João 2
Leon Morris · Citado em PreceptAustin
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Morris - This meant more than the disruption of the festivities. It did mean this. The rabbis could say, “there is no rejoicing save with wine” (Pes. 109a). This does not point to carousing, for drunkenness was severely reprobated, and wine was normally well watered, the usual dilution being one part wine to three parts water (Soncino Talmud, Pes. p. 561, n. 7). But wine was a symbol. Its absence would mar so joyous an occasion as a wedding feast. There was something of a slur on the hosts, for they had not fully discharged the duties of hospitality. (BORROW The Gospel according to John) Tenney - To fail in providing adequately for the guests would involve social disgrace. In the closely knit communities of Jesus’ day such an error would never be forgotten, and would haunt the newly married couple all their lives.
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Morris adds the comment "That Jesus calls Mary 'Woman' and not 'Mother' probably indicates that there is a new relationship between them as he enters his public ministry." (BORROW The Gospel according to John) NET Note - The term Woman is Jesus' normal, polite way of addressing women (Matt 15:28, Luke 13:12; John 4:21; 8:10; 19:26; 20:15). But it is unusual for a son to address his mother with this term. The custom in both Hebrew (or Aramaic) and Greek would be for a son to use a qualifying adjective or title. Is there significance in Jesus' use here? It probably indicates that a new relationship existed between Jesus and his mother once he had embarked on his public ministry. He was no longer or primarily only her son, but the "Son of Man." This is also suggested by the use of the same term in Jn 19:26 in the scene at the cross, where the beloved disciple is "given" to Mary as her "new" son. What does that have to do with us? - More literally it was a Hebraic idiom that read “What to me and to you?” and means in essence “What do we have in common?" (cf. Jdg. 11:12; 2 Sa 16:10; 19:22; 1 Ki 17:18; 2 Ki 3:13; 2 Chr. 35:21; Mt. 8:29; Mk 1:24; 5:7; Lk 4:34; 8:28;). Jesus' point is that Mary was no longer to think of Him as her son, for now He was consumed with the consummation of His commission and mission, to die for the sins of the world that He might be the Redeemer of all who believe in Him. It is interesting that the demons spoke similar words when confronted by Christ ("What business do we have with each other," in Mk 1:24+, Mk 5:7+) COMMENT - It is notable that the expression what does that have to do with us is repeatedly spoken by the demons when Jesus approached. "Our Lord has nothing in common with Satan at all. Christ had nothing in common with Mary because He was the God-man and she was a sinner just like everyone else. Christ was saying, "What authority do you have over me?" There was only one voice that had authority for His ears and that was the voice of God the Father. Jesus could not consent to her authority. He could only consent to His Heavenly Father's authority." (Mattoon) Mt. 8:29 = "What business do we have with each other, Son of God?"; Mk 1:24 =“What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth?"; Mk 5:7 = "“What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?" Lk 4:34 = "What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth?" Lk 8:28 = “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?" John
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Morris - Clay pots could become unclean, and if this happened they must be destroyed (Lev. 11:33). But stone vessels did not become unclean (Kel. 10:1; Par. 3:2). K. E. Bailey says that the average household would have had one such jar, and the rest would have been borrowed (Poet and Peasant [Grand Rapids, 1976], [p. 123, n. 24). (BORROW The Gospel according to John) For the Jewish custom of purification (katharismos) - Ceremonial washings were an integral part of first-century Judaism and purification rites associated with eating and "The half dozen represented a good store of water for carrying out the kind of purification of which we read in Mark 7:1–4+. Before the meal servants would have poured water over the hands of every guest. If there was a large number of guests a good deal of water would have been needed." (Morris BORROW The Gospel according to John) Mark 7:3-4+ writes "(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.)" Matthew 15:1-2+ adds... "Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, "Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” Nelson's NKJV Study Bible on the Jewish custom of purification - Jewish tradition required several kinds of ceremonial washings. Strict Jews washed their hands before a meal, between courses, and after the meal. This “purifying” extended not only to washing hands, but also to washing cups and vessels (see Mark 7:3, 4). Because the roads were not paved and people wore sandals, water was needed for foot washing. At a large Jewish wedding, a large amount of water would have been required. (BORROW NKJV Study Bible) Thomas
