The Promise of the Spirit (John 7:37–44)

Series: “John: Life in Christ’s Name”Text: John 7:37–44

By: Shaun Marksbury Date: July 23, 2023

Venue: Living Water Baptist ChurchOccasion: AM Service

Introduction

This past week, when I injured myself the other night in class, I was in considerable pain. I instantly fell to the floor and was grasping my knee and my leg. In fact, as I think back upon broken and bruised bones, sprains, etc., I can’t recall ever being in worse pain. I know others have had far more painful experiences with lasting consequences, with some are suffering today, but I confess that this was something that had me on my back, yelling for a few minutes.

Yet, somehow, I didn’t utter any words which would make me ashamed to stand in front of you, nor was I short with those who tried to help. As the pain subsided, I even maintained a sense of humor and was able to joke a bit. I don’t say this to pat myself on the back, as I have unfortunately said and done things in the past that I have had to lay at the foot of the cross. Yet, in that moment of loss of bodily control, I was also somehow in control. The only thing I can think of is that I pray each time to conduct myself to the glory of God.

Sometimes, we think of the filling of the Holy Spirit as a surreal spiritual experience, perhaps with spectacular signs and wonders. Yet, it’s a sign of His control, as we’ve been considering in our Ephesians study. He helps us to see our sins, to come to Christ, and to begin overcoming our sinful habits and patterns for the glory of God. He inspired this very Bible, and He works through His word to sanctify our lives.

The Holy Spirit is a promise for every believer. As Ephesians 5:18 says, we are called to be filled with the Holy Spirit, something impossible if Christians do not have Him. Our Lord promises us the Holy Spirit here, and it comes at a fitting juncture in John 7.

Last time, we considered the many reactions people have with the truth of Christ. We see that again in our text this morning. Yet, in the midst of that is the promise of the Spirit, a hope which carries us through some difficult circumstances.

There are people who need to know about Christ, but we can be sure that we are empowered to share the gospel with them because of the gift of the Holy Ghost. In this passage, we’ll examine the promise of the Spirit, and then we’ll examine the mission field of the Spirit. We need not fear what pain will be out there if we allow the Spirit to fill us.

The Promise of the Spirit (vv. 37–39)

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.’ ” 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.

The backdrop for these verses (for everything we’ve considered in this chapter) is the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. We noted before that one of the key aspects of this week-long festival is in the name: they construct temporary structures called tabernacles or booths and live in them, outside their homes. This reminds them of God’s provision in the wilderness wanderings, which they celebrate with feasting.

This festival also points forward to the Messiah. Zechariah 14:16–19 predicts the feast will continue in the future, earthly Messianic Kingdom. Those nations which keep it will receive rain, but those which don’t will experience drought.

As such, the leaders added elements to the keeping of the feast long before the time of Christ. As one commentary explains,

On each of the seven days prior to the final day (the added day), priests drew water from the Pool of Siloam and carried a golden pitcher full of the water to the temple and then around the altar with the high priest leading the way. As the priests neared the water gate, the shofar was blown, and then the psalms of praise and thanksgiving were sung to God for the harvest (Pss 113–118). As the ceremony developed, the Pharisees, who were primarily urban dwellers, insisted that a significant emphasis should be placed on the petition for rain because by this time of year (the fall) their cisterns would nearly be empty after the dryness of summer.

Now, we read in v. 37 that Jesus spoke again on “the last day, the great day of the feast.” It’s possible that this refers to the eighth day, which Scripture adds (Lev. 23:36; Num. 29:35; Neh. 8:18), or the seventh day. Either way, it appears that He’s drawing on the imagery of the water rites when He says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” He uses the situation to point that anyone who feels an aridness, a dryness, in their souls can come to Him and find the refreshment that they need.

Of course, everyone has this need. But only those who understand their condition will seek out the solution in Christ. Not everyone might have known just how low the cisterns get each year, and not everyone realizes the emptiness in their own hearts. However, Jesus is there for those who do. This requires faith in Him, which is why He invites us to come to Him, and He references next, “He who believes in Me.”

What is the promise for the thirsty? He says of those who “drink” (believe in Him), “From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.” Imagine that! Your soul is dry, so He promises water. Yet, not just water, but flowing water; living water. Moreover, it will come forth like rivers (plural), blessing the thirsty around them!

This is, of course, similar to what He said to the woman at the well in John 4:10–14. He spoke of the physical well they were near, saying, “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 springing up to eternal life.” There, He spoke of the overwhelming abundance of water as a spring, and here, He speaks of it as rivers of living water.

