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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 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.
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." And everyone went to his own house.
- John 7:37-52
Yesterday, we read that about the middle of the feast of Tabernacles, 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 seen 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 this not 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. The last day, that great day of the feast was the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles, says my study bible. "The ceremony of the drawing of water provides the context for the Lord's words, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.' The living water is the gift of the Holy Spirit and the new life that accompanies this gift."
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 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. The Prophet refers to the expected Messiah, the Savior that Moses foretold would come -- see Deuteronomy 18:15-19. The Christ was expected to come from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
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." My study bible says, "The chief priests had sent officers of the temple to arrest Jesus in the middle of the Feast [see v. 32, in yesterday's reading]. By the time the last day had arrived, no arrest had been made, because these officers had been converted by the Lord's teaching. The Pharisees and the scribes who had 'witnessed the miracles and read the Scriptures derived no benefit' from either. These officers, on the other hand, even though they could claim none of this learning, were 'captivated by a single sermon.' When the mind is open, 'there is no need for long speeches. Truth is like that' (St. John Chrysostom)."
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." And everyone went to his own house. A note tells us, "Nicodemus had spoken with Jesus [see For God so loved the world]. Yet his defense of Christ was still based on our law and was not yet a public profession of (Exodus 23:1; Deuteronomy 1:15-17). No Prophet has arisen out of Galilee: The Pharisees show their blind hatred and their ignorance of the Scriptures, for the prophet Jonah came from Galilee, from the town of Gath Hepher, which was only three miles from Nazareth (2 Kings 14:25)."
Divisions and divisions and divisions make our story today in our reading. There are so many different opinions here about Jesus. One follows a certain understanding of the law, another follows an understanding of Scripture, a third cites prophecy. None really understand Jesus completely; even the citing that no prophet has arisen from Galilee is mistaken. No one understands that He is born in Bethlehem. But His words incite something in people; they are stirred by what He says. The temple police, sent to arrest Jesus, are simply unable to do so, because they are struck by His words -- and they tell the leaders: "No man ever spoke like this!" Jesus teaches, "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." John tells us that Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit, which has not yet been given because Christ has not yet been glorified. But we note the people whose hearts burn with the fire that is in His words, the words of everlasting life. Whether Jesus speaks of rivers of living water, or Peter notes the "words of eternal life," we are speaking of life itself, life that doesn't ever die, everlasting, eternal. This Spirit is to be implanted in us. And whether or not one completely understands how it works, what it will do, and how one is and will be affected by this, the words stir the heart, set the heart aflame with something that calls us to its mystery. And that is where we start the journey. So we read the divisions in this scene, with each going back to his own house. And we can think about ministry, about the seeds planted by the Sower, and how they are at work in this crowd in the temple at the Feast of Tabernacles. If we take a good, closer look at the Parable of the Sower, we can see the types of reception and their diversity and division that Jesus expects. But the key is to follow the flame felt in the heart at His words, to endure, to continue. The rivers of living water He speaks about are what give us the strength and inspiration and insight to do so. They are inexhaustible, and give us life each day. The Kingdom begins here, with His words and how we hear them in the heart, and paying attention; the rivers of living water take us into our faith, and this Kingdom, more deeply, with a supply for each and every day.