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Morris - This is the first of the seven great "miracles," or "signs" (same Greek word) which John describes in order to persuade his readers to believe in Jesus Christ (John 20:30,31). Like the other six (John 4:49-54; 5:5-9; 6:5-14; 6:16-21; 9:1-7; 11:41-44), this first miracle was a miracle of creation (as distinct from miracles of providence, which only control rates and timing of natural processes). It required the direct creative power of the Creator, superseding the law of entropy to cause an instantaneous increase of complexity, transmuting the simple molecular structure of water into the much more complex structure of new wine. (Defender's Study Bible Notes) Stanley Toussaint writes that "This miracle is commonly viewed as a sign which reveals the Lord Jesus as the Creator. In this miracle He “created” wine—the whole process of growth, bearing fruit, harvest, and production of wine is compressed into a minuscule fragment of time." (The Significance of the First Sign in John's Gospel) David
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Morris commenting that "John called it "the Jews' Passover" rather than "the Lord's passover" (Ex 12:27), probably because he was writing for Gentiles but perhaps also because the Jewish leaders had so corrupted its observance." (DSB)
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Morris - "This visit to Jerusalem and the temple at the beginning of Christ's ministry is recorded only by John as is true with many of the other events and discourses in this Gospel. As the "disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23), John may well have been told more by Jesus and also been able to remember more through the Holy Spirit (John 14:26) than the other writers in order to do this." (Defender's Study Bible Notes) Temple (2413)(hieros) has the a basic meaning what belongs to divinity, sacred, holy and thus is the opposite of bebelos which means profane. It is defined by Louw-Nida as "pertaining to being appropriate for the expression of worship and reverence." In 1 Cor 9:13 hieros refers to the activities in the Temple involving the performance of various rituals. In 2 Ti 3:15 hieros refers to the "sacred writings" (the Holy Scriptures which in context would be the OT Scriptures as that was all that was available to the Jews). Gilbrant writes that "Hieron refers to the entire temple including its precincts and the temple hill or, in a limited sense, any portion of the temple such as the Court of Women (Luke 2:37) where Jesus stood before the altar after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mark 11:11), the Court of the Gentiles out of which Jesus drove the money changers (John 2:15), or the temple proper where the veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was rent (Matthew 27:51). Hieron is only used in a literal sense in the New Testament. This is in contrast to its closely related term naos which is used both literally and figuratively as in 1 Corinthians 3:16: “Ye are the temple (naos) of God.” (Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary) BDAG has separate definitions listed for hieros and hieron, summarized as follows [BDAG] HIERON (substantive neuter of the adjective hieros) sanctuary, temple (a) of Gr-Rom. temples; the temple of Artemis at Ephesus Acts 19:27. (b) of the temple at Jerusalem, including the whole temple precinct w. its buildings, courts, etc. (c) in a general sense, whether polytheistic or monotheistic: 1 Cor 9:13 [BDAG] HIEROS - (1) pert. to being of transcendent purity, holy, adj.. Holy hands, that touch nothing profane 1 Cl 33:4; (2) belonging to the temple and its service, holy thing, subst. ta hiera, J C
