Living Water vs. Livid Rulers

In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines John 7:37-52 and the account of Jesus’ second round of discussion with the Jews at the Feast of Booths. John reports Jesus’ offer of living water at the Feast of Booths so that you will side with Jesus by faith no matter what others may do or say.

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Summary

This passage from John 7:37-52 reveals Jesus’ dramatic declaration at the Feast of Booths, where He stands and offers rivers of living water to anyone who believes in Him. Against the backdrop of the feast’s water ceremony celebrating God’s provision and the prophetic promises of the Spirit, Jesus claims to be the fulfillment of Israel’s deepest hopes. We are reminded that the Holy Spirit—the living water Jesus promised—is now a present reality for all who believe.

The passage also exposes the sad division Jesus causes: some in the crowd believe, others raise objections, and the religious rulers respond with proud contempt, dismissing every witness in favor of Jesus.

Key Lessons:

1. Jesus is the sole source of spiritual life, fulfilling the Old Testament promises of God’s Spirit being poured out like water on His people.
2. The real reason people reject Jesus is not intellectual objections but sinful pride and love of darkness—excuses are just a cover.
3. The Holy Spirit’s indwelling is an overwhelming blessing already given to believers, and we must learn to rely on Him rather than living as spiritual paupers.
4. Remaining undecided about Jesus is just as spiritually fatal as outright rejection—each person must choose individually.

Application: We are called to personally side with Jesus by faith regardless of what the world’s leaders, our culture, or even our families say. If we already believe, we must stop discounting the Spirit’s power within us and actively pursue the means by which the Spirit works—Scripture, prayer, fellowship, service, and evangelism—so that we experience the abundant life Jesus promised.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why do you think Jesus chose the climactic moment of the water ceremony at the Feast of Booths to make His declaration, and what does this teach us about who He claims to be?
2. Have you ever encountered someone (or yourself) raising intellectual objections to Jesus that were really masking a deeper heart issue? How should we respond to such objections?
3. In what practical ways can you begin relying more on the Holy Spirit’s power this week rather than living like a “spiritual pauper”?

Scripture Focus: John 7:37-52 records Jesus’ offer of living water and the divided response it provokes. Isaiah 44:3-4, Joel 2:23-28, and Ezekiel 36:25-27 prophesy the Spirit being poured out like water. Isaiah 12:3 promises joyous drawing of water from the springs of salvation. John 4:13-14 parallels Jesus’ promise of water that eternally satisfies.

Outline

• Introduction
• The Bible’s Sufficiency and Historical Background
• Extra-Biblical History as Helpful Illustration
• Setting the Stage: Jesus at the Feast of Booths
• Reading the Text: John 7:37-52
• The Passage’s Structure and Main Idea
• The Christ’s Declaration (vv. 37-39)
• The Last Day of the Feast
• Jesus Stands and Cries Out
• The Feast of Booths and Its Association with Water
• Old Testament Prophecies of Water and the Spirit
• The Water Ceremony at the Temple
• Jesus’ Dramatic Declaration of Living Water
• Come to Me and Drink: The Invitation Explained
• The Promise of the Holy Spirit (v. 39)
• The Spirit as Present Reality for Believers
• An Invitation to the Unbeliever
• Why Do I Still Feel Thirsty?
• The Difference the Spirit Makes
• Realizing and Relying on What You Have
• The Crowd’s Division (vv. 40-44)
• Signs of True Belief in the Crowd
• Ironic Objections from the Unbelieving
• Responding to Religious Objectors
• The Danger of Remaining Undecided
• The Rulers’ Derision (vv. 45-52)
• The Temple Officers’ Testimony
• The Pharisees’ Proud Contempt
• Nicodemus Speaks Up
• The Pharisees’ Scriptural Ignorance
• The Real Reason for the Rulers’ Rejection
• Choose Jesus No Matter What

Introduction

Let’s pray. Lord Jesus, on this Palm Sunday, I pray that you would be exalted. The name of the Lord Jesus Christ would be praised. Would help me to explain your word. Help the people to hear it, Lord. Help us to put these words into practice, first and foremost, by believing in you, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Every once in a while here at the church, we host a question and answer session about the Bible. People submit questions about the Bible’s meaning in a particular passage or application in a particular situation. I, or sometimes also the other elders, will do our best to give answers from the Bible.

Usually, we do this as part of a Sunday school class. We do have one coming up for our marriage and parenthood class in a few weeks. But I remember a question someone submitted one time for a Q&A session that is relevant for our passage today.

The Bible’s Sufficiency and Historical Background

Someone once asked: if proper Bible interpretation requires paying attention to the historical setting of a Bible passage, how much history information from outside the Bible do you need to properly understand what the Bible says?

This is an important question. Because if outside history is necessary to understand the Bible, then the Bible is not truly sufficient. It is not enough on its own. We need something else, extra to the Bible, to complete the Bible and to rescue us from coming to wrong conclusions about what the Bible says.

And this is a worrisome thought. Not only because the Bible claims to be sufficient all by itself, but also because man’s understanding of history, especially ancient history—the history at the time the Bible was written—that understanding is constantly changing, constantly being updated. How could we ever be confident that we have the proper historical understanding of an ancient period and thus a proper understanding of a related Bible passage?

But the answer I gave to that question in the original Q&A is the answer I still hold to today. Whatever history you must know to understand the Bible is contained within the Bible itself.

“Whatever history you must know to understand the Bible is contained within the Bible itself.”

After all, what is the Bible if not largely a history book? It tells you what actually happened in the past and how that history is relevant for how you should live life before God and how you should believe in Jesus. As the Bible is a divine, perfectly written book, the Spirit of God perfectly put in the Bible all the history that is necessary for understanding the Bible, thus keeping the Bible sufficient.

