The Gospel of John Chapter 7 (III)
The Promise of the Holy Spirit, Who is he? Rejected by Authorities
Introduction and Welcome to The-Way Ministry!
Welcome to The-Way Ministry!
Before we dive into God’s Word today, we want to express our deep gratitude to our supporting partners: Sowers Church of Christ in San Antonio, Texas, and the Christian Community Church of Ministry in Bangladesh. Thank you so much for standing faithfully with us in this mission.
As the Festival of Tabernacles reaches its final and greatest day (v. 37), the underlying spiritual thirst of Jerusalem reaches a fever pitch. Having spent days exposing the legalism, hidden motives, and institutional blindness of His accusers, Jesus will soon stand up and make a breathtaking, global invitation:
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink!”
Are you ready to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and quench your spiritual thirst forever?
In this study, we will examine:
- The Living Water (vv. 37–39): How Jesus fulfills the water-pouring ceremony of Sukkot through the promise of the Holy Spirit.
- A House Divided (vv. 40–44): The continued division among the crowds regarding His messianic origins.
- The Unlikely Defender (vv. 45–53): The return of the Temple guards—who admit, “No one ever spoke the way this man does”—and Nicodemus’s brave stand against the Sanhedrin’s premature judgment.
Open up your Bibles as we begin with our
Scripture Reading: John 7:37–52 (NKJV)
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
40 Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people because of Him. 44 Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?” 46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”
47 Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
50 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?” 52 They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”
Section I: The Living Water (John 7:37–39)
1. Hagar & The Spring in the Wilderness (Genesis 16 & 21)
- The Core Theme: God opening human eyes to see unexpected water in a place of personal death, rejection, and abandonment.
- How It Connects to John 7: Hagar’s story establishes the individual pattern of human desperation met by divine mercy (Beer-lahai-roi). Jesus takes the experience of finding an external well in a crisis and internalizes it—promising that the believer no longer roams the desert searching for water but carries an unending spring within.