2015-08-09

John 7 - Jesus The Living Water

Pat Gatlin

John 7:25-53

Jesus is speaking to the people at the Temple
It is during the Feast of Tabernacles and the crowds are building
The religious rulers are questioning him and are not happy with his answers
He just got done healing a man on the Sabbath
He then follows that up with a teaching about Eating his flesh and drinking his blood!
And he is now teaching at the Temple on these guys turf if you will
They arent happy and want to kill Jesus!
As the crowds gather to listen we pickup todays text.

John 7:25
25 So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? 26 Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? 27 However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.
Here they are referring to Isaiah 53:8 that classic prophesy concerning the coming Messiah

Isaiah 53 declares, Who shall declare his generation?
* No one is going to know from where he comes exactly
* But we know this mans generation! We know his parents or so they thought!
* Its Joseph and Mary!

28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me. 30 So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
* They didnt like what he was saying
* They couldnt argue with his teaching and wisdom so they resorted to violence
* They wanted to lay hands on him! To kill him

31 But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He? 32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. 33 Therefore Jesus said, For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.
* You will wonder where I went
* You will seek me out
* But you wont be able to find me I am going to heaven
* And the implication is you are not!
Jesus speaks truth hes not mincing words
Hes boldly speaking the truth
I am so glad we are going to heaven
Its what your heart is really created for
Its what you are really looking for
What you are really seeking.
It really isnt that next thing.
You are hungering for him
Heaven is going to be amazing

35 The Jews then said to one another, Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He?
Is he going to be some kind of missionary to the Greeks?
36 What is this statement that He said, You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come?
They wondered what he meant by that?
37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast,

Now we come to the final day of the Feast of Tabernacles the great day of the feast.
Now remember, the Feast of Tabernacles was one of the three major festivals in which every Jewish male was required to attend
* It was a week-long celebration
* A time or retelling the story of how god had delivered the Nation from Egypt and took them thru the wilderness
* Ate manna
* Clothes didnt wear out
* A Pillar of fire kept them warm at night
* A cloud covered them from the heat of the sun during the day
* God protected them all the way
* Water poured out of the Rock to feed them when they were thirsty

This festival was a commemoration of what God had done for them
It wasnt just a commemoration of that event.
It was also an anticipation of what was to come!
They were looking of MESSIAH to come and lead them spiritually out the wilderness
* On the last day of the feasts, the priests, in their priestly robes would make a processional down from the temple mount, winding down to the Pool of Siloam which means the One who was sent
* Every day previously when the priests made that processional, they would carry back with them water from the pool and pour it out on the floor of the temple around the altar
* This was done to remind the people that the Lord provided water for the people in the wilderness
* The Rock that was smitten
* Which we know to be Jesus

On the last day of the festival, according to Alfred Edersheim a prominent Jewish Christian scholar
He points out that at this time, during these days
On the last day of the festival, the priests would make their processional and would NOT bring back with them water - they would go down to the pool carrying their cisterns but they would make their way back up to the temple, where the people were now congregating -
There was no water to pour out signifying when the supernatural flow of the water from the Rock stopped
When did that happen?
When they got into the Promised Land.
The Manna no longer fell
The water stopped pouring from the Rock
They made it in God had provided BUT with this little twist.

As they would pour out their empty jars onto the floor of the temple, around the altar,
They would read this passage from Isaiah 44
Isaiah 44:3-5
For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants; 4 And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water. 5 This one will say, I am the LORDS; And that one will call on the name of Jacob; And another will write on his hand, Belonging to the LORD, And will name Israels name with honor.
This speaks of Messiah
So they would go to the pool which translated, The One who was Sent
They would come back with empty vessels commemorating what happened historically
Now also showing symbolically PLEASE send Messiah!
The One who will pour out water on those who are thirsty
His spirit upon the dry ground
And then as they shared this passage
They had the people bow in silent prayer, That the Messiah would come! That He might pour out His water upon us!

Now.. check this out....
Tens of Thousands of people watching this procession
Seeing the priests come back pouring out empty vessels
Praying for the Messiah to come
At this moment, when it is completely quiet
Jesus cries out!
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.
What in the world did the high priest think?!
Here is this itinerant priest
This Galilean
He has the audacity to cry out in the midst of the congregation! To break tradition! Who is this man?!

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.
* We know that this primarily means that the Lord needed to die first for the sins of men, then ascend into heaven BEFORE He could send the Spirit to come upon men
* We also know that the purpose and empowering of the Holy Spirit is that JESUS will be glorified
The passage continues:
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?
They didnt know this was where Jesus was from
43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him.

Isnt the true? Have you found that to be the case in your own life?
Your family?
Workplace?
Neighborhood?
Jesus himself said in:
Matthew 10:34-36 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. "For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; "and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'
Dont be shocked when you feel divisions come because of your stand for Jesus Christ
There as a division become 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.
We went to arrest Him but it appears we were arrested BY Him!
We have never heard anyone speak the way He does!
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?
You nerds!

Do any of us believe in Him?
We are the ones that are educated we arent deceived
49 But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.
Thats why you are all deceived you are ignorant!
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?
Good ole Nicodemus is there!
He first came in the middle of the night
Now hes there among the religious rulers and he intervenes on behalf of Jesus
He tells his gang, Give him a break? Be fair Would ya?

Somethings going on with Nick
He was not willing to be seen talking with Jesus before so he visits at night
Now. In the light of day he makes a statement
He defends Jesus to his peers
This is a big deal. And we can tell by their response that they werent pleased
52 They answered him, You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee. 53 Everyone went to his home.
Nicodemus. You fool!

First of all Jesus wasnt born in Galilee!
They were wrong
He was born in Bethlehem and moved to Galilee when he was a small child
Search the scriptures you idiot!
Wait a minute!! These SCHOLARS were rebuking Nicodemus and telling him that no prophet has ever come from Galilee.
They didnt know their history too well, now did they?
Jonah was from Galilee!
2 Kings 14:25
25 He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, which He spoke [a]through His servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath-hepher.
(A town in lower Galilee about 5 miles from Nazareth!)
They had had enough
The festival was over, they were done. And now they all went to their own homes