirit is described as “Rivers of Living
Water,” because it was of the Spirit that Christ spoke. We know, therefore, that the Spirit, the promise of the Father, was poured forth from Heaven above. We know, also, that the Spirit came to indwell our innermost beings, and that He came to bless us that we might be made a blessing.
The beautiful symbolism of Joh 7:38 is made clear in Joh 7:39. The Rivers of Water which bless others, are the attributes of the Holy Spirit, which He sheds abroad in and through us. A similar statement is found in Galatians where we read that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, etc.
These are the virtues made real in us by the Holy Ghost which flows from us to a world darkened by sin.
2. Ezekiel gives a wonderful description of the flowing of these Waters. Chapter 47 says that the waters issued out from under the threshold of the house, eastward. They flowed with ever increasing depth and width. Then we find the statement “These waters * * go down into the desert, and go into the sea.” Then comes the remarkable phrase, “Every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live.”
To us this is exceedingly suggestive. The Holy Spirit begins to flow rivers of blessing from us when He is exalted to the throne of our hearts. He goes forth into the deserts of the world with blessing. Everything that He touches lives. Every miry place and every marsh is healed. In Ezekiel, on either side of the river there were all trees for meat. Their leaves did not fade, and their fruit could not be consumed.
Would that God would give us such lives as these.
3. The Spirit-filled life is the dominant need of every believer. Unless we are filled with the Spirit we cannot get God’s best, neither can we prove ourselves able to give forth God’s best. No wonder the Bible says, “Be filled with the Spirit.”
V. WHAT THINK YE OF CHRIST? (Joh 7:40-43)
1. Many said, “He is a Prophet.” In Joh 7:43 we read, “There was a division among the people because of Him.” Some said that He was this, some said that He was that. Some acclaimed Him a man, some thought Him more than a man. Just now we have before us the statement of Joh 7:40 : “Many of the people therefore, * * said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.”
You remember on one occasion how the Lord said, “Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?” Peter immediately replied, “Some say that Thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the Prophets.” Of course, this conception of Christ did by no means tell the truth. The Prophets were great men, but they were not worthy to unloose the latchet of the shoes of Christ. The Prophets were not Christ because they spoke of the coming of Christ.
We would not take from the Prophets the glory which is their due. They served their Lord through sufferings, deprivations, and misunderstandings. They never failed to declare the whole counsel of God. To them a rich reward awaits.
However, he who would make Christ a man, even the greatest or the best among men, is guilty of humanizing Deity. He is dragging the Lord Jesus down into the realm of sinnerhood, and accordingly he is robbing Him of His Saviourhood.
Every one of us must either acclaim Christ God, or else we are making Him a religious imposter, who set Himself up as having come forth from God, and as being God, filled with the attributes of God. To say that He is a Prophet is not enough.
2. Others said, “This is the Christ.” These went far beyond those of Joh 7:40, who classed Him with the Prophets. The word “Christ” means “the Anointed of God.” Jesus was the Christ. The angels so announced Him to the shepherds, saying, “Unto you is born * * a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”
The men of our verse made their statement of faith, only to have it denied. The verse continues: “But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?”
It is passing strange that those who were quoting the Scriptures knew not that Christ fulfilled the Scriptures. He who was announced to be born in Bethlehem, had been born in Bethlehem. He whom they said should have been of the seed of David, was of the seed of David. They erred because they had not been properly instructed by the rabbis. The rulers of the Jews had never told the people the truth concerning Christ.
VI. THE CHRIST REJECTERS (Joh 7:44)
We have just seen how some of the people said Christ was a Prophet; some said He was the Christ; and now we read in Joh 7:44, “And some of them would have taken Him; but no man laid hands on Him.”
1. They hated Him without a cause. There was never, at any time, anyone who could find fault with Him, They did finally suborn witnesses and paid them to testify against Christ; however, none ever could say anything against Him, save that He said He was the Son of God. The truth is, they crucified Him because they were envious of Him. His holiness laid bare their lack of holiness; His purity condemned their impurity; His gentleness displayed their severity. It was because the common people heard Him gladly that the chief priests and the Pharisees and the rulers would have nothing to do with Him.
