We have learned that Jesus is the One who will pour out
the “living water” of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promises an endless supply of
water and light through Him. Endless because He is endless. We can not only drink of His living water, we
become channels of that living water to a dry and spiritually thirsty world.
Jesus’ living water will fill the empty parts of our soul with His love, grace
and truth. The inner working of the Holy Spirit is God’s new way of working and
communing with His people. The water-pouring ceremony at the Feast of Tabernacles couldn’t satisfy the
soul, but Jesus’ eternal, living water of the Holy Spirit and Truth can. Without
God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we are dry and unfruitful. With the Godhead, we
are developing into the Godhead’s spiritual nature. In Ephesians 5:18, Paul said, “Be
filled with the Holy Spirit.” And in Colossians
3:16, Paul said we are to “Let the Word
of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” These two things in willing,
obedient hearts will transform us into the image and nature of the Godhead.
Temple Guards,
Pharisees and the Chief Priests
“Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests
and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring Him in?” The guards responded, “No one ever spoke the way this man does.” The
Pharisees retorted, “You mean He has
deceived you also.” John 7:45-46 The temple guards were sent to arrest Jesus but came back
without Him. Jesus’ words had such power and authority that the temple guards
would not touch Him. Notice they said “no man.” Jesus is far more than an
ordinary man. He is the Eternal Word of God in human flesh. He is the Teacher
above all others!
The next
statement made by the Pharisees and Chief Priests showed their arrogance and
superior attitude. “You mean He has
deceived you also? Has 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.”
John 7:47-49 First, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of being a deceiver. Satan
is the deceiver. Jesus is the One who reveals Truth. The Pharisees then proceed to denigrate
the temple guards and the crowd by accusing them of being ignorant of the Law. This reveals their superior attitude toward others. The
Pharisees and chief priests also believed that anyone ignorant of the Law was under
a curse according to Deuteronomy 28:15.
Nicodemus, a Pharisee
and member of the Sanhedrin Council
Nicodemus is one of them! However, Nicodemus had gone
to Jesus previously in the dark of night to question Him. He is being drawn to
Jesus by His words and miraculous works. Jesus said that His works would be one
way that showed His deity. Obviously, Nicodemus is not completely convinced
that Jesus is a deceiver and at this point isn't fully convinced that Jesus is the Messiah.
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one
of their own number, asked, “Does our Law condemn anyone without first hearing
him to find out what he is doing?” John
7:50-51 Nicodemus
will be the voice of reason. Nicodemus is reminding Jesus’ accusers that they would
be breaking the very Law that they are defending if they judged Jesus without a
hearing. He is convicting his fellow religious leaders of not following their
own Law. Deuteronomy 1:17: Do not show
partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of any
man, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I
will hear it." This was Moses speaking. And in Exodus 23:1, the
bible says, “Do not spread false
reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness. Do not follow
the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert
justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor man in
his lawsuit.” God wants just judgment based on facts and a hearing. They
must hear the evidence and the accused before judging a man, but the Pharisees
and chief priests were condemning Jesus without a hearing or proving His words
and works wrong.
The superior
attitude and arrogance of the condemners is illustrated again by their next
statement to Nicodemus. “Are you from
Galilee too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out
of Galilee.” V52 The Pharisees had an arrogant prejudice against anyone not
of Judah. In other words, they were xenophobes! They did not believe that those
from Galilee were true Jews. They showed their disdain for Galileans. Their
argument was without merit. They told Nicodemus to search the scriptures and he
would find that no prophet came out of Galilee. This is not true -- Jonah, Micah,
Nahum, Elijah and Elisha came out of Galilee. These religious leaders believed
their argument would prove that Jesus was not the prophet Moses wrote about
because that prophet was to come from Bethlehem. Jesus did come out of
Bethlehem. He was born there.
The unbelief and misinterpreted scripture of the religious
leadership caused division among the leadership and the people. This is true
also in today’s Church. Only pure Truth will bring unity. This is also true in today's world. Denominations are the result of different understandings of Truth. Jesus said that we
could know the Truth and the Truth will set us free. When pure Truth is spoken, unity will be the result.
Jesus had already given the solution to a lack of
understanding of Truth – Living Water. Jesus and the Holy Spirit will bring
those with hungry and thirsty hearts to the pure Truth.
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