Rivers of Living Water
John 7:19-52

INTRODUCTION: Good morning church. John's gospel continues to show us the pattern of unbelief toward Jesus. John continues to emphasize what true belief looks like. His purpose is that those who would read this gospel and hear these words would come to the true belief that Jesus is the Son of God, and it would be seen by their actions. It's not simply some kind of mental ascent, but a radical life change.

As we come into the rest of John chapter 7, I think John, while pressing the story forward, is summarizing many of the messages that have been found in this gospel. It feels to me like an encapsulation of concepts of unbelief, those who are unwilling to follow Jesus, and the renewed message by Jesus to come to Him for true life. As well as Jesus trying to break through their dull and stubborn hearts because they don't want to see who He really is. All that message is bundled up into this final section of John 7.

I. Rejecting The Truth – We’ll read John 7:19-24 first. “19. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” 20. The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21. Jesus answered them, “I did one work, and you all marvel at it. 22. Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23. If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? 24. Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.””

A. If you recall earlier Jesus had told them He was speaking on God’s authority and if their will was to do the will of the Father they could determine that. He continues with that thinking and teaching through this section. In verse 19 He is reminding them they are lawbreakers, Moses gave you the law, right? So how come none of you do it? I'm sure that won over a lot of people.

1. Here are the people of God, and they revere Moses greatly. As Israelites, the Jewish people, Moses gave them the law, and yet they don’t follow it. He points out exactly what He means by that in verse 19, “Why do you seek to kill me?”
2. I think that should have caused them to pause. Jesus is reading the hearts of the people. I recognize that you're a bunch of lawbreakers, and I know that you're trying to kill me. Remember the reason why Jesus does not go to the feast with His brothers is because the Jews are plotting to kill Him. Here Jesus is telling the crowd, I know what's in your heart.
3. Rather than listening to Jesus and considering how His divine knowledge can know their hearts and their thoughts, they simply deflect what Jesus says. They say “You have a demon!...” I’m told that in that day, in that parlance, if you said to somebody “you have a demon”, that means you're nuts. It was the way to say that you did not take that person seriously.
4. You don't know what you're talking about. You're paranoid. Nobody here wants to kill you. They are not being truthful are they? In chapter 5 Jesus was in Jerusalem and heals the paralyzed man at the pool. Jesus reminds them of this in verse 21. “I did one work, and you all marvel at it.”
5. John 5:18 tells us, “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” We haven't seen Jesus back in Jerusalem since that time, but now He's returned to the city, and what are the Jews wanting to do?  John 7:1 says "... the Jews were seeking to kill him."

B. Their response is “Who is seeking to kill you?” They're deflecting. Oh no, you're just nuts. We're not trying to kill you. I suggest that is a common response to the word of God, deflection. Put the shields up. No, no, that doesn't apply to me. We are good people. I hope that other person heard that lesson. It's not to us. It's to everybody else. They all have the problem, not us.

1. Jesus was putting His finger right on the problem. Notice how Jesus deals with them in verses 22 and 23. I’m paraphrasing, He says, all right, let me show you. Moses gave you circumcision, here John gives a parenthesis because Moses didn't give the command for circumcision, it was part of the covenant given Abraham in Genesis 17. However, the law that was given through Moses formally codified this as a mandatory religious commandment. No uncircumcised male was permitted to eat the Passover meal.
2. He poses the problem; What do you do if the eighth day falls on the Sabbath? Do you go ahead and fulfill the law and circumcise the child on the eighth day? Even though it's a Sabbath and even though you're not supposed to do work. Of course you do. That's what He's pointing out in verse 23.
3. You understand that you are keeping the law of Moses, that you are perfecting the child, because now they can obey God as God had commanded them to do. If you do that on the Sabbath, how can you criticize me for healing this man so that he can now participate and obey God? He can now worship God, serve God, keep the law of Moses.

C. Jesus is trying to help them see that they are judging Him with false judgment. He says, don't judge by appearances. We notice that Jesus does not say that a person should never judge. People love to quote His words out of context, “Do not judge.” However what Jesus taught there is the same as He is teaching here. You don't judge by your own misconceptions, your own perceptions, your own traditions, your own “I think”. You judge according to right judgment, which is the word of God.

