Chapter BY Chapter

Rivers of Living Water

 

John Chapter 7

 

“After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him.  But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do.  No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.”  For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

 

Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil.  You go to the festival. I am not yet going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.”  After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

 

However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.  Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”

 

Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

 

Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.”  But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

 

Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach.  The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

 

Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.  Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.  Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.  Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

 

“You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

 

Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed.  Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath.  Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?  Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

 

At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill?  Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah?  But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

 

Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

 

At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.  Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”

 

The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

 

Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me.  You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

 

The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

 

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”  By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

 

On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”

 

Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

 

Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee?  Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”  Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.  Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

 

Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

 

 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

 

 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted.  “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?  No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

 

“Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

 

“They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

 

“Then they all went home.

 

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Arguments FOR Jesus being the Messiah:

 

1. “He is a good man.” Some Jews said. v12

 

1. “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?” Some Jews said. v15

 

1. “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.” Jesus said V16

 

1. “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed.” Jesus said. V21

 

1. “I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true.” Jesus said. v28

 

1. “You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” Jesus said. v29

 

1. “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?” Some Jews said. v31

 

1. On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” Some of the people said. v40

 

1. The Pharisees send the temple guard to arrest Jesus and they fail to do so because “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. The temple guards say. V46.The temple guards were a detachment of Roman soldiers, at least 1,000 of them that were under the command of a historical hierarchy of Levitical Priests.Since the Roman soldiers are under the command of the Levites, these are the Levites here saying that the words of Jesus are powerful.

 

Arguments AGAINST Jesus Being the Messiah:

 

1. “He deceives the people.” Some Jews said. V12 (Not really a valid argument. Jesus proved his claims.)

   • In John 5:31-47, we learned that Jesus Gave these proofs of his claims:

     • John the Baptist.

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     • The miracles.

     • The Scriptures.

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1. “But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.” Some Jews said. v27 (Not really a valid argument.If where the Messiah is from is not foretold it does not negate knowing when he does come.)

 

PLUS WE HAVE PROPHESIES ABOUT WHERE THE MESSIAH COMES FROM

 

Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.” (Fulfilled in Matthew 2:13, “When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”)

 

Micah 5:2 “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth [have been] from of old, from everlasting.” (Fulfilled in Luke 2:4, “4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.”)

 

JESUS FULFILLED BOTH OF THESE PROPHESIES.

 

1. “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” Some Jews said. v42 v52 (Objection answered in Luke 2:4, “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.”)

 

Furthermore, they are simply incorrect.  Jonah was from Galilee as well as Hosea and Nahum.  Were the Pharisees ignorant or just trying to deceive?

 

1. Just when the temple guards give Jesus some credence, the Pharisees say, “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted.“Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

Then a Pharisee speaks up… “Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?” 

     So, now a Pharisee is taking Jesus’ side in this matter. The other Pharisees can only answer this by insulting Nicodemus.

 

WHAT DO WE WE LEARN ABOUT JESUS IN THIS PASSAGE?

 

1. He goes to the Feast of Tabernacles stealthily to avoid being killed before his time.

   • Why is ‘his time” so important?

     • If Jesus was killed before his time came, two very important facts about his time may not occur.

       1. Jesus was killed on Passover Day.

       2. Jesus was lifted up for all to see.

     • Obviously, Jesus knows everything about his time all along.

       1. This shows us his Omniscience.

       2. This shows he is The Lord of Time.

2. The world hates Jesus because he testifies that the deeds of the world are evil.

   • This includes the Pharisees, who still wanted to kill Jesus because he healed a paralytic man on the Sabbath.Their real reason was because the crowds were following him instead of them.

3. He knew more than the Pharisees without being taught.The Pharisees were supposed to have had official training in the scriptures.They looked down on the common man who did not have official training in the scriptures.Yet, the common man did know them well as they followed the teachings to write the words of the law on their mantles and recite them often. Jesus was not officially taught, but he knew the scriptures better than the Pharisees.

4. What Jesus taught did not come from himself, but from God.Only Jesus could know God completely because he is from God.This implies that he is God.

5. Even though people tried to seize Jesus, they could not because his hour had not yet come.Even when the temple guards came to arrest them, they were so persuaded by his words, that they could not do what they were sent to do.

6. Jesus promises that rivers of living water will flow from within those that believe in him.

   • Verse 37-39:

   • “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”

   • What did Jesus mean when He stood on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.He who believes inMe, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit ….John 7:37-39, NAS

   • Some say that Jesus means that a prayer language (the spiritual gift of tongues) will flow like refreshing water from the innermost being of the person within whom the Holy Spirit resides.

