26  Answering Life’s Ultimate Question  (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.’” 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. 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. 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.” (7:37–52)

The ultimate question that everyone must eventually face, the most crucial issue determining one’s eternal destiny is, “What shall I do with Jesus Christ?”

Ironically, that very question was posed by the man who sentenced the Lord to death. The Jewish authorities had arrested Jesus and, after a mock trial of their own, brought Him before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Their reason for involving the hated Romans was simple: they wanted Jesus dead and the occupying Romans had not given them the right to enforce capital punishment (18:31). Therefore they needed the Roman authority to approve the murder.

After examining Jesus, Pilate declared, “I find no guilt in this man” (Luke 23:4) and sought to release Him (John 19:12). The governor’s desire to do so only intensified when his “wife sent him a message, saying, ‘Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him’” (Matt. 27:19). Since it was customary at Passover for Pilate “to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested” (Mark 15:6), the governor offered the mob a choice between Jesus and the “notorious prisoner” (Matt. 27:16) Barabbas. He assumed they would ask for Jesus to be released, but “the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death” (Matt. 27:20). It was then that a frustrated Pilate asked the momentous question, “What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” (Matt. 27:22).

The frenzied crowd, stirred up by the chief priests (Mark 15:11), “cried out all together, saying, ‘Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!’” (Luke 23:18). But “Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again” (Luke 23:20) and said, “Why, what evil has He done?” (Mark 15:14). Having officially pronounced Jesus innocent (three times; Luke 23:22), Pilate should have released Him. But instead, when he realized “that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves’” (Matt. 27:24). He capitulated, because the people “were insistent, with loud voices asking that [Jesus] be crucified” (Luke 23:23), and because the Jewish leaders threatened to report him again to the emperor as an inept leader: “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar” (John 19:12). So “wishing to satisfy the crowd” (Mark 15:15), “Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted” (Luke 23:24), and “handed Him over to them to be crucified” (John 19:16).

Pilate failed to correctly answer his own question regarding Jesus. Although he feared that Jesus might have supernatural powers (19:7–9), he did not acknowledge Him to be the Son of God. By sentencing the innocent Savior to death, Pilate ultimately condemned himself.

The crowd that demanded Jesus’ execution also brought judgment on themselves. For generations the people of Israel had longed for their Messiah. But when He finally came, they rejected His message and used their Roman overlords to execute Him (cf. Acts 2:22–23). In their blind rage, they accepted responsibility for Jesus’ execution, even pronouncing on themselves the fearful curse, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” (Matt. 27:25). Unless they later repented and believed, they were eternally damned.

Over the centuries, countless millions of people have likewise made the wrong choice concerning Jesus Christ. Like Pilate, the Jewish leaders, and the crowd, they have rejected Him as the only Savior of the world. But there is only one correct response to Him: “Confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead” (Rom. 10:9); acknowledge that “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12; cf. John 14:6); confess your sins (1 John 1:9) to the “Son of Man [who] has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matt. 9:6); and bow in submission to Him as the sovereign Lord (Phil. 2:10–11). Those who do so “will be saved” (Rom. 10:9; cf. 5:1; 8:1; 1 Thess. 5:9; 2 Tim. 2:10; 3:15; Heb. 2:10; 5:9). But those who fail to do so will face eternal judgment (Ps. 2:12; Luke 13:3, 5; John 3:36; Rom. 1:18; 2:12; Gal. 3:10; Eph. 5:6; 2 Thess. 2:10; Heb. 10:29).

Israel was given many opportunities to respond rightly to Him. Verses 37–52 describe an incident typical of Israel’s rejection, occurring about six months before His crucifixion. The setting was Jerusalem, on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (7:2, 37). With authority and precision, Jesus posed the question of His identity in the form of an invitation to believe in Him. The reactions of the people separated them into four groups: the convinced, the contrary, the confused, and the contemplative. Those responses encompass the universal pattern of reactions to Jesus Christ from the first century to the present day.

THE INVITATION

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. (7:37–39)

This was neither Jesus’ first public invitation to believe in Him (cf. 3:12–18; 5:24, 38–47; 6:29, 35–36, 40, 47), nor was it the first time He had pictured salvation as living water (4:10–14; 6:35). (The Lord also had earlier used a similar metaphor, describing Himself as the Bread of Life [6:30–59].) Drawing upon imagery from Isaiah’s prophecy (12:3; 55:1), Jesus’ reference to salvation as living water would have been familiar to His hearers. In the relatively dry land of Israel, thirst was an apt picture of one’s need for salvation.

