If anyone is thirsty

John 7

JESUS TEACHES AT THE FEAST

1After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews were seeking to kill Him. 2Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. 3Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. 4“For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5For not even His brothers were believing in Him. 6So Jesus *said to them, “My time is not yet here, but your time is always opportune. 7“The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. 8“Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.” 9Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.

10But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret. 11So the Jews were seeking Him at the feast and were saying, “Where is He?” 12There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.” 13Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

14But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and began to teach. 15The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, having never been educated?” 16So Jesus answered them and said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17“If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. 18“He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

19“Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why do you seek to kill Me?” 20The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who seeks to kill You?” 21Jesus answered them, “I did one deed, and you all marvel. 22“For this reason Moses has given you circumcision (not because it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man. 23“If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made an entire man well on the Sabbath? 24“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

25So some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is this not the man whom they are seeking to kill? 26“Look, He is speaking publicly, and they are saying nothing to Him. The rulers do not really know that this is the Christ, do they? 27“However, we know where this man is from; but whenever the Christ may come, no one knows where He is from.” 28Then Jesus cried out in the temple, teaching and saying, “You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29“I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” 30So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Christ comes, He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?”

32The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. 33Therefore Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me.34“You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35The Jews then said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He? 36“What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

37Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”39But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

DIVISION OF PEOPLE OVER JESUS

40Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.” 41Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? 42“Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. 44Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

45The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” 46The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.” 47The Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you? 48“No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? 49“But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.” 50Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) *said to them, 51“Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” 52They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.” 53[*Everyone went to his home.

JOHN 7:1-9

“Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing.”

Works [2041 ergon]. René Descartes would say, “I think therefore I am” (Cogito ergo sum). The Greek word for works is ergon. We could almost interpret this as “I believe therefore I do.” Not only were the disciples of Christ called to act upon their beliefs, but the disciples of the disciples of Christ were called to be known by their works (ergon).

If I am a follower, I must also be a leader and those I lead must also be doers of the word. In the end, all leadership ends in action and that action must be passed on to others in order for us to have credentials as a true leader.

Of course, a mature person doesn’t only choose between thinking and doing. We might think of a teenager as saying, “I feel therefore I do.” A rational person would say, “I feel but I think before I do.” A mature person would say, “I feel but I weigh actions against my values before I do.”

From Descartes “Cogito ergo sum” to John’s “Credo ergo faciemus” I believe therefore I do.

“…Show Yourself to the world.”

Show yourself [5319 Phanaroō]. This word means to make manifest or to make clear. Our actions and the actions of those we lead should leave no doubt about our beliefs.

It is very much aligned with the words attributed to Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary, use words.”

On every level, there is no doubt that Jesus was a man of well-conceived action with the guiding principle of compassion. Compassion is a guiding principle and justice is its primary praxis.

Later in John [13:34-35], Jesus will say, “34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.” 34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”

This is no ephemeral, conceptual love. It is the agape-love that means I would give my life for you.

“The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.”

There is a contemporary statement, “Haters gotta hate.”

The word used for hate here does not only mean to hate, but to be hateful. To be a hateful person. There are those whose internal pain is so great that it colors their view of the entire world. Their lens is that the world is a place of scarcity and that people must be hated if they do something deemed errant. It is hate that leads to judgment, to a closed mind and a closed heart.

Love is truly freedom from judgment. The most freeing thing in the world is to stop hating another person or other people. To accept the fallibility of us all and, indeed, the fallibility of myself.

Having spent so much time with angry people in my life, I’ve begun to believe that such hatred rises from an inability to forgive our parents for being human. One of the greatest freedoms in life is to be able to say, “My parents weren’t perfect, but they loved me the best they could at the time.”

This allows us to quit blaming and judging people (or institutions) for their fallibility. Our systems are inherently flawed because they are inherently human as well. To expect perfection from others is a perception that is unfair and damaging.

We lose self-agency when we hate or judge. The opposite of hate is not love; it is forgiveness.

Hate [G3404] Miseō, to hate, to be hateful

“My time has not yet fully come.”

Leaders must have a great sense of timing. There are times when people are ready for action and times when they need to be prepared to act. Jesus knew this. He knew the world around him was not ready for him, the world had to be prepared to be ready for him.

Essentially, this was the role of John the Baptist to “prepare the way of the Lord.”

How do you prepare the way for compassion and justice in your heart, in your community and in the world?

There is inner work and outer work that needs to be done:

INNER WORK

· Rid my own life of judgment

· Align my daily life with mindfulness about compassion and justice

· Read about the lives of compassionate and justice-oriented people

· Strengthen my inner resolve to deal with criticism from people who are judgmental, angry and against justice

· Understand the scriptures around justice and the often-cited biblical falsehoods around injustice (i.e. “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps,” “God helps those who help themselves”).

· Practice humility and the ability to listen

OUTER WORK

· Be a role model to those around me; whether in person on online; ABC Always Be Courteous

· Foster equitable, personal relationships with the least of these

· Be a voice (advocate) for the least of these

· Invite people to live just and compassionate lives

· My time [G2540] Kairos, season, age, epoch, opportunity

· Opportunity; from Latin opportunitatem, ob portum, coming into port

JOHN 7:10-18

“How has this man become learned, having never been educated?”