   • Others suggest that Jesus is declaring that mighty miracles will flow like from within the person who drinks of the Spirit.Demons will flee; the blind will receive sight; storms will calm.

   • As good students of Scripture we must apply basic rules of interpretation to every text, including this one, in order to plumb its meaning. One of the rules for interpretation is that a text must be studied its context.[i]A text cannot mean what it never meant.[ii]If the plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense.

   • John’s Emphasis in the Gospel of John

   • Even though John was present in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost when the Spirit fell, John’s emphasis is not on the power of Jesus, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, to drive out demons, cure lepers, and calm storm.Yes, Jesus performs seven amazing miracles in John but John leaves the bulk of the teaching about the Holy Spirit’s power to his coworker, Luke.[iii]John’s heartbeat shines through in verses like these:

   • ​

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   • “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”John 1:12, ESV.

   • “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God,”John 3:3, ESV

   • “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life,” John 3:16, ESV

   • “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly,”John 10:10, ESV

   • “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name,”John 20:30-31, ESV

   • Jesus’ declaration in John’s gospel about ‘rivers of living water’ must be understood in the light of words such as ‘born again,’ ‘receive him,’ ‘believe in him,’ and ‘eternal life.’In the context, John is not speaking of a flow of power but of love and life.John is not bolstering us to perform miracles; rather, John’s primary concern pertains to new life, spiritual life, for ‘dead’ people.

   • Having the Holy Spirit indwelling in us shows that belief in Jesus is a continual relationship with God.We commune with God constantly.God communes with us constantly.The Holy Spirit is there to help immediately.Our prayers can be answered immediately, and we should be praying constantly.There have been times in my life when a mentally ill person was in a mad rage.It seemed like nothing would calm this person down, but when I prayed, they calmed down immediately.Having the Holy Spirit also makes a Christian have new priorities.They are a resource for others whether the others want that resource or not.

     • The deeds and miracles of healing did not stop with Jesus or the apostles. This work continued on in the early church as well.

     • 108 AD - Saint Ignatius of Antioch writes in his letters noting that the deacons are entrusted with the ministry of good works:

     • "I exhort you to strive to do all things in harmony with God: the bishop is to preside in the place of God, while the presbyters are to function as the council of the apostles, and the deacons, who are most dear to me, are entrusted with the ministry (i.e., good works) of Jesus Christ" (Letter to Magnesians 6, 1).

     • Notice that the early church had deacons in addition to elders (presbyters, a council), and a bishop (like God or ruling over all in the church). This tradition has continued throughout the church to this day. Deacons are typically given the responsibilities of dispersing the funds donated to the church in ways to help the needy.

     • 110 AD to 312 AD - The Roman and Greek world had a habit of exposing female children and leaving them to die. The early church had inordinate numbers of females because Christians came around to pick up these exposed children and care for them.

     • 130 AD - "As citizens, they share in all things with others and yet endure all things as if foreigners.They marry, as do all others; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men and are persecuted by all...they are put to death and restored to life. They are poor yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things and yet abound in all; they are dishonored and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are evil spoken of and yet are justified; they are reviled and bless; they are insulted and repay the insult with honor; they do good yet are punished as evildoers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred. To sum it all up in one word -- what the soul is to the body, that are Christians in the world."

       1. -Epistle to Diognetes

     • 135-40 AD - Hermas circa AD 135-40 AD in his list of good deeds which ought to be done after faith and the fear of the Lord love concord words of righteousness truth patience places the helping widows looking after orphans. Shepherd Comm viii

     • 178 AD - According to Irenaeus, the city of Lyons, Gaul, (present day France) was the scene of a local revival at some time subsequent to A.D. 178. In it many people were delivered from demons and came to Christ and many others were healed of sicknesses through the laying on of hands. Irenaeus also reported that prophetic gifts were in operation at this time and that people were raised from the dead. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 2. 32. 4 (quoted in Richard Riss, A Survey of 20th century Revival Movements, p8)

     • 197 AD - " On the monthly day, if he likes, each puts in a small donation; but only if it be his pleasure, and only if he be able: for there is no compulsion; all is voluntary. These gifts are . . . not spent on feasts, and drinking-bouts, and eating-houses, but to support and bury poor people, to supply the wants of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons confined now to the house; such, too, as have suffered shipwreck; and if there happen to be any in the mines or banished to the islands or shut up in the prisons, for nothing but their fidelity to the cause of God's Church, they become the nurslings of their confession. But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See, they say, how they love one another, for they themselves are animated by mutual hatred. See, they say about us, how they are ready even to die for one another, for they themselves would sooner kill. " Tertullian preserves the amazing pagan observation of the Christians: "See how they love one another." -Apology of Tertullian

     • 251 AD - "In the year 251 the church in Rome has on its books the bishop (in other words the pope), 46 priests, 7 deacons, 7 sub-deacons, 42 acolytes, 52 exorcists, readers and doorkeepers, and the very large number of 1500 widows and paupers being 'fed by the grace and kindness of the Lord."