1. He's telling these Jews that you are passing judgment upon me that I have not been sent by God because you have misconceptions about Me and My purpose. You're unwilling to listen to what I'm trying to teach you. You won't hear anything that I have to say. You've already passed your judgment. You've already decided that I'm not eligible to be the Messiah, and that's why you're trying to kill me.
2. If they were listening to what Jesus is saying, I know it's in your heart that you want to kill me, that should have given them pause. They did not consider that might be one of the many evidences that He is from God. How did you know that? You're at least a prophet. You're at least somebody from God to be able to know what's going on in my mind… but they don't want to do that. They don't want to listen, and so they continue to pass false judgments against Him.
3. It is important for us, as true believers, to make sure that we do not pass superficial judgments, not only upon one another, but upon people in the world. It's not about judging by physical standards or by things that we see, but it's about what God says. We must continue to pass that judgment.
4. We live in a time where passing judgment based on what the word of God says is going to be highly ridiculed and scorned. We will hear a whole lot of — “who are you to judge my lifestyle?” We must stand up recalling John 7:24, and judge by right judgment. You're not doing what God says. This is not my judgment. This is what God says, and that's the end of the story.
5. We need to take a stand and recognize that God has not only allowed us to do that, but has commanded us to tell the world those right judgments that this is what God says to do to be right with Him.

II. Reasons For Unbelief – After Jesus said that, did they listen and agree they should hear Him? Let’s look at John 7:25-36 “25. Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? 26. And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27. But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.” 28. So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from. But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know." We will stop and look at this.

A. When we read verses 25 and 26, we might think, they're finally getting it. They're beginning to wonder maybe He is the Christ. Then in verse 27, they say, but we know where this man comes from and when Christ appears, no one will know where he's from.

1. Where did that perception come from? Scholars suggest this was Rabbinic tradition and interpretation of scripture. Jewish thought included a concept that the Messiah would be born as a regular man but remain completely hidden, anonymous, and unknown even to himself until a sudden public manifestation. Malachi 3:1 says, “…the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple;…” Taking this verse literally led people to expect a sudden, miraculous descent from heaven.
2. During the centuries leading up to Christ, non-biblical Jewish texts (such as 2^nd Esdras and 2^nd Baruch) grew highly popular. These texts frequently described the Messiah as a hidden, mystical figure kept secret by God until the absolute end of days, reinforcing the idea that his earthly background would be a total mystery.

B. They just pass quick judgment and say, he can't be the Christ. Self-imposed barriers often occur if we are not careful and we can’t think past them. Jesus is doing things that clearly reveals He is the Messiah, but they’re unable to see it and unwilling to believe it. They have a preconceived notion about Him that the Scriptures don't uphold. I suspect that is true in the religious world today. We have ideas and notions about what Christianity is supposed to be, the way God is supposed to be, how God is supposed to act, and what He's to do in our lives. Unfortunately, we often don’t get past those preconceived ideas, and they can prevent us from growing in our faith.
C. They quickly turn away from him in verse 27. We see how Jesus responds in verse 28. “You know me and you know where I come from.” Indeed, this is what they believe. Jesus continues though; “But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.”

1. He's just called them lawbreakers. He says, the one who sent me is true, (which is the father), and you don't know him. You have the law of Moses, and you do not know God at all.
2. Verse 29. “I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” It's evident you don't know the father, because if you knew the father, you would know me. We have seen this before and John is bringing it forward again. The only way to know the father is to come to the son. If you don't know the son and you do not come to the son, then you absolutely do not know the father.
3. There is no way to come to God, to have salvation, to have true faith and belief unless you come to Jesus. Jesus makes it clear in verse 29. I know him. I've come from him. Is there any plainer way of saying I've come from heaven? Alright, you think you know where I've come from? I know the father, He sent me and I've come to do His will.
4. We notice verse 30 has a connecting word. It might be; so, then, therefore, or at this. “So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.”[ESV] They will not listen.
5. Verse 31 is interesting because there are many people who begin to kind of get it. “Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”” He's done a lot, maybe He's the Messiah. Look at all the things that He's done to prove himself.

D. Verse 32. “The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.” The crowd is listening to Him, the religious leaders are not, and they continue their stubborn rejection. We run into the same today, those who have their minds so fixed that they will not listen. Do you see the patience of Jesus though?

1. Jesus here in verse 33 continues to work with them. “Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me.”” He has been telling them He has been sent by the One they do not know, and He is going back to Him. He is spelling it out. Then He adds “…Where I am you cannot come”
2. What do they do? They wonder where He is going. Why as humans, do we not want to listen to God and what He says? I suggest this is an enormous reason for unbelief; we don't truly want to hear what God has to say.
3. We've all experienced that. Approach someone with Acts 2:38 and see what happens. Often you will get the deflection… that doesn't mean what it says. “…Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins…” Hmmm, sounds simple enough to me, not rocket science. Why is it so hard to understand? Because people don't want to understand. They have self-imposed barriers. I don't want to hear that.
4. If we are not careful, we may find the same attitude in us. When we read things in God's Word and it does not jive with our way of thinking, we can so easily dismiss it and not want to learn what God is trying to teach us. This prevents us from seeing Jesus as the bread of life, it prevents us from growing in our faith, it is keeping us from truly seeing who Jesus is and giving our life completely to Him.
5. We may find we do not fully believe and give our life to Him. I submit it is easy to do, to enjoy coming together, reading God's Word, being with each other, a great group of Christians here, and yet not allow the radical life change from God's Word to happen. What's keeping us from seeing Jesus as He claims to be the all-satisfying God?