And that should be a great comfort and encouragement to all of us believers. However, just because history information outside the Bible is not necessary does not mean that information is not helpful. On the contrary, extra historical background can often explain why certain events take place in the Bible as they do, or why certain words spoken in a teaching setting in the Bible are particularly significant.

Extra-Biblical History as Helpful Illustration

For instance, why the ten plagues on Egypt in the book of Exodus? Why those plagues specifically? The Nile turning to blood, frogs everywhere, the sun being darkened? We don’t need to know the answer to that question to understand the Bible.

Yet extra-biblical history reveals that these plagues specifically exposed the different Egyptian gods and indeed the whole Egyptian religious system as completely powerless before the one true God. These gods couldn’t even protect or stabilize their own realms: Ra, the sun god; Hapi, the Nile god; et cetera.

“These plagues specifically exposed the Egyptian gods as completely powerless before the one true God.”

Or another example: why does Jesus call the church of Laodicea lukewarm in Revelation 3? There’s enough information in the passage to understand what Jesus means by that metaphor. Yet extra historical information reveals that the city of Laodicea was known for its gross, lukewarm, practically undrinkable water.

Thus Jesus is not using a random metaphor in Revelation 3, but purposefully giving the members of the Laodicean church a poignant reproof. When he calls them lukewarm, he’s saying: you are just like your city’s water. You are useless and foul because you find your security and satisfaction in worldly treasures and wealth rather than me.

Now, in today’s passage, we’re going to hear Jesus make a famous declaration having to do with water. There is, again, enough information in our passage and the rest of scripture to understand Jesus’ meaning. Yet when we bring to bear some extra historical information, we will discover that this water-related announcement from Jesus at the end of the Feast of Booths is extremely significant.

It is significant both in dramatically underscoring the greatness of Jesus and his offered salvation, but also in explaining the extreme hatred Jesus’ opponents have for him because of what he says. To see this yourselves, please turn to the Book of John 7, where we will investigate Living Waters versus livid rulers.

Setting the Stage: Jesus at the Feast of Booths

Living Waters versus livid rulers in John 7:37-52 today, which is page 1,068 if you’re using our pew Bibles. While you’re turning there, remember what we saw earlier in this chapter in John 7:10-36 last week.

We are about six months before Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus has come from Galilee to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Booths. Because his Jewish opponents have been seeking to kill him, Jesus keeps his presence at the feast a secret until the right moment.

“Jesus keeps his presence at the feast a secret until the right moment.”

Then, in the middle of the feast, Jesus suddenly appears in the temple courts and begins to teach. There’s much whispered talk about Jesus among the crowd in Jerusalem at this point. Some of the whispering has to do with cheap objections as to why Jesus cannot truly be the Christ or the Messiah, and therefore why no one should listen to his teaching.

Jesus, therefore, takes the opportunity while teaching in the temple to refute these objections. He shows in the end that the real issue among those who disbelieve is not these specific apologetic problems, but their own sinful, self-righteous pride and lack of any real relationship with God the Father.

As a result of Jesus’ words, some in the crowd unsuccessfully try to seize Jesus so that he might be killed. But others in the crowd believe in Jesus. Meanwhile, the popular religious leaders of Israel, the Pharisees, find out about Jesus gaining some support among the crowds.

The Pharisees decide to act. They team up with their hated enemies, the chief priests, also known as the Sadducees, to order the Levite temple guards, the temple officers, to arrest Jesus so that the leaders can put him to death.

Aware of the religious leaders’ murderous order, Jesus warns his listeners, including the Jews who follow him, that the time to hear and believe in him is running out because Jesus is going away soon. The narrative then picks up again in verse 37, which is what we’ll read now down to verse 52.

Reading the Text: John 7:37-52

John 7:37-52: “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. He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ For 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.

John 7:37: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”

Some of the people, therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, ‘This certainly is the prophet.’ Others were saying, ‘This is the Christ.’ Still others were saying, ‘Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is he? Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?’

A division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, ‘Why did you not bring him?’

The officers answered, ‘Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.’ The Pharisees then answered them, ‘You have not also been led astray, have you? No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in him, has he? But this crowd which does not know the law is accursed.’

Nicodemus, he who came to him before, being one of them, said to them, ‘Our law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?’ They answered him, ‘You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.’”

The Passage’s Structure and Main Idea

What we see here is round two of Jesus’ discussion with the Jews at the Feast of Booths. I may notice that what unfolds here is basically the same events in the same order as what we saw last time.

We have Jesus teaching. Then we have the reaction of the crowd. And then we have the reaction of the rulers. Whereas Jesus says less here than he did in round one, the religious leaders react with greater hatred and contempt than they did before. Their anger is rising.

Meanwhile, the crowd is caught in the middle, both literally in the middle of our passage and in the middle of deciding for Jesus or against him. The flow of our passage and the content of it points to the author’s main idea, which is as follows:

In John 7:37-52, John reports Jesus’ offer of living water at the Feast of Booths so that you will side with Jesus by faith no matter what others may do or say.

“John reports Jesus’ offer of living water so that you will side with Jesus by faith no matter what others may do or say.”

The Christ’s Declaration (vv. 37-39)

Let’s look more closely at the passage as we follow its basic three-part structure. The first part is verses 37 to 39, where we see number one: Christ’s declaration.

The Last Day of the Feast

We begin by rereading the first part of verse 37: “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out.” Notice the time change here. Previously, Jesus was speaking during the middle of the feast. But now we are on the last day of the Feast of Booths, the last of seven days.

