Good morning church! As we turn to God’s Word this morning, I think it’s important for us to examine what is the posture of our hearts as we prepare to listen to God’s Word. What’s the posture and attitude of our heart as we listen to God’s Word? James 1 gives us a good guideline.
James 1:22-25 ESV
[22] But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. [23] For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. [24] For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. [25] But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
God’s Word is like a mirror which is constantly showing us areas in our lives which don’t align with God’s will and character. It shows us all the areas which are pending change.
The question is that are we just okay with just seeing the image and moving ahead (hearing) or are we going to repent & obey God in what He’s telling us from His Word (doers)? That’s when we will really see the blessing of God’s Word in our lives.
That ought to be our posture and attitude every time we look into God’s Word be it on a Sunday morning and every other morning when we look into God’s Word.
If you’ve been tracking with us, you’re probably aware that we’re going through a series titled Believing and Knowing Jesus from the Gospel of John. The apostle John had one purpose in writing this book. His one purpose was that all his readers would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and by believing they would have eternal life in His name. Believing and Knowing Jesus is why John wrote this book.
So every account, every teaching, every sign is there in this book so that we may Believe and Know Jesus. Let’s keep that in mind as we look at today’s passage in John 7.
Pray
This had turned out to be the most polarizing event ever! I’m not talking about some political rally but I’m talking about this very same scene in John 7 where on the last day of the feast of booths the entire crowd was divided.
They were divided on this question: Whom do you choose to follow? Jesus or anyone or anything else? Before demanding a reaction from the people, he provides a comforting invitation.
1. Jesus’ invitation (V37-39)
John sets up the context of Jesus’ invitation in V37.
[37] On the last day of the feast, the great day
The setting is that this was one of the most popular Jewish festivals – Feast of Booths where Jews from all over the world would come to Jerusalem and live in make shift shelters made of leaves and branches for a week in order to celebrate God’s care and protection of the Israelites during the wilderness.
During the his weeklong festival, they would have many interesting rituals like the water pouring ceremony. Every morning for 7 days, a priest would go to the pool of Siloam with a golden water jar to fill it and bring it back to the Temple. He would then pour this water into a silver basin kept on the altar. This basin had holes in it which meant that the water leaked through the basin and flowed all over. The moment the water leaked out, people shouted and sang and blew trumpets.
Now why so much celebration around this water pouring ceremony? Because it was to remind the Jews of how God had graciously supplied them with drinking water when they were thirsty in the middle of the wilderness. This is from Ex 17 where the Israelites came to Moses and argued with him telling him that is this why Moses brought them out of Egypt so that they could come and die here.
Moses is frustrated and goes to God telling God what is he to do with this people who were now ready to stone him. God tells him to go on ahead with the staff with which he struck the Nile and he’ll come to a rock. God tells him that He will stand on front of the rock and when Moses strikes the rock, drinking water will flow out from that rock. That’s exactly what happened. Let’s remember we’re talking about drinking water for over 2 million people – how much water would have been needed for that crowd?
This is a super duper gracious supply of water to quench the thirst of the Israelites. Water is basic to life. 60 percent of our body is water. If we starve our body of water, we will not only be dehydrated, we will die within a few days. We can’t live without water.
How much more needed was water for the Israelites because they weren’t in a place where they had easy access to water. It was a hot, arid desert. And in the midst of that desert, God had graciously met their need. Not just once or twice but throughout their journey of 40 years.
So no wonder the Jews had a massive celebration during the water pouring ceremony.
And while this water ceremony is happening, Jesus stands up and cries out
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
The verse says “if anyone”…Jesus first mentions his target audience for the invitation. Not just a select few, not just the spiritual front benchers. “If anyone” which includes the so called “black sheep” – people who so far away that the whole world has written them off, even they are part of Jesus’ target audience.
“Thirst” is an interesting word that Jesus uses. In this context Jesus isn’t referring to our physical thirst but our spiritual thirst – our spiritual longing for God. God has created humans with a longing to know our Creator. He’s wired us in a way where we can only be fulfilled in a right, enjoyable relationship with Him. Sin has distorted that longing.
Sin has messed up that longing where we try to fulfill that with the pleasures of the world but the fact is that the longing is there in each and every one of us. That thirst is there in each and every one of us. So as believers when we go through a few days without being connected to Him, we know what that does to us. We were made to have that longing met in a right relationship with God.
So Jesus is saying “if anyone thirsts” – if anyone recognized that they are spiritually needy – that their spiritual tanks are running empty – that they are spiritually unsatisfied.