2. They sought to take Him, but His hour had not yet come. The officers were sent to arrest Christ. When they returned the chief priests and Pharisees said, “Why have ye not brought Him?” “The officers answered, Never man spake like this Man.” Instead of finding fault with Him, they praised Him. When, finally, He was to be crucified, Pilate said, “I find in Him no fault at all.” And, later, as He hung upon the Cross in death, the centurion said: “Truly this was the Son of God.”
3. They could not deny the words of the officers. Let us look a little more closely into the statement, “Never man spake like this Man.” This statement has remained unchallenged. We accept it in this the twentieth century at its full face value. No one ever did speak as He spoke. No one ever spoke the truth as He spoke it. No one ever spoke with the authority with which He spoke. No one ever spoke with the certainty with which He spoke. No one ever spoke looking into the future as He looked, and looking:, spoke of the things to come.
It is blessed to recognize that even those who were sent to take Christ by force, returned saying, “Never man spake like this Man.”
VII. NICODEMUS SPEAKS FOR CHRIST (Joh 7:48-53)
1. The rebuff of the Pharisees. When the officers said, “Never man spake like this Man” the Pharisees said, “Are ye also deceived?” Then they added with scorn, “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him?” In other words, the final test in Israel was whether the religious leaders believed or rejected the Son of God.
The people were supposed to do as they did, to accept what they accepted, and to reject what they rejected. They put themselves up as the final word on every issue. This same spirit of ecclesiasticism prevails at this present hour. The laity are expected to take as final every decision of the ecclesiastical headship.
2. The plea of Nicodemus. The man who came to Jesus by night said, “Doth our Law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth.” Mark you, the Pharisees had said, “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him?” And here was one of them who did believe. When he spoke up in behalf of his Lord, they answered and said unto him, “Art thou also of Galilee. Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no Prophet.” After that every man went to his own house.
Nicodemus had broken up, for the time, the opposition. In doing so, however, he himself was maligned.
One of the things which mark every age is the fact that a few men want to set themselves up as lords over the populace. They want to keep in their power the very thoughts and actions of those whom they deem inferior to themselves.
The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Herodians, were of this group. They could say, “Why do Thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?” In other words, they placed the tradition of the elders in Israel above the Lord. They denied Christ’s Headship, and acclaimed their own.
The Lord looked at them and said: “In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Even the disciples were troubled and said to the Lord, “Knowest Thou that the Pharisees were offended?” They seemed to feel that whatever the Pharisees demanded, should be granted. The Lord saith unto the disciples, “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” Thus it was that the Lord was finally rejected by men.
AN ILLUSTRATION
Water satisfies the thirsty soul: so does Christ satisfy the heart that trusts Him.
A certain man on the Malabar coast, had inquired of various devotees and priests, how he might make atonement for his sins. At last he was directed to the following means: He was to drive iron spikes, sufficiently blunted, through his sandals. On these spikes he was to place his naked feet, and to walk 480 miles. If, through loss of blood or weakness of body, he was obliged to halt, he might wait for healing and strength. He undertook the journey; and while he halted under a large shady tree, where the Gospel was sometimes preached, one of the missionaries came and preached in his hearing from the words: “The Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1Jn 1:7). While he was preaching, the man rose up, threw off his torturing sandals, and cried aloud, “This is what I want”; and he became a lively witness that the Blood of Jesus Christ does cleanse from all sin indeed. Has it cleansed you?
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
8
In the first part of this verse Jesus agrees with their statement, that they knew him and whence he had come. However, that applied only to his earthly family life, which is commented upon in the preceding paragraph. But as to his divine origin and personality, they did not know him because they did not know his Father.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.
[He that sent me is true, whom ye know not.] “The men of Judea may be credited as to the purity of the wine and the oil.” Gloss: “Even the people of the land, the very vulgar sort, may be credited for the purity of the wine and the oil, which is dedicated by them to the altar in the time of the vintage or pressing.”