There is some debate as to whether this last day is indeed the seventh day or actually the eighth day, a Sabbath day, which is also prescribed along with the command of the Feast of Booths in Leviticus 23. This Sabbath day was to immediately follow the seven-day feast.

But seeing how historically speaking the eighth day was kind of like a wind-down day, we’re probably looking at the seventh day and the final official day of the Feast of Booths. This indeed would be, as the text says, the great day of the feast.

“This was the last day of all the religious feasts for the Jews that year—the grand finale.”

It was like the grand finale. Not only because it was the last day of the Feast of Booths, but it was the last day of all the religious feasts for the Jews that year. The people in Jerusalem, especially because they love the Feast of Booths, wanted to go out with a bang.

Jesus Stands and Cries Out

It just so happens that on this last day, Jesus does something to dramatically draw attention to himself. No doubt Jesus is back in the temple as he in verse 37 stood and cried out. Now, we saw Jesus crying out at the end of his teaching last time in round one of the Feast of Booths. Cried out. He’s doing it again, shouting, perhaps with emotion, certainly trying to draw attention to himself and reach as many people as he can with his voice, all those gathered pilgrims in Jerusalem.

Notice, though, along with crying out, Jesus stands up. Something we didn’t see of Jesus previously. And unlike today, standing up was unusual for a religious teacher to do at that time. Usually, teachers among the Jews sat down to teach.

But Jesus stands up. Perhaps to increase his lung capacity so he can shout even louder and be heard. But also to make him stand out visually. And what is it that Jesus wants everyone to see and hear?

“Standing up was unusual for a religious teacher—Jesus stands to make himself stand out visually.”

We look at the rest of verse 37 going into verse 38. Jesus cries out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”

The Feast of Booths and Its Association with Water

And before I explain these verses, I’d like to share with you some extra historical background information. Sometime after God ordained the Feast of Booths way back with Moses in the wilderness, the feast became associated among the Jews with water. The reason for this association is simple: the feast celebrates God’s supernatural provision for Israel while they traveled in the wilderness for forty years.

What did God miraculously provide for the people of Israel during all that time? Food and water. The Torah of Moses records that God most famously provided water for Israel in the wilderness through Moses striking a rock, and water flowed out of it.

Doesn’t seem normal for a rock to do that. But not only did water come out, but it was enough water to quench the thirst of all the people of Israel and their animals. That’s an abundant water source.

“God provided water for Israel through Moses striking a rock—enough to quench all the people and their animals.”

Part of the Festival of Booths, the Feast of Booths, was celebration of God’s provision of water in the wilderness. But there’s more. The feast also served as a time for the Jews to, in their own day, give thanks for the past year’s rainfall and pray for good rainfall in the year to come.

After all, Israel, Palestine, it is a rain-dependent land. There are not enough rivers and lakes to sustain the people all by themselves. God had always meant for the land’s dependence on rain to drive his people to seek him.

In Jesus’ day, the Jews purposefully did this, seeking God and his rain at the Feast of Booths. One biblical example of this emerging rain association with the Feast of Booths is Zechariah 14:16-19, which foretells that when God reinstituted the Feast of Booths in God’s and Christ’s coming kingdom, all the Gentile nations of the world are supposed to gather in Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths.

Guess what happens to any nation that refuses to come and celebrate the feast? According to Zechariah, no rain. They get no rain.

But there’s more. Not only did the Jews come to associate literal rain and literal prosperity that the rain would bring with the Feast of Booths, but the feast also became an opportunity for Israel to celebrate the spiritual prosperity to be poured out on Israel and its eschatological future.

Old Testament Prophecies of Water and the Spirit

That is, during the reign of their coming Messiah. Indeed, many prophetic passages in the Old Testament associate the coming of God’s spirit and life blessing with God’s visiting Israel in the future with water. Let me give you a few examples.

God says in Isaiah 44:3-4: “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. And they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water.”

Isaiah 44:3: “I will pour out water on the thirsty land… I will pour out my spirit on your offspring.”

Another passage: Joel 2:23 and the first part of verse 28. God speaks again and says, “So rejoice, oh sons of Zion, and be glad in the Lord, that is Yahweh, your God. For he has given you the early rain for your vindication. And he has poured down for you the rain, the early and latter rain as before. It will come about after this that I will pour out my spirit on all mankind.”

God also says in Ezekiel 36:25 and 27: “Then, again speaking about Israel’s future, then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. And you will be careful to observe my commandments or my ordinances.”

Those are three examples. But perhaps the favorite verse that Israel would remember and recite during the Feast of Booths was Isaiah 12:3, which was part of the larger passage that we read earlier in the service.

Isaiah, that larger passage, describes the blessing that is coming for Israel in the kingdom of Messiah. And Isaiah 12:3 reads, again, this is speaking of future Israel: “Therefore, you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.”

The Water Ceremony at the Temple

So then, because of the Jews’ thanksgiving, prayer, and expectation connected to God, water, and his spirit at the Feast of Booths, there developed a celebratory ritual which was completed by the Jews each morning during the feast.

The high priest would take a golden pitcher and draw water from the pool of Siloam in the southern part of Jerusalem. He would then carry it back in a celebratory procession to the temple.

Once there, he and other priests would march with the pitcher of water around the altar of burnt offering while the temple choir sang the Hallel Psalms 113-118. Many eager worshippers watched as the water processing went around the altar, people singing, and the crowd watching.

Once the marching and singing was complete, the high priest would then pour out the water on the altar as the sacrifice of thanksgiving and petition to God.

