John 7:37

In these verses we have,

I. Christ's discourse, with the explication of it, Joh 7:37-39. It is probable that these are only short hints of what he enlarged upon, but they have in them the substance of the whole gospel; here is a gospel invitation to come to Christ, and a gospel promise of comfort and happiness in him. Now observe,

1. When he gave this invitation: On the last day of the feast of tabernacles, that great day. The eighth day, which concluded that solemnity, was to be a holy convocation, Lev 23:36. Now on this day Christ published this gospel-call, because (1.) Much people were gathered together, and, if the invitation were given to many, it might be hoped that some would accept of it, Pro 1:20. Numerous assemblies give opportunity of doing the more good. (2.) The people were now returning to their homes, and he would give them this to carry away with them as his parting word. When a great congregation is to be dismissed, and is about to scatter, as here, it is affecting to think that in all probability they will never come all together again in this world, and therefore, if we can say or do any thing to help them to heaven, that must be the time. It is good to be lively at the close of an ordinance. Christ made this offer on the last day of the feast. [1.] To those who had turned a deaf ear to his preaching on the foregoing days of this sacred week; he will try them once more, and, if they will yet hear his voice, they shall live. [2.] To those who perhaps might never have such another offer made them, and therefore were concerned to accept of this; it would be half a year before there would be another feast, and in that time they would many of them be in their graves. Behold now is the accepted time.

2. How he gave this invitation: Jesus stood and cried, which denotes, (1.) His great earnestness and importunity. His heart was upon it, to bring poor souls in to himself. The erection of his body and the elevation of his voice were indications of the intenseness of his mind. Love to souls will make preachers lively. (2.) His desire that all might take notice, and take hold of this invitation. He stood, and cried, that he might the better be heard; for this is what every one that hath ears is concerned to hear. Gospel truth seeks no corners, because it fears no trials. The heathen oracles were delivered privately by them that peeped and muttered; but the oracles of the gospel were proclaimed by one that stood, and cried. How sad is the case of man, that he must be importuned to be happy, and how wonderful the grace of Christ, that he will importune him! Ho, every one, Isa 55:1.

3. The invitation itself is very general: If any man thirst, whoever he be, he is invited to Christ, be he high or low, rich or poor, young or old, bond or free, Jew or Gentile. It is also very gracious: "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. If any man desires to be truly and eternally happy, let him apply himself to me, and be ruled by me, and I will undertake to make him so."

(1.) The persons invited are such as thirst, which may be understood, either, [1.] Of the indigence of their cases; either as to their outward condition (if any man be destitute of the comforts of this life, or fatigued with the crosses of it, let his poverty and afflictions draw him to Christ for that peace which the world can neither give nor take away), or as to their inward state: "If any man want spiritual blessings, he may be supplied by me." Or, [2.] Of the inclination of their souls and their desires towards a spiritual happiness. If any man hunger and thirst after righteousness, that is, truly desire the good will of God towards him, and the good work of God in him.

(2.) The invitation itself: Let him come to me. Let him not go to the ceremonial law, which would neither pacify the conscience nor purify it, and therefore could not make the comers thereunto perfect, Heb 10:1. Nor let him go to the heathen philosophy, which does but beguile men, lead them into a wood, and leave them there; but let him go to Christ, admit his doctrine, submit to his discipline, believe in him; come to him as the fountain of living waters, the giver of all comfort.

(3.) The satisfaction promised: "Let him come and drink, he shall have what he comes for, and abundantly more, shall have that which will not only refresh, but replenish, a soul that desires to be happy."

4. A gracious promise annexed to this gracious call (Joh 7:38): He that believeth on me, out of his belly shall flow - (1.) See here what it is to come to Christ: It is to believe on him, as the scripture hath said; it is to receive and entertain him as he is offered to us in the gospel. We must not frame a Christ according to our fancy, but believe in a Christ according to the scripture. (2.) See how thirsty souls, that come to Christ, shall be made to drink. Israel, that believed Moses, drank of the rock that followed them, the streams followed; but believers drink of a rock in them, Christ in them; he is in them a well of living water, Joh 4:14. Provision is made not only for their present satisfaction, but for their continual perpetual comfort. Here is, [1.] Living water, running water, which the Hebrew language calls living, because still in motion. The graces and comforts of the Spirit are compared to living (meaning running) water, because they are the active quickening principles of spiritual life, and the earnests and beginnings of eternal life. See Jer 2:13. [2.] Rivers of living water, denoting both plenty and constancy. The comfort flows in both plentifully and constantly as a river; strong as a stream to bear down the oppositions of doubts and fears. There is a fulness in Christ of grace for grace. [3.] These flow out of his belly, that is, out of his heart or soul, which is the subject of the Spirit's working and the seat of his government. There gracious principles are planted; and out of the heart, in which the Spirit dwells, flow the issues of life, Pro 4:23. There divine comforts are lodged, and the joy that a stranger doth not intermeddle with. He that believes has the witness in himself, Jo1 5:10. Sat lucis intus - Light abounds within. Observe, further, where there are springs of grace and comfort in the soul that will send forth streams: Out of his belly shall flow rivers. First, Grace and comfort will produce good actions, and a holy heart will be seen in a holy life; the tree is known by its fruits, and the fountain by its streams. Secondly, They will communicate themselves for the benefit of others; a good man is a common good. His mouth is a well of life, Pro 10:11. It is not enough that we drink waters out of our own cistern, that we ourselves take the comfort of the grace given us, but we must let our fountains be dispersed abroad, Pro 5:15, Pro 5:16.

Those words, as the scripture hath said, seem to refer to some promise in the Old Testament to this purport, and there are many; as that God would pour out his Spirit, which is a metaphor borrowed from waters (Pro 1:23; Joe 2:28; Isa 44:3; Zac 12:10); that the dry land should become springs of water (Isa 41:18); that there should be rivers in the desert (Isa 43:19); that gracious souls should be like a spring of water (Isa 58:11); and the church a well of living water, Sol 4:15. And here may be an allusion to the waters issuing out of Ezekiel's temple, Eze 47:1. Compare Rev 22:1, and see Zac 14:8. Dr. Lightfoot and others tell us it was a custom of the Jews, which they received by tradition, the last day of the feast of tabernacles to have a solemnity, which they called Libatio aquae - The pouring out of water. They fetched a golden vessel of water from the pool of Siloam, brought it into the temple with sound of trumpet and other ceremonies, and, upon the ascent to the altar, poured it out before the Lord with all possible expressions of joy. Some of their writers make the water to signify the law, and refer to Isa 12:3; Isa 55:1. Others, the Holy Spirit. And it is thought that our Saviour might here allude to this custom. Believers shall have the comfort, not of a vessel of water fetched from a pool, but of a river flowing from themselves. The joy of the law, and the pouring out of the water, which signified this, are not to be compared with the joy of the gospel in the wells of salvation.

5. Here is the evangelist's exposition of this promise (Joh 7:39): This spoke he of the Spirit: not of any outward advantages accruing to believers (as perhaps some misunderstood him), but of the gifts, graces, and comforts of the Spirit. See how scripture is the best interpreter of scripture. Observe,

(1.) It is promised to all that believe on Christ that they shall receive the Holy Ghost. Some received his miraculous gifts (Mar 16:17, Mar 16:18); all receive his sanctifying graces. The gift of the Holy Ghost is one of the great blessings promised in the new covenant (Act 2:39), and, if promised, no doubt performed to all that have an interest in that covenant.

(2.) The Spirit dwelling and working in believers is as a fountain of living running water, out of which plentiful streams flow, cooling and cleansing as water, mollifying and moistening as water, making them fruitful, and others joyful; see Joh 3:5. When the apostles spoke so fluently of the things of God, as the Spirit gave them utterance (Act 2:4), and afterwards preached and wrote the gospel of Christ with such a flood of divine eloquence, then this was fulfilled, Out of his belly shall flow rivers.

(3.) This plentiful effusion of the Spirit was yet the matter of a promise; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. See here [1.] That Jesus was not yet glorified. It was certain that he should be glorified, and he was ever worthy of all honour; but he was as yet in a state of humiliation and contempt. He had never forfeited the glory he had before all worlds, nay, he had merited a further glory, and, besides his hereditary honours, might claim the achievement of a mediatorial crown; and yet all this is in reversion. Jesus is now upheld (Isa 42:1), is now satisfied (Isa 53:11), is now justified (Ti1 3:16), but he is not yet glorified. And, if Christ must wait for his glory, let not us think it much to wait for ours. [2.] That the Holy Ghost was not yet given. oupō gar hēn pneuma - for the Holy Ghost was not yet. The Spirit of God was from eternity, for in the beginning he moved upon the face of the waters. He was in the Old Testament prophets and saints, and Zacharias and Elisabeth were both filled with the Holy Ghost. This therefore must be understood of the eminent, plentiful, and general effusion of the Spirit which was promised, Joe 2:28, and accomplished, Act 2:1, etc. The Holy Ghost was not yet given in that visible manner that was intended. if we compare the clear knowledge and strong grace of the disciples of Christ themselves, after the day of Pentecost, with their darkness and weakness before, we shall understand in what sense the Holy Ghost was not yet given; the earnests and first-fruits of the Spirit were given, but the full harvest was not yet come. That which is most properly called the dispensation of the Spirit did not yet commence. The Holy Ghost was not yet given in such rivers of living water as should issue forth to water the whole earth, even the Gentile world, not in the gifts of tongues, to which perhaps this promise principally refers. [3.] That the reason why the Holy Ghost was not given was because Jesus was not yet glorified. First, The death of Christ is sometimes called his glorification (Joh 13:31); for in his cross he conquered and triumphed. Now the gift of the Holy Ghost was purchased by the blood of Christ: this was the valuable consideration upon which the grant was grounded, and therefore till this price was paid (though many other gifts were bestowed upon its being secured to be paid) the Holy Ghost was not given. Secondly, There was not so much need of the Spirit, while Christ himself was here upon earth, as there was when he was gone, to supply the want of him. Thirdly, The giving of the Holy Ghost was to be both an answer to Christ's intercession (Joh 14:16), and an act of his dominion; and therefore till he is glorified, and enters upon both these, the Holy Ghost is not given. Fourthly, The conversion of the Gentiles was the glorifying of Jesus. When certain Greeks began to enquire after Christ, he said, Now is the Son of man glorified, Joh 12:23. Now the time when the gospel should be propagated in the nations was not yet come, and therefore there was as yet no occasion for the gift of tongues, that river of living water. But observe, though the Holy Ghost was not yet given, yet he was promised; it was now the great promise of the Father, Act 1:4. Though the gifts of Christ's grace are long deferred, yet they are well secured: and, while we are waiting for the good promise, we have the promise to live upon, which shall speak and shall not lie.

II. The consequents of this discourse, what entertainment it met with; in general, it occasioned differences: There was a division among the people because of him, Joh 7:43. There was a schism, so the word is; there were diversities of opinions, and those managed with heat and contention; various sentiments, and those such as set them at variance. Think we that Christ came to send peace, that all would unanimously embrace his gospel? No, the effect of the preaching of his gospel would be division, for, while some are gathered to it, others will be gathered against it; and this will put things into a ferment, as here; but this is no more the fault of the gospel than it is the fault of a wholesome medicine that it stirs up the peccant humours in the body, in order to the discharge of them. Observe what the debate was: -

1. Some were taken with him, and well affected to him: Many of the people, when they heard this saying, heard him with such compassion and kindness invite poor sinners to him, and with such authority engage to make them happy, that they could not but think highly of him. (1.) Some of them said, O, a truth this is the prophet, that prophet whom Moses spoke of to the fathers, who should be like unto him; or, This is the prophet who, according to the received notions of the Jewish church, is to be the harbinger and forerunner of the Messiah; or, This is truly a prophet, one divinely inspired and sent of God. (2.) Others went further, and said, This is the Christ (Joh 7:41), not the prophet of the Messiah, but the Messiah himself. The Jews had at this time a more than ordinary expectation of the Messiah, which made them ready to say upon every occasion, Lo, here is Christ, or Lo, he is there; and this seems to be only the effect of some such confused and floating notions which caught at the first appearance, for we do not find that these people became his disciples and followers; a good opinion of Christ is far short of a lively faith in Christ; many give Christ a good word that give him no more. These here said, This is the prophet, and this is the Christ, but could not persuade themselves to leave all and follow him; and so this their testimony to Christ was but a testimony against themselves.

