He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water

 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."  And everyone went to his own house.

- John 7:37-52

 In our current readings, Jesus is at the Feast of Tabernacles, an autumn harvest feast lasting eight days.  It is a celebration of the coming Kingdom, and commemorates the time Israel spent living in tents or tabernacles, on the journey to the promised land.  Yesterday, 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 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.  This is the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles.  On this day there was a ceremony of the drawing of water from the pool of Siloam.  This would be mixed with wine and poured at the foot of the altar, both as purification and in remembrance of water flowing from the rock struck by Moses.  We can see reflected in Jesus' teaching both the setting of this important ceremony, and Jesus' fulfillment of the promises of the Old Testament.  The rivers of living water images the Holy Spirit, and Jesus' gift of the Spirit to come.  This is the living water, 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 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.  John's Gospel once again gives us this expectation of the people, that He is the Prophet, the expected Messiah, the Savior foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).  John reiterates the division of the people concerning their opinions about Jesus.  The people know Him as a teacher from Galilee.  But readers of the Gospel know that Jesus was born in the Bethlehem, the town from which the Christ was expected to come (Micah 5:2).

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."  These officers are those who had been sent by the chief priests to arrest Jesus in the middle of the Feast (see yesterday's reading, above).  But by the time the last day had arrived (the setting for today's reading), He had not been arrested.  The officers had been converted by the Lord's teaching.  My study bible cites the commentaries of John Chrysostom here.  The Pharisees and scribes who had "witnessed the miracles and read the Scriptures derived no benefit" from either one when it came to Jesus.  The officers, on the other hand, although not learned as the others, were "captivated by a single sermon."  When the mind is open, "there is no need for long speeches.  Truth is like that," writes 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.  In chapter 3, we read that Nicodemus had spoken with Jesus (see this reading), and Nicodemus had increased in faith.   But his defense of Christ here is based on our law, and is not yet a public profession of faith.  In accordance with the law, Jesus must be given a hearing before He can be judged (Exodus 23:1, Deuteronomy 1:15-17).  In stating that no prophet has arisen out of Galilee, the Pharisees are showing not only their blind hatred of Jesus but also ignorance of the Scriptures in which they are supposed to be the experts.  The prophet Jonah came from Galilee, from the town of Gath Hepher, only three miles from Nazareth (2 Kings 14:25).

 John's Gospel repeatedly gives us Jesus' teachings on the Holy Spirit.  Here, Jesus teaches about the rivers of living water promised to those in faith in the gift of the Spirit that was to come.  Nicodemus defends Him before the chief priests and the Pharisees -- and Nicodemus is the one who has received the teaching about the Spirit, in one of the clearest references Jesus will make to the work of the Spirit in the world, and also concerning rebirth "by water and the Spirit."  John's Gospel itself, written late first century, is notable as the "spiritual Gospel."  It is the one that gives us illuminations of Jesus' words and teachings found in the Synoptic Gospels, allowing us meanings behind the words of Christ that aren't found in a sort of historical telling of His story or His life.  Perhaps most significantly are the teachings found here on the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' repeated reference to the essential nature of the Spirit to His Church and as the gift He leaves to the world as a result of His mission and ministry.  Not only does the Spirit illuminate, but it is the Spirit that "guides into all truth."   But this Third Person of the Trinity is in some sense more mysterious than the Father or the Son.  The Spirit doesn't speak "of Himself" or "His own authority" but rather "what He hears"  (16:13).  It is a reminder of Jesus' teaching to Nicodemus about the Spirit and rebirth: "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."  (The word for wind and Spirit -- as well as breath -- is the same).   Jesus has also taught the Samaritan woman that "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  It is the teachings about the Spirit that permeate this Gospel, giving depth to all of Jesus' ministry, and shape to His Church.  But even now, 2,000 years later, the Holy Spirit remains mysterious (indeed, a Mystery), in the sense that Jesus' words are absolutely true in describing the action of the wind.  Many saints have been born by the Spirit in the Church, and none is a carbon copy of another.  It is the Spirit that shapes and magnifies persona into sainthood, creating multi-dimensional people who stand out for their individual personalities, in some sense becoming more potently human than all the rest, remarkable in uncountable ways.  Contrary to what some of our assumptions may be about what great humility looks like, saints in history are far from shrinking violets.  On the contrary, their personalities are those that stand out from the crowd, effectively shaking up the society in which they live, and of course they are quite frequently martyrs.  The Spirit that Jesus describes as rivers of living waters flowing from the heart is the Person who gives truth and life, a constant multiplication of aspects of character and persona, giving depth and dimension and meaning.  It is the Spirit we look to in order to shape the Church, to lead us into all truth, to give us variation, meaning, and great creativity while teaching us Christ's truths and never duplicating His saints and messengers in doing so.  Do we really value this Gift as we should?  Let us remember the Spirit is not ours to predict nor to mold and shape, but simply to accept.  We see His effects but we don't know where He comes from and where He goes.  We simply must open our hearts to the fullness, the flow of these rivers of living water, and let them pour into and shape our lives.