John 7:37-52

John 7:37-52

37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

40 Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.” 41 Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? 42 “Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” 46 The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” 47 The Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you? 48 “No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? 49 “But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them, 51 “Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” 52 They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”

The controversy surrounding the identity of Jesus continued throughout the feast.  It is of vital importance to know who Jesus is before one can understand what He came to do.  Public opinion on the identity of Jesus was clearly divided.  The same continues to be true today.  There are many who reject Christ, others who ignore Him and still others who are being transformed by Him.  The key word that differentiates between the various responses to Christ is faith.  People who do not have faith in who Jesus is will not be transformed by what He has done.  The decision about faith in Christ is the most important one any person can make.  We must not allow the distractions of the world or the opinions of others keep us from knowing and believing in Jesus.

THE LORD ANNOUNCES SALVATION THROUGH FAITH: Jesus makes a clear declaration that He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise of Messiah.  When He promises to supply living water to all who are thirsty and come to Him to drink; He is making His identity and purpose clear.  He is the Messiah and He has come to quench the spiritual thirst of every man who believes on Him.  This is a promise that was foretold in Scripture and Jesus makes reference to the Scriptures so the people can clearly understand that He is claiming to be the Messiah promised in the Scripture.  The requirements were being thirsty, coming to Jesus and believing.  There are many who consider themselves to be self-sufficient.  They don’t consider themselves to have any need of a Savior because they don’t have any recognition of their own sin.  There are many who recognize their sinfulness but they refuse to come to Jesus because of their pride or because they have been blinded by false teachings.  Only those who recognize their sin, come in brokenness to Jesus and believe on Him as the promised Messiah of Scripture will be saved and transformed by the power of the Spirit of God in their lives.  Jesus came to meet our greatest need, forgiveness of sin.  He not only cleanses us of sin, but transforms us through the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives.  Salvation and transformation walk hand in hand.

THE PEOPLE ARGUE ABOUT CHRIST’S IDENTITY: When the crowd heard the announcement of Jesus there was a wide variety of responses.  Some identified Him as the Prophet promised in Scripture.  The Bible promised that a great prophet would come before Messiah and prepare the way for Him.  It has already been established that John the Baptist was that prophet, but the people were slow to understand and continued to look for that sign of Messiah’s coming.  Other people argued that Jesus was truly the Christ.  The things that He did and the truths He taught convinced them that He, indeed, was the Christ.  This was the right conclusion, but unfortunately, there are many people who have been convinced intellectually that Jesus is the Christ, but they do not “come to Him and drink”.  Perhaps they are afraid of the opinion of the crowd or are simply more in love with their sin than they are we the Lord.  Recognizing who Jesus is was a vital first step, but it was and is not the last step.  We must thirst for the transforming power of the Spirit of God to come in and make us new and we must believe that Jesus is the only means by which that can happen.  Other people argued that it was impossible for Jesus to be the Messiah or even the Prophet because He was from Galilee and the Scriptures prophesied that Messiah would come through the seed of David and Bethlehem.  Those who argued this point were not aware of the truth of the history of Jesus.  Jesus had fulfilled all of the prophecies concerning Messiah, the people were simply ignorant of the truth.  Just as many today continue to ignore truth.  

THE PHARISEES ACCUSE ANY WHO MIGHT BELIEVE: When the officers who were in charge of arresting Jesus came to the Pharisees empty handed, they became very upset.  The officers had been amazed by the claims of Jesus and were afraid follow through on their plan to arrest Jesus because of who He claimed to be and the authority with which He taught.  The Pharisees accuse them of being ignorant and point out that none of the Pharisees had believed in Jesus.  They argue that their majority opinion had to be the right one.  They accuse the crowd of being accursed because they are considering the claims of Jesus.  When Nicodemus questioned them about judging a person prior to hearing his defense they accused him of being from Galilee as well in a very derogative manner.  The Pharisees were making one thing very clear, they did not believe that Jesus was Messiah and they would ridicule anyone who thought differently.  They saw themselves as the standard by which all truth should be measured.  Since they were clearly the most educated of the people, and none of them believed, that was argument enough to reject Jesus and condemn any who would follow Him.  In a democratic society, we follow the rule of majority.  This may be an effective political process, but it is not the standard by which truth can be decided.  The majority is often wrong.  Truth is always truth no matter how few may believe it.  Intellectuals in today’s society continue to ridicule those who believe the teachings of Jesus.  The quantity of unbelievers and the number of degrees they have from institutions of higher learning cannot be allowed to shake the faith of believers. 

APPLICATION: Be very thirsty for the living water that is available through faith in Christ.  Rejoice in the transforming work of the Spirit of God that is taking place in the life of every believer.  Don’t be satisfied with intellectual recognition of the identity of Jesus.  Come to Jesus and seek His forgiveness and transformation.  Don’t allow the opinions of others, no matter how many or how intelligent they seem to be, discourage us from believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Messiah, Lord and Savior from sin.