2. Others were prejudiced against him. No sooner was this great truth started, that Jesus is the Christ, than immediately it was contradicted and argued against: and this one thing, that his rise and origin were (as they took it for granted) out of Galilee, was thought enough to answer all the arguments for his being the Christ. For, shall Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the scripture said that Christ comes of the seed of David? See here, (1.) A laudable knowledge of the scripture. They were so far in the right, that the Messiah was to be a rod out of the stem of Jesse (Isa 11:1), that out of Bethlehem should arise the Governor, Mic 5:2. This even the common people knew by the traditional expositions which their scribes gave them. Perhaps the people who had these scriptures so ready to object against Christ were not alike knowing in other parts of holy writ, but had had these put into their mouths by their leaders, to fortify their prejudices against Christ. Many that espouse some corrupt notions, and spend their zeal in defence of them, seem to be very ready in the scriptures, when indeed they know little more than those scriptures which they have been taught to pervert. (2.) A culpable ignorance of our Lord Jesus. They speak of it as certain and past dispute that Jesus was of Galilee, whereas by enquiring of himself, or his mother, or his disciples, or by consulting the genealogies of the family of David, or the register at Bethlehem, they might have known that he was the Son of David, and a native of Bethlehem; but this they willingly are ignorant of. Thus gross falsehoods in matters of fact, concerning persons and things, are often taken up by prejudiced and partial men, and great resolves founded upon them, even in the same place and the same age wherein the persons live and the things are done, while the truth might easily be found out.

3. Others were enraged against him, and they would have taken him, Joh 7:44. Though what he said was most sweet and gracious, yet they were exasperated against him for it. Thus did our Master suffer ill for saying and doing well. They would have taken him; they hoped somebody or other would seize him, and, if they had thought no one else would, they would have done it themselves. They would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him, being restrained by an invisible power, because his hour was not come. As the malice of Christ's enemies is always unreasonable, so sometimes the suspension of it is unaccountable.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh_7:37-52

On the last day, that great day of the feast

Jesus the Christ

I.

PROFFERING BLESSINGS.

1. Water for the thirsty (Joh_7:37; Exo_17:6; Num_20:11; Psa_78:15; Psa_78:20; Psa_105:41; Mat_5:6).

2. Usefulness for the believing (Joh_7:38; Pro_4:23; Pro_18:4; Ac Rom_14:7; 1Co_6:20; Jam_3:10).

3. Divine aid for men (Joh_7:39; Isa_44:3; Joe_2:28; Zec Joh_16:7; Act_2:33; Php_2:13).

II. AWAKENING THOUGHT.

1. The prophet (Joh_7:40; Deu_18:15; Deu_18:18; Joh_1:21; Joh_6:14; Act_3:23; Act_7:37).

2. The Christ (Joh_7:41; Mat_16:16; Mar_14:61; Luk_4:41; Joh_1:41; Joh_4:29).

3. The seed of David (.Joh_7:42; Isa_11:1; Jer_33:22; Luk_1:69; Rom_1:3; 2Ti_2:8; Rev_5:5).

III. BAFFLING FOES.

1. Bitter enemies (Joh_7:44; Mat_21:46; Mar_11:18; Luk_19:47; Luk_20:19; Joh_7:19; Joh_7:30).

2. Perplexed officials (Joh_7:46; Mat_7:28; Mat_27:22; Mat_27:24; Mk Luk_23:22; Act_23:9).

3. Raging Pharisees (Joh_7:47; Luk_5:30; Luk_6:7; Luk_7:30; Joh_7:32; Act_23:9). (S. S. Times.)

Jesus the Christ

I. JESUS CLAIM TO DIVINE FULNESS (Joh_7:37-39).

1. It was tabernacles. The last day had come. It was Sabbath. All hearts overflowed with joy. With water from Siloah the priest came, pouring it upon the altar in the presence of all the people. That water was a symbol of salvation (Isa_12:3). Seeing it, Jesus makes, regarding Himself, this proclamation: If any man thirst, let Him come unto Me and drink. How emphatic the word thirst! It means all the needs of the soul and the deep cravings of mankind. The word drink is equally strong. Jesus here offers Himself as a complete satisfaction to man. The claim here set forth is one and the same thing with Isa_55:1. The same person speaks in both places. Jesus thus declares Himself to be God, i.e., the Christ.

2. The same thing is claimed in verse 38. The believer, having received Jesus, becomes himself a fountain of eternal life--rather is he a channel through which the grace of God flows to bless other hearts. This is the effect of the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit is secured for the sinful world by the atonement of Jesus Christ. The cross has two sides--one turned towards God the Father, reconciling Him to man a sinner; the other turned towards man, securing for him the Holy Ghost. Under these two aspects Christs sacrifice is always presented in the Bible. It is to the last of these that verses 38, 39 refer. Hence Jesus declares Himself the Christ.

II. THE PEOPLE CLAIM JESUS AS CHRIST (verses 40-44).

1. Some declared that He was The Prophet (Deu_18:15). The person here spoken of was held by the Jews to be the coming Messiah Act_3:22-23).

2. Others bolder, pronouncing His name: This is the Christ (verse 41).

3. A third party, while they seemingly rejected Him, bore a testimony to His being the true Messiah (verses 41, 42). He had both the lineage and birthplace which they required to convince them. Only their own ignorance stood in the way. Observe:

(1) It was Christs strong claim regarding Himself that won Him confessors. So in teaching, we must present the truth in strong terms, leaving results with the truth itself.

(2) A little ignorance often prevents men from receiving the gospel (verse 42).

(3) Anything for an excuse is the motto of some persons. The cry now is, He is a Galilean! If not this, then something else, equally untrue.

(4) The plain teaching of the Word is apt to attract the attention of all and cause divisions among the people (verse 43). Nothing is talked about so much as Christianity.

(5) No one can damage the truth, except so far as God gives him permission, and then it is for a wise purpose, as the future will show (verses 32, 44). His hour did come. Then He was crucified. The greatest crime secured the world the greatest blessing!

III. THE OFFICERS CLAIM JESUS AS CHRIST (verses 45-49). Their testimony in His behalf is contained in verse 46. It was the same as saying: His speaking is that of a Divine person. Those hard men, that went to arrest Him, were overcome by the love shown in His speech; by the truth which impressed them; by the persuasion His words carried with them and by His authority as a teacher. These all were so marked that, returning, His enemies had to declare. Never man so spake--none, save God, could show such love, truth, persuasion and authority.

1. These are all divine qualities, man having them in proportion as he is endued with power from on high.

2. The gospel has these four great elements--Love, Truth, Persuasion, and Authority.

3. Those who will not receive the gospel pronounce such testimony as this deception (verse 47). The belief of the humble-hearted is foolishness unto the intellectual-proud (verses 48, 49).

IV. Nicodemus claims Him to be Christ (verses 50-53). The charge against Jesus by the Pharisees was that He claimed to be from God, the true Messiah. Nicodemus virtually said this: You have not disproved this claim; nothing has been done to prove the falsity of Jesus words (verse 51). He might have made His testimony stronger. We must remember that a secret disciple is not bold in word or deed. The reply of the Pharisees was weak, showing that their cause was based on ignorance and prejudice (verse 52). Such is the cause of unbelief to-day. (A. H. Moment, D. D.)

If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink

The thirst of humanity anticipated and met

On the last day of the feast of tabernacles the priests stood near the altar and poured water over it copiously from large capacious vessels. Perhaps the day took its name the great day from that circumstance. It was a symbolical act intended to connect itself with the predictions that in the days of the Messiah God would pour out His Spirit, and was something like a prayer that they might live to see those days and share that blessing. It was our Lords custom to connect His teaching with occurrences before Him, and so, perhaps pointing to that act, He said, If any man, etc., proclaiming His Messiahship.

I. HUMANITY IS THE SUBJECT OF INTENSE SPIRITUAL DESIRES. We know how intense the animal appetite of thirst may become. How terrible it has been in the burning desert or the besieged city i That is here taken to indicate the character of spiritual desire, and is an ordinary rhetorical figure used by our poets and philosophers when they speak of the thirst of gold, ambition, etc. But Christ offers no drink for the appetites or passions.

1. There is the thirst of the intellect--the desire for truth. It is very wonderful how soon the mind of a child will begin to speculate about the mystery of life, of death, of God, and the soul.

2. There is the thirst of conscience in two forms.

(1) There is the consciousness of moral weakness. A man feels the moral obligation he is under, sees the beauty of duty, has a conviction of right, but a sense of infirmity of purpose--makes his strong resolutions and scatters them the next day. And so the moral nature thirsts for strength to perform.

(2) The conscience is burdened by a sense of sin, and yearns for its forgiveness and removal. This has given rise to priests. The people create the priests. No priesthood ever yet originated itself for the purpose of trampling on the people.

3. There is the thirst of the heart: not merely a desire for happiness. You are made for something greater than that. There is a thirst in looking at the dislocation of things around us. What tears of soul bereavement and pain let out the waters of bitterness in times of darkness I So the soul wants something to rest upon, to feel that we are not in a neglected and fatherless world.

II. JESUS CHRIST IN THE GOSPEL MEETS THESE DIVERSIFIED WANTS.

1. Christianity professes to be a revelation of spiritual truth. It interprets nature and adds communications of its own about all that it is necessary for us to know.

2. Christianity meets the thirst of conscience in a special way.

(1) By the revelation of the Person of Christ. The gospel does not come as a system of thought, nor are its preachers philosophers; it presents a Saviour, through whom we may obtain forgiveness of sins.

(2) Connected with this is the mission of the Spirit to renew, to strengthen the will, to purify the affections, to make duty a delight, and bring the whole man into harmony with duty and God (Rom_8:3-4).

3. Christianity meets the thirst of the heart by providing a large measure of rational and manly happiness, and that in two ways.

(1) By the life of faith--faith as a daily habit, looking to God in all things; and along with that it gives spiritual consolation and grace.

(2) By the character it creates and sustains, delivering us from the torments which attend passion, sin, disharmony with God.

III. CHRIST NOT ONLY MEETS THE THIRST OF HUMANITY, BUT IS URGENT TO MEET IT. Let Him come. Do not mystify yourselves with the metaphysics of the Divine decrees. Take Christ in His plain utterances and remember that secret things belong unto God. He says, if any man will, let Him come--believe in His honesty of purpose, and that He means what He says, It is not the will of my Father that one of these little ones should perish. You may perish, but that will be from your own acts, not Gods.

IV. CHRIST IN MEETING THIS THIRST DOES OF SET PURPOSE MAKE US A BLESSING TO OTHERS. Out of Him shall flow, etc. (T. Binney.)

Thirst relieved

A word spoken in season how good it is! Much of the force of an observation depends upon its being well-timed. The orators of Greece and Rome attended to this. But there was One who spake as never man spake, who seized all occasions. Here is an instance of it.

I. THE APPETITE SUPPOSED.

1. Let us account for it. When man proceeded from the hand of God he was a stranger to thirst. He was formed for the enjoyment of God, and God became the source of his enjoyment. Then he was in his element. But sin has removed man from the fountain, and he now wanders through a parched wilderness. My people have committed two evils, etc.

2. Its nature. It includes

(1) Want and emptiness. The mind has an aching void. We might as well expect light in a beam cut off from the sun, the source of all radiance, as expect satisfaction of mind without God.

(2) Restlessness--the fever of the mind. Hence the anxiety of change, seeking rest and finding none.

(3) Misery. Disappointed in the objects of pursuit men turn away in disgust, saying, miserable comforters are ye all. Hence despondency and suicide.

3. Its universal prevalence. It is felt more or less intensely, but none are strangers to it.

(1) The inquiries of men prove this. Who will show us any good.

(2) The pursuits of men prove this. The toils of the studious, the slumbers of the voluptuary, the cell of the hermit, the hoards of the miser, all.say, I thirst.

(3) The regrets of men prove this. Vanity of vanities, etc.