Jesus is quoting a Scripture, though it isn’t immediately clear what passage He’s citing. He may be summing up the theme of a number of verses (e.g., Psalm 78:15-16; 105:40–41; Isaiah 44:3; 55:1; 58:11; Zechariah 14:8). A few references are interesting, such as Isaiah 44:3: “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.” Such references connect this outpouring with the Holy Spirit.

Note what the Apostle John notes for our benefit in v. 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.” Now, this confuses some people, because they think that the disciples already had the Holy Spirit. There is a sense in which every Old Testament believer had access to the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit typically restricted His ministry to the temple. There are times when the Spirit would come upon a person for prophecy or for ruling the people, but these were temporary moments, and kings and others could lose the Holy Spirit’s influence in their lives.

This would not be so in the New Testament era. When Jesus died on the cross, resurrected from the grave, and then ascended into heaven, He received the glory of exaltation above every name in heaven and on earth. He also said that, when He leaves, He will send the Holy Spirit as a Helper to abide with us (John 14:16–17). He fulfilled this spectacularly at Pentecost.

So, the Holy Spirit will come and comfort the one in need. He will be the outpouring. And because He will be so satisfying, He fills us to overflow. We will naturally begin blessing others with the words of the Spirit (which are, of course, the words of Christ)!

These words will lead to different reactions in people, much like we considered last time. Let’s consider that again. This time, though, consider how the Holy Spirit might influence others around us as we find ourselves satisfied and drinking deeply from His word.

The Mission Field of the Spirit (vv. 40–44)

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.

Again, we see the various responses people can have. We see that some thought Jesus was “the Prophet.” You might remember that some of the people thought this about John the Baptist, as well (John 1:21). This is a reference back to Deuteronomy 18:15, where Moses says, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.” Ultimately, the prophecy is about the Messiah, but the people disagreed about that point, thinking that “the Prophet” might be another precursor to the Messiah. Either way, we could call this a positive response.

We see that others were more definitive. They were willing to say outright that Jesus is the Christ. That is, of course, the optimal position.

Notice again how these positive opinions developed. Even before Jesus began talking, in v. 12, we read, “There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, ‘He is a good man’; others were saying, ‘No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.’ ” There wasn’t necessarily clear conviction just yet, but Jesus’s words pushed people to believe in Him in v. 31, with many saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?” Now, we see them saying, “This certainly is the Prophet” and ““This is the Christ.” We can see the progression in their belief, and true believers will find their souls quenched by the Holy Spirit.

Of course, we can see the progression in His detractors (or regression, as it were). We saw that some thought He was a deceiver (v. 12). Some, based on an incorrect folk tradition, were saying in v. 27 that Jesus couldn’t be the Christ because they supposedly knew where He came from instead of Him just mysteriously appearing in their midst. In vv. 41–42, we see them now give that biblical argument that He can’t be the Christ. We also saw some progressed to violence and were seeking to seize Him (v. 30), which we see again in v. 44. Those against Christ seem to be getting more determined, and we haven’t even considered the priests and the Pharisees. These are dry and empty people, though they don’t realize this about themselves.

We can note from His detractors that they will even use Scripture. This isn’t the case of a false folk tradition like we were noting before; they correctly cite the birthplace of the Messiah. However, they don’t put it together that Jesus is the fulfillment of those prophecies. This tells us that unbelievers can use the Scripture to move away from belief — they use it to excuse their refusal to come.

Only the Holy Spirit can provide illumination to His Holy Word. We have our kids memorize Scripture and facts about God, but unless they are converted by the Holy Spirit, that word may even become an excuse later to unbelief. We must pray that the rivers of living waters would splash onto the cracked and arid soil of unbelievers so the Word of God that was planted will take root and grow.

Thankfully, we see that Jesus’s words affects everyone. We’ll even see in the following verses that the Jesus’s words affected the officers who tried to arrest Him earlier. They turned and didn’t proceed with the illegal arrest. We have no idea how the words of our Savior will ultimately affect people.

Conclusion

We read here that Christ created division or literally, a schism in the people. This won’t be the only time (John 9:16; 10:19). Jesus said He came to bring division rather than peace upon the earth (Luke 12:51–53). Jesus said He came to bring a sword (Matt. 10:34)!

However, when the word of Christ creates the division, it separates the wheat from the tares. Or, to use the imagery here, Christ shows us that some are thirsty and some aren’t. If you find that you thirst, come to Christ and find the refreshment that you need!