Jesus gave His invitation on the last day, the great day of the feast of Tabernacles. Whether this was the seventh day or the eighth day, on which a special festival assembly was held (Lev. 23:36), is not clear. In either case, it was a different day from the one on which the events of vv. 14–36 took place (cf. v. 14). As He had done earlier (v. 28), Jesus cried out in a loud voice, calling all to hear and heed His invitation. That the Lord stood to deliver His message (rabbis normally sat when they taught; cf. Matt. 5:1; 13:2; 26:55; Luke 4:20; 5:3), further emphasized its importance.

By using water to illustrate the truth about Himself, Jesus capitalized on a very prominent ceremony that was happening at the feast. The major feature of the Feast of Tabernacles was the booths (shelters) which the people prepared (Lev. 23:42; Neh. 8:14). But on each of its seven days there was also an important water ritual. That ceremony was not prescribed in the Old Testament, but had become a tradition in the centuries just before Jesus’ time. It commemorated God’s miraculous provision of water during Israel’s wilderness wandering (Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:8–11; Deut. 8:15; Neh. 9:15; Pss. 105:41; 114:8; Isa. 48:21), and anticipated the blessings of the messianic age (cf. Isa. 30:25; 35:6–7; 43:19–20; 44:3–4; 49:10; Ezek. 47:1–9; Joel 3:18; Zech. 14:8). It was also a symbolic prayer for rain.

Each day of the feast the high priest drew water from the pool of Siloam and carried it in a procession back to the temple. At the Water Gate (on the south side of the inner court of the temple), three blasts were sounded on a shofar (a trumpet made out of a rams’ horn) to mark the joy of the occasion. Isaiah 12:3 (“Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.”) was also recited. At the temple the priests marched around the altar while the temple choir sang the Hallel (Pss. 113–118). The water was then poured out as an offering to God.

It was against the backdrop of that ceremony that Jesus spoke His stunning words, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”

If He gave this invitation on the seventh day of the feast, it would have coincided with the finale of the water ceremony. (On the seventh day, the priests marched around the altar seven times before pouring out the water.) Our Lord was inviting thirsty souls to come to Him for spiritual, eternal, life-giving water, instead of the physical, temporal water of the ceremony. If it was the eighth day (when there was no ceremony), it may not have been as dramatic an announcement, but the people could still make the connection with the water drawing ceremony each day. In either case, Jesus shifted the focus from the need of the parched mouths in the wilderness to the spiritual need of the thirsty soul for the water of life.

Three key words summarize Jesus’ gospel invitation. First, the thirsty ones are those who recognize their spiritual thirst (cf. Isa. 55:1; Matt. 5:6). Next, if they are to find relief, such individuals must come to Jesus, the only source of living water. But not all who acknowledge their need and approach Him have their thirst quenched. The rich young ruler, though he eagerly “ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’” (Mark 10:17), in the end “went away grieving” (v. 22) with his thirst still unquenched. Having approached Christ, he was unwilling to take the critical third step and drink; that is, appropriate Him by faith.

Only those who do will receive the living water in Christ; all others prove themselves to be false disciples (6:53), whose repentance is insincere and incomplete. The “repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18) and results in the “forgiveness of sins” (Luke 24:47) involves far more than mere remorse. Those who manifest genuine repentance acknowledge the deep thirst of their personal guilt before holy God, realizing that they can do nothing on their own to avert His judgment that they deserve. Thus they rely on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (as payment for their sins), affirming Him to be the only Savior (John 14:6; Acts 4:12), and the Lord of their lives (Rom. 10:9–10). In this way, they drink the living water that He provides, which becomes in them “a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:14). In the words of Horatio Bonar’s hymn, “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say,”

But God did not intend for believers to be ponds in which the living water of salvation stagnates. Instead, Jesus declared, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” The Lord’s words were not a direct quote of a specific Old Testament text, but reflect such passages as Proverbs 11:25, Ezekiel 47:1–9, and Zechariah 13:1. Believers are to be channels through which the rivers of living water are sent to others. Leon Morris writes, “The believer is not self-centered. As he receives the gift of God, so he passes it on to others. Or to put the same thought in another way, when a man believes he becomes a servant of God, and God uses him to be the means of bringing the blessing to others” (The Gospel According to John, The New International Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979], 426). By evangelizing the lost (which is the primary emphasis here) and edifying the saints (1 Cor. 12:4–11; 1 Peter 4:10–11), believers allow the spiritual life within them to spill over and impact those around them.

As the apostle John’s inspired footnote indicates, Jesus spoke of the Spirit, through whom eternal life is imparted to those who believe (3:5–8; 6:63; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Peter 1:1–2). The Spirit also empowers them to bring the living water of salvation to other thirsty souls (cf. Acts 4:31; Rom. 15:18–19; Eph. 4:11). When the Lord spoke, the promise that those who believed in Him were to receive the Holy Spirit was still future, for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

This comment needs an explanation so that there is no misunderstanding of the Spirit’s work. Our Lord is not saying that the Holy Spirit was not present or active at that time, or in past redemptive history. He was saying that there was to come for believers a giving of the Spirit by which unique power would be provided for ministry and evangelism.

