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Gospel according to John 7: 37-52 (NIV)
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.”
Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.
47 “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. 48 “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law – there is a curse on them.”
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”
52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”
How varied were the responses to Jesus’ teaching on that last and greatest day of the festival! Some regarded him as “the Prophet”. Some had no doubt that he was the Messiah. The temple guards declined to arrest him, reporting, “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” (verse 46). The Pharisees however took a completely opposite view: “You mean he has deceived you also?” (verse 47). “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No!” (verses 48-49).
Why did they not accept his teaching? Was it because it contradicted their own prejudices? The situation is not dissimilar today! The leaders of totalitarian regimes and, with a few notable exceptions, many so-called “intellectuals”, leaders of public opinion on social media and prominent voices in the entertainment industry tend to scoff at belief in a risen Saviour and to denigrate those who worship him.
Nicodemus spoke up, pointing out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They had ridiculed “this mob that knows nothing of the law” (verse 49) while ignoring their own law which would not allow a man to be condemned without a hearing!
Jesus had a message for them all. It is the same message today: “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (verse 38). He has given the Holy Spirit to abide in those who follow him and to flow out from his disciples, on that memorable day of Pentecost through to today, as a means of carrying a blessing to the world. Let us pray that each of us will be a willing vessel for the Holy Spirit and an eager carrier of the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.