"Are You Thirsty?" John 7:25-52

If you were one of the opponents of Jesus, the charge of blasphemy seems to fit. He claims a unique relationship with God as "his Father" and the one "whom God has sent." Among the people, Jesus is popular because of his miracles, but the tension continues to grow between Jesus and the religious leadership. In this passage, they are already making arrangements for Jesus' arrest by the temple guard. Jesus, in verse 33, tells them in his own way that he is on to their plans. His "short time" is that he is going to die soon and return to his heavenly father, but the opponents instead wonder if he is going to go find disciples among the Gentiles. That of course, would occur later in the ministries of Peter and then even more with Paul. That is not lost on John. As we were told in chapter 1, verse 11-12:

"He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God..."

In verses 37-44, we and the readers of John's gospel when he wrote it have an advantage. We know that Jesus was born in the city of David in Bethlehem, even though his family was Nazarene. We know that the living water image as a flow from within us didn't make sense to the disciples until Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit (Acts 2). The high profile of the Holy Spirit in John is much stronger than the other gospels.

The act of Jesus standing as he taught in the open courts would have been unusual. Rabbis sat down to teach. If you have been on the streets of New York or New Orleans and seen the street preachers, then you might see how Jesus might have come across in this moment. Because of his miracles he has a growing hearing. But Jesus' opponents are already setting up a "divide and conquer" strategy, gathering people who are willing to help them stop and even perhaps execute Jesus.

The temple guard are not able to carry out their orders from the chief priests and they are impressed with Jesus and his teaching. The Pharisees immediately discredit Jesus and anyone who would be his followers as "a misinformed mob." Notice who steps in to defend Jesus - good ol' Nick. And again, the priests use false information to discredit Jesus, because the Messiah can't be a Galilean. Of course, as stated above, Jesus wasn't. There was real stigma and bigotry in Judea toward people from Galilee. The opponents of Jesus are getting a lot of mileage out of his less than stellar background.

But let's go back to the "streams of living water" passage. The whole goal of Jesus' ministry was to get the power and presence of God portable in you and me. This will become more obvious as the gospel of John continues. When we allow the Holy Spirit to fill and guide us, then we find that following Jesus means having a power and life force in us. We don't just try to imitate Jesus or do what he says in our own strength. I was taught as a teenager that in each one of us is a "God-shaped hole," and only a relationship with God through Christ in the power of the Spirit can fill it. The truth is that we try to fill that void in lots of counterfeit ways: with success, with the approval of others, with our own religious behavior. But in the end, they never quite satisfy. How are you presently satisfying the thirst in your soul?

PLEASE NOTE: Due to bad weather there will be no classes or NBA dinner on Wednesday night! The blog will continue and we will work to catch up when we get together next week. Be safe and take some time to enjoy some quiet and being with loved ones.