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Morris - It is clear that it was not so much the physical force as the moral power he employed that emptied the courts. (BORROW The Gospel according to John) Turner writes "“It was surely the blazing anger of the selfless Christ rather than the weapon which He carried which really cleared the Temple Courts of its noisy, motley throng.” (Jesus Master and Lord) Brian Bell quips "This was “Worship made easy” at its finest! “Drive up, grab a sacrifice, do some worship, we’ll get you home before the game!” And He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables (trapeza) - Jesus poured out their profits on the pavement! Imagine the scene as the crowds scrambled for the coins! Jerome on Jesus' anger - “A certain fiery and starry light shone from his eyes and the majesty of Godhead gleamed in His face.” Ryle on the other hand says that "The allegorical meanings assigned to the sheep, oxen, and doves, by Augustine, Origen, and Bede, are too absurd to be quoted. They may be seen in the Catena of Aquinas." (John 2 Commentary) The Jews were required to pay a temple tax and Money changers were needed because neither Roman denarii (see picture of portraits) and Attic drachmas were permitted to be used in paying the half-shekel temple-tax. Why? Because the coins had the imperial Roman portraits (see picture of Marcus Aurelius) which the Jews considered idolatry). The money changers exchanged these coins for Tyrian coinage at a profit. It is interesting that Tyrian coinage took on the role as the medium of payment for the Temple tax in Jerusalem, and subsequently gained notoriety as a likely mode of payment for Judas Iscariot. Poured out (1632)(ekcheo from ek = out + chéo = pour) means literally to flow out, to gush forth or to pour out . The inherent idea is to cause something to be emitted in quantity. It is a bit ironic that here John uses ekcheo to describe God pouring out His anger on unholy hypocrisy, but in 4 other NT uses ekcheo describes God pouring out His love in giving us the Holy Spirit! (Acts 2:17, 18, 33+ Titus 3:6+)! Money changers (2855)(kollubistes from kollubos = a small coin or rate of change) which Vine says is literally "money-clipper!" Louw-Nida = "one who exchanges currency, either in terms of different types of currency or different values of the same currency." Used 3x in NT - Mt. 21:12; Mk. 11:15; Jn. 2:15 Gilbrant - Kollubistēs is related to kollubos, “a small coin,” plus -tēs, a word ending that indicates one who does something. Consequently, a kollubistēs is “one who works with money.” The term does not appear in the Septuagint and is used in the New Testament only in connection with Jesus’ cleansings of the temple (Mt. 21:12; Mk. 11:15; Jn. 2:15). Since the Law required every Jewish male 20 years and older to pay a half-shekel, money changers were needed for exchanging foreign money into traditional Jewish coinage in order to pay what evidently had become an annual tax. Because Jews would travel to Jerusalem from all parts of the Roman Empire, currency from their home countries was converted to the currency used in Jerusalem. Jesus’ epithet “den of robbers” (cf. Jer 7:11) may reflect the high exchange rate charged for this service—nearly 10 percent.Interestingly John’s Gospel also uses another word in Jn 2:14 for money changer: kermatistēs. It appears only here in the New Testament and not at all in the Septuagint. Like kollubistēs, it is made up of a word for small coin, kerma (2743), and -tēs, the suffix denoting agent. John used them as synonyms for the purposes of this account. (Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary) Overturned (396)(anatrepo from ana = again + trepho = turn) literally means to overturn and is used literally only in Jn 2:15. The only other uses are figurative, of "overturning" (upset) another's faith (2 Ti 2:18+) and "upsetting whole families" (Titus 1:11+) with false teaching. J C
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Morris - Three years later, when Christ came to the temple again and found the situation even worse, He called it "a den of thieves" (Matthew 21:13, quoting Jer 7:11). This coming to the temple may also be considered as a precursive fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies regarding Christ's coming to the future temple (Haggai 2:7; Malachi 3:1-4; Ezekiel 40ff.; especially Ezekiel 43:5). (BORROW The Gospel according to John)
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Morris comments on the irony of "the fact that ultimately the Jews themselves were to be the means of bringing about the sign they asked Jesus to produce, and which they did not recognize when it came. There is further irony in that to put Jesus to death was to offer the one sacrifice that can truly expiate sin, and thus doom the Temple as a place for the offering of sacrifice." (BORROW The Gospel according to John) Jesus answered them, "Destroy (luo) this temple (naos) - Destroy is a command in the aorist imperative. The irony is that about 3 years later the Jews would in effect "obey" Jesus' command and murder their own Messiah!