“Let him come to me and drink” – It’s an open invitation to Jesus directly. You don’t have to have a special pass. You don’t have to pull some strings. You don’t have to go through multiple layers. It’s an open invite to come to Jesus and drink. In other words, come to Jesus and have that spiritual longing for God being fulfilled. Have that spiritual longing being satisfied in a right, enjoyable relationship with Him.
But how is Jesus able to provide us with this drink? Let’s remember Ex 17 – God says I will stand in front of the rock and you will strike the rock. 1 Cor 10 tells us that the rock was Christ. In other words, it was a picture of what Jesus Christ was going to do for us on the cross.
He was going to take the strike for us. He was going to be wounded for our sins. He was going to die for us. And a result of His death and resurrection for us is a free flowing gracious supply to quench our spiritual thirsts.
[38] Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” [39] Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Whoever believes in me – whoever commits, entrust, surrenders their life to me, what will happen to them? Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. The same imagery of excessive water flowing out of the basin. The same imagery of in Ex 17 of the rock gushing out water. In the same way, out of a person’s heart will flow a pool of living water. Is that what it says? Out of a person’s heart will flow rivers of living water.
V39 clarifies how is it that thirsty people will now have rivers flowing from them. It’ll happen when He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within them forever! In other words, the reason why our spiritual longings will be fulfilled is because God the Spirit will Himself come to live inside of us. (Pause)
And I love the image of overflowing, gushing waters because it tells me that not only will the believer have their spiritual longings fulfilled by the Spirit, but with the Spirit they will also overflow in ways by which they can be a blessing to others around them. Have you and I ever considered that?
So Jesus is standing there during one of the biggest Jewish festivals making a very unique, radical claim while the water pouring ceremony is happening, and you can imagine what the reaction that would have taken place.
2. People’s Reaction (V40-52)
We can see a completely divided, polarized opinion among different sections of the people.
[40] When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”
Some people say that this is “the Prophet” who was prophesied by Moses in Deut 18 when he said that God will raise up a prophet like me from among you, and him you must listen. They see the fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy happening here.
[41] Others said, “This is the Christ.”
Some others felt that “the Prophet” and Christ are two different individuals. Although in reality both were referring to Jesus, but people saw it differently. Interestingly 6 months before Jesus’ crucifixion, some people did feel that Jesus was the Christ.
But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? [42] Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” [43] So there was a division among the people over him.
Although Jesus lived and moved around in Galilee as an adult, the irony was that Jesus was indeed David’s descendant and born in Bethlehem just like Micah’s prophecy.
[44] Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. [45] The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” [46] The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” [47] The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? [48] Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? [49] But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
Very interesting thing happens here. The Pharisees and priests send temple guards or temple police to arrest Jesus. They return back without arresting Jesus and when they are questioned by the Pharisees, it seems like they are overwhelmed by Jesus’ authority and conviction as He taught. Their conclusion is that they’ve never heard anyone teach like Jesus did – and they are right because they heard the words from God Himself.
Pharisees are irritated by this and they basically say that these temple guards have been brainwashed and similarly accuse the crowd of being accused because they don’t know the law – they felt like the crowd was easily manipulated.
[50] Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, [51] “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” [52] They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Nicodemus who met with Jesus in John 3 tries to subtlely challenge the Pharisees and instead gets a taunt from them. They end up by saying “Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee”. Interestingly this is not also true because prophet Jonah actually came from a border town in Galilee. So we can see here that half knowledge is sometimes more dangerous than no knowledge.
But what we can see out here is a completely divided response to Jesus’ unique claims. Some people believed in Him. Others like the Pharisees and priests rejected him and ended up insulting those who said anything good about Jesus.
Because of the radical, unique claims of Jesus, people either loved Jesus or hated Jesus. There was no room for neutrality. There was no room for sitting on the fence. This is true not just on the day when we first believed in Jesus, it’s true even after we’ve been believers for many years. What do I mean by that is that in our Christian walk there will be many times where we will be confronted with this question – whom do you choose to follow? Whom do you serve? Whom do you pledge your loyalty to? Where does your allegiance lie? And guess what? We can’t stay neutral or sit on the fence for these.
We are confronted with this question when we’re invited for a puja in the society or at work. We are confronted with this question when we called to maintain our integrity and purity when no one is watching us. We are confronted with this question when there is a chance to take shortcuts. We are confronted with this question when we shy away from telling people about Jesus who has rescued us and totally changed our lives.
Joshua 24:15 ESV
[15] And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”