Difficulty in acknowledging Jesus

Let us read John 7:25-30. At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, "Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? Here He is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to Him. Have the authorities really concluded that He is the Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from." Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, " Yes, you know Me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but He who sent Me is true. You do not know Him, but I know Him because I am from Him and He sent Me." At this they tried to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him, because His time had not yet come.

It was halfway through the Feast of Tabernacles (which was to last for eight days) and Jesus was teaching in the temple courts. The residents of Jerusalem were aware of a plot by the Pharisees to kill Jesus. So they were puzzled as to why Jesus was not being arrested. They were wondering at the freedom of Jesus to go about teaching publicly at the temple courts. They thought that perhaps the religious authorities had already concluded that Jesus was indeed the Christ. They themselves would not believe that He was the Christ. According to them, they knew the origin of Jesus and so He could not possibly be the Messiah. Most of them expected that the Christ would be completely divine with no earthly origin. Jesus commented that even if they knew His earthly origin, they did not know the One who sent Him. Jesus was clearly alluding to God the Father as the One who sent Him. He said that they did not know the Father from whom Jesus came. It was the same as saying that they did not know God. This angered the Jews and they tried to seize Him. But God did not allow them to take Jesus because His ministry was not yet finished.

Let’s read the next verses John 7:31-32. Still, many in the crowd put their faith in Him. They said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more miraculous signs than this man?" The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about Him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest Him.

A good number of those who were at the feast put their trust in Jesus either as a prophet or as the Messiah. They truly wondered if anyone else could ever do more miracles than Jesus. The Pharisees were alarmed at the spread of this impression about Jesus. They saw the need to stem any further increase in His popularity. So they sent the temple guards to arrest Jesus.

Let’s read on to John 7:33-36. Jesus said, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the One who sent me. You will look for Me, but you will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come." The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find Him? Will He go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? What did He mean when He said, `You will look for Me, but you will not find Me,’ and `Where I am, you cannot come’?"

Jesus was already aware that His time on earth was going to end soon. The Pharisees were actively seeking to arrest Jesus so they could kill Him. Thus He told the crowd at the feast that He would soon be gone and that they would not be able to find Him or to go where He would be. This caused confusion among His listeners. They wondered if Jesus was planning to escape to the Greek territories where many Jews had migrated. Countless Jews lived in foreign lands. The number of Jews abroad were many times over the population of Palestine during the time of Jesus. The listeners of Jesus thought that He could be planning to go abroad and teach the foreign Jews. But we know that they were wrong. Jesus was not going to the Jews abroad. He was going to die for man’s sins in order to redeem man. That was the work He had to do as the CHRIST.

Let’s read the final verses John 7:37-39. On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time he Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

The last day of the feast had come. It was the greatest day of the celebrations. Now, water was a scarce commodity in the whole of Palestine. By necessity, whenever many people converged for a religious ceremony, water was sold in the streets. There was not enough water for everyone in a big festival such as the Feast of Tabernacles which lasted for eight days. So after seven days, the people in the temple area must have been extremely thirsty. Water was also spiritually important. It was used to symbolize the cleansing of the soul. All Jews were familiar with this symbolism. Thus water also had a spiritual symbolism.

The Jews in Jesus’ time were undergoing a spiritual thirst. Their spirits yearned to be refreshed from the spiritual drought brought about by the doctrine of the Pharisees. Their religion consisted of countless worldly requirements. The Jews were led to believe that it was enough to merely perform all those requirements without having to pursue a real relationship with the living God. They saw no need to listen to God, seek His guidance, and obey whatever God might reveal to each heart. Their spirits were dying from their lack of spiritual nourishment. During the many decades before Jesus came to earth, God had not sent any prophet to proclaim God’s word. They were under a curse from God: " ‘The days are coming,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘when I will send a famine through the land —not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it’. " ( Amos 8:11-12 )

Jesus used the occasion to proclaim an end to that curse. On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus loudly said that anyone who is spiritually thirsty can come to Him to drink of the spiritual water — the kind that both quenches the thirst of the spirit and cleanses the soul. God’s word was once again being proclaimed, and the Christ Himself was proclaiming it: Only Jesus the Christ can save us from the spiritual drought that can kill our souls. When we believe in Him, we are made to drink of His living water and our spirits shall never thirst again. Any person who listens to the words of Jesus with a heart that trusts Him will truly be refreshed. A heart that does not trust Jesus will never benefit from His words. The person who trusts our Saviour is ever so enthusiastic to hear His words again and again and again. He will always be able to draw up new and refreshing nourishment even from verses which he had heard many times before. Experience tells us that those who do not trust our Lord will use every reason they can invent just to avoid giving their lives to Jesus. Some will find ways and means to cast some doubt on the words of our Lord. Others will make up any excuse to stay away from Him. We can find in today’s verses both kinds of human character: those who believed Jesus and those who did not. Those who did not believe Him even went as far as actively seeking His death. How about us ? Do we keep on going to Him to partake of the living water ? Do we continually seek the wisdom of His words ? Are we always trusting Him to free us from the spiritual bondages that have held our hearts and minds in captivity ? Jesus can do so much for us if we actively trust Him with everything in our lives. God bless all of us.