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On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" So there was a division among the people because of Him. Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?" The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!" Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed." Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?" They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."
- John 7:37-52
Jesus is in Jerusalem, at the Feast of Tabernacles (Hebrew Succoth), an eight-day autumn feast commemorating the time Israel dwelt in tents (or tabernacles). On Saturday, we read that, about the middle of the Feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?" Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him. Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?" The people answered and said, "You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?" Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is not this He whom they seek to kill? But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from." Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me." Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?" The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come." Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What is this thing that He said, "You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come?"
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. My study bible explains that the last day, that great day of the feast is probably the seventh or eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles. It says, "Ceremonies include a procession from the pool of Siloam, carrying water and pouring it as a libation at the temple. This commemorates the water flowing from the rock which Moses struck in the wilderness (Ex. 17:1-7), and provides the context for the Lord's words, if anyone thirsts. Living water is the gift of the Spirit and the new life which springs forth by the power of the Spirit. Christ gives the Holy Spirit, and the believer's heart consequently flows with new life. Christ does not force us, but is always available if we desire Him."
Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet." My study bible tells us that many Jews of those days were looking not only for the Messiah (or Christ, from the Greek) but also for a prophet who would be a new Moses, one who would lead Israel out of bondage (Deut. 18:15-19).
Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" So there was a division among the people because of Him. Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him. My study bible says, "We know that Jesus did come from the line of David and was born in Bethlehem, as had been prophesied. But the people think He is from Nazareth in Galilee. Far more significantly, throughout his Gospel John uses occasions like this to bring out the truth concerning Jesus' eternal origin from the Father. No arrest could be made before Jesus 'hour' had come."
Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?" The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!" A note here tells us: "The enemies of Jesus increasingly scheme to destroy Him. The officers of the temple were sent out to Him in the middle of the Feast, and it is now the last day. They came back saying, No man ever spoke like this Man!" My study bible quotes St. John Chrysostom here: "The Pharisees and the Scribes . . . who even witnessed miracles and read Scriptures, derived no benefit from all this. . . . The attendants [the officers], on the other hand, though they could lay claim to none of this, were captivated by a single sermon. . . . for when the mind is open to conviction there is no need of long speeches. Truth is like that" (Homily 52).
Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed." John's Gospel clarifies for us the division among all the people regarding Jesus. It's the leadership that is against Him, and even that is not in any case unanimous (as the following verses teach). But here, even the officers sent to arrest Him are stunned by His words (we recall Jesus' teaching from a reading of last week, in chapter 6: "The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.") The Pharisees, showing further division between the leadership and the people, call the crowd at the temple "accursed."
Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?" They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee." My study bible says, "Nicodemus has spoken with Jesus [see The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit and For God so loved the world], and may be well on his way to becoming a follower (19:39). Others also believed in Christ, but were afraid of repercussions (12:42). Nicodemus's defense of Jesus is based upon legal grounds: they should first listen to Jesus' words before He is arrested. (See Ex. 23:1, forbidding false reporting; Deut. 1:16, requiring that both sides of the case be heard; see also Josephus Antiquities 14:167.) The Pharisees fail to uphold the law, making a sarcastic response to Nicodemus. But their statement condemns them and shows their blindness to the Scriptures: the prophet Jonah came from Gath Hepher, a town in Galilee only 3 miles from Nazareth (2 Kings 14:25)."
I think it's important that we note the divisions that are highlighted here in the Gospel. Jesus creates a great divide, a division, among the people. From the first reading in this chapter (Saturday's reading), we're told of this great controversy that divides everyone: Then the Jews [meaning the religious leadership] sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?" And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people." However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. The leadership seeks to arrest Him in today's reading, and even the temple police cannot lay their hands on Him, because of the power of His words ("No man ever spoke like this Man!"). By the end of the reading, the Pharisees call the crowd of people "accursed" because of the people who wonder if Jesus is "the Prophet" or the Christ. Even the leadership is divided, as Nicodemus is the one who speaks up and reminds them of the requirements of the Law before conviction. Among the crowds themselves, there is also division about Jesus, and sharp distinctions are drawn in this Gospel between the varying degrees of belief or non-belief. It gives us a very clear picture that "the people" -- and of course, all the Jewish people (since we are at the temple during a Festival) -- are not a monolith. Here in the Gospel, they are anything but unanimous or united regarding Jesus. But whether He is being praised or vilified or wondered about or considered, Jesus is the center of attention here. These questions all revolve around Him. And again, we have to marvel, because the Gospel goes out of its way to give us this detail, of people arguing over whether or not He may be the Prophet, or could be the Christ, or is good, or is bad, or can't be -- because He's from Galilee, or isn't descended from David. There are any number of divisions here, so that we get the point. The only person who can really clarify any of this is Jesus Himself, but He comes into the world as a great paradox: God or human? What is His origin? What are the sources of the miraculous things He's done? And then, if we look at Jesus, His sole testimony about Himself and where He's from doesn't depend upon anything that can be constituted as a total proof. His witnesses are the Scriptures and Moses, John the Baptist, the Father, and the works He does (see How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?). And there is another mystery Jesus keeps pointing to, and that is the work of the Spirit, the One "not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." Jesus refers to "rivers of living water" which will flow out of the heart of one who believes in Him. And this is a promise. If we study the Nicene Creed, we might remark on the fact that the first Council at Nicea (325) made one sharp reference to the Holy Spirit ("We believe in the Holy Spirit"), and even then, nothing more was said. Revisions made at a Council in Constantinople in 381 added more description to the Holy Spirit. Among other things, the English translation of this addition calls the Holy Spirit "the Giver of Life." But if we look closely at the Greek for this, it's a one-word term: ζῳοποιόν/zoopoion. This word might more literally be translated "Life-Creator" (from zoe/"life" and poion/to "create," from which we also derive the word "poem"). All of this is to say that the spirit and life in Jesus' words, the promise of the rivers of living water, the Holy Spirit, are a profound mystery to which Jesus is pointing everyone. If we wonder about the division and the controversy, we really must consider the fullness of what it is Jesus is bringing them, and bringing us to this day. It is a great and profound mystery we cannot lay claim to know absolutely, and so, I would say, the Church (that is, all of the Church of those who believe or profess faith, what we may call the Body of Christ) continues to be divided. The "Life-Creator" is such a profound force, such an enormous and tremendous mystery, that we continue to attempt to fathom His work. This promise in today's reading was, and remains, a future promise. That is, it is inexhaustible and infinite, and we don't know its fullness. Tradition from the early church would teach (and still does, in the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom) that it is the Life-Creator that makes the mystical presence of Christ possible in the sacrament of wine and bread, just as the Life-Creator made it possible for God to live among us as a human being. Let us never minimize this mystery, this promise, because it is a promise that is continually unfolding, upon which we cannot put any limits whatsoever. Let us also remember that when we have divisions among us, all of them point to something so far beyond us that we can't fully grasp, a great promise, an infinite impossible paradox, a Life-Creator that is at work in us and among us, the great promise of our Lord. Let us put our faith where it belongs, in His words of spirit and life, and let us remember the mysteries He has pointed us to. If we fail to grasp that the promise is so much greater than we can know, we really don't grasp the promise of "rivers of living water" and the timelessness and inexhaustible quality His words imply.