II. THE SATISFACTION PREPARED.

1. The person who offers the refreshment. The eternal Son of God who became man, to die for sin and rise and ascend into heaven to receive gifts for men, even the Holy Spirit. The living water. Christ has the Spirit without measure for the enlightenment and salvation of men. Here is all that can satisfy the thirsty, soul--pardon for the guilty, liberty for the enslaved, peace for the distracted, and finally heaven.

2. The means of getting the living water. Note

(1) the approach of faith, let him come.

(2) The application of faith drink.

III. THE EXTENT OF THE INVITATION. If any man.

1. As to character. There is no description of the persons invited. If any man, be he who he may, whatever his age, country, condition. This is better than any specification of name, for others might bear the same.

2. As to the simplicity of the qualification. All men thirst. Dont say I am not thirsty enough. If you thirst at all you are meant.

3. As to the sincerity of the Inviter. Can we doubt this? Is He not able, and willing to relieve us.

Conclusion:

1. Learn why Christ is imperfectly appreciated--because men do not realize their moral condition.

2. If this is not assuaged here it never will be in eternity. Read the parable of the rich man. (G. Clayton.)

Rivers of living water

1. These words were spoken on the last day of the feast--therefore on the last opportunity for doing good to that multitude. The dispersion of a mighty crowd is always affecting, as we forecast that it is a final parting with some, and see in it a foreshadowing of that last separation. Our Lord was sensitive to such feelings, and could not suffer the vast assemblage to break up without giving them something which might reveal itself in their hearts when far from the excitement of the city.

2. It was the great day, when, after the solemnities of the previous week and their august associations and suggestions, all susceptible souls would be open to elevated thoughts. So Jesus, seizing the moment when the metal was molten to give His own impress to it, cried, If any man, etc.

3. Christs gift is living waters. He speaks to us as subject to desires for which nature has made no provision, and offers Himself as a fountain of relief and eternal satisfaction. His words sweep the entire circle of humanity, for every man thirsts. The only question is, Can His religion do what everything else confessedly fails to do? Yes, said Jesus. The Holy Spirit as given by Him is as rivers of living water, because

I. THE SPIRIT IS THE CHANNEL OF GODS LOVE TO SOULS.

1. Man thirsts for love. It is the nobleness of our nature that food and raiment and gross pleasures do not satisfy it. What makes childhoods blessedness, but that its whole atmosphere is love? Yet how far all human love comes short of satisfying our craving all know. But let a man be thoroughly certified that God loves him to save him, and that every moment he has access to God to tell Him all his griefs, what a river of refreshment must this love prove in his heart.

2. Gods love to us is His love in Christ--love, the most ample in its measure, the most intense in its power, the most complete in its adjustments to our condition. But it is not this love in a book that will give us relief. The testimony of the Book must be transferred to the heart to become a living reality there. The Spirit adds nothing to its dimensions, but makes it approved and accepted to the soul. Divine love is the sovereign element of all blessedness: Christ is the Divine Vessel holding that love which flows over with sweet waters, but it is the Spirit which witnesses of this to the soul.

II. THE SPIRIT IS THE CREATOR OF BLESSED AFFECTIONS IN THE SOUL. Shall be in Him. Man thirsts for an inward blessedness. Not in his circumstances but in his heart, in noble views, pure affections, generous aspirations, lies the true well-being of man. He may have millions and yet be haunted with fears of starvation. He may allow himself every luxury, and yet his soul be a level of monotonous wretchedness. Malignant self-centred passions are the fever of the soul. Place a man amidst the splendours of royalty, and a jealous spirit will make him miserable. It is from a right state of the heart that its blessedness must flow; therefore the true salvation of man is not outward but inward. It has its outward elements in an alteration of mans relation to God; but what were it worth for the outcast to be delivered from his rags and poverty, and be received back if he retained all the evil passions which ruined him? He must become an altered man to become blessed. All experience and Scripture bear witness that this is a work not for man but for the Spirit of God. It is the almighty spirit of love, whose living waters flowing into the heart destroy its bitterness and impurity, and make it a fountain of brightness.

III. THE SPIRIT IS THE POWER OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNICATION.

1. As the waters of a fountain gush forth by their own pleasure, so do the living waters of spiritual life impart themselves to all around. Every refreshed soul is constituted a well of refreshment, like a fertile spot in the wilderness. How is this done? By the gifts and service which it prompts. Whenever He is in the heart, our families, neighbourhoods, churches will be refreshed. Stagnant waters which have no outlet become corrupt and bitter like the Dead Sea.

2. Man thirsts for successful, useful action. You are not content with the result which your daily calling gives you. Without despising common duties, you feel that you were made for nobler things. Well, the noblest course is open to all. You need not acquire rank or money. If renewed by the Spirit, you can make your course as a shining river. No other life is worth living: all other is vanity and vexation.

3. This blessedness and usefulness must be habitual, a river not a brook. Nothing can be more remote from the true idea of the Holy Spirit than transcient excitement. Conclusion:

1. This gift of the Spirit is acquired by faith. Coming is

believing.

2. This gift assumes different forms in different believers.

3. This gift every believer is bound to use. (J. Riddell, M. A.)

The incident

While the morning sacrifice was being prepared, a priest, accompanied by a joyous procession with music, went down to the pool of Siloam, whence he drew water into a golden pitcher capable of holding three log (rather more than two pints). But on the Sabbath they fetched the water from a golden vessel in the Temple itself, into which it had been carried from Siloam on the preceding day. At the same time that the procession started for Siloam, another went to a place in the Kedron valley, close by, called Motza, whence they brought willow branches, which, amid the blasts of the priests trumpets, they stuck on either side of the altar of burnt offering, bending them over toward it so as to form a kind of leafy canopy. Then the ordinary sacrifice proceeded, the priest who had gone to Siloam so timing it that he returned just as his brethren carried up the pieces of the sacrifice to lay them on the altar. As he entered by the water-gate, which obtained its name from this ceremony, he was received by a threefold blast from the priests trumpets. The priests then went up the rise of the altar and turned to the left, where there were two silver basins with narrow holes--the eastern, a little wider, for the wine; and the western, a little narrower, for the water. Into these the wine of the drink offering was poured, and at the same time the water from Siloam, the people shouting to the priest, Raise thy hand, to show that he really poured the water into the basin which led to the base of the altar … As soon as the wine and water were poured out, the Temple music began, and the Hallel (Psa_113:1-9; Psa_114:1-8; Psa_115:1-18; Psa_116:1-19; Psa_117:1-2; Psa_118:1-29.) was sung … Salvation in connection with the Son of David was symbolized by the pouring out of water Thus the Talmud says distinctly, Why is the name of it called the drawing out of water? Because of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, according to what is said: With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.… We can now in some measure realize the event. The festivities of the week of tabernacles were drawing to a close. It was the last day, that great day of the feast.… It was on that day after the priest had returned from Siloam with his golden pitcher, and for the last time poured its contents to the base of the altar; after the Hallel had been sung to the sound of the flute, the people shouting and worshipping as the priests three times drew the threefold blasts from their silver trumpets--just when the interest of the people had been raised to its highest pitch, that from the mass of the worshippers, who were waving towards the altar quite a forest of leafy branches as the last words of Psa_118:1-29, were chanted--a voice was raised which resounded through the Temple, startled the multitude, and carried fear and hatred to the hearts of their leaders. It was Jesus who stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. Then by faith in Him should each one truly become like the pool of Siloam, and from his inmost being rivers of water flow. This spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive. Thus the significance of the rite, in which they had just taken part, was not only fully explained, but the mode of its fulfilment pointed out. (A. Edersheim, D. D.)

The significance of the incident and Christs use of it

In the latter days of Jerusalem, as we learn from the history of the period, a ceremony was added to those of the ordained feasts of booths, intended, evidently, to commemorate the thirst in the wilderness, and the supply that was provided from the rock in Horeb. On the last day of the feast, towards evening, the priests formed a procession, and, having drawn water from the pool of Siloam, bore it to the Temple, and poured it on the ground, so that it should flow down to the lower streets of the city. This symbol pointed, probably, to Ezekiels grand vision of waters issuing from the Temple, small at first, but rapidly increasing, until they became a river that could not be passed over--a river to swim in. The precession of priests has gone to Siloam and returned to the Temple. They have poured the water from the golden vessel, and a rivulet is making its way along the unwonted channel, forth from the hallowed courts towards the city. The assembled crowds are ranged on either side, watching the progress of the mimic stream. The beams of the setting sun strike the water, where in a hollow it spreads into a pool, and golden glory flashes for a moment from the spot that had been dull dry earth before. The multitude gaze in ignorant superstition; but some of the Lords hidden ones are there, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and spelling painfully out of these dead letters the name of their living Redeemer. Jesus looked on the crowd as they gazed wistfully on the symbolic water. His heart was yearning for them. He knew what was in man: He knew that the Jews made idols of these significant signs, as they made idols of the scriptures which were printed on their clothing. He saw them drinking that which cannot quench the thirst of a soul. He pitied them, and came to the rescue. (W. Arnot, D. D.)

The Preachers last sermon for the season

I. THE INQUIRY FOR THE THIRSTY.

1. It is very wide. Any man of all that heterogeneous mass.

2. It is anxiously narrowed down. If--as if He had said the mass of you do not thirst; do any of you thirst? He reads their genera/indifference only too well. Alas I the thirsty are few: self-content possesses the minds of many, and world content steals over others. They are in a desert; no drop of dew falls about them, and the water-bottle has long since been dry; but they are mocked by the mirage, and they put aside their thirst with the fond idea that they can drink to the full.

3. It is painfully clear. The thirsty know what thirst is. It is a self-explaining pain.

4. It is being continually repeated. It is as urgent to day as then.

5. What is this thirst? Nothing actual or substantive; it is a lack crying out of its emptiness. When our system needs drink, a merciful providence creates a pang which drives us to a supply. Thirst rings the alarm bell, and mind and body set to work to supply the demand. It were a dreadful thing if the system needed water and yet did not thirst; for we might be fatally injured before we knew that any harm was happening to us. So with spiritual thirst.

II. THE ONE DIRECTION FOR THE RELIEF OF ALL SUCH THIRSTY ONES. Let him come, etc.

1. Christ who gives the water which quenches spiritual thirst, invites us to Himself personally. What creed you are to believe will do by and by, just now your duty is to come to Christ. At this time Christ had not been crucified, risen, etc., but the text was spoken with a foresight of all that should transpire up to His glorification. Come directly to Him, who by all this has become a fountain of living water--not to creeds, ceremonies, sacraments, priests, services, doings, or feelings. Salvation lies in Him only.

2. All that a sinner wants is to be found in abundance in Him, and all that every sinner wants.

3. In Jesus is a varied supply. The thirst of the soul is not like the thirst of the body which is quenched with one liquid; the soul thirsts for many things--peace in distraction, pardon of sin, purity from pollution, progress ingrace, power in prayer, perseverance; and all this is in Christ.

4. We must come to Christ and bring nothing of our own except our thirst, and that coming is believing.

5. Having come we must drink--the first action of the infant, the easiest act of the man.

III. THE PERMISSION HERE GIVEN FOR THEIR PARTICIPATION.

1. There is no limit as to what thou has formerly done, in the way of sin, unbelief, hardness, denial.

2. There is no limit put as to where thou hast been before. A man went to a merchant to ask the price of a certain article. He then went to others and tried to buy at a cheaper rate, but found that the first had quoted the lowest price. So he went back, but the merchant refused to serve him, not caring for such customers. But if you have been to Moses, to Rome, yea, even to the devil, Christ still says, Come unto Me.

3. There is no limit because of any kind of lack. Some think themselves deficient in tenderness, or penitence, or disqualified by age, poverty, illiterateness. Some are locking the door with the very key that was meant to open it. I am afraid I do not thirst; I have not the sense of need I ought to have; but this means that you are sensible that you are more needy than you think you are. The fact that you need a sense of need proves how horrible is your need. Would you come if you did thirst? Then come and you shall thirst. The more unfit the more you are invited; your very unfitness is your fitness.

