The Great Claim of Jesus
Notes
Transcript
I have a pet termite. I named him Clint. Clint Eats Wood.
What do you call a frenchman attacked by a lion? Claude
(7:37–53) Introduction: this is a picture of the great claim of Jesus and the divided opinions about Him. It is a picture that should cause every man to search his own response to Jesus.
1. The setting: The day of the Feast (v.37).
2. The claims of Jesus (vv.37–39).
3. The people’s divided response (vv.40–44).
4. The rulers’ response (vv.45–53).
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
It is important to know that this is the last day of the weeklong feast and we have been talking about over the last few weeks of the feasts of booths… it was actually known as just The Feasts
As we talked about, this was the most popular of all the feasts, and one of the reasons it was celebrated was as we said, the Feast was to be a period of thanksgiving for the completion of the harvest season and for the goodness of God in all of life. The people were to give thanks for all that God had given them: all the fruit of the land that enriched life and made life possible.
The second reason it was celebrated, , it celebrated the day when Israel wandered about in the wilderness as strangers and pilgrims without a homeland. . Each Jewish family built a small stucco or tent-like structure in their yard or upon some other property they owned or secured for the occasion. Then they moved out of their home into the structure for the seven-day period. The purpose for moving into the stucco or tent-like structure was to keep before their minds the wilderness wanderings of their forefathers.
On each of the seven days of this feast, the people came to the temple and brought some fruit as an offering and a few palm and willow branches. The branches were used to form a roof over the altar. Then the priest took a golden pitcher and led the people in a processional down to the pool of Siloam where he filled the pitcher with water.
During this march the people played the flute and sang the Hillel, which was Psalms 113–118.
It was on the return march that the significant drama took place.
As the pitcher of water passed through the Water Gate, the people repeated Isa 12:3 in unison.
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
When they would get to the altar, the water was poured onto the altar and they would wave palm branches as they recited Psalm 118:25 (Ps. 118:25).
25 Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!
The whole idea of this procession was a dramatic way for the people to thank God for the rain they had to complete the harvest of the year, and to offer a prayer to God t continue to pour out rain and have a successful harvest in the coming year. It was a way for them to show how much they needed and depended on God for the rains and water that allowed them to have the harvest that ultimately allowed them to have life.
And on the last day of the feast it was the MOST dramatic! The people would go all walls of Jericho and repeat the procession seven times on that day.
This is a feast Zechariah tells us will be fulfilled when the Lord returns
16 Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths.
and we will be feasting and showing God how joyful we are and symbolize our victory and liberty over the wilderness experience of life, and thank God for all of his provisions… and I thought about this this week and thought how amazing this is, it is almost like showing us this world we live in is in fact the wilderness experience we are in, and we will have the promised land with him when he returns. It also shows how we often are just complaining in this life and what he really wants for us is so close, but that is a different topic entirely...
So back to the feasts of booths..
The idea of the processional was a dramatic way to thank God for rain, to offer prayer to God for more rain, and for a fruitful season in the coming year. It was a dramatic way for the people to acknowledge their need and dependence upon God for the rains, the water that gave them the fruit of the ground and the bounty of life.
And it is with this in the background that Jesus is about to make the following statements… let’s continue
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
There are some who imagine Jesus speaking this out the moment the gatherers would have finished the words give us success in Psalm 118:25.
And what we have to see is Jesus is again breaking the rules here, in the first century teachers would not have stood, they would have sat to teach and they would not have imagined crying out.. ekrazen shouting loudly Both of these things would have really startled the people around him. So just imagine, they are reciting send success now.... and Jesus says...
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
And when Jesus says this, he is making three amazing claims
His first claim is that Jesus is the source of life.
In this short statement, he is recognizing our needs, he is saying that he realizes men DO thirst for things… he knows that we have thirst for physical water and have physical desires, as well as we have a thirst for spiritual things.... this was made even more evident when we looked at Jn. 4:13-14
13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
After recognizing our needs and desires he in this statement goes on to claim that he is the source…he said if anyone thirst… let him come to me… he can fix it he is the source… that he can do all of the things water does, and this is why this is so important to know context, because remember what is going on, there is this celebration of what God has done with the rain, and they are pouring out this water to ask God to give more… and Jesus walks onto the scene to talk about how HE is water.... and so he is claiming to be able to do all the things that water can do...
