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March 16 -- John 7:25-53

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.” –John 7:37-38 (NIV)

The crowds at the Festival of the Tabernacles were confused about Jesus’ identity. Many were saying His miracles proved He was the Messiah, and this angered the chief priests and Pharisees, who then tried to have Jesus arrested. But no one would lay a hand on Him. (The temple guards were so amazed at Jesus’ teaching that they couldn’t follow orders – see vv. 45-46.)

On the last day of the festival, Jesus called on the crowds to believe in Him, making the same invitation He made to the woman at the well (see John 4). He promised to satisfy people’s spiritual thirst in such a way that “rivers of living water will flow from within” anyone who comes to Him and believes in Him (v. 38). This is a deliberate reference to Isaiah 44:3, which says, “For I will pour 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.” In the Old Testament, water was associated with blessing and purification. Through His death and Resurrection, Jesus would make it possible for all believers to be cleansed and blessed with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

After Jesus’ teaching, the temple guards refused to arrest Him, only angering the religious leaders even more and causing them to mock the guards for being gullible. The chief priests and Pharisees were proud to say that none of them had believed in Jesus—only the crowds had, and the religious leaders believed that this was because the common people were ignorant of the Law (v. 49). (The leaders’ pride in their own intelligence and position blinded them to the truth!) There was one Pharisee who hadn’t denied Jesus, though. Nicodemus, the Pharisee who believed Jesus came from God (see John 3), hesitantly defended Jesus, but his colleagues responded by insulting him, asking if he was from Galilee, too (vv. 50-51). (Galileans were considered uneducated hicks by the Pharisees and their class.)

The religious leaders assumed Jesus was born in Galilee because He lived in Nazareth, which means they purposely never checked to see if Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies. Genealogies were important to the Jewish people, and they kept records. If the Jewish leaders had bothered to check, they would have seen that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and was of the house and line of David—just as Scripture said the Messiah would be!

Even though they thought they knew Jesus, the religious leaders had never bothered to check the records to verify their conclusions about Christ. And they never showed any interest in the “living water” Jesus promised, even though it would have fulfilled a deep thirst in them that knowledge of the Law never could. We have all of Scripture to teach us about Christ, and when we get to know Jesus personally, the Scriptures testify along with the Spirit in our hearts to confirm that He is the Messiah—and the Eternal Son of God.

Consider: Do I always go to Jesus to satisfy my spiritual thirst? Where do I go when I don’t go to Him? And how committed am I to searching the Scriptures so that I know Him better?

Thank Jesus for being your Source of living water, and drink deeply in prayer with Him today.

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My name is Melissa Anderson. I'm a spiritual director and ordained pastor who loves God, people, and words. You can read more about me by clicking the button below.

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