4. When Christ says Come nobody else can say Nay.

IV. THE ENTREATY FOR THEIR COMING. Jesus stood and cried. It was the last opportunity, hence the urgency. Surely we ought to entreat Him to let us come. Instead of that we are callous. When a man has charity to give does he entreat people to accept it? How strange that you should be so unwilling and Christ so anxious! (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The great invitation

I. WHO THEY ARE WHO ARE INVITED. The thirsty.

1. In all thirst there is

(1) A sense of want. Every man is sensible that he is not self-sufficient.

(2) Desire of supply. The soul of man is ever desiring.

2. The object of this thirsting

(1) The end where the soul may rest, and that is happiness. For this every man thirsts.

(2) The means leading to the end. He that desires refreshment, desires also to drink, though he may by ignorance take a cup of poison.

3. There is a two-fold thirst

(1) Natural and common to all men. It is as natural for a man to desire happiness as it is for him to breathe. But men miss the way and seek it in the world, and hence, disappointed, say, Who will show us any good?

(2) Supernatural, experienced by those only whose heart God hath touched. My soul thirsteth for the living God. There is no happiness unless this is satisfied.

II. TO WHAT THEY ARE INVITED.

1. To come to Christ, i.e., to believe on Him (Joh_7:33). Unbelief is a departing from the living God: faith is coming back.

2. To drink, i.e., to actually make use of Christ for the supply of this need. This points out three things in Christ.

(1) The fulness of Christ for needy sinners.

(a) In Him there is a fulness of merit to take off the fulness of our guilt.

(b) A fulness of the Spirit to take away the power of sin, and to actuate us in all good.

(c) A fulness of grace.

(2) The suitableness of Christ. In Him there is a remedy for every disorder.

(3) His satisfactoriness. This drinking also implies three things in us.

(a) The soul going out for a supply of its particular wants, renouncing all confidence in itself or any creature (Jer_17:5).

(b) The souls going out in desire after supply from Christ upon His invitation.

(c) Believing application of Christ to the soul in

(i) catching hold of the promise suited to our case.

(ii) Venturing our case upon the promise and proposed supply.

(iii) Confidence in Christ answering our necessities.

III. MOTIVES FOR ACCEPTING THE INVITATION.

1. The supply of the needs of sinners is the great end of the mystery of Christ.

2. He is able to supply all needs however great they may be. Christ is a fountain that is never dry. The creatures are broken cisterns and soon exhausted.

3. Consider your need of Him.

4. If you come now you will drink of the rivers of Gods pleasures for evermore. (T. Boston, D. D.)

We must drink in the gospel

A celebrated minister was once taken ill, and his wife requested him to go and consult an eminent physician. He went to this physican, who welcomed him very heartily. The minister stated his case. The doctor said: Oh it is a very simple matter, you have only to take such and such a drug and you will be right. The patient was about to go, but the physician pressed him to stay, and they entered into pleasant conversation. The minister went home to his wife and told her what a delightful man the doctor had proved to be. He said, I do not know that I ever had a more delightful talk. The good man is eloquent, and witty, and gracious. The wife replied, But what remedy did he prescribe? Dear, said the minister, I quite forgot what he told me on that point. What? said she, did you go to a physician for advice, and came away without the remedy? It quite slipped my mind he said, the doctor talked so pleasantly that his prescription has quite gone out of my head. You must receive Christ by faith. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Christ a Divine Fountain

If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. What man would dare to say of merely physical things, If any man lacks knowledge, let him come unto me. Neither Humbolt, nor Liebig, nor Agassiz would dare to say this, even of the departments in which they are pre-eminent, how much less of the whole range of learning! yet Christ, disdaining physical things, appeals at once to the soul with all its yearnings, its depths of despair, its claspings--like a mother feeling at midnight for the child whom death has taken--its infinite outreachings, its longings for love, and peace, and joy, which nothing can satisfy this side of the bosom of God, and says, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He stands over against whatever want there is in the human bosom, whatever hunger there is in the moral faculties, whatever need there is in the imagination, and says, He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. (H. W. Beecher.)

The gospel a general offer of grace

I was travelling some time ago, and I had a little child with me, and I was not acquainted with the law of the railroad respecting children, but I happened to see this announcement, All children under five years of age free. I did not ask any questions. My child was under five. Neither did I buy a ticket. I took the announcement to mean what it said, and did not pay a halfpenny. (D. L. Moody.)

We must feel our need of Christ before we come to Him

Suppose a man were to call upon the physician and say, Well, sir, I want your services. Are you sick? says the physician. No; not that I know of. What, then, do you want of me? Oh! I want your services. But what for? The man makes no reply. Are you in pain? No. Is your head out of order? No. Nor your stomach? No; I believe not. I feel perfectly well; but still I thought I should like a little of your help. What would a doctor think of such a case as this? What must Christ think of those that ask His help, not feeling that they really need it? (H. W. Beecher.)

The thirsty should drink

During a revival in a town in Ohio, a man who had been very worldly minded was awakened, but for some time concealed his feelings, even from his wife, who was a praying woman. She left him one evening in charge of his little girl of three years of age. After her departure his anxiety of mind became so great that he walked the room in his agony. The little girl noticed his agitation, and inquired, What ails you, pa? He replied, Nothing, and endeavoured to quiet his feelings, but all in vain. The child looked up sympathizingly in his face, and inquired, with all the artlessness and simplicity of childhood, Pa, if you were dry, wouldnt you go and get a drink of water? The father started as if a voice from heaven had fallen on his ear. He thought of his thirsty soul famishing for the waters of life; he thought of that living Fountain opened in the gospel; he believed, and straightway fell at the Saviours feet. From that hour he dates the dawning of a new light, and the beginning of a new life.

The patience of Christ

It was the last day of the feast of tabernacles. It was the eighth day which was spent as a Sabbath, but the Saviour did not cease to preach because the festival was almost over. Till the last day He continued to instruct, to invite, to entreat. It is but one instance out of many of the Saviours pertinacity of lovingkindness. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Faith is easy

Drink! That is not a difficult action. Any fool can drink; in fact, many are great fools because they drink too much of poisonous liquors. Drink! Thou canst surely do that. Thou hast only to be as a spunge that sucks up all that comes near it. Put thy mouth down and suck up that which flows to thee in the river of Christs love, open wide thy soul and drink in Christ, as the great northern whirlpool sucks in the sea. If any man thirst let him receive Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The spirit dwelling in, and flowing from, the Christian man

Now was the time of the autumn heats. The effects of the harvest rains had long passed. The crops were just removed from the face of the ground. Above was the burning Syrian sun. Beneath--as with us, now--was the scorched and arid soil. All was dust, and weariness, and heat. It was the time of a great festival--the great autumnal feast of tabernacles, commemorative of the fruits of the earth now gathered in.

I. Here you may observe we have AN INVITATION--Jesus stood, and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let Him come unto Me, and drink.

1. There seems to me something emphatic in that word, stood. It expresses in a teacher the attitude of prominence, energy, aggression. It was well suited to High, who, as tie was there placed amidst that perishing throng, came to seek, and to save that which was lost.

2. And the voice is still more marked than the attitude. Jesus stood and cried. This term is applied to those who arc labouring under some strong passion or affection of the mind, whether of grief, fear, desire, or other. Here it expresses earnestness and energy. At least, let ministers shew by their manner that they have a deep interest in the salvation of those they address.

3. But from the attitude, and the voice, turn we to the words themselves, to the gracious invitation of the Lord. Whom does He address? Those who thirst. A large class, as many will testify. For they who thirst include all who are not satisfied.

(1) There, for example, are they who are disappointed. On them life opened fairly and brightly, but its horizon became overcast. Full of joyous anticipation they sprang forward with alacrity in the race of life. But unlooked for difficulties arose, They experienced treachery and falsehood. Life to them lost its charm. They found not what they sought. They thirsted, but were not satisfied.

(2) Then there are the prosperous who cannot be satiated with prosperity. In their fulness they are empty; in their joyfulness they are sad; pleasure pleases not; slumber soothes not.

(3) And there are those, too, who, having tried to slake the thirst of their undying souls with dying things, and discovering their error, are now seeking in things heavenly, unfailing sources, and perennial fountains. These do not, now, thirst for the creature. They have found out their error, and plainly see that the creature cannot satisfy. Now to these, and to all others, unsatisfied, anxious, craving, desiring, thirsting, Jesus cries, Come unto Me, and drink. And it is thus that Jesus meets the cravings of our humanity; His providence supplies our bodily wants. As thy day, so shall thy strength be. In the same way mans intellect meets in his God, that on which it can repose. Who should satisfy mind but He who made mind! But, oh! the storms and tempests of thought! Then there is the way in which the Saviour meets mans spirit. The heart of man must have something whereon to repose, something to love, something wherewith to sympathize. The Saviour in His humanity here meets the heart of man.

II. Nor must we omit to notice THE EXTENT OF THE LORDS INVITATION--Any man. If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.

III. Having thus spoken of this invitation of our Lord, we have now to notice HIS PROMISE, WITH JOHNS COMMENT THEREON.

1. Water. Refreshment and purification are presented to us in this figure.

2. Living water. Not stagnant, much less putrescent. Life belongs to the Christian; and this life he must seek to impart to others.

3. Rivers of living water. Here are presented to us ideas of depth, copiousness, perpetuity. Eternal life in believers is not to be scant, or shallow. A joyous and abounding river, it is to flow with waters exuberant and vivifying to all around.

4. They are flowing waters. Out of Him shall flow rivers. The Spirit which God has given is not to be restrained.

IV. But in WHAT MANNER may this water of the Spirit in a man be said to flow out of him?

1. One main method of the manifestation of the Spirit has already been alluded to--by the words of our mouth. But we would not restrain the symbol of these flowing waters only to a mans words.

2. His actions also may be included. The Christians life should be a continual call to turn from the path of death.

3. Influence we would also name as another most effective mode of making these waters flow to the benefit of our fellow-men. Influence! Influence voluntary, and involuntary! How wide its extent, and how incalculable its power!

V. We have expounded and illustrated the text. Let us conclude by some INSTRUCTIONS drawn from it.

1. See the diffusive character of the dispensation of the gospel I A man is not made partaker of the Spirit of God for His own mere individual salvation, but for the salvation of others also.

2. But let us be careful to avoid a common error. The water of life must be put in us for our own salvation before it can flow out of us for others good. It is not like the spiders web which she spins out of herself.

3. But how encouraging the promise, He that believeth on Me, out of him shall flow rivers of living water. Christ here expressly declares that if we believe on Him we shall be made partakers of His Spirit.

4. Holy gracious the invitation! If any man thirst let him come unto Me, and drink. If our lips are to feed others, those lips shall themselves be first fed.

5. Contrast here these living waters of the soul with that perishing water of Shiloah of the ceremonial before alluded to. Here is the contrast between religion spiritual and religion ceremonial--between sacraments (or signs) and the things by them signified. The Jewish populace saw nothing but the water--heeded for the most part nothing but the ceremony. (M. Brock, M. A.)

The affinity between God and man in regard of mans wants and Gods fulness

1. This saying of our Lords produced among some the conviction that He was the Christ (Joh_7:40-41). We gather from hence that it met some instinct of the human heart. He struck a note which vibrated in their inmost souls. What was the secret of this effect. It was no doubt that many of the audience felt that they were spiritually athirst, that there was a craving in them after light, truth, love which nothing on earth met. They felt that He was making an offer of which hey had need to avail themselves. They are convinced of His claims by offering them exactly what they had felt the want of.

2. In order to the existence of love between two parties, there must be a secret affinity between them in virtue of which one supplies what the other needs. Take the case of friendship between the sexes. The man needs sympathy and confidence, which the woman supplies; the woman needs support, protection, counsel, which it is the mans part to furnish. This principle lies also at the foundation of commercial intercourse. A. produces what B. wants, and B. what A. wants; and this mutual want draws both together. The same mutual interdependence is observable in nature. Plants are fed by the light and air of heaven, and return the perfumes which some of them exhale. It is so with man and God.

I. MAN HAS AN URGENT NEED OF GOD. When this makes itself felt he cries, My soul is athirst for God, and then he is arrested by the offer of the Son of God, If any man thirst, etc. Of course all things need God for their continuance, but man has needs which distinguish him from the inferior creation.

