John 7:37-53 Rivers of living water

John 7:37-39 Jesus, on the last day of the feast of booths, stood up and gave a public proclamation of the same promise He had made to the woman at the well in John 4:10-14. John adds parenthetically here an explanation of what Jesus meant by living water that flows out of the innermost being. Jesus quotes Scripture, although the flow of water to symbolize God's presence is given in multiple places and figures. In Ezekiel 47:1, water flows from out of the millennial or eternal temple and becomes a mighty river. Jeremiah 2:13 chides the Israelites for forsaking YHWH, the fountain of living waters, to rely instead on broken spiritual cisterns which hold no water, referring to idol worship and relying on other gods.

          The feast of booths celebrated the power of God in keeping the Israelites and providing for them for the forty years that they were in the desert during the Exodus, living in tents. During that time in the wilderness, God supernaturally provided manna ("what is it?") for food. He also provided water, or else the Israelites would have died from dehydration, although only two incidents instances are recorded in the Pentateuch. (Exodus 17:1-7, Numbers 20:2-13) Doubtless with this in mind, Jesus was trying to convey (just as He did to the woman at the well) that life in this world is like traveling through a spiritual wilderness, in which God tabernacles with us, and provides food and water for us. In the spiritual realm, water springs up from our innermost being, which John explains is the Holy Spirit who indwells believers, but not yet at the time Jesus spoke. It was not the supernatural works of power that Jesus was speaking of, but the nourishment of the parched soul, that the Holy Spirit would come to bring.

John 7:40-53 After this revelation by Jesus, some of the people thought that Jesus was the promised prophet, or the Messiah, based on what He had said. But there was continued bloviating about whether His birth lined up with prophecy. And then there was discussion between the Pharisees and the officers about why the arrest warrant was not executed. The officers had been impressed by Jesus' words. The Pharisees tell the officers that none of them has believed in Him. And then there is a curious little note that Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee, implies that the Pharisees had made a judgment without following the legal requirement to investigate everything thoroughly and not judge a matter until it has been fully heard. (Deut. 19:18, Proverbs 18:13) No doubt this irritated the rest of the Pharisees who doubtless did not like having their own hypocrisy pointed out to them. Eventually they would question Jesus (John 18:19-24), but that trial was not conducted exactly according to the Law of Moses either. And then the feast ended and everyone went home.