This Is the Christ
Book of John Chapter
7
The Feast of the
Tabernacles was the fourth of the annual feast of the Jews. It was
also called the Feast of the In-gathering, The Feast to the Lord, and
sometimes it was just called "The Feast" because it was so
well known.
The Jews would build
a temporary structure called "booths", that they would live
in for a week.
This booth was not
to be an image of misery from the days of the 40-year trek through
the wilderness but was to be an image protection, preservation, and
shelter from the heat and the storms.
Psa 27:5 For in the
time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of
his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
Psa 27:6 And now
shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me:
therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will
sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
This feast is
thought by many to be the greatest of the Hebrew Feasts.
It is on the last
day of this feast that we find the Lord Jesus Christ and He will say:
Joh 8:12 Then spake
Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of
life.
He will also say:
Joh 7:38 He that
believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water.
We should also
understand that the Pharisees and the High Priest had been actively
hunting for Jesus, so they could put Him to death.
Jesus had moved His
ministry to Galilee which was occupied in majority by the Gentiles
and also was not under the jurisdiction of Herod at this time.
Now we do not have
to think that Jesus was afraid of being caught or captured because
this was not true. It is just the fact that the Scriptures had to be
fulfilled just as they were written!
This is where we
will pick-up our Scripture:
*****Joh 7:37 In
the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried,
saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Joh 7:38 He that
believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water.
On each of the 7
days of this festival a priest would take a golden pitcher and lead
the people to the Pool of Siloam.
On their return the
people would sing out the Psalms of Hillel which were the Psalms
113-118 which are also the Psalms of Praise.
Asa Christians we do
not need some festival to praise the Lord, He is to be praised
everyday!
On the return to the
Temple as they passed through what was called the "Water Gate"
these people would repeat Isaiah 12:3.
Isa 12:3 Therefore
with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
We can just imagine
as this was being repeated the Lord Jesus Christ stood up and shouted
"If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that
believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water".
When that priest
reached the Altar where sacrifices had already been offered, this
water was also poured out over the Altar as an offering to God, while
palm branches were being waved and Psalm 118:25 was being sung out.
Psa 118:25 Save
now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now
prosperity.
The Lord is waiting
on all of us to repeat these words. "Save Me Oh Lord".
For the Jews this
was a dramatic way to thank God for the rain.
Remember there is no
rain in Israel during the Summer Season but as the Fall Season
arrives, so would the rains return!
There can be no
doubt that Jesus can meet our Spiritual needs, but the same Jesus can
also meet our physical needs!
Without a doubt it
is these two things that most people have a craving for!
It is only "Living
Water" that can quench the thirst of these things!
Most people
recognize their "Spiritual Thirst" but they try to quench
this thirst with the things of this world which will only make
matters worse!
Many then get
frustrated and give up on everything including life itself.
When we meet Jesus
the "Fountain of Living Waters" that thirst will disappear!
What we must
understand is that this "Living Water" was not available,
in this maner, until after the death of Christ.
Remember the time of
Moses?
Exo 17:5 And the
LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of
the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river,
take in thine hand, and go.
Exo 17:6 Behold, I
will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt
smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people
may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
We must also
understand that this is where Moses made a terrible mistake:
Num 20:10 And Moses
and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he
said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of
this rock?
Num 20:11 And Moses
lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the
water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their
beasts also.
Num 20:12 And the
LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to
sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall
not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
Num 20:13 This is
the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the
LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
The Lord will only
go to the Cross one time not two!
The bottom line is
that without the Lord Jesus Christ we cannot be washed in the water
of the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit was
not given in this manner until after the ascension of the Lord Jesus
Christ back to His throne in Heaven.
*****Joh 7:39 (But
this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should
receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was
not yet glorified.)
You see it is not
some temporary tabernacle we must build but it is the permanent
Tabernacle that Christ must build!
Jesus Christ died to
pay the sin debt of this entire world and became the source of
"Living Water".
Because Jesus gave
up His life He was able to take up His life again.
Jesus was able to
conquer all sin He took from us and His death to bring forth eternal
life from the abundance of God meaning there would always be enough
to go around!
It is only by our
"Faith" that we can partake of this "Living Water"!
Rivers of "Living
Waters" speak of the Holy Spirit who could not come to each of
us until Jesus returned to Heaven in His "Glorified Body"!
We must clearly
understand that the deity of the Holy Spirit is bound up in the
Triune God.
God the Father, God
the Son, God the Holy Spirit!
The Holy Spirit does
many things, but maybe the most important was to inspire all the
writers of the Scriptures to guarantee that the Scriptures contained
no errors. Of course this refers to the original Hebrew and Greek
Scriptures.
It is man who must
make an honest copy of those original text in the many different
languages.
The Lord Jesus
promised us another helper so what does this mean?
Jesus said another
helper because He Himself is the first "Comforter"!