1. His understanding is never satisfied with the truth it contrives to reach.

(1) There is nothing more interesting than discovery. It is as if God had proposed to us in nature and life certain enigmas, and had challenged human ingenuity to the solution of them. But observe how, upon a discovery being made, it loses its interest, and we immediately go in quest of fresh truth. Just as the pleasure of hunting is not derived from the game which is caught, but from the excitement of the pursuit, so with the quest of truth. You see this restlessness in the pursuit of religious as well as scientific truth. The inbred curiosity of the mind, which desires above all to know where it is precluded from knowledge, is the fruitful source of heresies and fantastic speculations.

(2) But is there nothing corresponding to this restless thirst? Is the mind to fret itself for ever and never reach the goal? Is there no highest truth in which the understanding may at length acquiesce? Not so. The Scriptures say that God is Light, and that in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. When, therefore, man displays an insatiable desire to know, he should remind himself that God is its only satisfaction, and this Light is to be enjoyed, not by any painful straining of reason, but by entire submission of the will to Gods will.

2. Man craves after Infinite Good.

(1) This is attested

(a) By the mischievous excesses of intemperance. The instinct that prompts man to this is peculiar to him. There is nothing of it among the lower creatures. The real account of it is that by the constitution of his mind man thirsts after a good he finds in no created object. The instinct misdirected by the Fall, goes astray. Having a hungry spirit, he makes a desperate effort to extract from bodily enjoyments what may appease its cravings, but the body, like a people, is impoverished and enfeebled by excessive taxation.

(b) But there are more refined ways in which men endeavour to satisfy this craving. They seek preeminence of ability or position or wealth; the flattering speeches which are a sort of homage to superiority--how dear are these things to the soul! Not that the soul rests on them; having tasted them it immediately craves for new enjoyments, a wider reputation, a higher pre-eminence.

(c) The best of earthly good with which the spirit seeks to satisfy its thirst is human sympathy. It plants for itself a domestic and social paradise, but the trees, alas I like Jonahs gourd, are apt to be smitten. And, independently of this, no mere natural affection can satisfy the craving for love.

(2) But the Creator can satisfy every craving. Do we long after a joyous exhilaration of the Spirit which shall tide us over our difficulties? Be not drunk with wine … but be filled with the Spirit. Do we thirst after esteem? Human esteem is but a taper; the real sunlight of the soul is the smile of

Gods approbation. Is pre-eminence our aim? He is the Fountain of Honour. Do we long for sympathy? He is Love.

II. DOES GOD DEPEND ON MAN? Yes, as a field of display for the Divine perfections. God longs to surround Himself with intelligent and joyous creatures to lavish on them the resources of His infinite goodness. Here we may catch a glimpse of the reason why evil was permitted. To be bounteous to creatures retaining their integrity is a very inadequate effect of Gods goodness. Mercy could never have poured itself forth, had there not been vessels of mercy to receive it. And vessels of mercy could never have existed had there been no transgression. We may therefore recognize between God and man a natural reciprocity. He is the only Being who can satisfy the deep wants of the soul. And from His intrinsic goodness He longs to satisfy them. (Dean Goulburn.)

Christ our fountain head

I. CHRIST THE CLOVEN ROCK.

1. The smitten rock. Moses smote and Christ was smitten to save a perishing people.

2. The spring of life flowing therefrom.

3. Its inexhaustible fulness (Joh_4:14). The spring in the desert is now dry.

4. Its wonderful adaptability. Tropical suns cannot evaporate it, nor Polar breezes freeze it. It is adapted to every climate, and wise and foolish, rich and poor, must drink and cleanse themselves here.

II. THE SINNER AND THE FOUNTAIN.

1. The sinner thirsts. Life is a desert, provoking craving for satisfaction.

2. His consciousness of it. Desire for higher, purer experiences will awake in every rational soul. Then do what he will he cannot reason it away.

3. Its evidences. Mans endeavour to find rest somewhere; unnatural activity of mind and body; oft a desperate effort to drown the voice of God.

4. False waters.

(1) Wilful blindness.

(2) So-called innocent pleasures.

(3) Sinful indulgence--Marahs, or Dead Seas.

5. The thirst assuaged.

(1) By recognizing the terrible malady of sin.

(2) By confessing guilt.

(3) By coming to the fountain. The first draught allays the burning fever of the soul.

III. THE BELIEVER AND THE FOUNTAIN.

1. The disciples thirst. Every draught creates a new longing. He thirsts for a sanctified life, for Christian work, for victory over sin, for conformity to Christ.

2. His need for the fountain. Only near the fountain can he live and grow.

3. Its reflecting power. Here he learns to know himself; what he ought to be and what he is.

4. Its purifying power.

5. The visits to that fountain the thermometer of the Christians inner life. (H. Dosker.)

Come and drink

I. THE TIME. The last and great day of the feast when Israels joy, in appearance, was at the fullest, and when there seemed least need of any other joy.

II. THE PLACE. Jerusalem--the Temple. What need of anything else than what the Temple afforded: particularly through the teachings of this feast.

III. THE GIVER. The Son of God, and not merely a prophet, who knew what they needed, and what He had to give; Himself Gods own gift. To Himself He, as ever, turns their eye. Come unto Me. Feasts, altars, sacrifices, doctrines, ceremonies, were all vain.

IV. THE GIFT. Living water; the Holy Spirit; a gift sufficient to fill the soul of the emptiest, and to quench the thirst of the thirstiest, and then to overflow upon others. There are two gifts of God which stand alone in their priceless greatness--the gift of His Son and the gift of His Spirit.

V. THE PERSONS. Not heathen and irreligious, but religious Jews, engaged in Divine worship. Before it was to the Samaritan that He presented the living water. In Rev_22:1-21. it is to Jew and Gentile alike. So also in Isa_55:1-13. But here the thirsty one is the Jew. His rites and feasts cannot quench his thirst, which calls for something more spiritual and Divine. So to those who frequent the sanctuary--who pray and praise outwardly--the Lord now speaks. External religiousness may help to pacify conscience, but it does not confer happiness. Only Christ can do that.

VI. THE LOVE. It is all love from first to last. In love Christ presents the full vessel of living water, and presses to their parched lips. (H. Bonar, D. D.)

Christs call to thirsty souls

1. These are bold words, and they would be as false as bold if He who speaks them were no more than man. Shall a mere man presume to invite, not a small number for knowledge and sympathy--that we might understand--but the whole race for the satisfaction of their most vehement and spiritual ideas. The presumption would be as blasphemous as absurd. But He who thus speaks has a right to speak, and is conscious of it.

2. All human desire and need is expressed in the one word thirst. Consider the different kinds of thirst, and see how coming to Christ will satisfy them.

I. The lowest and commonest of all, the thirst for HAPPINESS.

1. A man may come with a desire which is not gracious, but simply natural, since every creature desires to be happy, and which is universal, since no man is perfectly satisfied, and drink the cooling waters of the gospel. Those who limit the invitation to the graciously thirsty undo the grace they seek to magnify, and take all the freeness from the gospel. The words any man shatter such a fancy in pieces. Let him come with the feeling he has. It may be inward disturbance, brooding fear, gnawing heart pain, weariness of disappointment, inner longing--whatever it be he is welcome.

2. If he does not see how Christ can be of any service let him trust Him as he would a man who has the credit of being trustworthy, so far as to try His specific. Two men once followed Jesus because they heard another speak well of Him. They did not know very well what they wanted, so they asked Him about His home. He gave an answer He is giving to all the thirsty, Come and see. They went, and never left Him more.

3. But coming so, a man soon begins to be conscious of higher desires.

II. Thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS. If the desire for happiness is to be fruitful it will and must take this form.

1. A moral creature can never be happy without rectitude. If a man has the feeling let me be happy, but let me enjoy the pleasures of sin, he either does not come or coming does not drink. The thirst therefore continues, and becomes a pain.

2. But to come to the righteous one is to see righteousness and to become conscious of unrighteousness.

3. Can I be right, and How? How can these stains be cleansed? Christ alone can answer these questions, and satisfy this great desire. His blood cleanses. His righteousness avails. It is to be in them as a principle as well as on them as a garment.

III. The thirst for LOVE--the love that shall love us, and the love that shall go out to those who love us. When this desire is fully aroused it will not rest until it finds Jesus Christ. It is but a little way when you can say, He or she loves me, I am loved of husband, wife, parents, friends. This will never satisfy an immortal nature. Take the earthly love that is good and pure. It is the gift of God. Rut that you may have that faculty fully developed take first the love that passest knowledge.

IV. There is a thirst profounder and vaster which Christ alone can satisfy--the thirst for LIFE. The others may be traced back to this. It is the deep organic desire which has been implanted by its Author for its perpetuation. Every man has it. The shrinking from annihilation is instinctive. Out towards the realm of life it stretches imploring hands. But where? Reason cannot demonstrate its existence; imagination cannot find it in her loftiest flight. Philosophy says, You give me no data, and I can give you no conclusion. Ah, yes! no data; for the departed never return. And yet we thirst for them; and, if we are Christians, we are sure we shall see them again. But how? By His word who is the Life, and drinking of Him we live indeed. Any man. That is you. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)

I. MAN AS A THIRSTY CREATURE. Every man thirsts.

The souls thirst satisfied in Jesus

1. Constitutionally. Not as accidentally excited, but as made by God to thirst. It is in our nature to thirst.

(1) For life. In deep sorrow we may cry, O that Thou wouldst hide me in the grave! In unrest we may say, I would not live alway. With heaven opened, we may desire to depart and be with Christ. But Satan spake truly, All that a man hath will he give for his life.

(2) For pleasure; according to our idea of felicity and our capacity for bliss. Man is not naturally a lover of misery.

(3) For activity. Men are net naturally lazy.

(4) For society. The results of the solitary system in our prisons show that the desire for association is constitutional.

(5) For knowledge. The subjects upon which we seek information vary; but all men desire to know.

(6) For power, from the moment in which we seize and shake the rattle to the hour in which we dispose of our property.

(7) For the esteem and love of others.

(8) For the possession of objects of beauty.

(9) For God. That this thirst is natural is proved by the fact that religion of some kind is universal. There is not a nation of Atheists.

2. There are derived thirsts, dependent upon the particular condition of the individual, and grafted on the natural thirst. Thus a desire for wealth may arise from a thirst for enjoyment, or power, or honour, or social connections. A thirst for freedom may arise from desire for activity, and for religious unity by desire for religious enjoyment. Any natural thirst creates others.

3. The natural, and many of the artificial, thirsts would have existed had man kept his first estate; but the entrance of sin has produced depraved thirsts. Sin itself is a morbid thirst, and actual sin is the offspring of such thirst (Jam_1:14-15). Covetousness, envy, etc., are depraved thirsts.

4. The return of man to God and his salvation by Christ involve new thirsts. There is the thirst

(1) Of the quickened spirit for particular religious knowledge.

(2) Of the penitent for pardon.

(3) Of the new born for righteousness.

(4) Of the child of God for being filled with all the fulness of God.

5. There are a few facts connected with these thirsts that we may not overlook.

(1) Those thirsts which are natural cannot be evil in themselves; and those which, being artificial, are lawful expansions of the natural are equally good.

(2) The influence of our thirsts is most extensive and important. In some cases our thirst is a ruling passion; but in all cases they govern thought, prompt the imagination, affect the judgment, awaken or quiet the emotions, guide the will, lead to action, and form our characters.

(3) Most potent, therefore, are they. A man is raised or cast down, destroyed or built up by his thirsts.

(4) When a man is sick, he needs not medicine irrespective of its nature, but the specific for his particular disease. Poisoned food is more dangerous than continued hunger. He is blessed, not whose thirsts are for the moment slaked, but whose thirsts are slaked at Divine fountains.

II. JESUS CHRIST AS THE FOUNTAIN OF SUPPLY. Take the invitation in connection

1. With our lawful natural thirsts. We thirst

(1) For continued life, and Jesus says, Come unto Me and drink (1Co_15:21-22; Joh_11:25-26).

(2) For activity, and Jesus says, Come, etc. (Joh_14:12).