The words of Jesus in John 14:17 are helpful in this matter: “the Spirit of truth … you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” Clearly in that Upper Room dinner with the apostles, Jesus promised a future coming of the Holy Spirit (14:16, 20, 26; 15:26–27; 16:13–14). But the comment in 14:17 that “He abides with you” affirms the obvious fact that no one in any era of redemptive history could be saved or sanctified, empowered for service and witness, or guided in understanding Scripture and praying in the will of God apart from the Spirit’s presence.

There are Old Testament references to the Spirit’s ministry, such as the following:

Prior to Pentecost the Spirit was the author of repentance (cf. John 16:8–11) and the power behind regeneration (John 3:4–5). He also illuminated believers in the face of persecution (Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11). Still, after Pentecost the Spirit was given to believers in a new fullness that became normative for all believers since (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13).

That Jesus was not yet glorified (cf. 12:16; 17:4–5) refers to His ascension to heavenly glory (Acts 1:9–11), at which point the Father sent the Holy Spirit. This sending of the Spirit after Christ’s return to heaven made possible the “greater works” believers do (John 14:12).

Those who responded to Christ’s invitation received the living water of salvation He offered that very day. But the Spirit would not be given in fullness until several months later, on the Day of Pentecost, following Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension (16:7; Acts 1:4–5, 8; 2:1–4). Since the close of the transitional period in the book of Acts, however, all Christians receive the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation.

THE RESPONSES

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. 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.” (7:40–52)

As noted above, how people respond to Jesus Christ separates them into four groups—the convinced, the contrary, the confused, and the contemplative—all of which are represented in this passage.

THE CONVINCED

Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.” Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” (7:40–41a)

When some of the people … heard Jesus’ gracious words of invitation in verses 37–39, they became convinced that He was the Prophet of whom Moses wrote (Deut. 18:15–18). As noted in the discussion of 1:21 in chapter 4 of this volume, some identified the Prophet as the Messiah (the correct interpretation; cf. Acts 3:22–23; 7:37). Others viewed Him as a forerunner of the Messiah. At the very least, these individuals viewed Jesus as a great prophet (cf. Matt. 21:11, 46; Mark 6:15; Luke 7:16; 24:19; John 4:19; 6:14; 9:17). Thus, while their knowledge may not have been complete, they were at least convinced that He was sent from God.

Others had a clearer understanding of who Jesus was and were saying of Him, “This is the Christ.” They earlier had been intimidated into silence by fear of the Jewish authorities (7:13; cf. 9:22; 12:42; 19:38; 20:19). But now, having become convinced of Jesus’ identity, they boldly proclaimed it. These individuals were part of the believing remnant of Israel (2 Kings 19:30–31; Isa. 10:20–22; 28:5; 37:31–32; 46:3; Jer. 23:3; 31:7; 50:20; Mic. 2:12; 5:7–8; Rom. 9:27; 11:1–5); members of the “little flock” (Luke 12:32); those who entered through the narrow gate that leads to eternal life (Matt. 7:13–14); thirsty people who had accepted Christ’s invitation and come to Him, drinking of the living water that He provides.

THE CONTRARY

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. (7:416–44)

Not all in the crowd were convinced of Jesus’ authenticity, however. While some were ready to accept Him as the great prophet Moses promised, or even the Messiah, still others remained skeptical. “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?” they scornfully asked. The question expects a negative answer; the idea that the Messiah could come from the boondocks of Galilee seemed ludicrous to the sophisticated Judeans (cf. v. 52; 1:46). Besides, they insisted, “Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” To their credit, both of those points were valid. The Old Testament Scripture reveals that the Christ comes from the descendants of David (2 Sam. 7:12; Pss. 89:3–4; 132:10–11; Isa. 11:1, 10; Jer. 23:5; 33:15; cf. Matt. 22:42), and that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2; cf. Matt. 2:3–6).

Secure in their smug unbelief, however, the scoffers failed to examine the situation fully. Had they done so, they would have discovered that Jesus met both of those qualifications. He was a descendant of David (Matt. 1:1; Luke 1:32; 3:23, 31; cf. Matt. 1:20; Luke 1:27; 2:4), and had been born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1; Luke 2:4–7, 11, 15). They hastily assumed that since Jesus had grown up in Nazareth (Matt. 2:21–23; Luke 2:39, 51; 4:16; cf. Matt. 21:11; 26:71; Luke 18:37; John 1:45), He must have been born there. They had no interest in investigating His messianic credentials.