1Jn 2:1 My little
children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any
man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous:
1Jn 2:2 And he is
the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for
the sins of the whole world.
The Holy Spirit
would be that other "Comforter"!
Joh 14:15 If ye
love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:16 And I
will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that
he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the
Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him
not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you,
and shall be in you.
Just as Jesus was
sent of the Father, then the Holy Spirit was sent of the Father and
again we can see that the Trinity of God is not only involved in our
salvation but also in keeping us saved which means we cannot lose our
salvation under any condition.
This made so much
sense to those that could hear Jesus that they admitted that Jesus
Himself was definitely inspired of God the Holy Spirit and could
truly be the Messiah, but they made a huge error.
They put man-made
text before the Word of God just as many do today!
They had been
listening to false statements made by their leaders.
*****Joh 7:40 Many
of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a
truth this is the Prophet.
Joh 7:41 Others
said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of
Galilee?
What Prophet? The
Prophet promised by Moses.
Deu 18:15 The LORD
thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of
thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
Deu 18:16 According
to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of
the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my
God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
Many before this
time had insisted that John the Baptist was this Prophet, but he
insisted that he was not and he was not.
Jesus was certainly
the Messiah, but the confusion came because of a lack to study the
Scriptures and forgetting their heritage.
What had Moses
actually said?
Act 3:22 For Moses
truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise
up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all
things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
Act 3:23 And it
shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that
prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
Act 3:24 Yea, and
all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as
have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
Act 3:25 Ye are the
children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our
fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds
of the earth be blessed.
Act 3:26 Unto you
first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in
turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
When we stand before
the Lord we may have to answer for our lack of knowing more of the
Holy Scriptures!
Had any
investigation been made, these people would have known themselves
that Christ Jesus had both the lineage and the birth place which was
required of the true Messiah.
This is another
reason that when we teach we do not deviate from the Scriptures in
any form of fashion!
It may not take much
ignorance to keep someone from being saved.
*****Joh 7:42 Hath
not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and
out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?
Why are there so
many so-called denominations today? Because those who say they are
Christian either add to or take away from the truth of the Scriptures
when we are to accept those true Scriptures and believe them for what
they say, rightly divided!
The truth is this is
why Jesus left us the Comforter to begin with!
Joh 16:12 I have
yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13 Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all
truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall
hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh 16:14 He shall
glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Joh 16:15 All
things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall
take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Joh 16:16 A little
while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye
shall see me, because I go to the Father.
When we do not allow
the Holy Spirit to complete His work within us, we are setting
ourselves up for division and for error!
*****Joh 7:43 So
there was a division among the people because of him.
It amazes me that
when the topic of Jesus Christ comes up division and slander begins
when the Lord is all about salvation but Christ Jesus already knew
all these things.
Mat 10:34 Think not
that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but
a sword.
Mat 10:35 For I am
come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter
against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in
law.
Mat 10:36 And a
man's foes shall be they of his own household.
Mat 10:37 He that
loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Mat 10:38 And he
that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of
me.
The truth is, sin is
such a fixed unyielding power that it takes an overwhelming power to
overcome it and this is Christianity!
Everyone who meets
Jesus Christ will change in some way. Some to the good but more to
the bad as they choose to confront the Lord rather than accept Him.
We are not to run
from these things, but we are to be a part of these things!
Luk 12:49 I am come
to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
Luk 12:50 But I
have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it
be accomplished!
Luk 12:51 Suppose
ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather
division:
Luk 12:52 For from
henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against
two, and two against three.
Luk 12:53 The
father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the
father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the
mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the
daughter in law against her mother in law.
This does not in any
way change the fact that we are to be witnesses for Christ, but we
should be aware that Satan's army will resist the truth and only
those who accept Gods call will reap the rewards.
Heb 11:6 But
without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him.
*****Joh 7:44 And
some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.
Joh 7:45 Then came
the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto
them, Why have ye not brought him?
We must also
understand that as long as we tell the truth, we do not have to lie.
The truth will win in the end!
Those who reject
Christianity believe that everyone that lives, have some dirty rotten
sin in their past that they can be controlled by. We must not all
forgiven sin to weigh us down!
Even today, many see
Jesus as a great man but still only a man and they totally reject
Jesus is the Son of God or God in the flesh.
Even today most of
this world would wish that Jesus would just go away but this is not
going to happen.
There is no man-made
thing that can stop Christianity!
Those that want
nothing to do with Jesus will make their choice and they will reap
what they sow, and this is why they have so much hatred toward the
Christian.
Sinners do not want
anyone to tell them they cannot enter into God's Heaven because they
have made themselves to be little gods in control of their own
destiny, but this is simply not the truth.
Jesus spoke with
such an authority that not one man would risk laying their hands upon
Him.
Even the Temple
police would not dare touch the Lord on this day.
What are the facts?