It was a very joyful moment in the Feast of Booths. It happened every day with the morning sacrifice, and it was even a little bit more elaborate on the last day, the seventh day of the feast.

“The high priest would pour out water on the altar as thanksgiving and petition to God—a very joyful moment.”

Jesus’ Dramatic Declaration of Living Water

Now, considering this historical and scriptural background, the actions and words of Jesus in verses 37 and 38 take on a greater significance, don’t they? I can imagine that right as the procession of the golden pitcher passes by Jesus in the temple, or right as the pitcher is about to be poured on the altar, or maybe right after the pitcher has been poured, it’s at that moment Jesus stands up and shouts: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”

Talk about a way to steal a show! What is Jesus saying? He’s declaring, in an extremely dramatic way, that he is the fulfillment of their festal prayers.

Do you want life-giving water from God? Is that what you’ve been praying for and celebrating this whole time in the feast? Well, guess what? Here it is. I have it. I will give it to you freely.

“He’s declaring that he is the fulfillment of their festal prayers: Do you want life-giving water? Here it is. I have it.”

Are you looking for the water that comes with the association of God’s blessed spirit? He who believes in me will experience what the scripture foretold: that from within that person will flow abundant water, rivers of living water, full of God’s blessing.

It’s all about me. That’s what Jesus is declaring.

Come to Me and Drink: The Invitation Explained

Notice how inclusive is this attention-grabbing invitation from Jesus. He says, “If anyone is thirsty.” If anyone recognizes his need for God, anybody recognizes his inability to keep God’s law, his own sinfulness, his own necessity for life, cleansing, joint peace, things that only God can truly provide, let that one come to me and drink.

Actually, that is an invitation that is both inclusive and exclusive, right? Anyone can come, but they must come to me. I’m the only one who can give him what he’s looking for.

“Anyone can come, but they must come to me. I’m the only one who can give what he’s looking for.”

What does it mean to come to Jesus and drink? The parallel statement in verse 38 clarifies. It means to believe in Jesus. It means to believe in all that Jesus claimed and demonstrated himself to be: that he is the Son of God, he is the Lord of all, he is the only savior, he is your only righteousness.

And what does Jesus promise to anyone who will come to him in this way? Supernatural thirst-quenching to an almost ridiculous degree. You may recall Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus spoke something similar to what we see here in John 4:13-14. I’ll read that again for you.

John 4:13-14: “Jesus told the woman, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst. But the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water, or you could translate that a spring of water, springing up to eternal life.’”

Similar idea here. Except actually it sounds even greater now. Since when does drinking living, or you could translate that flowing, since when does drinking living water result in springs or even rivers erupting inside a person to forever satisfy his thirst? Doesn’t happen naturally. But it does happen with Jesus’ supernatural water, the waters of salvation that only Messiah has authority and ability to give.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit (v. 39)

Now, in case it wasn’t clear enough already, based on some of the scriptures I read to you, our author John supplies an aside in verse 39 to explain Jesus’ words: “But this he spoke of the spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive. But the spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

If we are aware of what the Old Testament foretold, that explanation makes total sense, right? The spirit was to come like water to enliven and cleanse God’s people from the inside out. When Jesus says, “I offer you rivers of living water,” he’s declaring those prophecies fulfilled in him. You will receive the abundant waters of God’s spirit in me.

“When Jesus says ‘I offer you rivers of living water,’ he’s declaring those prophecies fulfilled in him.”

Yet notice here, this is a promise of future blessing, not present, at least at the time of Jesus speaking. The spirit was not yet. The text here literally says not that the spirit didn’t exist at all or wasn’t doing anything. No, other verses make clear that those are not true. But rather the spirit was not yet accomplishing his blessed indwelling work in the people of God. That was not yet a reality.

Compare John 14:17, where Jesus tells his disciples, “The spirit is with you but will be in you.” Why no indwelling yet? Why is that something the people had to wait for? Well, again, the text tells us, verse 39, something important had to take place first. Jesus had to be glorified.

What does that mean? Jesus had to be glorified by his crucifixion, by his resurrection, and by his ascension. We’ll see more about the promised ministry of the Holy Spirit as we keep moving in John, especially right before Jesus’ death.

But simply based on what we see here from Jesus already, the coming of the spirit is going to represent overwhelming blessing for God’s people. This is not like, “Oh, the spirit’s here, okay.” No, this is like, “Wow, I can’t believe it. We have the spirit!”

The Spirit as Present Reality for Believers

All who believe in Jesus received the abundant waters of the spirit upon conversion, upon believing in him. It was a future reality when Jesus first spoke these words, but it is a present reality now, brothers and sisters.

If you are in Jesus Christ, if you believe in Jesus Christ, then you have what Jesus talks about. You have rivers of living water flowing inside you because you have the Holy Spirit. This is an amazing privilege that we receive as a preview of what God is going to do one day for his people Israel when they repent.

“You have rivers of living water flowing inside you because you have the Holy Spirit.”

We’re amazingly the wild olive branches that have been grafted in until the natural olive branch is grafted back in and the people repent. But this is an amazing reality. Praise the Lord!

An Invitation to the Unbeliever

If you’ve not yet believed in Jesus Christ, listen to his invitation. He says that you too, upon believing him, if you just come, you will receive his cleansing and livening soul-blessing spirit. He just asks: are you thirsty? Are you sick of your sin in your own way?

Are you sick of living for passing idols and treasures of the world which will not save or satisfy you? Are you sick of trying to fulfill God’s perfect standard which you’ll never be able to fulfill?