III. If Anyone Thirsts, Let Him Come To Me and Drink – We are at verse 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.”

A. The symbolism behind the Feast of Tabernacles goes beyond just living in tents. Each day a priest would lead a musical procession down to the Pool of Siloam to fill a golden pitcher with "living water" fed by the Gihon Spring. Remember that pool, the pool where people hoped to be healed? Interesting that should feature here.

1. The crowd would march back to the Temple Mount through the Water Gate, blowing shofars, waving palm branches, and singing Isaiah 12:3: "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation”.
2. The priest would then pour the water into a silver basin on the west side of the altar alongside a wine offering, symbolizing a prayer for physical rain and the spiritual outpouring of the Holy Spirit. An ancient Jewish saying noted that "he who has not seen the joy of the drawing of water at the Feast of Tabernacles does not know what joy is"
3. On the eighth day, no water was poured, leaving a conspicuous absence that symbolized the end of the festival and a complete dependence on God's future provision, the future outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Messianic age.
4. Thinking back, we recall that this feast has the overtones of the Exodus, coming out of slavery in Egypt, and how God has blessed them. The time when they would be living in tents hoping for the Promised Land. We recall that in the last study, it wasn't just simply a historical reminder, but it was also a hope to the future how God would pour out His blessings upon all the people.
5. Prophets like Ezekiel brought this promise forward many times. We read in Ezekiel chapters 40-48 of water flowing from the temple and it gets deeper and deeper and begins to stream all over. There is a picture of that with the Feast of Tabernacles.
6. They're pouring out the water on the altar remembering how God gave them water in the wilderness but at the same time thinking about this messianic overtone of when the Messiah comes, then the Spirit's going to be poured out on all flesh and it's going to be a renewal of God's blessings and covenant to the people. Along with that were often prayers for the rain to come upon the land.

B. This is the scene where “Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”” Jesus is claiming to be the fulfillment of all the symbolism and hope found in the Feast of Tabernacles.

1. When you go without God, your soul gets thirsty, it gets hungry. We were made to be with God. We often do not recognize what we are thirsting and hungering for and try to fill the need with the physical. Just as your body was made for water and food, so your soul was made for God. This is such an important truth that John brings it around again. We recall this from John 4 with the Samaritan woman and the living waters He tells her about, and in John 6 with the bread of life. He is trying to get people to understand—you need God.
2. Unfortunately, people do not grasp this. Jeremiah 2:12-13 – “Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Rather than going to God who was promised to satisfy, we go to broken cisterns. We go to things in the world that do not satisfy.
3. We go to our sins, we go to our weaknesses, and we go to our flesh. We seek worldly answers. If I just had more comfort, if I just had more money, if I just had this, that, and whatever and we believe that this would be the thing that will make us happy.

IV. Out of His Heart Will Flow Rivers of Living Water – John 7:38, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

A. There is a picture of our soul finding all that it needs over and over again when we believe in Jesus. Where from? It is flowing from within us, flowing from our heart.

1. Jesus is calling for true belief, true saving faith, a radical change of the heart. Not about simply meeting certain expectations or doing certain things. A new birth, complete change, and the result is a new life. It is the fulfillment of what the prophets said, God was going to put a new heart in His people. There would be a new covenant, and God would write His laws on their hearts.
2. John interjects in verse 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.” Those who are believers in Christ Jesus they are the ones that are going to receive this Spirit. I think that fits Acts 2:38 right on the nose. “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
3. Paul writes of this in Titus 3:4-6 - “When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior”

V. Same Dead Hearts – After this offer, notice the same responses from the people. John 7:40-52 – “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.

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.””

A. Some perk up and think that Jesus is the prophet that Moses spoke about who was to come. Some recognize Jesus to be the Christ. but some find yet another reason to reject him, so they try to arrest Him.
B. I want to note one thing in verse 52 where they say, “Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” Remarkable, because Jonah came from Galilee, 2^nd Kings 14.

CONCLUSION: Coming to Jesus is not merely changing some external habits. It is not - now you come to church and stop swearing. Coming to Jesus and drinking is to see Jesus as the satisfaction of your thirst. Coming to Jesus is opening your heart to His teaching, letting His words change your mind, your heart, your values, your attitude, your personality, your thinking, and your way of life. Coming to Jesus is to make our will to do the will of God. Coming to Jesus is to seek God’s glory, not our own. Look at what Jesus is offering. Jesus will perpetually and continually quench your thirst. Jesus is the answer for your life. Open your heart to Him and let Him be your everything.

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Reference: Brent Kercheville, James Burton Coffman