This verse brings up a dichotomy between learning and education.

A person can be well-educated and have received years of instruction and yet still not be aware or appreciative of their surroundings or the needs of those around him/her. As with any profession, if leaders close their minds to new knowledge and/or fear change. Biases become inherent in that system and education, rather than opening up minds can close them down.

The minds of the Pharisees had become closed and they were unable to see the miraculous in their midst.

Of course, the ideal is when education and learning co-exist. But, in order for that to happen, there needs to be a radical assault on close-mindedness within the institution. A culture where new thinking is given as much opportunity to prove itself as existing knowledge have been given to embed itself.

The focus of leadership today must be on creating lasting cultures. Cultures of openness and encouraging outside-the-box thinking. Always looking for ways to improve the existing paradigms and guarding against a smugness in defending assumed truths. Once leaders begin to defend their biases, the emphasis of the organization becomes internal survival. The enemy becomes anything (or anyone) that is new. The energy that could go into expanding minds instead goes into defending beliefs.

Can we create educational systems that are able to prevent themselves from spiraling into defending dogma and instead, to see the miraculous in their midst?

Learn [3609] oida also means to appreciate, to be aware

Educate [3129] Methanō, means to receive instruction

“He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.”

Whose approval do I seek? What inner desires for acceptance shape my thoughts and actions?

In the Psalms, the Psalmist speaks about God’s scepter. It is God’s disciplining staff and dividing rod. It is used to measure the worth of a life, but also the quality of a nation.

PSALM 45:6

6Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

7You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows.

God’s glory lies in righteousness; however, this is as far from self-righteousness as possible. It means “doing right things.” And right is defined by compassion for the poor. Indeed, we could state the scepter of God is the way we treat the poor.

Doing (causing or allowing) harm to the poor is the same as doing disservice to God.

Do I seek God’s Glory by bringing glory to the least of these or does my need for approval supersede my desire to serve?

Glory [1351] doxa, opinion, approval.

“Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Jesus was pointing to more hypocrisies by the Pharisees. They went around Moses’ Law by circumcising on the Sabbath and yet condemned Jesus when he healed a man on that occasion.

According to Jewish law, a child had to be circumcised on the eighth day, the priests would circumcise a child on the eighth day, even if it was the Sabbath. Jesus healed the man at the well even though it was on the sabbath, for this, the priests wanted to kill him. This was convenient judgment, only following laws that were in their favor.

Bureaucrats passing judgment because someone broke the protocol. The protocol had become more important than the people.

As with the last entry on opinion and righteousness, the priests only agreed with laws that matched their opinions, but their opinions weren’t based upon righteousness, innocence or justice. If they were, they would been celebrating the healing of a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years [John 5:1].

Terrible things are done in the name of legality, when the law weighs more than right or wrong. A frequent question must be, “It may be legal, but is it ethical? Is it Just?”

Appearance [opsis] 3799, the act of seeing

Righteous [dikaios] 1342, innocent, just, justice

JOHN 7:19-39

He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks, is He?

THE BIASES OF FEAR AND HATRED

The chief priests could only imagine Jesus saying that he was going to other Jews in a physical sense not in a metaphysical sense as in returning to God in the resurrection. They believed he was saying he would go to those Jews who were part of the Greek dispersion. How many things do my biases prevent me from seeing?

The biases of the Chief Priests prevented them from seeing the wonders of Jesus.

How do I do battle with the biases of my soul? What wonder am I missing in the world because I have paradigms rooted in fear or hate?

THE BIAS OF FAMILIARITY

In Chapter 7, there is also the bias of familiarity. Many people in the crowd were unable to see the claims of Jesus because they knew him as a neighbor or a kid who grew up down the block. “He is uneducated and his father is merely a workman.”

In whom have my biases prevented me from seeing the miraculous, because of their low status in the world’s eyes. They were homeless, addicted, imprisoned and I saw them as unable to rise above that station, because I’ve not been able to raise my biases above mine.

Do my shortcomings prevent me from seeing the amazing-ness of others?

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”

For seven days of the Festival of Shelters, the priests would pour water from a golden pitcher onto a rock to symbolize the time when God allowed Moses to have water spring forth from a rock in the desert. On the 8th day, instead of pouring water, they offered public prayers for those present.

Jesus was instead offering that if anyone was thirsty, they should come to him and he would provide internal rivers of living water.

To a people of the desert, water was very symbolic, it was the difference between life and death and the symbol of community (since no group of people could form a community without a source of fresh water).

When combining the phrase “innermost being” with “living,” we understand that Jesus is offering that even our appetites will be for what is living. We will have a nourishing appetite for life.

How is your hunger for life these days? Is it rich and nourishing, live-giving? Does it spring up internally as well as eternally?

Have you met people like that and longed to be like them? Free from the things that cause draught in the spirit? The fears, the hatreds, those things that suck our lives dry.

Living [Zaō] 2198, to live, to be alive

Innermost [kolia] 2836, innermost being, womb, appetite