Jesus says, “Come to me and drink. Believe in me. Take me as your savior. Take me as your Lord because I am those things. Let me be for you what you can never be. I will take your sin, totally deal with it. You can take my righteousness, and it is the only thing that will make you acceptable to God.”

“Come to me and drink. Believe in me. Let me be for you what you can never be.”

Jesus offers. He says, “Let me give you the very life of God in me and in my spirit. It’s yours if you will believe.” What a gracious invitation! Will you accept?

Why Do I Still Feel Thirsty?

What reason have you not to accept? Now, to all those who might say, “Pastor Dave, if I have the spirit because I have believed in Jesus, if I have the spirit, why do I still feel so thirsty? Why don’t I feel what Jesus is talking about? I don’t feel God’s abundant life. Why do I feel the opposite of enlivened and blessed by God? I feel burdened. I feel cast down. Feel like I’m parched?”

Well, brethren, I know the feeling. Don’t think to yourself that if you ever feel this way, this must obviously mean you are not a Christian. Even Jesus, the one on whom the spirit rested mightily, was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

He wept over his friend Lazarus when Lazarus died. He wept over unbelieving Jerusalem when he came in on Palm Sunday.

He also sweat drops of blood in the garden because he was praying fervently to his father regarding the coming cross, and he was so distressed. Being a Christian is not all fluffy puppies and rainbows.

Paul testifies in 2 Corinthians how much he has had to suffer as a Christian.

And this is to say nothing of our remaining struggle with sin: doing what we don’t want to do, not doing what we do want to do. Yes, true Christians can cry out to the Lord from the heart: “Oh, wretched man that I am! Who will save me from the body of this death?” That is a reality for us sometimes.

“Even Jesus, the one on whom the spirit rested mightily, was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”

So do not despair, my brother or my sister, when you feel low. Your Lord has felt that. Your true brethren have felt that across the ages.

However, let us not sell the spirit short.

The Difference the Spirit Makes

The Bible demonstrates that there is characteristically a profound difference between those who have the spirit and those who don’t. Just look at the believers of Acts before and after the spirit’s coming.

Before: the disciples look sorrowful, frequently failing, slow to believe, slow to understand the scriptures. After the spirit’s coming: bold, empowered to holiness, full of faith, full of peace, full of confidence in God, able to learn, able to remember, able to minister the scriptures, joyful in the midst of trouble and persecution, and willing to sacrifice their own lives for others and for the Lord out of love.

“After the Spirit’s coming: bold, empowered to holiness, full of faith, full of peace, full of confidence in God.”

The spirit makes a difference. The spirit ought to make a difference in your life, brethren. It is possible.

Don’t automatically go here, but it is possible that the reason you don’t experience the abundant life of the spirit is because you don’t have it. You have not yet come to believe in Jesus Christ. You’re still holding something back.

It may also be that you do have the spirit, but you have grieved and quenched the spirit by your own sin, by unrepentant sin in your life, by ongoing pride, by idolatry. You’re trying to serve an idol and God at the same time.

And then you’re like, “Why don’t I feel the joy of the Lord?” Well, you’re grieving the spirit. You’re quenching the spirit.

Realizing and Relying on What You Have

Both of those are possibilities. But still, a third possibility is you simply do not realize what you have, and therefore you seldom appropriate the spirit’s abundant life for yourself. This is another issue for us as Christians.

We are, you could say, princes and princesses in the kingdom of God, but we live like paupers because we do not realize or touch the riches that God has given us. I’m talking about spiritual riches here. I’m not talking about material riches.

Brethren, do you realize that fundamental to your experiencing the blessing of the spirit is actually believing that you have the spirit? And if you have the spirit of Christ, the spirit of the eternal Word, the spirit of God, what sin can you not overcome?

What challenge that God has placed before you can you not succeed in?

When we say, “I can’t do it. It’s too much,” we are discounting the Lord’s spirit inside us. Yes, we will feel that way in our flesh. But persevere against the flesh and say, “But I have the spirit. I believe in Jesus. His rivers of living water are flowing inside me. I can do this despite what I feel.”

“If you have the spirit of Christ, what sin can you not overcome? What challenge can you not succeed in?”

Believing in the spirit, relying on the spirit, letting the spirit dominate and influence your life as he directs you towards Christ, his word, prayer, singing, fellowship with the brethren, service, and evangelism, that’s how you allow the spirit to manifest his abundant life.

You will experience an increasing measure of what Jesus promises in this passage if you pursue these things. So whatever is inhibiting you from this, if it’s maybe just your own simple unbelief, remove that. If you believe in Jesus, you have the spirit. And if you have the spirit, rely on the spirit.

Seek the things that the spirit wants you to seek. You’re going to see those rivers flow.

Well, as you can imagine, Jesus cannot make such a dramatic declaration on the last day of the Feast of Booths without generating a reaction from the common people and from the rulers. The rest of the passage describes those two reactions, and we’ll take a look at both of those briefly.

The Crowd’s Division (vv. 40-44)

Look now at part two of the passage in verses 40 to 44: the crowd’s division. We saw the Christ declaration. Now we see the crowd’s division. We’ll read all these verses together.

Verses 40 to 44: “Some of the people, therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, ‘This certainly is the prophet.’ Others were saying, ‘This is the Christ.’ Still others were saying, ‘Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is he? Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?’

So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.”

What is the crowd’s reaction to Jesus’ amazing invitation to believe and receive living water? It’s division. As before in round one of the feast, some believe, some don’t.

Some of those who don’t believe want to kill Jesus, though they’re unsuccessful right now because, as we heard before, his hour has not yet come.

“Some believe, some don’t. Some want to kill Jesus, though unsuccessful because his hour has not yet come.”

