The contrasts between those who believe and those who don’t are on display in this chapter
Those who were closest to Jesus didn’t really believe He was the Messiah. This is amazing, since the one person who knew without doubt that Jesus was virgin born was his mother, and she raised all the children. I can’t imagine that the subject of Jesus being “special” never came up. In fact, I believe she tried to tell all her children that Jesus was unique and born for a special purpose. At the same time, that could have caused resentment among the rest of the siblings, and coupled with Jesus never getting into trouble, always being obedient, and being exceptionally bright concerning the scripture (the whole basis for Jewish society) it isn’t hard to see how they might have resented him a little. I’m not saying they did, because the text doesn’t say that. I’m just saying it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility if they did. They clearly didn’t believe in Him, and the text does show that. They doubted He could do the things he had already been doing. Remember, he didn’t do many miracles in his own hometown, so they hadn’t seen most of them.
Jesus was reluctant to go to the feast openly, since the Jewish leaders were trying to kill him. His brothers who didn’t believe in him wanted him to go. There’s the contrast. What God wants Christians to do, and what unbelievers think Christians should do are two different things. God didn’t tell Jesus not to attend the festival, because Jesus ends up going incognito. The brothers wanted Jesus to do many miracles while he was center stage at the festival, and as I read this account, I notice that Jesus didn’t do any. He spoke aloud and made audacious claims, but didn’t perform miracles. Think about this…there were certainly people there who had illnesses and injuries, but He didn’t heal them at this time.
The world hates Jesus because He accuses it of doing evil. And, the world will hate you and I when we accuse it of doing the exact same thing. Nothing has changed.
In all the rest of the account we see the reaction of the crowd. There are several different beliefs about who Jesus is given here: 1. He is a good man 2. He is a fraud 3. He is a prophet 4. He is demon possessed 5. He is the Messiah 6. He’s special, but he isn’t a prophet or the Messiah
Standing among them, saying very clearly that He is the source of “living water” (which must have sounded crazy to them) they could not accept what was true. Some of them didn’t accept it, including the Pharisees, because they didn’t realize he was born in Bethlehem. They hadn’t done the research, choosing to dismiss him as a fraud before they even checked it out. Once again, when you make up your mind not to believe it becomes easy to dismiss the truth standing right in front of you.
I sort of see the parable of the soil (seeds) being played out here. Jesus’ words are accepted by some, and dismissed as crazy by others. People who heard him at the same time have different reactions. Speaking from experience, from both sides of the pulpit, I find this intriguing…and heart breaking. It’s hard to see someone dismiss you as crazy when you are sharing what you know is eternal truth. It’s even harder when they not only disbelieve, they make fun, or go in the complete opposite direction and say you’re demon possessed. I have often wondered if I could do a better job at convincing people of their sin and the fallen condition of the world around them if I had a few more classes, or were a better communicator, or debater. But when I read this chapter, I am reminded that some people will not be convinced no matter what. Even if Jesus himself is standing in front of them, they will not believe.
The Jewish leaders teased the soldiers who were sent to arrest Jesus, because their hearts told them that he was special, someone to be listened to, not arrested. But when they bring back their doubts to the very men who were meant to lead them, they are led astray. As we heard yesterday, God has a special punishment in store for those who lead others astray. I wonder if those who were led into sin by others will be in charge of torture in hell? I imagine they would have a great deal of hate for whoever sent them there. That would give them the propensity to be especially cruel.
When Jesus says “Rivers of living water will flow from the heart” he was referring to the Holy Spirit (we learn that here). Therefore, the Holy Spirit has that effect on the believer. When we are filled with the Spirit of God, rivers of living water will flow out of us. When Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman he told her he could give her “living water to drink”. In that case he was referring to the knowledge of the Gospel. It would seem that he meant that the rivers of living water were knowledge of God. The Holy Spirit is knowledge of God. The mind of Christ, the power of God, the wisdom and understanding. And all of this is meant to “pour out” of the believer in a never ending stream.
Delighted to be a part of the Kingdom,
PR