March 4: Taking a drink
John 7:25-52 TNIV from Biblegateway.com
25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”
28 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 authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”
30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
35 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? 36 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’?”
37 On the last and greatest day of the Festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers 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 Messiah.”
Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants 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 “Have 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 has been 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.”
Devotional Comments:
In taking a look at today’s passage, I am struck by the scene at the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus was obviously very convincing. His point of view on life and faith was intriguing to everyone whether they agreed or not. In this part of the story, everyone who heard him had a reaction to his words. Some were convinced that Jesus was in fact the promised Messiah. Others thought that whatever he was, his teachings were significant and prophetic. Still others couldn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah because they knew the true One would come from Bethlehem not Galilee.
What stands out to me here is that none spoke out. None of the factions had the courage to own their convictions on Jesus. The scene ends with the people divided but no action taken. I have to ask myself, do I have the courage to own my convictions about Jesus? Do those convictions truly change my life? Jesus says, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me…rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
I am thirsty for Jesus but I don’t have the courage to drink. What is stopping me from taking that drink? What is Jesus asking of us in this story? Is it to yell out to the world who he is? Or is it to just drink in all that He is and allow that to overflow from inside us? I want to take a drink.
Christin Dewald
Pray that we will have the courage to live out our convictions.