Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, February 21, 2014 Read John 7:37-52 The last day of the Feast of Booths has now arrived. It is an important day complete with a water ceremony in which pitchers of water are brought to the altar. On this day Jesus again reinterprets the meaning of an OT festival. Jesus is the Living Water and to drink from him means eternal life. Readers of John’s gospel are reminded of the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. In that story John has spoken at length of the meaning of Jesus as Living Water. That story stands behind this one. Consequently John is much shorter in his proclamation of Jesus as the Living Water that wells up to eternal life. John tells us that in his interpretation of the new meaning that Jesus has bestowed upon the water ceremony of the Feast of Booths, Jesus quotes from scripture. The reference is veiled at best – we will find no direct quotation like that in the OT. The closest we can come it to the Messianic Promise made in Ezekiel and Zechariah that in the New Jerusalem rivers of living water shall flow out of the Temple (Ezekiel 47:1 and Zechariah 14:8). It is likely that John had these images in mind. On the last day of the Feast of Booths water was poured on the altar and flowed down “out of the Temple” in Jerusalem. The image in the actual celebration and Jesus’ reinterpretation of it, work together to help us understand John’s intent in this passage. John has added an important piece of information for his readers. The river of living water is the Holy Spirit. John has not spoken of the Holy Spirit prior to this. He will say much more later on in his gospel. It is clear that it is only John’s readers who are privy to this information. Characters in the story will be given this information later. John makes a statement that has been troubling for some when he says, “for as yet there was no Spirit.” Later on the church will develop the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and certainly all three persons of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are co-eternal. John is helpful in coming to that conclusion when he tells us that the Word was from the beginning with God. That Word, of course, will be identified with Jesus, the Word made flesh. John does not speak of the Holy Spirit in the same way. John was not thinking of the Trinity. We will hear more about the relationship of the Holy Spirit and Jesus later. That discussion will help us. We should not be overly troubled by John’s language in this text – he was not trying to make a theological statement but rather to foreshadow the presence of the Holy Spirit who will be an important part of his gospel later on. The language in this story also looks forward to the death of Jesus when blood and water will flow from Jesus’ side (John 19:34). There is a subtle foreshadowing involved in John’s telling of this story. We can marvel at how so many things are held together. John is indeed a brilliant writer. John’s story concludes with two statements about the reaction that Jesus’ actions brought about. As we have seen before, what happens in this text causes a division among the people. Some began to understand that Jesus was “the Prophet” – the one who Moses said would come. Others come to understand that Jesus is the Messiah. Both of these estimations are correct and mean essentially the same thing. But not everyone agrees. For some, once again the origin of the Messiah proves to be a stumbling block – they think they know that Jesus is from Galilee and that the Messiah will not come from Galilee. They know that the Messiah will come from Bethlehem. John has not told us the story of Jesus’ birth. But, perhaps John is not unaware of that tradition. He simply chooses not to tell us everything he knows. Or perhaps he really was unaware of the birth stories of Jesus. In either case the true origin of Jesus according to John is that he is from above – he is from God. Whether he was born in Bethlehem or not is unimportant to John. The misunderstanding regarding the origin of Jesus continues in John’s story. Once again an attempt is made to arrest Jesus, but this is not his “hour” so no one can lay a hand on him. John had told us earlier (John 7:32) that the Pharisees, the religious leaders had sent the Temple police to arrest Jesus. Now John tells that they return empty-handed. Apparently they were impressed with Jesus to such an extent that they do not carry out their duty – they don’t arrest him and tell the religious leaders that they have never heard anyone speak like Jesus. In anger the Pharisees respond by asking, “Has any one of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?” To this point none have. And, craftily, John brings Nicodemus back on stage. Nicodemus was “one of them” – a religious leader. Now he is really put on the spot. Readers are reminded that Nicodemus has had an encounter with Jesus. It ended in confusion for Nicodemus. But had he really heard anything? Nicodemus does not profess belief in Jesus. But he does not totally abandon Jesus either. He vaguely stands up for Jesus enough to suggest that he deserves a proper hearing before he is condemned. Nicodemus’ suggestion is not well received. In fact, Nicodemus is put even more on the spot. A question is asked of Nicodemus that demands a negative response – “You aren’t from Galilee, are you? Search the scripture and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.” Again the question is about the origin of Jesus. Nicodemus has heard something from Jesus that the other religious leaders have not heard. He has heard that Jesus is from above. We can imagine Nicodemus pondering his previous encounter with Jesus. Once again it is important to say that Nicodemus does not profess belief in Jesus at this point in the story. We are still left wondering how things will turn out for Nicodemus. John also does not tell us that Nicodemus joins in the condemnation of Jesus. We are once again left hanging in the air when it comes to Nicodemus. From simply a storytelling point of view John is a wonderful craftsman – he knows how to tell a good story! He leaves his readers wondering about Nicodemus.