A) He can cleanse and purify…
And remember how we looked at the wedding in canna and we talked about how the water jars were there to purify.... and these people would have understood what he was making claims of…
B) He can refresh
I can only imagine that in that moment they would have thought about how refreshing water is and how it hits the spot on a warm day… and would have even been reminded of Is. 28:12
12 to whom he has said, “This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose”; yet they would not hear.
and even goes along with Ac. 3:19-20
19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,
C) He can revitalize and energize.
They would have known how the water could bring life back to the plants as they started to wither away and they would have been able to make that connection to their lives and how he could reenergize them for the life to come
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
His second claim was he was not just the source of life, but he was the source of ABUNDANT life
It wasn’t just that water would flow out of him to people, but verse 38 said rivers of living water would come from him....
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
The thing they would not have understood clearly, would have been the fact that for this living water to come that would satisfy them, Jesus would have to die. And it would be be his death and resurrection that would make it possible for them to have this water and eternal life that they were after.
And what we see from the life of Jesus and his ministry is that this living water only comes from believing in him. Jn 6:35
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
IT is important while we are here to note, there is no other way that we can have eternal life but through believing in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If you have not made that decision...
His Third claim here is he is the source of the Holy Spirit
When jesus refers to rivers of living water he is referring to the Holy Spirit… and he is the source of that… and it is an amazing thing because this is the only place that he defines living waters. When he spoke of living waters he was speaking of giving the Holy Spirit to people and when we received the holy spirit is when we receive the abundant and eternal life.
So what were the responses to Jesus claims here?
So what were the responses to Jesus claims here?
40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”
41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?
42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”
43 So there was a division among the people over him.
44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
So what we see is people are immediately beginning to connect him with being the messiah, but they couldn’t connect how it was possible for him to be the Messiah because they knew Jesus was from Galilee and not Bethlehem, so how would it be possible for Jesus to be the Messiah?
And we have to realize immediately upon his claim people began to argue whether or not he was the real messiah. And today too people still argue whether he is the messiah, and they question his origin, they look at Jesus and they see a great man, but only a man, and believe he is only flesh and blood, but not God incarnate… so there is no way he could be the messiah.
But we know from Jn 1:10-11
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
Look at how the rulers responded to Jesus
Look at how the rulers responded to Jesus
45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?”
46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”
47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?
48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?
49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them,
51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”
52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
53 They went each to his own house,
a. The leaders wished to be rid of Jesus. They opposed Him and wanted nothing to do with Him (see note, pts.3, 4—Jn. 7:32 for more discussion and thought).
Note the temple police were greatly impressed with the Lord’s teaching. To them He was a great teacher.
b. The leaders were telling people he was deceiving them and leading them astray.... that he would be the ones that led them to a demise
c. The interesting thing here is that while the leaders are rejecting him, Nicodemus speaks up and tells the leaders they are themselves breaking the law themselves and they need to listen to Jesus and pay attention to what he is doing. The leaders pointed to the fact that no prophet could come from Galilee...
but they are wrong… Jonan did… and God can make a prophet come from anywhere he wants… they were denying his power.
d. The leaders went to their own houses and lived just as they had always chosen. God does not force any man to subject himself to His Son. Every man has the freedom to live as He wishes, either for God or for self. The leaders chose to live for self.
This morning it is simple… if you do not know him as your lord and savior… and secondly for the rest of us in this room that call ourselves Christians, we must remember that Jesus is the living water… in your times of need he can refresh and reenergize and cleanse and purify your life… when it all seems bad and you feel like you are withering away in this life then it is time that you get close to him so you can drink from the living water that he has to give you… he never intended for you to walk through this life withered and hurting… he is ready to fill you