John 7:37-52 – Bible Study & Exploration
Jesus Is the Living Water
(Verses 37-39) In Jesus’ day, on the final day of the Feast of Tabernacles the priests would perform a special ritual. The temple priests would gather water in golden pitchers from the pool of Siloam. They would pour this water on the altar of sacrifice in the temple. Then they would sing songs from Isaiah 12:3 and Psalm 114:7, 8.
This ritual would serve as a reminder to the Jews of God’s provision in the wilderness after their exile from Egypt.
Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles. He is also the Rock from which the living waters flow and the Living Water (Numbers 20; Deuteronomy 8:15; Nehemiah 9:15).
We can see the same spoken of Him from Isaiah to the book of Revelation.
“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.” (Isaiah 55:1-3)
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.” (Revelation 21:6)
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:1-2)
As Jesus stood up among the crowd and spoke in a loud voice, He did not focus on any particular group of people because He knew they all needed to drink from the well of living water in order to be saved.
People Were Divided Because of Jesus
(Verses 40-44) As Jesus spoke, the crowds continued to be divided among those who came to believe and those who were blinded from the truth that Christ offered. Jesus taught and prepared His disciples for this division that was growing among people.
The road ahead for His disciples would be a difficult one. We see this same division growing among the nations today at a rapid pace as the last days tick away. We also should not be surprised at this, for Christ warned us that there would great division among people because of His name. Some would come to believe and others would not.
“Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:51-53)
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” (Matthew 24:9)
The Power of Living Water
(Verses 45-52) We can see in this passage the power of Living Water working in the hearts of the guards of the Jewish religious leaders. Once the word of God enters the heart, it will accomplish what it was set out to accomplish.
“so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
It was not yet time for Jesus to be arrested and the Word of God was working in the hearts of the guards so it would not happen until it was His time.
This angered the Pharisee’s and they threw a curse upon the people in the crowd that came to believe in Jesus.
What Is a Curse (Anathema)?
Whenever I read verse 49 that speaks of the curse, it always reminds my of the Catholic Catechism.
Here are two religions, Judaism and Catholicism looking to protect their religious organizations that they’ve built, throwing curses upon people because they don’t believe the teachings of their religion. If you look closely, you can see some striking similarities between Judaism and Catholicism.
The Catechism throws out more curses (anathema) upon people than elves who throw out candy canes. Every law that Catholicism lays upon the shoulders of it’s members has an ensuing curse (anathema) following close behind it. It shackles it members into believing that salvation comes through these rituals and traditions. This is a false gospel.
The Bible teaches that an anathema (curse) is a very serious matter and implies a separation of ourselves from God. It’s used but not that often based on the length of the Bible.
On the other hand, the Catholic church teaches that anathema (curse) was a separation from the Catholic communion of the faithful with no mention of being separated from God. You can’t read too long without running into a curse attempting to scare it’s members into submission on a matter that has no bearing on a person’s salvation.
One thing we know, Christ did not go around teaching on heaven and salvation and frightening people with curses along the way. He drew people to Himself with words of love, kindness and gentleness.
Jesus is the Living Water, full of grace and truth delivering the message of the Kingdom of God.