(3) For enjoyment, and Christ gives joy in every gift, and promises it in every promise, and makes every duty its instrument (Mat_5:1-8; Joh_16:24; 1Pe_1:8).

(4) For power, and Jesus makes His disciples the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and kings and priests unto God.

(5) For society, and Christ satisfies it (Heb_12:22-23).

(6) For the love of others, and Christ directs streams of kindness to every one who comes to Him by means of His new commandment (Joh_13:34-35).

(7) For knowledge, and Jesus is Himself the Truth, in the knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life (Joh_17:3).

(8) For God, and He manifests Gods name to us, and shows us the Father.

2. If we here speak of depraved tastes, it must be to say that they who thirst morbidly cannot come to Christ and drink; but they may come to Him and be cured of their evil craving. As the thirst of a fever may be removed by a physician, so sinful thirsts may be removed by our Saviour.

3. The thirsts of the returning prodigal and repentant sinner are specially recognized in these words (Psa_51:1; Psa_51:8-9; Luk_18:18; Mar_2:5; Mar_5:34; Joh_8:11).

4. All the thirsts of the God-born spirit are here recognized.

Conclusion: From these words

1. We might preach humanity, and show what is in man. We might exhibit him as a dependent, receptive, desiring being; that he is not like his Maker, self-sufficient.

2. But we will rather preach Christ. Here we see

(1) The knowledge which He had of human nature. He knew the thirsts of the multitude in whose midst He spake.

(2) His recognition of all that pertains to man. His words and works meet most entirely all human needs. They are not like flowers given to the starving,.or gauze raiment to the naked in winter; but like bread to the hungry and clothes to the beggar.

(3) But what must be the resources of one who is justified in speaking thus? Can any individual be a fountain of supply to every man? There is One continually named by the sacred writers who is a Sun, Fire, Door, Rock, Bread, Fountain. To Him, who can be represented by these figures, any man may surely come and drink. No creature imparts all, or even many, kinds of good; but God is the spring of all that is beneficial, and Christ is the manifested God. To how few of our thirsty fellows can any of us say, Come to me and drink? But Jesus says that, and standing in the centre of all time, as in the midst of all men. Did we need proof of the Deity of Jesus Christ we have it here.

(4) But what shall we say of His love? Any man. The man may be Atheist or idolater, broken-hearted because all his cisterns are broken, be conscious that he deserves only to die with thirst; yet Jesus means him.

(5) But the thirsty have to come. The sole condition is coming, and the only limit to the ministrations of the Saviour is our receptivity. (S. Martin.)

Mans thirst quenched by Christ

1. An artist once painted a famous picture for an altar-piece, and called it the Fountain of Life. It represents the Sacrificed Redeemer stretched in His mothers arms. From the rock beneath their feet flow the abundant waters of salvation, which are received into a great cistern. Saints, martyrs, apostles, evangelists, are drinking of the water, or filling their vases and handing them to each other. From the cistern flows a stream into a lower place, where a family of poor, humble people are drinking with grateful looks. Then the stream flows away among meadows, where the little children can reach it, and they are taking up the precious water in their tiny hands, and drinking it with smiling lips. We can all see the meaning of that picture, which tells us that the salvation of Jesus is for all who will accept it, high and low, young and old, rich and poor. (H. J. W. Buxton.)

Christs satisfactions full and real

Not like a shallow brook, that runs in winter and is dry in summer; but a fountain that the frost never binds, and that the hot, thirsty day never drinks dry, that is ever full and ever flowing. In the regions of the burning desert they tell me that skeletons lie thick, not only in the paths to the fountains, but lie ghastly white and withering, with the naked skulls looking over the banks into the very waters. With the tongue cleaving to the roof of the mouth, they press on, guided by the green pasture that lifts its head above the sand, and shows where the fountain is. They drank the water in anticipation, but will they reach it? Alas! with what horror in their eyes they gaze on the empty bed, and fight with man and beast for some muddy drops that but exasperate their thirst! The desert whirls around them; they stagger, they fall; hope expires, and they expire themselves; and by and by the sky drops, lightnings flash, thunders peal, and rain pours down, and the water rises in that fountain, and plays in mockery with the tresses of dead beauty, and kisses the faces of the dead. Such things happen. But see you yen cross standing up yonder? It marks a fountain where never man went in vain. No dead souls lie around that cross. Calvary was once a Golgotha--a place of skulls. It is so no longer. Where men once went to die, men now go to live; and a man never went for mercy there, and for grace to help, and found none. There is now in America a great revival; there was in my own country a great revival. God send us all such revivals I In every church and every country there are times and seasons of revival, when the peace of believers is like a river in glorious flood, rolling beneath bank and ridge; like the sea in a storm, when it sends its waters beyond its common bounds, and overflows the boats that lie highest and driest on the beach. But at all times and in all seasons, I say, that if you will search you will find fulness of mercy to pardon and grace to help in time of need. The supply, in fact, is inexhaustible. I know mountains have been exhausted of their gold, mines of their diamonds, and the depths of ocean of their pearly gems; but the riches of mercy and of grace in Christ are inexhaustible. They are no less to you than to those who went before you, and there will be no less for those who come after you; and when unborn millions have come, and the worlds last man, with a dying sun above him add a reeling earth beneath him, comes up to that blessed Fountain, oh! he will find it as full as it is this day, in its fulness inviting you to wash and be clean, to drink and live, to believe and be forgiven. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

He that believeth on Me

I. THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT IS INTIMATELY CONNECTED WITH THE WORK OF CHRIST. It is a great pity when persons preach the Holy Spirits work so as to obscure the work of Christ--e.g., by holding up before the sinners eye the inward experience of believers, instead of lifting up the crucified Saviour, to whom we must look and live. It is an equal pity when Christ is so preached that the Holy Spirit is ignored, as if faith in Christ prevented the necessity of the new birth. The two works are so joined together that

1. The Holy Spirit was not given until Jesus was glorified. The original has it simply was not. Of course this does not mean that He was nonexistent, for He is eternal; but that He was not in fellowship with man to the full extent He now is, and could not be till the redeeming work of Christ was finished. You read of the prophets, etc., that the Spirit of the Lord came upon them and moved them, but He did not dwell in them. His operations were a coming and a going. They knew not the communion of the Holy Ghost. But since Christs glorification, the Spirit is in His people, and abides with them for ever.

2. The Holy Spirit was given after the ascension of Christ unto His glory, to make that ascension more renowned. When He ascended on high … He gave gifts to men. Those gifts were men in whom the Spirit dwelt, and who preached the gospel to the nations. The shedding of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was the glorification of the risen Christ upon earth. What grander celebration could there have been?

3. The Holy Spirit was given as an evidence of our Divine Masters acceptance, the gift being a consequence of Christs finished work.

4. It is the Spirits work to bear witness of Jesus. He shall take of Mine. Hence He comes to convince of sin, to reveal the sacrifice for sin; of righteousness, that we may see the righteousness of Christ; of judgment, that we may be prepared to meet the Judge. He has not come, and never will, to teach a new Gospel.

5. It is by the gospel of Jesus that the Spirit works in the hearts of men. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

6. The Spirits work is to conform us to the likeness of Christ, not to this or that human ideal.

7. Evermore it is for the glory of Jesus that the Spirit works--not for the glory of a church, or a sect, or a man He shall glorify Me.

II. THE HOLY SPIRITS OPERATIONS ARE OF MARVELLOUS POWER. They are

1. Inward. The rivers are to flow out of the midst of a man, from his heart and soul, not from his mouth; the promised power is not oratory, talent, show.

2. Life-giving living water. When the man speaks, prays, acts, there shall be going out of him emanations which are full of the life of grace and godliness.

3. Plentiful Not a river, but rivers.

4. Spontaneous. Shall flow. No pumping is required--the man does not want exciting and stirring up. Does the sun make a noise that men may be aware of his rising? No, he shines and says nothing about it. So does the Christian.

5. Perpetual: not like intermittent springs.

III. THESE OPERATIONS ARE EASILY OBTAINED.

1. By believing in Jesus. It is faith which gives us the first drink and causes us to live, and the more abundant blessing of being ourselves made fountains come in the same way. With Christ is the residue of the Spirit.

2. By prayer. If ye being evil, etc. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Christians are not ponds, but spring-heads

I have heard of William Gadsby, that, travelling on a coach one day, he asked two heretical divines to tell him how a sinner is justified in the sight of God. No, said they, you dont catch us is that fashion. Whatever answer we gave you would be repeated all over Manchester within a week. Oh, he says, then I will tell you. A sinner is justified in the sight of God by faith in the blood and righteousness of Christ. Go and tell that all over Manchester and all over England as quickly as you like; for I believe nothing that I am ashamed of. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

Believers are springs of living water

One summer day, a few years ago, strolling for rest and pleasure near the mouth of the Columbia river, where there is a large rise and fall of the tide, I came, at low tide, upon a splendid spring of pure, fresh water, clear as crystal, gushing up from between the rocks that two hours before had formed a part of the rivers bed. Twice a day the soiled tides rise above that beautiful fountain and cover it over; but there it is, deep down under the salt tide, and when the tide has spent its force and gone back again to the oceans depths, it sends out its pure waters fresh and clear as before. So if the human heart be really a fountain of love to Christ it will send out its streams of fresh, sweet waters, even into the midst of the salt tides of politics or business. And the man who carries such a fountain into the days worry and struggle, will come again at night, when the worlds tide has spent its force, with clean hands, sweet spirit and conscience void of offence towards God and man. (Sunday School Chronicle.)

Believers have a perennial spring within them

The Christian has a fens perennis within him. He is satisfied from himself. The men of the world borrow all their joy from without. Joy wholly from without is false, precarious, and short. Like gathered flowers, though fair and sweet for a season, it must soon wither and become offensive. Joy from within is like smelling the moss on the tree, it is more sweet and fair, and I must add that it is immortal. (H. G. Salter.)

As the Scripture hath said.

The reference is not to any one isolated passage, but to the general tenor of such passages as Isa_58:11;Zec_14:18, taken in connection with the original image Exo_17:6; Num_20:11). (Bp. Westcott.)

Out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water

Water an emblem of the Spirit

Why has He called the grace of the Spirit by the name of water? Because by water all things subsist; because of water are herbs and animals created; because the water of the showers comes down from heaven; because it comes down one in form, yet manifold in its working. For one fountain watered the whole of the garden Gen_2:10), and one and the same rain comes down upon all the world; yet it becomes white in the lily, and red in the rose, and purple in the violets and pansies, and different and varied in each several kind; so it is one in the palm tree, and another in the vine, and all in all things; being the while one in nature, not diverse from itself; for the rain does not change, when it comes down, first as one thing, then as another, but adapting itself to the nature of each thing, which receives it, it becomes to each what is suitable. Thus also the Holy Ghost being One, and of one Nature, and undivided, divides to each His grace according as He will, and in the name of Christ works many excellencies. For He employs the tongue of one man for wisdom; the soul of another He enlightens by prophecy; to another He gives power to drive away devils; to another He gives power to interpret the Divine Scriptures. He invigorates one mans self-command; He teaches another the way to give alms; another He teaches to fast and exercise himself; another He teaches to despise the things of the body; another He trains for martyrdom: diverse in different men, yet not diverse from Himself (Joh_4:14; Joh_5:4; 1Co_12:11). (S. Cyril.)

The abundance and vitality of the Spirits operations

Rivers, not river, to show the copious and overflowing power of grace; and living water, i.e., always moving; for when the grace of the Spirit has entered into and settled in the mind, it flows freer than any fountain, and neither fails, nor empties, nor stagnates. The wisdom of Stephen, the tongue of Peter, the strength of Paul, are evidences of this. Nothing hindered them; but like impetuous torrents they went on, carrying everything along with them. (Chrysostom.)

Diversity of the Holy Spirits operations

There is one Spirit, but divers operations; one fountain, many rivers. Moses mighty in miracle, Isaiah glorious in prophecy, apostles convincing in eloquence, Paul powerful in reasoning. A Howard for benevolence, a Luther for reformation, a Calvin for theology, a Huss and a Jerome for martyrs. No place having one believer is without a living well. (W. H. Van Doren, D. D.)

