Division at the Feast

Depiction of the Last Day of the Festival of Booths

Start by reading John 7:32-53. We see in this passage that Christ is making clear that he did not come to bring the kind of peace that the Jewish people were expecting.  As we dig into this passage, ask yourself, where would you fit in this story? What position would you take?

After the craziness of the last passage, we see the Pharisees are now moving in on Christ to question him about who he is and what he is teaching. It's a short conversation, however, because Jesus confuses them. When he says he is going where they cannot find him, they completely miss Christ's meaning and assume that he is going to the Greeks. Obviously now, we know that Christ meant heaven and that those who do not believe in him could not follow him. As their trying to puzzle out his meaning, Christ slips away.

Fast forward a few days and we see Christ emerge back into the public eye to give a prophecy about the Holy Spirit. If you look at what Christ says, it would sound pretty crazy if you were standing there. So, what did Christ mean when he said "Come unto me and out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water"? Well, let's get some background. This is the last day of the feast and on this day, there was a special ceremony called the Feast of the Rejoicing of the House of the Water-Pouring. This ceremony was meant to point towards the coming Messiah. It celebrated two events: 1) the water that flowed from the rock at Sinai (Exodus 17:1-7) and the coming reign of the Messiah and the river of living water that would flow from His throne (Ezekial 4:1, 9). It was at some point during this ceremony that Christ made his startling announcement. It makes a little more sense now, knowing what the ceremony was supposed to point towards. Christ was making yet another claim to being the Christ, and if you remember, John's purpose is to prove Christ as God, so it makes sense that he records this passage.

As a result of this claim of Christs, we see at this point, that people are still dividing themselves in regards to who Christ is. Some believe in Him as the Messiah (vs. 40-41), some are still confused about Jesus (vs. 41-42), some choose to reject Him (vs. 44), some who are afraid of Christ and touching Him (vs. 45-59), and lastly, one who is recorded as defending him (vs. 50-53). So, I ask again, where would you stand if you had been a part of that crowd that day?