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Morris points out that the pattern we see in these verses, a saying of Jesus, a complete misunderstanding, and an explanation, recurs in this Gospel (e.g. Jn 3:3ff.; Jn 4:10ff., Jn 4:32ff.; Jn 6:41ff., Jn 6:51ff.; Jn 11:11ff.; Jn 14:7ff.). It is not, of course, confined to John (see, for example, Mark 7:15ff.; Mk 8:15ff.), and we may see in it one of the ways in which Jesus instructed his hearers. (BORROW The Gospel according to John) NET Note According to Josephus (Ant. 15.11.1 [15.380]), work on this temple was begun in the 18th year of Herod the Great's reign, which would have been ca. 19 B.C. (The reference in the Ant. is probably more accurate than the date given in J. W. 1.21.1 [1.401]). Forty-six years later would be around the Passover of A.D. 27/28. Build (3618)(oikodomeo from oikos = dwelling + doma = building from demo = to build; cognate - sunoikodomeo) means literally to build, construct or erect a dwelling. John's only use of this verb. Temple (sanctuary) (3485)(naos) in the Greek culture denoted the "abode of the gods" and was used to refer to a literal structure or building associated with, dedicated to and set apart to be a dwelling place for a deity. either pagan gods (Acts 17:24) or the true God (Mt 23:16). Naos describes the place where a deity was worshipped (cp Zacharias ministering to God in Lk 1:9). Hieron (2413) means holy, hallowed, consecrated and is derived from hieros [2413] which is an adjective meaning sacred, consecrated or belonging to or connected with the gods. The word Hieros or Hieron is distinct from Naos because the former words refer to the complex which is set apart and dedicated to the worship and service of Yahweh. In other words hieron designates the entire sacred enclosure, with its porticos, courts, and other subordinate buildings. Note that Hieron is closely related to hieros (2413) which is the word the NAS translates "Temple."Naos referred to the temple proper, including the inner sanctuary, composed of the outer room, the Holy of Holies and the innermost Holy Place. When our Lord taught in the temple, He taught in the hieron, in one of the temple porches. He expelled the money-changers from the hieron, the court of the Gentiles. When the veil of the temple was rent at the time of the death of our Lord (Mt 27:52), it was the veil of the naos, the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. When Zacharias entered the temple to burn incense (Lk 1:9), he entered the naos, the Holy Place where the altar of incense stood while the multitude were in prayer outside he people were “without,” in the hieron (Lk 1:10). Jesus used naos in a figurative to refer to His body as a temple (Jn 2:19, 20, 21). Paul extends this meaning to the individual believer's body as the dwelling place or inner sanctuary of the Holy Spirit (1Co 6:19), the inner sanctuary of the Holy Spirit. John 2:21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. NET John 2:21 But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. GNT John 2:21 ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἔλεγεν περὶ τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ. NLT John 2:21 But when Jesus said "this temple," he meant his own body. KJV John 2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body. ESV John 2:21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. NIV John 2:21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ASV John 2:21 But he spake of the temple of his body. CSB John 2:21 But He was speaking about the sanctuary of His body. NKJ John 2:21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. NRS John 2:21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. YLT John 2:21 but he spake concerning the sanctuary of his body; NAB John 2:21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. NJB John 2:21 But he was speaking of the Temple that was his body, GWN John 2:21 But the temple Jesus spoke about was his own body. BBE John 2:21 But his words were about that holy building which was his body. He: Joh 1:14 Col 1:19 2:9 Heb 8:2 temple 1Co 3:16 1 Cor 6:19-20 2Co 6:16 Eph 2:20-22 1Pe 2:4,5 John 2 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries JOHN'S EXPLANATION OF JESUS' "PARABLE" The apostle John now gives his own commentary.
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Morris notes that entrusting (pisteuo) "here is the same Greek word as "believe." (pisteuo) Although many in the Jerusalem crowd "believed in his name when they saw the miracles" (John 2:23), Jesus did not "believe" in them because He knew their hearts and knew their outward faith in Him was only superficial." (Defender's Study Bible Notes) For He knew (ginosko) all men - John frequently spoke of special insight possessed by Jesus (Jn 4:17; Jn 5:42; Jn 6:61, 64; Jn 13:1, 11; Jn 18:4). This of course speaks of the divinity of Jesus. (Mt 9:4+; Jn 16:30; Rev 2:23): He knew all men is a statement that was proven several times in John’s Gospel. Jesus knew the character of Simon Peter declaring "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (Jn 1:42+). When "Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” (Jn 1:47+). The Samaritan woman testified "Come, see a Man Who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” (John 4:29+). He knew that the Jewish leaders did not have God’s love in their hearts (Jn 5:42+), and that one of His disciples was not truly a believer (Jn 