JESUS’S IDENTITY QUESTIONED IN JERUSALEM

JOHN 7:40–53

The discussion of Jesus’s identity is the heart of John 7. Jesus had come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, and while there he spoke of his legitimacy and authority with increasingly clear language before large crowds. He said such things as, “I know him because I am of him and he sent me” (John 7:29; see also John 5:24). John’s Gospel mentions two very different groups, the people of the land (Hebrew, ha-am ha-aretz) and the religious leaders, each of whom questioned how Jesus’s messianic claims could coincide with his Galilean background.

The people of the land from Judea were divided as to Jesus’s identity. Some recognized him to be a prophet and the Messiah (Deut. 18:15–19; John 5:45–47; 7:40–41), while others questioned his identity due to his Galilean background, asking a very important question: “How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” (John 7:41–42).12

The religious leaders in Jerusalem mocked and cursed the people of the land for their ignorance of the Torah (John 7:49). In this situation, however, some of the people of the land demonstrated a deeper understanding of God’s promises. They knew the prophecy of Micah (Mic. 5:2) that pointed to Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born (John 7:42). But others ignored that fact and viewed Jesus only as a Galilean from Nazareth.13

Galilean farmers working in the field in the early 1900s. The ha-am ha-aretz (Hebrew for “the people of the land”) were farmers of the land.

Jerusalem (aerial view looking northeast).

The Temple leadership had a bigger problem to overcome—it too was related to Jesus’s Galilean connection. With the exception of those like Nicodemus, the religious leaders of Jerusalem rejected the claims Jesus and others made regarding his identity. They were not even willing to extend a hearing to Jesus in order to inquire more carefully into the matter—a hearing that their own law required (John 7:50–51). When Nicodemus raised this issue, the prejudice of these religious leaders against Galileans became obvious: “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee” (John 7:52).

There were a number of reasons why those in Judea generally held Galileans in contempt.14 This region had historically been more open to Gentile invasion and influence and so was known as “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Matt. 4:15). Moreover, at this point, fewer priests lived in the Galilee region, so its residents were less likely to come to the Temple for all the required pilgrimages due to its distance. As a result, those in Galilee were viewed as less committed to the laws that were taught by the Temple leadership.15 Discarding the contributions of Jonah, who was from the Galilean village of Gath Hepher (2 Kings 14:25; Jonah 1–4), three and a half miles from Nazareth, many Temple leaders mistakenly concluded that a prophet of value could not come from such a place. So certain religious leaders and people of the day would not accept Jesus’s true identity because of his Galilean connections and their own ignorance or unwillingness.

Praying at the western wall of the Temple Mount.

Hill above Bethsaida in Galilee, the possible location of the feeding of the 5,000, where the people wanted to make Jesus king.