Men not known by name or face to the priests, yet if they offered wine or oil, were credited as to the purity and fitness of either, from their place of habitation. There are numberless instances of men, though perfectly unknown, yet that may be credited, either as to tithes, or separating the Trumah; or giving their testimony, etc. To the same sense our Saviour, Joh 5:31, “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true”; i.e. in your judicatories it is not of any value with you, where no one is allowed to be a witness for himself. And in this place, “‘He that hath sent me,’ although you know him not, yet ‘is he true, or worthy belief,’ however I myself may not be so amongst you.”
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Joh 7:28-29. Jesus therefore cried in the temple-courts teaching and saying. Knowing that such words were in the mouths of the people of Jerusalem, Jesus cried aloud in the hearing of all. The word teaching may seem unnecessary: it appears to be added in order to link what is here said to the teaching of Joh 7:14; Joh 7:16 : what He says is no chance utterance, but forms part of the teaching designed for this festival.
Ye Doth know me, and ye know whence I am. Jesus allows that they had a certain knowledge of Him, but He does this for the purpose of showing immediately thereafter that it was altogether inadequate and at fault. It was indeed important in one respect, for it involved the acknowledgment of His true humanity; but, denying all else, refusing to recognise Him in His higher aspect, scouting His claims to be the Sent of God, the expression of the eternal Father, it was really no more than an outward and carnal knowledge of Him. There seems to be a distinction between whence I am and whence I come (Joh 8:14). The latter includes more directly the idea of the Divine mission of Jesus.
And I have not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me. Words containing that true knowledge of Jesus which these men of Jerusalem had not. It consists in recognising in Him the Sent of Him who is true, not merely veracious or faithful, but real, who is the ground and essence of all reality, the only living and true God. In this respect those to whom Jesus was now speaking did not know Him; they beheld the outward man; they did not behold the manifestation of the eternal God. This ignorance, too, arose from the fact that they did not know God Himself. They thought that they knew Him; but they did not, for they had not penetrated to the right conception of His spiritual, righteous nature,a nature corresponding only to eternal realities, to what is true. Not knowing God, how could they know Jesus who manifested the true God, who was from the true God, and whom the true God sent? Had they known the One they would have recognised the Other (chap. Joh 5:37, Joh 8:19). The words of Joh 7:28-29 are thus words of sharp reproof.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Joh 7:28. Then cried Jesus Probably with a loud and earnest voice, and with allusion to the words which they had just spoken in a private manner to each other, and which they imagined he could not have heard, as he taught in the temple at some distance from them; Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am Or, as it seems the clause should rather be rendered, Do you know both me, and know whence I am? Thus it is read by Doddridge, Wesley, Wynne, and also by Campbell, who observes upon it, As the words are plainly capable of being read as an interrogation, it is, in every respect, most eligible to translate them so in this place. In the way they are commonly rendered they contain a direct contradiction to what our Lord says, Joh 8:14; Joh 8:19. Nor does it satisfy that both may be true in different senses, since these different senses do not appear from the context. Nay, in effect, he contradicts them in the same breath, inasmuch as he tells the people, that they know not him who sent him. When they said, We know whence this man is, the same thing was evidently meant as when they said, (Joh 6:42,) Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? Now our Lord tells them plainly, that they did not know his father, and consequently could not tell whence (that is, of what parentage) he was. And I am not come of myself With vain and false pretences to a divine mission; but he that sent me And gives daily proof thereof, by the miracles which I perform in his name; is true And therefore will not bear witness to a deceiver. Or, as the words may be paraphrased, Though you pretend to know me and whence I am, it does not follow that I am destitute of the prophetical characters of the Messiah, and an impostor, come to you of my own accord. I am really sent to you by God, who is true in all the prophecies he uttered by his servants concerning the Messiah, for they are all fulfilled in me. But him you know not On the contrary, You are wholly ignorant of his blessed perfections and gracious counsels, and have no inclination to obey his will.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 28, 29. Jesus cried therefore, teaching in the temple and saying: You both know me and you know whence I am: and yet I am not come of myself; but he who sent me is competent, whom you know not. 29. As for me, I know him; for I come from him and he sent me.