6:64+). He saw the repentance in the heart of the adulteress (Jn 8:10,11+) and the murder in the hearts of His enemies (Jn 8:40ff+). Several times in the Upper Room message, Jesus revealed to His disciples their own inner feelings and questions. As you follow our Lord’s ministry in John’s Gospel, you see Him moving gradually out of the bright light of popularity and into the dark shadows of rejection (see Jensen's chart at top of page which depicts Jesus popularity). At the beginning, it was easy for people to follow the crowd and watch His miracles. But then, His words began to penetrate and convict their hearts, a point of decision for each person was reached, for conviction leads either to conversion or opposition. Conviction makes it impossible to be neutral about Jesus! People had to decide, and most of them decided against Him. You may say "I have not decided," but be aware (and wary) for such a statement is in fact tantamount to rejection (read and heed 2 Cor 6:2). THOUGHT- Melancthon makes some very wise remarks on this verse, as to the example which our Lord sets us here of caution in dealing with strangers. It is a melancholy fact, which the experience of years always confirms, that we must not trust implicitly to appearances of kindness, or be ready to open our hearts to every one as a friend, upon short acquaintance. The man who does not hastily contract intimacies, may be thought cold and distant by some; but in the long run of life he will escape many sorrows. It is a wise saying, that a man ought to be friendly with all, but intimate with few. (J C Ryle) Leon Morris has an excellent explanation writing that "To believe on the basis of the signs is to take as basic something we can see and to which we give weight on the basis of our experience. Jesus calls people to trust Him for what He is, not because He passes the tests we set. Those who had been attracted by the miracles would have been ready to try to make an earthly king of Him (cf. Jn 6:15). But he did not trust himself to them. He looked for genuine conversion, not enthusiasm for the spectacular." (NICNT-Jn - see context John - Page 182 OR BORROW The Gospel according to John) (Bolding added) DEFICIENT FAITH Faith in Jesus can be deficient in at least two ways. The first occurs when we base our faith on the wrong motives. We should not believe in Jesus because of what he can do for us (or for what miracle he may have done for us); we should believe in him for who he is—the Christ, the Son of God. The second deficiency of faith pictures trust as a point of arrival rather than a point of departure. John described the disciples’ attitude toward Jesus as belief, even though there was a great deal of room for growth. Either of these deficiencies leads to incomplete and immature faith. Does your faith rest on what Christ does for you or on who he is? (Borrow the Life Application Commentary - need to create an account so you can log in) Picture Prior to Evangelistic Tour ILLUSTRATION OF MODERN DAY "UNBELIEVING BELIEVER" – (Click more detailed discussion) The picture above is from 1946 – do you recognize the man on the right? That’s young Billy Graham! The man on the left is Charles Templeton. But first let’s back up! In 1936 at age of 19 Templeton after a night of partying experienced what he called a “profound change!” He said his life seemed “empty, wasted and sordid. It was though a black blanket had been draped over me. A sense of enormous guilt descended and invaded every part of me. I felt unclean.” As he was kneeling at his bedside pleading “Lord come down. Come down.” Then he said a weight was lifted off and “an ineffable warmth began to suffuse every corpuscle of his body.” That was 1936. Then in 1941 Templeton founded a church in Toronto, Canada which grew quickly. In 1945 at Winona Lake, Templeton met with other your fundamentalist leaders including a young Billy Graham to found what we now call Youth For Christ International. It was Templeton who recommended that Graham become the organization’s first evangelist. And together they toured the US and Europe (photo below is before their European trip). During the 1950’s Templeton preached in 14 countries including to some crowds as large as 70,000. One Easter sunrise he preached to 50,000 in the Rose Bowl. It has been said had Templeton continued as an evangelist, we would be asking ourselves “Billy who?” Such was his power and influence. The National Association of Evangelicals in 1946 named Templeton one of the “best used of God.” So what happened? Where is he today? Templeton said that the many years that he preached the Gospel he always doubted the Genesis account of Creation and he secretly rejected the Biblical teaching on divine judgment and hell. In 1957 after a long time of introspection he publicly declared himself to be an agnostic, someone who believes there is a God but cannot really know Him. In 1986 he published his spiritual memoir entitled “Farewell to God – My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith.” In this book he described his pilgrimage from Christian faith to agnosticism to atheism. How does this happen to one of the world’s greatest evangelist, who had dedicated himself to preaching the Gospel and founded organizations to promote the Gospel and even to be an encourager to the man we see as the “poster boy” of evangelism, Billy Graham? Here is a quote from Templeton spoken to Edward Babinski - "When I finally