The Holy Ghost was not yet given.--The addition of the word given expresses the true form of the original, in which Spirit is without the article. When the term occurs in this form, it marks an operation or manifestation, no gift of the Spirit, and not the personal Spirit (comp. Joh_1:33; Joh_20:22; Mat_1:18; Mat_1:20; Mat_3:11; Mat_12:28; Luk_1:15; Luk_1:35; Luk_1:41; Luk_1:67; Luk_2:25; Luk_4:1). (Bp. Westcott.)

Because that Jesus was not yet glorified (comp. Joh_16:7; Joh_20:17). The necessary limitations of Christs historical presence with the disciples excluded that realization of His abiding presence which followed on the Resurrection. It is impossible not to contrast the righteousness of this utterance with the clear teaching of St. John himself on the unction of believers (1Jn_2:20, etc.), which forms a commentary gained by later experience upon the words of our Lord. (Bp. Westcott.)

The fulness of the Spirit the gift of the glorified Christ

The Holy Ghost was not yet with men in such fulness of influence on their minds, hearts, and understandings, as the Spirit of adoption and revelation, as He was after our Lord ascended up into heaven. It is as clear as daylight, from our Lords language about the Spirit, in Joh_14:16-17; Joh_14:26; Joh_15:26; Joh_16:7-15, that believers were meant to receive a far more full and complete outpouring of the Holy Spirit after His ascension than they had received before. It is a simple matter of fact, indeed, that after the Ascension the apostles were quite different men from what they had been before. They both saw, and spoke, and acted like men grown up, while before the Ascension they had been like children. It was this increased light and knowledge and decision that made them such a blessing to the world, far more than any miraculous gifts. The possession of the gifts of the Spirit, it is evident, in the early Church was quite compatible with an ungodly heart. A man might speak with tongues and yet be like salt that had lost its savour. The possession of the fulness of the graces of the Spirit, on the contrary, was that which made any man a blessing to the world. (Bp. Ryle.)

The glorification of Christ

This is the first distinct reference to the glorification of our Lord. The conception is characteristic of this Gospel Joh_1:14; Joh_2:11), and includes in one complex whole the Passion with the triumph which followed. Thus St. John regards Christs death as a victory (Joh_12:32), following the words of our Lord, who identified the hour of His death with the hour of His glorification (Joh_12:23, etc.). In accordance with the same thought, Christ spoke of Himself as already glorified when Judas had gone forth to his work (Joh_13:31); and so He had already received His glory by the faith of His disciples before He suffered (Joh_17:10). In another aspect His glory followed after His withdrawal from earth (Joh_17:5; Joh_16:14).:By the use of this phrase the Evangelist brings out clearly the absolute Divine unity of the work of Christ in His whole manifestation (1Jn_3:5; 1Jn_3:8; 1Jn_1:2), which he does not (as St. Paul) regard as distinct stages of humiliation and exaltation. (Bp. Westcott.)

The Holy Spirit must be received by us

The sea enters into the rivers before the rivers can enter into the sea. In like manner God comes to us before we can go to Him, and heaven enters into our souls before we can enter into heaven. (Drelincourt.)

The Holy Spirit sustains the inward life of believers

Grace in the saints is not like light in the sun, that springs from itself, but like the light of a lamp that is constantly fed with supplies of oil, otherwise the weak light will faint and die. (H. G. Salter.)

Many of the people, therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet

Christ the Prophet

I. HIS FITNESS AS A PROPHET.

1. Foretold (Deu_18:15; Joh_1:45).

2. Typified (Deu_18:18; Act_3:22).

3. Anointed (Isa_61:1; Luk_4:17-21).

4. Competent (Mat_11:17; Joh_3:2; Joh_3:34).

5. Faithful (Joh_8:26; Joh_8:28; Joh_12:49-50).

6. Wise (Luk_2:40; Luk_2:47; Luk_2:52; Col_2:3).

7. Mighty (Mat_13:54; Luk_4:32).

8. Meek (Mat_11:29; Mat_12:17-20).

9. Sympathetic (Heb_2:18; Heb_4:15).

II. HIS TREATMENT AS A PROPHET.

1. Rejected by His own people (Joh_1:11).

2. Rejected at His own home (Luk_4:28-30).

3. Rejected before Pilate (Joh_18:39-40).

4. Followed by multitudes (Mat_5:1; Joh_6:2).

5. Believed by many (Joh_4:41-42; Joh_17:8).

6. Trusted by some (Act_7:59; 2Ti_1:12).

7. Commended by some (Joh_1:26-27; Joh_1:45).

8. All should hear (Deu_18:15; Deu_18:18; Heb_2:2-3).

9. All should trust Him (Psa_37:5; 1Pe_5:7).

III. His LESSONS AS A PROPHET.

1. On sinfulness (Joh_3:18-19; Joh_15:22).

2. On salvation (Joh_3:16; Joh_5:24).

3. On judgment (Mat_25:31-32).

4. On reward (Joh_6:47; Mat_25:34).

5. On penalty (Mat_25:41; Mat_25:46).

6. On heaven (Joh_14:2-3; Mat_22:30).

7. On victory (Luk_12:32; Mat_10:22). This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him Mat_17:5). (Sunday School Times.)

Christ the cause of division

Even when Jesus preached so sweetly His meek and loving doctrine there was a division among the people (Joh_7:43). Even about Himself there was a schism. We may not, therefore, hope to please everybody, however true our teaching or peaceful our spirit.

I. THERE WAS A DIVISION AMONG THE NEW DISCIPLES. We may view the parties formed in His day as symbolical of those in our own.

1. Some admitted none of His claims.

2. Others admitted a portion, but denied the rest.

3. Certain admitted His claims, but neglected to follow out the legitimate consequences of them.

4. A few became sincere hearers, going as far with Him as they had yet learned of Him. Let us view persons who have thoughts about Jesus with considerable hope. Though they blunder now, they may yet come right. Let us not frighten away the birds with imprudent haste. Let us pray for those who deny His claims, and resist His kingdom. Let us aid those who come a little way towards the truth, and are willing to go all the way if they can but find it. Let us arouse those who neglect holy subjects altogether,

II. THERE WAS A DIVISION OF BELIEVERS FROM NON-BELIEVERS. This is a great and wide difference, and the more clearly the division is seen the better; for God views it as very deep and all-im- portant. There is a great division at this present hour

1. In opinion; especially as to the Lord Jesus.

2. In trust; many rely on self; only the godly on Jesus.

3. In love. Differing pleasures and aims prove that hearts go after different objects.

4. In obedience, character, and language.

5. In development, growth, tendency.

6. In destiny. The directions of the lines of life point at different places as the end of the journey. This cleavage divides the dearest friends and relatives. This is the most real and deep difference in the world.

III. YET WHEN FAITH COMES, UNITY IS PRODUCED. There is unity among the people because of Him.

1. Nationalities are blended. Calvary heals Babel.

(1) Jews and Gentiles are one in Christ.

(2) The near and the far-off as to spiritual things are brought nigh in Him, who is the one and only centre of grace and truth.

(3) Believers of all nationalities become one Church.

2. Personal peculiarities cease to divide.

(1) Workers for Christ are sure to be blended in one body by their common difficulties.

(2) Position, rank, and wealth give way before the uniting influence of grace.

3. Mental specialities feel the touch of unity. Saints

(1) of varying creeds have an essential union in Christ;

(2) of all the changing ages are alike in Him;

(3) of all styles of education are one in Him;

(4) in heaven will be many as the waves, but one as the sea.

Ambitions, which else would disintegrate, are overcome, and laid at Jesus feet. Let us divide, if there be a division. Let us closely unite, if there be real union in Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Division of feeling and opinion about Christ

Here we see our words literally fulfilled. He did not bring peace, but division (Luk_12:51). It will always be so as long as the world stands. So long as human nature is corrupt Christ will be a cause of division and difference among men. To some He is a savour of life, and to others of death. Grace and nature never will agree any more than oil and water, acid and alkali. A state of entire quiet, and the absence of any religious division, is often no good sign of the condition of a Church or a parish. It may even be a symptom of spiritual disease and death. The question may possibly be needful in such cases, Is Christ there? (Bp. Ryle.)

Various opinions

We often speak of the great changes and revolutions which have occurred in the world. But through the long series there may be traced much that is permanent, so that probably uniformity is as truly the characteristic of human history as variety. It may, e.g., be always ascertained that the same principles have pervaded Gods moral government. It may also be perceived that the elements of human character have throughout been the same. Our text, relating as it does opinions of the Jews regarding our Lord, will give us opportunities of observing this sameness in particular cases. We may be compelled to say that men are what they were eighteen hundred years back, on discovering that modern indifference and unbelief borrows from ancient its form and apology.

I. The first parties introduced are THOSE DISPOSED TO RECOGNIZE CHRIST AS A TEACHER SENT FROM GOD.

1. The cause of this conviction was not any action of Christs, but a saying of His. Then surely the saying must have been one of extraordinary power, some assertion of Divinity, or some verification in Himself of ancient prophecy too complete and striking to be resisted. No; the wonder-working saying was that of Joh_7:37, which the Evangelist thought so obscure as to require an explanation. Yet simple as it seems to us and dark as it seemed to St. John, it succeeded at once in wringing the confession that He was a Divinely-sent Teacher.

2. The saying is one of those gracious invitations into which are gathered the whole gospel. It demands a sense of want, a feeling of thirst, but proffers an abundant supply, and by adding a reference to Scripture, which could only be interpreted of some measure of supernatural influence, our Lord intimated that His promise was a spiritual gift, satisfying desires after God and immortality.. Here is the moral thirst which is not to be slaked at the springs of human science and theology. And as there must have been many in the crowd dissatisfied with the traditions of the elders, and feeling a need of higher teaching, the promise would come home as meeting their wants, and the suitableness of the offer would pass as an argument for Christs Divine mission.

3. There is no difference here between past days and our own, for the argument is but that based on the self-evidencing power of the Bible. A religion may commend itself either by prodigies wrought in its support, or by the nicety, with which it fits in to the mental and moral constitution, to the wants and cravings of a soul which sought in vain everywhere else for supply. And this latter is the standing witness for the Bible. The sinner, conscious of exposure to the wrath of God, and of inability to ward off destruction, will find in Christ the Saviour he needs, and in the aid of the Spirit the help he wants, so that there will seem to him no room for doubt as to the truth of the gospel.

II. Mix again with the crowd and hearken to SOME OTHER OPINIONS.

1. Those who are inclined to conclude that Jesus is the long promised Christ, find themselves met with objections, formidable because professedly grounded on Scripture (verse 42). There is no attempt to depreciate Christs teaching, but there was a fatal argument deduced from prophecy which has expressly fixed the birthplace and lineage of Christ. But this is one of the most surprising instances of ignorance or inattention, if we may go no further. It is hardly possible to imagine a fact more readily ascertainable than that our Lord was born at Bethlehem, and was of the lineage of David; for the massacre of the innocents had made His birth so conspicuous, and now there was no one left but our Lord who could prove Himself to have been born at Bethlehem on the expiration of Daniels week of years. Therefore either He was the Messiah, or prophecy had failed. Yet so great was the popular indifference or prejudice, that a statement seems to have gone uncontradicted that the pretended Messiah was a Galilean. He passed as Jesus of Nazareth, and this was proof that He was not born in Bethlehem; and men were so glad of some specious excuse for rejecting Him, that they made this shallow falsehood a pretext for rejecting Him. It looked very fine to have Scripture on their side; the devil used the Bible in tempting Christ, and they could now use it in justifying their unbelief. The

Sword of the Spirit, like every other, may be used for suicide as well as for war.

2. The like of this is of frequent occurrence amongst ourselves. What is that scepticism which is often met with among the boastful and young? Is it the result of careful investigation? No. The fashionable young man, the orator at some juvenile literary club, gets hold of some objection against Christianity which has a specious sound and formidable look--all the better if it come out of the Bible, in the shape of an alleged contradiction and this is enough; he has his Shall Christ come out of Galilee? and with so decisive an argument, why should he trouble to search further? This is our quarrel with him. He wishes to continue deceived. The sceptic, like the Jew, has only to look around him and he would find that Jesus did not come out of Galilee, but out of Bethlehem. God suffered infants to be slain that Jewish unbelief might be inexcusable, and He has raised up giants in His Church whose writings render modern unbelief the same. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

The wonderful nature of Christs teaching

His mode of speaking is like that of a prince, who, having been educated in a splendid court, could speak with ease of many magnificent things, at the sudden view of which a peasant would be swallowed up in astonishment, and would find himself greatly embarrassed in an attempt to explain them to his equals at home. (P. Doddridge, D. D.)

