You Can Have Living Water

By Mary Vee
John 7 

Peter

Jerusalem
Photo by Mary Vee

My name is Peter, I am a disciple of Jesus.

We, the other disciples of Jesus and I are  in the temple courts. Men from all over Israel have come to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. 

A group of Pharisees, these are the teachers of the Holy Scriptures, seemed upset after listening to men talking about Jesus. In their anger they sent temple guards to arrest Jesus.

As the guards approached Jesus, he said, "I am with you for only a short time, then I will go back to the one who sent me. At that time you will look for me, but where I am you cannot go."

The Pharisees who stood near said, "Where does this man intend to go that he expects to hide from us? Will he hide where others hide among the Greeks? And what did he mean when he said, 'You will look for me, but where I am you cannot go?' We have eyes everywhere."

The soldiers didn't arrest him at that time. 

The last day of the feast came. Jesus went to the temple courts. When many men had gathered, Jesus spoke to them. "If anyone is thirsty, come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me as the Scriptures say will have streams of living water flow from within."

I learned later that the living water was the Holy Spirit. Up to this time the Spirit had not been given and wouldn't be given until Jesus was glorified.

Some of the men in the crowd said, "This man must be a prophet. 

Others said, This man is the Christ."

And others said, "But how can the Christ come from Galilee? Doesn't the Scriptures say the Christ will come from David's family, from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?"

So the people were divided.

Some became angry and tried to attack Jesus, but no one succeeded.

The guards returned to the Pharisees without Jesus. The teachers yelled, "Why didn't you arrest Jesus?'

"We coudn't," said the guards. "No one has ever spoken the way this man does."

The Pharisees scowled. "So he has deceived you as well. Has any of the Pharisees believed in Jesus? No! Look at the mob that knows nothing of the law, there will be a curse on them.

Nicodemus, a Pharisee had spoken with Jesus at night one time. He said to the other Pharisees, "Does our law now condemn a man without first hearing what he has to say?"

The other Pharisees said, "You should know from the Scriptures that a prophet does not come from Galilee."

And so the Pharisees walked away. 



What happened next? Next week I will tell you more. 

 Come back to read the next story.

*Author of blog's note: If you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section. I will see them and will answer as best I can or direct you to a source.


*********************************************************************************************

sources: 
*A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932
*New International Version, New King James Version. 
*My Bible College training.
*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.
*Pastoral sermons on this time
*Matthew Henry Commentary
*F. LaGard Smith Commentary
*My notes from my trip to Israel.
*Photos from my trip to Israel.