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In the Beginning: The Book of John
((John 7:37-44[HCSB])
37 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink! 38 The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” 39 He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been received because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
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40 When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, “This really is the Prophet! ”
41 Others said, “This is the Messiah! ” But some said, “Surely the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does He? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David’s offspring and from the town of Bethlehem, where David once lived? ” 43 So a division occurred among the crowd because of Him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
Jesus is both the prophet and the Messiah. And, by the way, He is not from Galilee but Bethlehem. We know this; but those who were experiencing Jesus in real time did not have the benefit of looking back in the way John does in his Gospel. In Scripture we are blessed to know the answers that Jesus seeks, and the intent of the incredible statements that He makes.
Our God is a “both/and” God which is how we can adequately address the paradoxical nature of God being both man and God, both One and Three, both now and forever.
God is calling His people: those who have ears to hear, to recognize His voice, and come to Him. He does this as the festival-goers are preparing to conclude their activities and return to their homes. Liken that scenario to today: a time when we are reaching a fever pitch in our activities, our technologies and our evil, and are preparing to go home.
God in the manifestation of The Son says, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink! The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.”
We are His sheep and we recognize His voice … the voice of the Good Shepherd. If we follow our Jesus we will be full of living water and it will flow out of us in an endless stream.
We call Him Messiah, and others simply call Him a good man, or one of many paths to the Creator. A division is occurring among the crowds, even among tribes of believers!