Even on the last day of the Feast of the Tabernacles, the greatest
day of this feast, the High Priest and those he controlled, maybe
even the entire Sanhedrin Court, were waiting on the Temple police to
bring Jesus to them.
They were
immediately hostile toward those who had failed them.
They had planned on
humiliating the Lord on this day by taking Him off to prison but the
Majesty of the Lord had won again this time because it was not the
right time.
So they answered:
*****Joh 7:46 The
officers answered, Never man spake like this man.
It was not the great
crowd that had kept these men from doing their job, it was the words
that the Lord spoke to the crowd that had kept them from laying their
hands upon the Lord.
It was still 6
months before Jesus would be crucified and the hatred of Him had
grown.
The High Priest and
his cronies could not stand to listen to the people as they talked
about the Lord and the things that He had already done.
This was the second
time this same day that someone had been sent to arrest Jesus and
again they had failed.
It is a fact that no
one upon the face of this earth has ever had a message like that of
the Lord Jesus Christ!
These men could have
used most any excuse that would have sounded more reasonable, but
they told the truth. When the Lord speaks things happen and this will
never change.
This answer which
was true did not sit well with the Temple rulers.
*****Joh 7:47 Then
answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?
Joh 7:48 Have any
of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?
Joh 7:49 But this
people who knoweth not the law are cursed.
These rulers were
arrogant enough to place themselves above anything associated with
Christ!
By this time the
Sadducee and the Pharisees had linked together even though they were
enemies in trying to rid that world of Jesus Christ.
The message of Jesus
Christ was never about deception, it was always about the truth!
To these rulers
anyone who had a favorable impression of Jesus had to be mentally
ill.
They had to be slow
witted and easily duped and manipulated but this had never been true.
This is the exact
way the Christian is seen today.
One lady said we
were deplorable which in reality means we are all to stupid to know
what we need.
Satan will try
anything to intimidate us and cause us to trip in our faith.
These foolish men
had not even realized that there were some among them that had a much
higher opinion of Christ Jesus than they showed.
Among them Nicodemus
and Joseph of Arimethia.
Our previous
government said we are unable to judge ourselves.
Our previous
government said we are unable to decide right and wrong for our
children.
Our previous
government said we are unable to choose what we should learn or not
learn.
Why does the world
want to get rid of Jesus? Because since Jesus came, the world has no
place to hide its sin.
Joh_15:22 If I had
not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they
have no cloke for their sin.
Truth always has a
way of catching up to the liar!
But the liar on the
other hand will cling to his lies with everything he has, just so he
can continue in his sin!
This is the same way
most Christians are looked upon today.
In fact the Word of
God is looked upon by many as being hate speech when the Word of God
is all the truth.
The world denies
it's own truth and the lessons from history!
Today the Lord is
our example, our measuring stick to see how we measure up.
These Pharisees and
Sadducee had made themselves to be the measuring stick for godly
living so it was they who were the deceivers.
Today we have some
men and women who we believe to be Christians in our own government
but if they refuse to vote for Jesus even one time they are not
worthy to hold their positions.
Today we hear an
awful lot about holding to the rule of law from people who have very
little concern about keeping the laws of our land.
Nicodemus pointed
out to those in session that they were already judging a man contrary
to the Laws of Moses who they claimed.
It was 6 months till
Jesus would be crucified and these men had already judged Him to be
guilty and worthy of capital punishment according to Roman law
because Jewish law could not get a death penalty for the Lord Jesus.
*****Joh 7:50
Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one
of them,)
Joh 7:51 Doth our
law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?
Something our own
government needs to realize is just because they write the laws, this
does not give them the right to break those laws.
Another thing is
once a law has been approved and voted on, it does not give others
the right to falsely interpret those laws.
The one true thing
we can agree on is you cannot get a houseful of lawyers to agree on
anything!
Nicodemus had just
as much right to speak up as anyone that was present that day, yet he
was cutoff immediately.
*****Joh 7:52 They
answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and
look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.
Joh 7:53 And every
man went unto his own house.
Nicodemus was
cut-off with an outright lie.
Jesus was not from
Galilee, He was born in Bethlehem of Judea and they all knew this.
There were many
prophets from Galilee: Deborah in the time of the Judges, Anna,
Jonah, Hosea, Nahum, Elijah the Tishbite, Elisha, and maybe others.
We can be sure that
these so-called heads of the Sanhedrin and the High Priest had
already made up their mind and they intended that there be no more
discussion.
The title of our
lesson is "This is the Christ".
The more Jesus
proved He was the Messiah, the more He was hated by these who would
attempt to kill God!
We must remember
that an attack on the deity of Jesus Christ is an attack on
Christianity.
If Jesus is not who
He said He was then He could not have died to save our souls, but He
died for all the world, even for those who doubt Him!
It is only by Jesus
Christ that we can be reconciled to God!
This is the truth of
the Scriptures and this is what we base our salvation upon!
Amen
Let's Pray!