shook free of Christianity, it was like being born again. I began to see all of life differently. The things that had once seemed important now seemed trivial. And things I'd never seen the meaning of or the essence of I began to appreciate for the first time." (Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists by Edward Babinski who has a blog "debunking Christianity" - and so clearly I am not recommended his work but only linking to document the quote) (Click more detailed discussion) Related Resource: Counterfeit New Births - What the New Birth is Not! This section gives an excellent picture of saving faith, of what genuine faith is—of the kind of faith that really saves a person. (see Jn 6:66) 1.Saving faith is not head knowledge, not just a mental conviction and intellectual assent. It is not just believing the fact that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. It is not just believing history, that Jesus Christ lived upon earth as the Savior just as George Washington lived upon earth as the President of America. It is not just believing the words and claims of Jesus in the same way that a person would believe the words of George Washington. 2.Saving faith is believing in Jesus, who and what He is, that He is the Savior and Lord of life. It is a man giving and turning his life over to Jesus. It is a man casting himself upon Jesus as Savior and Lord. 3.Saving faith is commitment—the commitment of a man’s total being and life to Jesus Christ. It is a man’s commitment of all he is and has to Jesus. It gives Jesus everything; therefore, it involves all of a man’s affairs. The man trusts Jesus to take care of his past (sins), his present (welfare), and his future (destiny). He entrusts his whole life, being and possessions into Jesus’ hands. He lays himself upon Jesus’ keeping, confiding in Him about his daily necessities and acknowledging Him in all the ways of life. He follows Jesus in every area and in every detail of life, seeking His instructions and leaving his welfare up to Him. It is simply commitment of a man’s whole being, all he is and has, to Jesus. (Jn 4:50—Heb 5:5-10.) There are three steps involved in faith which alone saves, steps that are clearly seen in this passage. (See Ro 10:16-17 for more discussion.) 1.There is the step of seeing (Jn 2:23) or hearing (Ro 10:16). A man must be willing to listen to the message of Christ, the revelation of truth. 2.There is the step of mental assent. A man must agree that the message is true, that the facts of the case are thus and so. But this is not enough. Mere agreement does not lead to action. Many a person knows that something is true, but he does not change his behavior to match his knowledge. For example, a man knows that eating too much harms his body, but he may continue to eat too much. He agrees to the truth and knows the truth, but he does nothing about it. A person may believe and know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and yet do nothing about it, never make a decision to follow Christ. This man still does not have faith, not the kind of faith that the Bible talks about. 3. There is the step of commitment. When the New Testament speaks of faith, it speaks of commitment, a personal commitment to the truth. A man hears the truth and agrees that it is true and does something about it (See commentary on James 2:14-26). He commits and yields his life to the truth. The truth becomes a part of his very being, a part of his behavior and life. J C
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Morris - This is to be understood in the light of the Old Testament view that God alone knows “the hearts of all men” (1 Kings 8:39). It involves an unobtrusive, but not unimportant, claim about the Person of Jesus. It is probably significant that “what is in the heart of his neighbour” is one of the seven things the rabbis thought of as hidden from people (Mekilta Exod. 16:32). John assigns this knowledge explicitly to Jesus. Odeberg points out that in one place or another John attributes to Jesus knowledge of the other six as well (FG, p. 45). John clearly regards Jesus as possessed of a knowledge that is more than human, but just as clearly he does not regard this as vitiating his real humanity. Jesus’ knowledge is derived from his close communion with his Father (Jn 8:28, 38; 14:10). (NICNT-Jn See context John - Page 183 OR BORROW The Gospel according to John) D A Carson - Many commentators note the partial parallel to v. 25 in the Jewish commentary on Exodus, Mekhilta Exod. 15:23: ‘Seven things are hidden from man—the day of death, the day of consolation, the depths of judgment, one’s reward, the time of restoration of the kingdom of David, the time when the guilty kingdom [i.e. Rome] will be destroyed, and what is within another.’ Scriptural proof for this final ‘unknown’ is elsewhere provided in Genesis Rabbah 65, viz. Jeremiah 17:10, ‘I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind.’ Even in this regard, then, Jesus, far from being limited like other human beings, does what God does (5:19, cf. SB 2. 412). (See context The Gospel According to John) Believer's Study Bible notes that "The contrast is between people who put their trust (pisteuo) in Jesus, and Jesus, who does not put His trust in people because He knows their motives and thoughts. Enthusiasm for the spectacular is present in them, but Jesus looks for genuine faith." (The Believer's Study Bible) J C