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John 7:37-52

      37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, streams 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 Christ.”

      Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s family 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 “Has 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 is 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.”

You might remember that at the end of last week, we based a day’s Reflection on a passage that told about Jesus’ arrival at the Feast of Tabernacles, which was a harvest festival something like our Thanksgiving. At the beginning of the story, Jesus’ brothers had advised him to make an appearance if he wanted to be ‘a public figure.’ But instead, Jesus came into Jerusalem quietly and without calling attention to himself. We said that might have been because the Jewish authorities were watching for him.

But once Jesus got to Jerusalem, he started to preach boldly. He declared himself to have been sent from God with the gift of the Holy Spirit, which his followers were to receive and pass along to others in his name.

Today’s passage tells us what happened “on the last and greatest day of the Feast.” It tells us that Jesus stepped forward during a ceremony that was considered the climax of the Feast of Tabernacles.

The historians say that in this climactic ceremony of the Feast, some of the leading priests would go in a procession to the Pool of Siloam and draw water with a golden pitcher. Then the procession would go back to the temple for a big ceremony at the main outdoor altar. A choir would sing joyful psalms and the people in the congregation would be holding up fruit and waving special branches. Then, at the climax of the ceremony, the priests would pour out water and wine at the altar in what was called a “drink offering” before the Lord.

Drink offerings aren’t that familiar to us, but if you think about the role of water in a hot and arid region, pouring it out in a ceremony before God would be just as much of an offering as sacrificing an animal.

The Bible scholars believe that it was at this moment, at the climax of the ceremony, that Jesus stepped forward and “said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let them come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, streams of living water will flow from within them.’” One famous scholar on the Gospel of John has said that it would have been like a thunderclap sounding over the gathered crowd of worshipers.

If all these scholars are correct, that would certainly help to explain the reactions John  reports – some people saying that Jesus must be the prophet foretold in scripture, and others declaring that he must be the Messiah.

But, those opinions weren’t shared by everyone. In spite of the great authority with which Jesus spoke, he was known to be from Galilee. And the Hebrew scriptures said that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, the city of David. Of course, we know what they didn’t – that Jesus had been born in Bethlehem before settling in Galilee later in life.

So it probably wouldn’t have gone over well with the authorities when Jesus seized center stage at the climax of an important festival. The Jewish leaders sent some of the Temple guards, their security force, to arrest Jesus and bring him in for questioning. But the guards came back without Jesus, and the leadership demanded to know why. The answer they got couldn’t have made the leaders feel any better – the guards said that Jesus spoke with an authority that intimidated them. The priests and Pharisees insisted that anyone who believes in Jesus is ignorant of the scriptures. They, of course, considered themselves ‘too smart to fall for Jesus.’

Why could the guards see what the religious leaders missed? I can’t help thinking that the guards had been confronted with the reality of Jesus in a more personal way. They had heard him speak and teach. They looked into his eyes and watched him interact with people, including people who disagreed with him. But the leaders were so consumed with their own power and privilege that they could only see Jesus in terms of his effect on them. They could only see him as a threat. So they tried to undermine his credibility by declaring him a fraud and a blasphemer.

Maybe the reason this reading is in the lectionary for this season of Lent is to challenge us to ask ourselves where we would be in the story. Would we be in the crowd, perceiving Jesus as a prophet or the Messiah? Would we be with the guards, investigating Jesus but struggling to understand what he was all about? Or would we be more like the leadership in this story – thinking we know everything we need to know and resenting Jesus for disrupting a beloved celebration?

Let’s pray. Lord, we invite you to confront us with the truth about your presence, and move us to drink deeply of the living water only you can provide. Let that living water, the Holy Spirit, overflow from us into the lives of others who are thirsty for your loving presence. Amen.

Grace and Peace,

Henry

(The listed readings for today are Psalms 34 and 146; Jeremiah 7:21-34; and Romans 4:13-25. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.com, the website of the International Bible Society.)