Signs of True Belief in the Crowd

Now, for those who believe, again, we might ask: how true is their belief? They are testifying about Jesus positively here. But we’ve seen that kind of thing happen before, and Jesus didn’t believe in that belief. So what about this belief? Is this true? We don’t know.

But there are positive signs, more positive than we’ve seen up to this point. For one, their conclusions about Jesus are exactly correct. For some in the crowd, he is indeed the promised prophet like Moses in Deuteronomy 18:1. He is indeed the Christ.

You say, “Well, why were there two different opinions?” Well, many Jews at this time expected that the prophet and the Christ would be two different people. They didn’t yet know that God actually ordained that they would be one. But these are accurate conclusions. And so that is a positive sign.

Another positive sign is that these conclusions come in response to Jesus’ words and not Jesus’ signs. Remember, we’ve seen so far in John that when people believe in Jesus because of signs, it’s not bad, but that often turns out to be suspect. But there are no signs here. Jesus is just speaking, and speaking pretty provocatively.

“These conclusions come in response to Jesus’ words and not Jesus’ signs—that’s a good sign.”

We could imagine many of the crowd taking offense at what Jesus is declaring about himself at this climactic moment of the Feast of Booths. But apparently, some of the crowd didn’t take offense. They instead believed. That’s a good sign.

And then a third good sign is that these believers apparently persist in their opinion despite being opposed by others in the crowd. That’s a good sign too. Can’t say for sure, but this looks good. It looks like some of them truly believe in Jesus.

Ironic Objections from the Unbelieving

But some obviously don’t believe. And notice their reason for doing so in verse 42. They say Jesus seems to have the wrong lineage and background to be the Messiah. Now, that should sound a little bit familiar because that was an objection already raised against Jesus earlier in the feast.

Though this time, the reasoning given by the dissenters in the crowd is a little bit more theologically sound. The scriptures indeed declare that Christ would be of the seed or lineage of David. You can see that, for example, in Psalm 89:3-4. The scriptures also declared that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem. Micah 5:2.

Jesus, this Jesus, therefore, the son of some nobody’s from Nazareth, he doesn’t fit the bill. These people are saying. Do they have a point? Are these Jews justified in dismissing Jesus?

Well, as before, the objection of these unbelieving Jews is ironic. And why is that? Because the very criteria that they use to dismiss Jesus are in fact the criteria that Jesus fulfills and should cause them to believe in Jesus. He is of the seed and lineage of David. He is one who was born in Bethlehem.

“The very criteria they use to dismiss Jesus are in fact the criteria that Jesus fulfills.”

Yet strikingly, Jesus, nor any of his disciples, according to John here, they do not intervene to clarify this truth to Jesus’ objectors. In fact, neither does our writer John. Nowhere in this gospel will you hear Jesus declared to be the son of David who was born in Bethlehem. You only hear that mentioned by people who are trying to dismiss Jesus.

It’s kind of odd, isn’t it? Why doesn’t anybody clarify? Why doesn’t Jesus? Why don’t disciples? Why doesn’t John? Well, speaking for John, it’s possible, I would say even likely, that John’s audience, his original audience of Hellenistic Jews and Gentile God-fearers, they probably have been exposed to the synoptic gospels before or have at least heard the testimony of Christians who have already made clear: Jesus is the descendant of David. Jesus is the one who was born in Bethlehem. It’s not like they’d never heard that before.

But even if that is not the case, there’s a more important reason why no reply is given to the erroneous objection given about Jesus here. And that reason is really the reason that we learned last week, last time we were in John, namely that cheap excuses like this, they aren’t the real reason that somebody doesn’t believe.

Surely, if the objectors in the crowd were interested, they could have done their homework. They could have found out about Jesus’ true lineage and his true origins, at least in an earthly sense. But the fact is, it wouldn’t really do them any good. If you can’t hear the testimony of God and Jesus’ own words, nothing else will help.

Even if the truth were clarified to them, they would just move on to some other flimsy objection. They don’t really want the truth. They don’t really want him who is the light. They may look pious on the outside, but John has already told us what they really love is darkness. It’s why they don’t come to Jesus.

Responding to Religious Objectors

And we’re going to see the same thing, by the way. We’re going to see the same thing in particular with religious people. You can count on it that many religious people with whom you try to give the gospel, whether Jews or Roman Catholics or Muslims, will give you sometimes pious-sounding reasons. They will even use the scriptures to argue with you why what you’re saying cannot be true, they cannot believe in Jesus, they cannot believe the gospel as you’ve declared it.

Now, we should try to reason with these people from the scriptures and explain to them the true intent of God’s word because maybe the Lord will use that. He does say his word is what he uses by his spirit to open eyes. Maybe, as we explain it to people, even religious people who object, God will open their eyes.

But after a while, when they do not accept your answers, or if they just move on to more and more objections, you have to stop. You have to call them out and say, “My friend, there are answers to your objections. But I have to tell you from the Bible, the real reason why you can’t believe what I’m saying, the real reason why you can’t believe in Jesus and you can’t believe the gospel is because you love your sin. You love your sin. You love your self-righteous way. You love the idols of this world. And Jesus warns you: you must repent before it is too late.”

“The real reason you can’t believe in Jesus is because you love your sin and your self-righteous way.”

Now, that may provoke an angry reaction from some. But if we speak thus, we will be properly following in the footsteps of our Savior. He declared the truth that was given to him from the Father. We declare the truth that has been given to us by the Son. And we’ll leave the results to the Lord.

The Danger of Remaining Undecided

We should also note, as an application of verses 40 to 44 here, that many people are going to remain apparently undecided about Jesus. Indeed, whole people groups will.

