Tag Archives: Jesus’s Identity

John 7:25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?
26 And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?
27 But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.”
28 So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.
29 I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.”
30 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
31 Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?” ESV

What is the general theme of the passage?
Jesus speaks openly in the Temple to identify Himself. The people know about the hostility of the authorities toward Him.  Jesus’s openness in the presence of real danger to His life has caused people to wonder whether the fact that “no one laid a hand on him” is evidence that maybe “the authorities really know that this is the Christ.” Jesus is asking them to believe He is the link God has sent them to be visible proof of a relationship between themselves and the true God.

What does it say about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit?)
Jesus’s identity is widely known because of the miraculous signs He has done.  Jesus now identifies Himself as having come from, and being sent by God to teach them there is more to “He who sent me…and him you do not know.”  Jesus is in mortal danger  because of that.

What does it say about people?
People have questions.
“Is not this the man whom they seek to kill?
Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?
When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

Is there truth here for me?
It’s easy to place my confidence in what I already know.  What I know is evidence I have seen what Jesus can do!  But what I already know can become a barrier that distracts me from recognizing Jesus when He shows up in unexpected places with unfamiliar truth.  The real “sign” of  faith is not how much I know but recognizing it’s His identity that’s the “more”  Jesus wants me to see.  That’s the my own personal miraculous sign!