Thursday: The Witness of the Crowd
Daily Lesson for Thursday 7th of November 2024
“On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’ ” (John 7:37-38, NKJV).
John recorded, numerous times, Jesus making bold statements about Himself, about who He was and what He came to do.
The lines quoted above from John 7:37-38 are another example of what Jesus claimed about Himself and about what He would do to all who come to Him. These were astonishing claims, as well.
When Jesus spoke to the Jews attending the Feast of Tabernacles, what was the response of many in the crowd? (See John 7:37-53.)
Image © Jim Howard at Goodsalt.com
Some said He was the Prophet like Moses predicted long ago (see Deuteronomy 18:15-19). Others thought Jesus was the Christ. But this brought the argument that the Messiah would not come from Galilee, that He had to be of the Davidic line, and that He had to be born in Bethlehem—all of which were true about Jesus (compare with Matthew 1:1-25; Matthew 2:1-23), though many did not seem to know this!
Even the arresting officers were stymied by Him and the eloquence of His words. The Pharisees responded to the officers with another question. “ ‘Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?’ ” (John 7:48, NKJV). This question from the Pharisees gave John the opportunity again to bring in Nicodemus, who, after having had his meeting with Jesus, was seeking to protect Jesus from their machinations. “ ‘Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?’ ” (John 7:51, NKJV).
Did Nicodemus ever accept Jesus as the Messiah? Though this scene does not prove that he had, between this act and what he did after Jesus died (see John 19:39-40), the Bible gives us solid evidence that Nicodemus did in fact come to believe in Him.
And so, the answer to their question was, yes, in fact, one of the Pharisees did believe in Him, after all.
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Read John 7:49. What were the leaders saying that showed their disdain for the masses who followed after Jesus? What lesson might be here for us? |
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I want to take a little side-step this morning to tell you about Albert Schweitzer. Among his many accomplishments as a musician, philosopher, medical doctor and a theologian, He wrote a book "The Quest of the Historical Jesus". Perhaps we should consider this quote:
Dr Schweitzer spent the latter part of his life working in a hospital in what is now known as Gabon in Africa. He could have spent his life among the academic institutions of Europe but chose instead to follow the call of Jesus.
Maurice, I don't find any book of Albert Schweitzer entitled "Who He Is". However I do have a book on Kindle entitled "It's Who You Know", by Morris Venden. I do believe who you know is more important than who He is.
Psalm 9:10. Maurice, it is by the Goodness of God that we know Him.⁷
John, Maurice provided the title, The Quest of the Historical Jesus (not Who He Is), and it is available on Amazon in both Kindle and paper format.
You wrote
You may consider me ignorant, but that statement makes no sense to me. If Jesus were not who He really is, but just an ordinary man, then "knowing him" wouldn't be important, would it?
I believe your right, I had this thought that who He is is also important, however I chose to express the importance of who I know. Thanks for your contributions to ssnet.org I hope to read your thoughts again in the future.
The Pharisees believed that only those blessed by God would have true knowledge. Since they saw themselves as having a superior understanding of God’s law, they viewed everyone else as "cursed." This gave them a convenient, though flawed, reason to ignore any other viewpoints. They seemed to believe that if they didn't accept something, it wasn’t worth believing.
This happens if we hold our denomination, sect, church, or group to be infallible and reject those who disagree simply because they are not "one of us."
We as Christians must remain humble and open-hearted, recognizing that no single group holds a monopoly on truth. We must seek unity in Christ above all, allowing His love to guide our interactions. Instead of focusing on divisions, we should strive to build each other up in faith, embracing diversity within the body of Christ and welcoming others in love, grace, and understanding. By doing so, we mirror Christ's inclusivity and His command to love one another, transcending personal or denominational boundaries.
Thank you, Myrtice - I agree whole heartedly - AMEN!
Very well said sister! We must be united and remember the scripture, other sheep have I….
Dr Livingston gave up his life to spend a near life time in Africa. Brother Stanly had to search for him in Aferica and when they met. Brother Stanly said Dr. Livingston, I presume.
I believe some day soon we will walk up to our acquaintances and say you are the reason I am here, only we won't be presuming. Yes, the greetings will be in reverse of that also. I am sure our wives will be included. in those scenarios.
Amen
John 7:37-38 takes place during the Feast of Tabernacles. Because I did not know anything about it, I looked up what the purpose of its celebration was. What I found provides a historical light on Jesus’ saying: ”If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”
One purpose of this feast was to invite the ‘nations to come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord alongside the Jewish people.’ AI also states that: ‘Priests would carry water from the Pool of Siloam to the altar, and on the last day, ‘they would circle the altar seven times with its water.’ Before entering the temple enclosure, it was also used for ritual purification and cleansing by pilgrims.
We are familiar with the Pool of Siloam as the place where Jesus sent the blind man to ‘wash’ after He healed his blindness. The people considered this to be a source of ‘living water’ where God provides healing. They knew and accepted the significance of the ‘curative’ powers of the water from the Pool of Siloam. Hearing Jesus speak with such authority, referring to Himself as ‘Living Water’, one can understand how this would would impress even the religious leaders and guards.
John comments on the help “those believing in Him would receive, for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” John 7:39. To prevent prejudice, we cannot judge those hearing Jesus since we benefit from 20/20-hind-sight; making sure that our heart is open and willing for the Holy Spirit to inspire our understanding.