Jesus taking this objection as a starting-point (therefore), pronounces a new discourse which relates, no longer to the origin of His doctrine, but to that of His mission and of His person itself. The term , he cried, expresses a high elevation of the voice, which is in harmony with the solemnity of the following declaration. The words: in the temple, call to mind the fact that it was under the eyes and even in the hearing of the rulers that Jesus spoke in this way (comp. Joh 7:32). Jesus enters here, as in Joh 7:16, into the thought of His adversaries; He accepts the objection in order to turn it into a proof in His favor. In the first place, He repeats their assertion. The repetition of their own words, as well as the two which introduce the first two clauses, give to this affirmation an interrogative and slightly ironical turn: You both know me, and you know…? This form of expression reveals an intention of setting forth a false claim on their part, for the purpose of afterwards confuting it. The third , and, forms an antithesis to the first two and begins the reply of Jesus.
This is, with shades of difference, the sense given by most of the interpreters. Meyer and Weiss think that it is better to see in the first two clauses a concession: Yes, no doubt you do know my person and my origin up to a certain point; but this is only one side of the truth; there is a higher side of it which you do not know and which is this. But it would have been difficult for His hearers to get this idea: You know me; but you do not know me. Jesus rejects the very premises of their argument; and to the fact alleged by them He opposes a directly contrary one: You think you know me, but you do not know me, either as to my mission or as to my origin (Joh 7:29). And as they seem to suppose that He has given Himself His commission, He adds: I have one sending me, and this one is the veritable sender, that is to say, He who alone has the power to give divine missions.
The adjective has not here, any more than elsewhere, the sense of , true, as a large number of interpreters from Chrysostom to Baumlein have thought. Jesus does not mean to say that the Being who sends Him is morally true; no more does He mean that He is real (see my 2d ed.), that is, that He is not imaginary, and consequently that His mission is not fictitious and a matter purely of the imagination; this is not what signifies. But the sense is: The one sending me is the true sender. The last words: whom you know not, are very severe. How can Jesus charge Jews with not knowing Him of whom they make it their boast to be the only worshipers? But this strange ignorance is nevertheless the true reason why they cannot discern the divine origin of His mission. At the same time He shows them thereby, with much acuteness, that the very criterion by which they intend to deny Him, as Messiah, is precisely that which marks Him as such. In fact the postulate which is laid down by the Jews themselves, in Joh 7:27, is found thereby to be only too fully realized! It is an argument ad hominem, which Jesus allows Himself because He finds thus the means of presenting to this company of people the notion of the Messiah in its most exalted light, as He does in the following verses.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
7:28 {12} Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.
(12) The truth of Christ does not depend upon the judgment of man.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Whenever John described Jesus as crying out, an important public pronouncement followed (cf. Joh 1:15; Joh 7:37; Joh 12:44). Jesus said that His hearers did know Him. Probably He meant that they knew who He was superficially (cf. Joh 7:24) and knew that He had an earthly origin (Joh 6:42), but they knew less than they thought. Jesus was speaking ironically. They did not know the One who had sent Him, though Jesus did because He had come from that One.
The One who had sent Jesus was true (Gr. alethinos, real). Jesus meant that God really had sent Him regardless of what others might think about His origins. Unfortunately they did not know the One who had sent Him even though they prided themselves on knowing the true God (cf. Rom 2:17-19). They did not know God because they did not know their Scriptures (cf. Joh 5:46). They did not know Jesus because they did not know the Father who had sent Him. In Joh 7:16 Jesus disclaimed originality for his teaching, and here he disclaimed responsibility for his mission. [Note: Morris, p. 366.]
"He was once again claiming to be God! He was not simply born into this world like any other human; He was sent to earth by the Father. This means that He existed before He was born on the earth." [Note: Wiersbe, 1:317.]