If you’re relying on somebody else, or you’re relying on some group to figure Jesus out before you’re willing to come to a conclusion, that’s not going to be helpful.

Many in the world are happy to leave open the possibility of believing in Jesus. They won’t believe, but they’re not ready for that right now. They’re still thinking about Jesus. They’re still trying to decide about Jesus.

But being undecided about Jesus is just as spiritually damning as angry unbelief regarding Jesus. We cannot wait for our country, our ethnic group, even our own families to make the right decision about Jesus. It may never happen.

We’re going to have to decide for ourselves, have to decide individually how to respond to Jesus’ invitation, whatever other people may do or say.

“Being undecided about Jesus is just as spiritually damning as angry unbelief regarding Jesus.”

Notice Jesus’ invitation is to individuals: whoever is thirsty, any single one. Yet this is a decision to make soberly, as we will see underlined in the last part of our text, verses 45-52.

The Rulers’ Derision (vv. 45-52)

This is number three: the ruler’s derision. We have the Christ declaration, the crowd’s division, and the ruler’s derision. We’ll read these verses all together as well.

Verses 45-52: “The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, ‘Why did you not bring him?’ The officers answered, ‘Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.’ The Pharisees then answered them, ‘You have not also been led astray, have you? No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in him, has he? But this crowd which does not know the law is accursed.’

Nicodemus, he who came to him before, being one of them, said to them, ‘Our law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?’ They answered him, ‘You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.’”

The Temple Officers’ Testimony

You can see here the rulers, especially the Pharisees, hatred for Jesus the Galilean. Twice here, the Pharisees encounter evidence for Christ and evidence against themselves. Each time, the Pharisees respond only with proud, mocking contempt for Jesus and anybody who stands up for Jesus.

Notice first the temple officers. They had been dispatched earlier in the week, as we saw last time, to seize Jesus at an appropriate opportunity and bring him back to be executed. But when trying to explain why they didn’t do as ordered, the officers testify in John 7:46, literally, “Never has a man spoken thus.”

There’s something about the way that Jesus talks. These guards are saying his authority, his grace, his truthfulness, his claims, his power, his confidence. When we heard him, we couldn’t arrest him. He arrested us.

As the gospel readers, we already know the reason that this is so. No man speaks like Jesus because Jesus is no mere man. He is the word of God.

“No man speaks like Jesus because Jesus is no mere man. He is the word of God.”

The temple guards speak better than they probably know. Hearing the voice of God does have a profound effect. But what kind of response do the Pharisees give to this bold and risky testimony on behalf of Jesus?

The Pharisees’ Proud Contempt

“Oh, surely he didn’t lead you all astray too? I thought we trained you Levites better than that. How could you let Jesus deceive you, that Galilean? Are you really so foolish? None of the rulers, especially none of the Pharisees, have believed in Jesus. Shouldn’t that tell you everything you need to know? Why’d you think you knew better than us? Are you really so simple-minded?”

You can see the Pharisees belittle the officers. In doing so, they reveal their own exalted view of themselves. They don’t consider for a minute what these temple guards are saying. They just insultingly dismiss them and quickly dismiss the testimony of the common people as well.

“They don’t consider for a minute what these temple guards are saying. They just insultingly dismiss them.”

You may notice in verse 49, this is part of their answer to the guards. But to paraphrase, the Pharisees are saying something like: “We know what happened. You were probably influenced by some of the crowd who’s beginning to believe in Jesus. But what do they know? They don’t know the scriptures like we do. They haven’t studied the traditions like we have. They haven’t received our special religious training. So they’d get it wrong.”

“This crowd, these people of the land.” That was actually a pejorative term that religious teachers would use at that time among the Jews. “These people of the land who do not know the law, they are accursed. They’re going to hell. Don’t pay attention to them. Pay attention to us.”

And here again, we see some deep irony, don’t we? Professing to be wise, the Pharisees became fools. They accused the crowd who actually found life of being the ones who were going to hell, when they themselves, the religious leaders, were the ones on that path.

Nicodemus Speaks Up

Furthermore, the Pharisees are not as united against Jesus and not as well informed as they might suppose. In verse 50, we see old Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees who actually visited Jesus before in John 3. Nicodemus steps up to give a tentative defense for Jesus.

This is not anything bold, but it’s a step. In verse 51, Nicodemus reminds his fellow Pharisees that according to their own religious tradition, which is itself based on principles of justice from God’s Old Testament, the rulers would be unjust to condemn and put a man to death without a fair trial.

“We got to hear and see what he does first. We got to thoroughly investigate. Otherwise, we Pharisees would be exposed as law breakers.” Really, this is what the Pharisees have been doing since John 5: trying to kill Jesus. But how do the Pharisees respond to Nicodemus’ valid point?

“Nicodemus reminds his fellow Pharisees that the rulers would be unjust to condemn a man without a fair trial.”

“Nicodemus, you’re right. I can’t believe we almost transgressed our own law.” That’s not the response. It’s more of what we’ve already seen.

“Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Because that’s the only reason that we Pharisees can think of for why you would say something so ignorant and ridiculous. Nicodemus, you cannot seriously be suggesting that this untrained Galilean could be right and we could be wrong. Don’t make us laugh.”

The Pharisees’ Scriptural Ignorance

And pride, the Pharisees also insultingly dismiss Nicodemus’ words. But then the Pharisees say something odd at the end of verse 52. It’s part of laying into Nicodemus.

“Search the scriptures yourself. Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” That is odd. Because the scriptures reveal that there were indeed prophets from Galilee in the Old Testament. Jonah was from Gath Hepher in Galilee (2 Kings 14:25). And perhaps some of the other Old Testament prophets were from Galilee.