     • 300 AD - The pagan Greco-Roman world did not give modern Western civilization hospitals, however. These institutions first appeared in the fourth century A.D., organized by Christian churches in the Greek (eastern) half of the Roman Empire.Christians, however, were the first to open public hospitals—institutions designed to offer room, board, and therapeutic care, based on scientific medicine, to anyone who needed such assistance. These hospitals evolved from earlier Christian welfare institutions known in Greek as xenodocheia or xenones (hospices or hostels).

     • 312 AD - In 312 the emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, and that faith began its climb to dominance in the Roman Empire. Bishops assumed civic leadership roles, often while remaining true to Christ’s command (Matthew 25) to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and visit the sick. With Christianity’s new prominence, people were increasingly seeking help from the churches. And the bishops responded, establishing xenodocheia as a new type of welfare institution capable of providing material assistance to far more people than ever before.

     • 353 AD - "St. Nerses also became known for his concern for moral purity and preserving the sanctity of marriage and family life. He built schools and hospitals, orphanages, shelters for the poor and the lepers,and he urged his people to maintain these institutions. Thus, St. Nerses has been described by many as the founder of Christian charity in Armenia and recognizedas the clergyman who established the Church's role as the guardian of the Armenian peoplein its spiritual, social, and educational aspects."

     • 360 AD - Saint Basil builds a complex of buildings in Ceasarea centered around humanitarian services and charity.

     • 361 AD - Emporer Julian “It is disgraceful that, when no Jew ever has to beg, and the impious Galilaeans [Christians] support not only their own poor but ours as well, all men see that our people lack aid from us.”

     • 369 AD - St Basil of Caesarea founded a 300 bed hospital. This was the first large-scale hospital for the seriously ill and disabled. It cared for victims of the plague. There were hospices for the poor and aged isolation units, wards for travelers who were sick and a leprosy house. It was the first of many built by the Christian Church.

     • 382 AD - Jerome first met Paula in Rome in about 382. She was one of a group of high-born women who devoted themselves to strict asceticism and benevolent service. The leader of the group was Marcella (325–410), an ardent student of the Bible to whom Jerome referred questions from bishops and presbyters after he left the city. With her friend Principia, she opened the first convent for women. The group included Ascella, Albina, Marcellina, Felicitas and Fabiola. Their lives came to revolve around charity-blankets for the poor, money and food for the bed-ridden, burial for the paupers. With the help of Paula’s widowed son-in-law, Pammachius, Fabiola founded Rome’s first hospital.

     • 397 AD - St Ninian came to Scotland healing the ill.

     • 506 AD - The Council of Agde commands that slaves made free by their masters should not be oppressed or taken advantage of, and that the church was to care for and protect them. Bishops were commanded to provide resources for those they freed:

     • 538 AD - Council of Orleans mandated the ransoming of Christian slaves.

     • 540 AD - "Procopius’ invective also encompasses Theodora’s charitable works. The chronicler John Malalas describes Theodora assisting girls living in poverty to avoid being forced into prostitution.

     • 540 AD - Justinian built a hospital an hospice complex in Jerusalem.

     • 600 AD - Geoffrey Blainey likened the Catholic Church in its activities during the Middle Ages to an early version of a welfare state: "It conducted hospitals for the old and orphanages for the young; hospices for the sick of all ages; places for the lepers; and hostels or inns where pilgrims could buy a cheap bed and meal". It supplied food to the population during famine and distributed food to the poor. This welfare system the church funded through collecting taxes on a large scale and possessing large farmlands and estates.

     • 800 AD - Records of Charitable works were found in the Nestorian Church in China.

     • 800 AD - There were at least 24 Christian hospitals in Rome.

     • 1000 AD - "By the 10th century, when pagan Europe was converted, there were over 20,000 Christian hospitals in cities and monasteries across the continent."

 

These are only a few examples I took from an article I wrote on Christian Charity in the first 1,000 years.I know people that have devoted their whole life just researching and writing about Christian charity in the first 200 years of Christianity.There are many books that list instance after instance of Christian self-sacrifice, caring, and devotion of to help the poor. In 1964, when welfare was passed, 90% of the U.S. population was Christian.Today, at least 67% of the population identifies as Christian - some sources estimate it is 75%, and the U.S. is the most charitable country in the world.We have a completely different world because of Jesus.