The Last Day of the Feast

John 7:32-53

 

INTRO: John 7:31 tells us that “many of the people believed on him [Jesus].”  Because of this the Jewish religious leaders sent officers to arrest Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah.

After the men who had been sent to arrest Jesus hear Him speak, they return to their leaders without Christ confessing: “Never man spake like this man” (vss 45-46).

What had these men heard that so affected them?  Friends, they heard Jesus Christ the Son of God, with great authority speak of satisfying the spiritual thirst of man (vss 37-38).

The only way for man to be satisfied spiritually is to know Jesus Christ in the free pardon of sin.  Dear ones, Jesus Christ is the fountain of peace, the fountain of joy, and the fountain of eternal life.  When you take of the water He offers, you will never thirst again.

 

I.        VSS 32-36, THE JEWS SEEK TO ARREST JESUS

A.       Vs 32, This verse tells us that the Pharisees are worried.  They realize that they must act, and that they must do so quickly.  The people are beginning to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One of God (vs 31).

1. The desire of their wicked hearts as expressed in John 5:18, must be put into effect.

2. The Jews should have rejoiced in the message of Christ.  They should have seen Him as the one that the prophets foretold, the long awaited Messiah.  Instead, they cannot take the truth; they reject the truth and seek to kill Jesus.

B.       Vs 33, Calmly, Jesus says: “Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me.”

1. Jesus knows that He will only be on the earth a little while longer.  He knows that He has six months before He will be crucified, six months from the Feast of Tabernacles to the Passover.

2. After Jesus had accomplished the work that He had been sent to do, He would return to His sender, the God of the Universe.  Jesus Christ is now seated at the right hand of God the Father (Heb 1:3; 4:14).

C.      Vs 34, When Jesus arose from the dead, you can be assured that a diligent search was made for Him, but He could not be found by these unbelievers.  He was gone.  The next time that these men will see Jesus will be when they stand before Him at the Great White Throne Judgment.

1. The nation of Israel will seek the Lord, but blindness in part has covered their eyes.  They will seek deliverance, but it will not come (Amos 8:11-12).  Having not found deliverance from sin in Christ, they will die in their sins (Jn 8:21).

2. There will come a day when individuals will seek the Lord, but it will be too late.

a. Isaiah 55:6 admonishes us: “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.”

b. Prov 1:24-28.

c. Luke 13:24-25.

3. Jesus went on to say: “Where I am, thither ye cannot come.”

a. Jesus is going home to the Father.

b. “In the presence of the Father, there is no room for those who have refused to accept the Son” (Hendriksen 20).

D.      Vs. 35, How sad.  They didn’t get the message; they missed the point.  Jesus was going far beyond the sky to the heaven of heavens, to the Father’s throne, to a place we only reach by faith’s decree.

1. They thought that Jesus might go and preach to the Jews who had been scattered over the centuries in the diaspora, the dispersion.  They thought He might just disappear from them, out of reach, lost in the Gentile world.

2. How sad it is to miss what Jesus was talking about in verse 34, to not see that God sent His Son to seek out the lost, saving those who would believe (Jn 3:18, 36).

 

II.       VSS 37-39, THE GREAT INVITATION.

A.       Vs 37, On the last day, the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles, “Jesus stood and cried saying, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink’.”

1. For the first seven days of the feast, a priest would go to the pool of Siloam with a golden pitcher and fill it with water.  He would take it to the Temple where it would be poured out as an offering to God.

a. This ceremony reminded the people of the blessings God bestowed upon their forefathers in the wilderness, especially the provision of water from the rock and the promise of the coming Messiah.

b. On the eighth day, the priest returned from the pool without water to signify that the long awaited Messiah had not yet come to further bless Israel.

2. It is on the last day of the feast that Jesus cries: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.”

a. Jesus was saying: “I am the one that you are waiting for.”

b. Jesus is the one that the water from the rock typified.

3. In this verse, we have a great salvation message: “Thirst,” “Come,” and “Drink.”

a. “Thirst”– a sense of sin, a longing for God, a knowledge of one being lost, desire of pardon.

b. “Come”– this expresses action, to do with your heart what your feet would do were Christ standing by and saying: “Come unto me.”

1- It is not come unto the Lord’s Supper or baptism, or even church membership; it is come to Christ and none other.

2- Jesus invites sinners to come to Him for salvation.  He invites all who feel the burden of sin (Mt 11:28).

c. “Drink”– this is appropriating Christ; this is taking Him as Savior.  The thirsty are invited to drink (Rev 22:17; Isa 55:1).

1- A river flowing through a country of people dying of thirst does them no good unless they drink.

2- The blood of the slain Passover lamb did the Jewish household no good unless it was applied to the door.

3- To be saved, you must receive Christ by faith (Jn 1:12).

B.       Vs 38, This verse promises the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to the believer.

1. The believer is not to be like a sponge only taking in, not giving out, but like an artesian well ever fresh, giving, and satisfying (Isa 58:11).

2. The water is to flow forth to bless others.  Christians are to be channels of blessing.

3. To overflow, we must be full.  We must be Spirit filled to bless others (Eph 5:18-19).

4. To give to others, we must first receive from Christ ourselves.  The apostles got bread from Christ before they distributed it to the hungry multitude.

a. This is the secret of being a blessing.  First, we must receive, the distribute.

b. The inflowing of His power produces an outflowing of His blessing just like an artesian well.

C.      Vs 39, After the glorification of Christ, which came after the resurrection, the Holy Spirit came to guide and teach believers (16:7, 13).

 

III.      VS 40-44, DIVIDED OPINIONS OF THE PEOPLE CONCERNING CHRIST

A.       Vs 40, Many said: “Of a truth this is the Prophet” (Deut 18:15).  Possibly as the deliverer.

B.       Vs 41, Some said: “This is the Christ.”

1. Some accepted Jesus as the Messiah.

2. There were those who saw Jesus as being from Nazareth not Bethlehem.

C.      Vs 42, The Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem (Mic 5:2).  Christ was born in Bethlehem.  The Messiah was to be of the seed or lineage of David.  Jesus (according to His human nature) and Mary are descendants of David (Rm 1:3).  The thought that Jesus was born in Galilee was wrong.

D.      Vs 43, The different opinions of Christ caused a division.  Division means different views or visions.

E.       Vs 44, They desired to arrest Christ, but were not given the power from above to do so.

 

IV.      VSS 45-53, NICODEMUS DEFENDS JESUS

A.       Vs 45, The officers who were to arrest Jesus are reprimanded for not arresting Him.

B.       Vs 46, Instead of arresting Christ, these officers had been arrested by His words.  His words are spiritual life (Jn 6:63).