Obviously, as a result of the differing opinions regarding Jesus, a division occurred in the crowd (cf. 9:16; 10:19). This incident illustrates the truth that Jesus divides people. In Luke 12:51–53 He warned,

He divides believers from unbelievers (3:18, 36; 1 John 5:10); those who walk in the light from those who walk in darkness (John 8:12; 12:35, 46; Eph. 5:8; 1 Thess. 5:5; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 John 2:9); the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32–33; cf. John 10:26); and the children of God from the children of the devil (1 John 3:10; cf. v. 8; John 8:44). Everyone is either for Him or against Him; there is no middle ground (Matt. 12:30).

For the third time since Jesus arrived in Jerusalem (cf. vv. 30, 32), an unsuccessful attempt was made to seize Him. As was the case with the earlier attempt by some of the crowd (v. 30), no one laid hands on Him, because the time was not right in God’s plan (see the discussion of v. 30 in chapter 25 of this volume).

THE CONFUSED

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.” (7:45–49)

Unlike those in the crowd who either believed in or rejected Christ, the officers of the temple police were confused by Him. They had been sent several days earlier (cf. vv. 14, 32, 37) by the chief priests and Pharisees to arrest Jesus (v. 32). When they returned empty-handed, their superiors demanded of them, “Why did you not bring Him?” Interestingly, the officers did not claim that the crowd prevented them from arresting Jesus, though that may in fact have been the case (cf. vv. 31, 40–41, 43). Instead, they expressed bewilderment and amazement, declaring, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks” (cf. Matt. 7:28; Mark 1:22; 12:17; Luke 4:32; 20:26). They were religiously trained Levites, and Jesus’ words left them stunned. While they did not accept Him as the Messiah, neither did they openly reject Him. They did not know what to do with Him. Caught between the power and grace of His message and the hatred of their leaders, they were paralyzed into inactivity.

Infuriated by the officers’ failure to arrest Jesus, the Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you?” That scathing rebuke, though phrased in the form of a question, chided the officers not for their lack of professionalism (as members of the temple police), but for their alleged lack of spiritual discernment (as Levites). It accused them of naively being duped by a religious charlatan, and it condescendingly placed them on the same level as the uneducated crowd (see v. 49). In contrast, the Pharisees self-righteously maintained, “No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he?” The arrogant implication was that if Jesus were really the Messiah, the religious experts would have been the first to recognize Him.

The Pharisees continued by deriding the common people as “this crowd which does not know the Law.” (The Law was a reference both to the Old Testament and, especially, the rabbinic traditions.) The Pharisees viewed themselves as the spiritual elite; men who were above the possibility of being wrong about religious matters. In their minds, only those who were gullible, uneducated, and simple-minded could be deceived by Jesus’ claims. Such people were accursed, according to the Pharisaic perspective, for their ignorance of God’s law.

In ridiculing the crowd, the Pharisees implicitly appealed to the officers’ pride and desire for prestige. The officers had a crucial decision to make. They could either reject Jesus and be applauded by the apostate religious establishment, or believe in Him and be castigated with the redeemed. John does not record what choice the officers ultimately made.

THE CONTEMPLATIVE

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.” (7:50–52)

The Pharisees’ claim that the religious rulers had unanimously rejected Jesus was, in fact, not true (cf. 12:42). The prominent rabbi Nicodemus (the same one who came to Jesus earlier [3:1–2]), perhaps the preeminent teacher in all of Israel (cf. 3:10) was the most notable exception. He was probably not a disciple of Jesus at this point (though he would later become one; [19:39]), but his mind was open to the Lord’s claims. Nicodemus did not openly defend Jesus, but he did raise a procedural point in His favor, reminding his colleagues, “Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” Even the despised Romans did not condemn people without a hearing (Acts 25:16).

But his fellow members of the Sanhedrin, their minds already closed against Jesus, were in no mood to be fair. Instead, they turned on Nicodemus savagely. “You are not also from Galilee, are you?” they taunted him. To identify Nicodemus with the despised, unsophisticated Galileans was the most demeaning insult they could make.

Then they mockingly invited him to “search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee,” conveniently overlooking the fact that Jonah (who was from a city near Nazareth in the tribal region of Zebu-lun; 2 Kings 14:25; cf. Josh. 19:10) was from Galilee. (Some scholars believe that Nahum and Hosea, and possibly other prophets, may also have been from Galilee.) They implied that he was ignorant of the most basic theological truths. But the statement actually exposed their own lack of knowledge, since some prophets had come from Galilee and Jesus was originally from Bethlehem. Nonetheless, their minds were already made up regarding Him. Thus they saw no need to seek the truth.

Despite their derision, Nicodemus continued to pursue the truth (cf. 7:17), and eventually found it in Christ. Sadly, the same cannot be said of many of his colleagues, members of the Sanhedrin who would ultimately kill their own Messiah.