seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 7:25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But 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 believed 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 am going 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.
According to the commentaries, two common ideas about His arrival were getting in the way.
First, He was raised in Nazareth. People didn't know He was born in a stable in Bethlehem. On top of that, Herod sent his guards to murder all the babies born in Bethlehem around that time. Remember, Jesus was hiding out in Egypt at the time. They were looking for someone to run Rome out of Israel, and being born in a stable, during a mass murder, even in Bethlehem where David was raised, was too humble. Being raised in Nazareth as a carpenter's son, was not a bright spot on His resume either.
The second problem the people ran into was interpretation. The people were under the impression that the Messiah would "appear" out of nowhere and preach in the Temple. While it's true, coming from a manger to the biggest baddest Altor in the world is quite an appearance, they were looking for a split the clouds, beam me down Scottie kind of appearance... you know, like the one we are all expecting now.
Do you understand the "I am the living water"? I think I have a clue.
Back in the days of Moses, while the people were still traveling from Egypt to the Promised Land, they started to complain about the lack of water. This really got under Moses' skin. He talked to God about their complaints and God told Moses about a rock that supported an underground spring. Moses smacked the rock with is staff [an unnecessary addition to the orders given due to his own frustration with the whining people] and water came out of dry rock.
People were comparing Jesus to Moses. Making water come out of a rock was a miracle they were raised on, and it was one worthy of using to judge a prophet from the Messiah.
At the festival, on the last day, the Priest would pour water on the Altor to remind the crowd of the water God sent them in the desert.
That's what Jesus was talking about. Those people were trying to decide if Jesus was just a prophet [which should have been awe inspiring] or the Messiah. Jesus said.... "You want a miracle? Look at Me! I'm the Son of God!". But they didn't get it.... just like millions of people listening to the preachers teaching this chapter in churches all over the earth for the centuries since the day He said this. Jesus was trying to tell them He was from God.
You know why some of us get it and most of us don't? Look at verses 32 and 44. He could have been standing there right in front of them and they would not have "seen" Him. It wasn't His time. Like the event in Nazareth, when His earthly family wanted to toss Him off a cliff to cure His insanity, He could just walk right through the angry mob, and no one could lay a hand on Him. It wasn't His time.
So... There was division about who He was.
Prophet or Messiah?!?
