How do the feast’s disputes lead to Nicodemus’s question about judgment?

Following these events, Jesus restricted His journeys to Galilee, deliberately avoiding travel in Judea because the authorities there sought an opportunity to put Him to death. As the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles drew near, His kinsmen urged Him to leave Galilee and travel south into Judea so His followers there could witness the miracles He performed, arguing that anyone desiring public prominence ought to act openly rather than in obscurity. Saint John notes that even His own brethren did not yet believe in Him. Jesus responded that His time had not yet come, whereas any time was convenient for them. The world had no reason to hate them, but it hated Him because He testified that its deeds were corrupt. He told them to go up to the festival, explaining that He was not going up to this festival day because His time was not fully accomplished. After His relatives departed, however, Jesus also traveled to Jerusalem, not publicly, but as it were in secret. At the feast, the authorities looked for Him, while diverse opinions circulated through the crowds, some viewing Him as a virtuous man and others asserting that He led the populace astray, though fear of the leaders kept people from discussing Him openly.

Around the middle of the festival, Jesus entered the temple and began to teach publicly. Astonished by His learning, the Jewish leaders wondered how He knew letters without having learned. Jesus explained that the instruction He offered was not His own invention, but originated from the One who sent Him. He declared that anyone resolved to carry out God’s will would discern whether His teaching was divine or merely human. Those who speak on their own authority seek personal acclaim, whereas whoever seeks the glory of the sender speaks truth without injustice. Challenging their fidelity to the Mosaic law, Jesus asked why they sought to kill Him if they truly observed the law. When the crowd dismissed His words, claiming He was possessed by a demon and questioning who sought His life, Jesus reminded them of the Sabbath healing He had previously performed. He pointed out that Moses gave circumcision, though it was of the fathers rather than originating with Moses, and a man could be circumcised on the Sabbath to avoid violating the commandment, asking why they were outraged that He had made an entire human being completely sound on the Sabbath, urging them to cease judging by superficial appearances and render just judgment.

Certain inhabitants of Jerusalem began questioning whether the authorities had recognized Him as the Messiah, observing that He spoke openly without interference, yet they reasoned that when the true Christ appears, His origin would remain hidden, whereas they knew where Jesus came from. Hearing this, Jesus proclaimed aloud within the temple that while they knew His earthly background, they did not know the true sender. He knows the sender because He is from Him and sent by Him. Although the authorities desired to arrest Him, no one laid a hand on Him because His time had not yet come. Many among the crowd came to believe in Him, asking whether the promised Messiah could perform more miraculous works than Jesus had done. Hearing the people’s murmurings, the rulers and Pharisees sent ministers to take Him into custody. Jesus announced that He would remain with them only a short while longer before returning to the One who sent Him, warning that they would seek Him without finding Him, and where He was going, they could not come. Baffled by His statement, His opponents wondered whether He intended to depart to the dispersed Jews living among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles. They repeat their question about seeking without finding and not coming where He is.

On the climactic final day of the festival, Jesus stood forth and proclaimed with a loud voice that whoever is thirsty should come to Him and drink. Citing the scriptures, He announced that rivers of living water would flow from the belly of anyone who believes in Him. The Evangelist explains that this statement referred to the Holy Spirit, whom believers would subsequently receive, for the Spirit had not yet been poured out because Jesus was not yet glorified. This bold declaration intensified disagreements among the listeners: some hailed Him as the Prophet, others acknowledged Him as the Christ, while skeptics argued that the Messiah could not come from Galilee, pointing out that scripture specified the Christ must descend from David’s line and arise from the village of Bethlehem. While some wanted to apprehend Him, no one took action against Him.

When the temple officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees without their prisoner, the rulers demanded why they had failed to bring Him in. The ministers answered, confessing that no man had ever spoken in the manner this man spoke. The Pharisees rebuked the officers, asking whether they too had been deceived, asserting that none of the rulers or learned Pharisees had believed in Him, and dismissing the general crowd as cursed for their ignorance of the law. At that point, Nicodemus, who was one of them who had previously visited Jesus by night, spoke up to caution his colleagues, asking whether their law permitted judging a man without first granting him a hearing to ascertain his conduct. They replied to him, inquiring whether he also was from Galilee, and telling him to search the scriptures to confirm that no prophet arises from Galilee, after which each man returned to his own home.