Christ's Doctrine of Faith: A Study of "Believing" in John's Gospel (John 7:31)

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John 7:31 says: “And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?” This is the thirty-ninth occurrence of the idea of believing in John’s Gospel. So, what is the context of John 7:31 and what information can we glean about faith from the passage?

So, what is the context of John 7:31? Right after John 7:5 informs us that the reason Jesus’s physical brothers tell Him to display His miraculous power in public is because they do not believe in Him, Jesus says to His brothers that His time hasn’t come yet, but their time is always ready. He goes on to tell them that the world is unable to hate them, but it hates Him, because He testifies of it that its works are evil. He concludes by telling them to go up to the feast, adding that He is not yet going up to it, because time has not yet fully come. The text then tells us that, when Jesus said these words to His brothers, He stayed in Galilee. However, when His brothers had gone up, He also went up to the feast, but in secret. We are then told that the Jews looked for Him at the feast, wondering where He is. Many of the people murmur about Him, with some saying that Jesus is a good man while others regard Him as a deceiver. However, they’re secretive about their opinions, because their fear of the Jews keeps them from speaking openly about Him. Around the middle of the feast, Jesus heads into the temple and teaches. Consequently, the Jews marvel, wondering out loud how He knows the Writings, [1] having never studied. [2] Jesus answers their curiosity by declaring that His teaching is not His, but instead the teaching of the One who sent Him. He says that, if any man chooses to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it comes from God or Jesus is speaking of Himself. Elaborating, Christ goes on to say that the one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of his sender is true and has no unrighteousness in him. He asks them if Moses gave them the law while none of them keep the law before asking why they go about to kill Him. The people then accuse Him of having a demon and asking Him who goes about to kill Him. Jesus responds by stating that He did one work and they all marvel. Therefore, He goes on to say, Moses gave them (the Jewish people) circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but instead from the fathers) and, consequently, they circumcise a man on the day of the sabbath. He then asks them that, if a man receives circumcision on the sabbath so that the law of Moses shouldn’t be broken, why are they angry at Him because He completely healed a man on the sabbath. He then charges them not to judge according to appearance, but to instead judge with righteous judgment. Some from Jerusalem then wonder out loud, asking if this isn’t Him whom they seek to kill before noticing His bold speech and their lack of a response to Him. They then wonder if these rulers truly know that this is indeed the Christ. However, they say that they know from where Jesus is but that, when the Messiah comes, no one knows from where He comes. Then, Jesus cries in the temple as He teaches, declaring that they know both Him and from where He is, and that He has not come from Himself, but His Sender is true, whom they do not know. But, He goes on to say, He knows Him, because He is from Him and He has sent Him. Next, they attempt to seize Him, but no man lays hands on Him, because His hour has not yet come. Then, the text tells us that many of the people believed on Him, wondering out loud if the Messiah, when He arrives, will do more miracles than Jesus has done. This is the context of John 7:31!

So, what can we learn about faith from John 7:31? The first thing is that faith leads to confession of what is believed, as Romans 10:6-10 teaches us. When we are told that many of the people believe on Jesus, we’re immediately told that the people ask among themselves (likely rhetorically [3]) whether the Messiah, when He comes, would perform more miracles than the ones Jesus did. Given this (again, likely rhetorical) question, it appears safe to say that these people were coming to believe that Jesus is the Christ. And that leads me to the second point about faith, a point which I have covered before in previous points but which, for my own edification and the edification of believing readers, I want to cover again. We must remember John’s own purpose for writing his Gospel (and, ultimately, the Holy Spirit’s statement for why He moved John to write this Gospel-2 Timothy 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:16-21): so that the readers may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and, believing, have life in His Name (John 20:30-31). Since John 7:31 indicates that this multitude was coming to trust Jesus as the Christ, they are arriving, at least on the surface, to the faith that John is attempting to instill in his readers. On the other hand, this faith in Christ could be superficial, similar to the faith we see in John 2:23-3:2 and John 6. What kind of faith in Christ it is, I personally don’t know which. The third point is that becoming acquainted with Christ leads to faith. [4] While knowledge of Christ doesn’t necessarily lead to faith in Christ, one cannot believe in Christ without knowing who He is (Romans 10:14). These are some things about faith we can glean from John 7:31!

[1] https://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/7-15.htm- They must be referring to the Holy Writings, or Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:15) here. [2] Ibid. [3] This view I got from one or more sources, which I could not remember to name as I wrote this. [4] This insight is inspired by this clip: https://illbehonest.com/hearing-of-christ-makes-a-man-want-to-repent