So the Pharisees would be plainly wrong in making the assertion if that’s what they mean. Perhaps, though, they mean that no future prophet, according to the scriptures, is said to arise from Galilee. “No prophet arises,” they say, present tense. Well, if that’s their meaning, then they’re only making an argument from silence.

Just because the scriptures may not specifically declare that a future prophet arises from Galilee doesn’t mean that a prophet couldn’t arise from Galilee. How can you dismiss him out of hand like that? Besides, what about Isaiah 9:1?

In Isaiah 9:1, God promised that one day he would treat the contemptible land of Galilee with glory. “When the people who walk in darkness see a great light.” I don’t know, but that sounds like a prophet. That sounds like somebody special from God is going to arrive in Galilee.

So no matter how you look at it, in angrily dismissing Nicodemus, the Pharisees only betray their own ignorance of the scriptures. They boasted in their knowledge of God’s law, but in their pride, they showed they don’t really know it.

“In angrily dismissing Nicodemus, the Pharisees only betray their own ignorance of the scriptures.”

The Real Reason for the Rulers’ Rejection

But then again, it never really was about the scriptures for the Pharisees, was it? We’re kind of like those who oppose Jesus in the crowd. The real reason the Pharisees dismiss what the temple guards say, what Nicodemus says, is they simply cannot stand Jesus.

They cannot stand the untrained Galilean who would have the audacity to say all the things that he has said, even recently at the feast. He’s the source of living water. They cannot stand that he calls into question their entire religious system, everything that makes the Pharisees feel righteous about themselves.

No, the Pharisees cannot be wrong. Jesus cannot be right. No matter what people say, no matter what the scriptures say, he simply does not fit the Pharisees’ expectations of what the Messiah should be.

He fundamentally interferes with their agenda. So obviously, Jesus is wrong. He has to go. End of story. Really, instead of putting faith in Jesus, the Pharisees put faith in themselves. It’s not really rational, but it’s what makes their hearts feel good.

“Instead of putting faith in Jesus, the Pharisees put faith in themselves.”

Thus, we see at the end of this second round of discussion in Jerusalem the sad truth that the religious leaders really are set against Jesus, not for scriptural reasons, but for proud and selfish reasons. And how true this has proven across time.

By and large, the elites of society, the celebrities, the icons, the philosophers, the influencers, the rulers, the billionaires, yes, even some of the most popular religious leaders of monotheistic faiths, they can find no place in their lives for the real Jesus of the Bible. He is an obstacle to be removed, even destroyed, for a god more in line with human desires.

Choose Jesus No Matter What

There’s a reason 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 says: “There were not many great, noble, and mighty among you that were called. God chose the weak things of the world, the things that are not, to shame the strong.” Therefore, those looking for God’s true salvation today cannot simply rely on what the world’s leaders say.

You can count on the leaders to be opposed to Jesus by and large. Rather, those who love God must decide for themselves apart from the leaders where they stand with Jesus. In fact, most of the leaders of the world would not only reject Jesus, but they will reject his followers, even kill them, as many of our martyr brothers and sisters across time can testify.

The choice facing John’s readers and us today is the same choice that the Jews faced who were in the crowd with Jesus. With whom will you side? Will you side with the one who freely gives living water to all who believe in him, who generously gives his own spirit, the spirit of God?

Will you side with the angry human leaders who are determined to oppose Jesus and his followers? Will you remain undecided, gaining neither Jesus and his spirit nor the leaders’ respect?

There’s only one answer that will save your eternal soul. That is by faith to side with Jesus, no matter what others may say or do. Let the crowd engage in its endless debate. Let the rulers rage uselessly against God’s chosen one.

As for you, choose Jesus. You will have the fountain that never runs dry. You will have the inheritance that will never fade away.

“Choose Jesus and you will have the fountain that never runs dry and the inheritance that will never fade away.”

It will cost you. But it’s worth it. Here at this church, we have decided to follow Jesus. As the old hymn says: “The world behind me, the cross before me. Though none go with me, still I will follow. My cross I’ll carry till I see Jesus. No turning back. No turning back.”

Let’s pray. Lord, everything you say in your scripture is true. We have not only seen historically, but also in this present day, Lord, the senseless hatred towards Jesus, the senseless resistance to Jesus’ way and wisdom and life.

Jesus, what person could encounter this offer of living water, rivers of living water for his soul, and say, “I don’t want that”? The only person who could say that is someone who is deeply evil to his core. Your gospel declares that is who we all are, that is who every person in this world has come to be because of the corruption of sin.

And yet you had mercy. Your spirit came and has given life. You have opened blind eyes. You have given new birth from above so that people who only had hearts that would hate you now say, “I want Jesus, and I’ll stand with him no matter what.”

Lord, we thank you for doing that on behalf of the brothers and sisters of this church. We want your living water. We have your living water. We love you. By your grace, Lord, we will stand with you until the end.

But we need your help to do that. We know the world is going to be confused. We know the world, and especially its leaders, are going to hate you and hate those who follow you. But help us not to grow weary. Help us not to be afraid, for your spirit is with us, your powerful spirit.

Help us to rely on your spirit, Lord God. For those who still don’t know the power of the spirit, I pray that they would repent and believe in Jesus today. They say, “I side with Jesus. I don’t side with the world. I don’t side with the leaders. I don’t side with the idols and passing treasures and false gods. I side with Jesus. I want to know his life, whatever other people will say and do.”

I pray, God, that you do that this morning through your word. In Jesus’ name, amen. Let’s stand.