Then came the officers.--It is not clear what interval of time elapsed between Joh_7:32, where we read that the officers were sent by the priests to take our Lord, and the present verse, where we are told of their coming back to their Master. At first sight, of course, it all happened in one day. Yet, if we observe that between the sending them to take our Lord and the present verse there comes in the remark- able verse, In the last day, that great day of the feast, it seems impossible to avoid the conclusion that an interval of two or three days must have elapsed. It seems highly probable that the officers had a general commission and warrant to take our Lord prisoner, whenever they saw a fitting opportunity, about the fourth day of the feast. They found, however, no opportunity, on account of the temper and spirit of the crowd, and dared not make the attempt. And at last, at the end of the feast, when the multitude was even more aroused than at first by our Lords open testimony, they were obliged to return to those who sent them, and confess their inability to carry out their orders. (Bp. Ryle.)

The return of the bailiffs

I. THE MAJESTY OF JESUS CONFESSED (Joh_7:47). One almost wishes that the officers had been more specific. Perhaps it was the same qualities that had affected Christs listeners from the first.

1. Openness (Joh_7:26). No greatness, criticism, danger, daunted Him. Before the hierarchs (Joh_18:20), the hostile mob (Joh_18:5), and Pilate (Joh_18:33), He was ever the same resolute and outspoken preacher of the truth.

2. Authority. There was not a solitary realm in which He did not reign supreme--the kingdom of nature (Mat_8:26; Mat_14:32), the world of humanity (Mat_8:8), the empire of devils (Mar_1:27; Luk_4:36),the region of the dead (Mat_9:25; Luk_7:15; Joh_11:44), the innermost domain of the conscience (Joh_8:9).

3. Graciousness (Luk_4:22).

II. THE FRIENDS OF JESUS SILENCED.

1. The bailiffs rebuked (Joh_7:47-49). They were reminded that they were only menials, who had no right to think, etc.; hearing which, no doubt, crestfallen, they slunk away; let us hope rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for Him (Act_5:41) and following up the favourable impression.

2. Nicodemus put down (Joh_7:50-52). The Sanhedrists could not frown at him as ignorant of the law (Joh_7:51), but they could sneer at his sympathy with the Galilean Preacher, and stopped his mouth by delicately hinting that he was growing old and did not know his bible as accurately as he should (Joh_7:52). Exactly so have Christs champions in all ages been treated.

III. THE ENEMIES OF CHRIST HARDENED. The hierarchs, determined on Christs removal, are henceforth impervious to everything advanced in His favour. The light that was in them became darkness. Lessons:

1. The power of Christs words over honest and sincere hearts.

2. The doctrine of Christ an argument for His divinity.

3. The superior religious instincts of the masses as distinguished from the classes.

4. The certainty that Christ and His cause will never lack defenders.

5. The downward course of those who wilfully oppose Christ. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)

Opposition to the truth

I. GENERALLY SERVES TO ELICIT THE MOST IMPORTANT TESTIMONY IN ITS BEHALF. The officers could have no possible interest in Christ, but were, if anything, prejudiced against Him. Hence their testimony was disinterested. It was

1. To the justice of His claims as a Divine messenger. Unless aided by Divine influence, there was the difficulty the Jews themselves started (Joh_7:15).

2. To the earnest persuasiveness of His manner. He spoke the truth, but in love. He concealed nothing to soften prejudice, but clothed warnings, etc., so as to win conviction (Joh_7:46).

3. To the force of His reasoning on conscience. What but this could have induced the officers to risk disapproval?

II. GENERALLY IGNORES MANS RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS BELIEF (Joh_7:48). We are told that we are not competent to judge for ourselves, and therefore should believe what our superiors bid. Some submit from indolence; others for the sake of a good appearance, willing to be damned for fashions sake, and to go to hell out of compliment to the scribes and Pharisees; others from policy. How is it that so many of the great ones are arrayed against the truth? Because

1. It is independent of their patronage.

2. It is indifferent to their prejudices.

3. It promises no worldly rewards. Hold to your personal responsibility.

III. Is ESPECIALLY CAREFUL TO CONSERVE ADVENTITIOUS DISTINCTION (Joh_7:48-49). Truth is levelling in its influence. It debases the great and exalts the humble. It destroys caste. Error, on the other hand, preserves it, for it is essential to its continuance.

IV. FREQUENTLY CALLS OUT THE SYMPATHIES OF ITS SECRET DISCIPLES (Joh_7:50). If we resolve never to do less for Christ than Nicodemus did, we shall be of service. Whatever we are not able to do, we can prevent a vote of censure on Christ unanimously.

V. IS GENERALLY MARKED BY RIDICULE INSTEAD OF ARGUMENT (Joh_7:52). This method is often successful, or it would not be employed. Truth revolts from levity.

VI. IS GENERALLY CONDUCTED IN VIOLATION OF EVEN ITS SELFCONSTITUTED STANDARDS. These men, who professed to go by the law and sneered at the people as ignorant of it, were themselves convicted of violating it (Deu_19:15-18).

VII. WILL FINALLY BE SILENCED AND OVERCOME. The assembly, unable to answer Nicodemus, broke up with every mark of haste and confusion. (J. W. L. M.)

The officers answered, Never man spake like this man

The circumstance

Our Lords ministry was now nearly completed; the effects of His example and preaching were so manifesting themselves that the Sanhedrim had become desperate. The prey was about to slip from their grasp, and they must either lose their position or silence the Preacher. They accordingly sent their officers to apprehend Him. They were accustomed to obey such orders, and were selected because naturally possessed of more firmness than sensibility, and because the more insensible by having practised the duties of their office. Like other Jews, they had heard much preaching by their rabbis, and therefore expected to find a ranter. The idea they had must have been that the apprehension cf a fanatical preacher, disturbing the public peace, would be an easy task, and rather a pastime. So they may have gone jocularly on from street to street until they had come to the immense multitudes gathered in and around the Temple celebrating the feast of tabernacles. But the chief interest of that multitude seems to radiate from the vast circumference to Christ as its centre. They press through the throng, and approach the hallowed spot. But what checks their rude steps? Why do they not advance to seize their prey, please their masters, and secure an extra fee? They are confounded, not with fear, but with amazement, reverence, and an unwonted human sympathy. There He stands, incarnate Deity! No fierceness of a mob leader is seen in Him, no cringing to formidable enemies, no caressing the populace. He stands alone and lofty in the meek dignity of a descended God. And they might first have said, Never man looked like that man. But they felt the attractive force of the very power that disarmed them. There was a presence that annihilated the authority of Sanhedrims; there was a manifest virtue that acquitted Him at the bar of their consciences.

And before it they laid down their vile commission, and joined the devout and admiring hearers. This added to their wonder and reverence. Surely Moses never spake more according to the mind of God. Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, never spake with more authority than this man. He is a prophet of the living God; and surely the elders of Israel never intended to arrest such a man; and they returned, not with a prisoner, but with a nolle-prosequi, a report that there was no ground of arrest. Never man spake like this man. (E. N. Kirk, D. D.)

Similar but contrasted incidents

Plutarch mentions it as a memorable proof of the extraordinary eloquence of Mark Antony, that, when soldiers were sent to kill him, he pleaded for his life in such affecting language that he totally disarmed them of their resolution, and melted them into tears. But these officers are vanquished, not by the forcible arguments of a man pleading for his life, but by hearing one of the ordinary discourses of our Lord, not particularly directed to them, but to the people at large. (G. Burder.)

In the troublous times that closed the great Republic, amongst the men that arose and made themselves masters of the world there was hardly a greater than Caius Marius. The conqueror of Jugurtha, the conqueror of the Cimbri, he was looked upon as the shield and sword of Rome. Six times he sought and six times he obtained the consulship, and bid fair to die as he had lived, the ruthless lord of the eternal city. But God decreed otherwise. A rival appeared upon the scene, and after chequered fortunes Marius had to fly. In the romance of his wanderings we read that he was once put on shore unattended and unarmed. He was seized and flung into prison, and an edict came from Rome that he must die. A Gaulish slave was sent to the dungeon to do the deed. Marius, sitting in a gloomy corner of the prison, with his bloodshot eyes glared on the man, and with his terrible voice demanded, Canst thou kill Caius Marius? And the slave, fearing the prisoner more than the gaoler or the judge, flung down his sword and fled away, crying, I cannot kill Caius Marius. Put side by side with this story of a sanguinary life the incident of the life the most submissive and self-denying the world has ever seen, and the very likeness of the latter will make the unlikeness of the spirit greater. In both murder was meant. In both the presence and words of the intended victim postponed the murder. In both the assailants turned craven. But the shield that turned the edge of their sword in the one case was terrific rage, in the other placid mercy. (J. B.Figgis, M. A.)

Never man spake like this man

1. Jesus was a popular preacher. The synagogue was full when He spoke, and men went out in crowds into the fields to listen to Him.

2. He was a powerful preacher. Extraordinary changes of character were wrought by His sermons. The tax-gatherer left his money.changing and the fisherman his boats to follow Him. All classes were affected by it, from the most cultured and religious to the most abandoned.

3. Whatever theory men may have respecting His person, there can be no doubt that the world has been revolutionized by His teaching. What, then, were the elements of His power?

(1) He spoke to the common in their vernacular, using illustrations from common life, but He never descended from the high place of a noble instructor. The demagogue flatters the prejudices and appeals to the passions of his audience, but Jesus never did this.

(2) He used no arts of elocution. Men did not flock to Him as they flock to an actor. He told them stories, hut they were simple stories, and not dramatically, for He taught sitting.

(3) Nor did He use the arts of rhetoric. He employed no ornament for the sake of ornament. You find nothing that could be called out and recited.

(4) There are no literary classics in His sermons. His was not the power which comes from scholastic learning or position. Men have shrugged their shoulders at lay preaching, but Christ was a lay preacher who had never graduated and become a Rabbi. His style was simple and transparent. Sometimes the waters are so deep that one cannot see the bottom, but they are never muddy.

4. We must look elsewhere for the sources of the eloquence of Jesus. If we look over the history of oratory, we find that three elements enter into it:

I. A GREAT OCCASION. All the great master-pieces were the offspring of great occasions--the orations of Demosthenes, when Greece was battling for its liberty; of Cicero, when the free institutions of Rome were threatened; of Chatham, at the time of the American revolution, Jesus had a great occasion, The world had reached its lowest ebb--politically, intellectually, socially, morally. Yet there was one little province which kept the light of hope burning, one little people who had an expectation of deliverance. A great need and a hope--these formed the occasion of Jesus.

II. A GREAT THEME. The greatest orators, on the greatest occasions, have broken down, because they have ranged themselves on the wrong side and failed to rise to the occasion with a great message. Not so Jesus. He proclaimed The kingdom of God is at hand. This was a message of hope, and one which called men with a trumpet-call to battle. In this kingdom all could take part; it was one that was for all, and one that defied the gates of hell. This message is for all the centuries and for today. When the ship was on the sands at Malta the crew did not stop to study the rhetorical form of Pauls message. When the soldiers in the Shenandoah valley were in flight they did not stop to study the elocution of Sheridan when, waving sword in air, he bade them turn and follow him to victory. And when the world felt the darkness of night resting upon it, it was not the eloquence of drama; it was the eloquence of this great truth--the hope that there is in God and in immortality--that made Christ eloquent then and has made His words eloquent from that day to this.

III. For behind the words was A GREAT PERSONALITY--a personality so great that when He first rose in the synagogue of Nazareth all eyes were fastened upon Him; that when the mob gathered to stone Him as He passed they parted and let Him go; that when they rose to lead Him to the precipice He passed uninjured through them; that when these police came to arrest Him they went away saying, Never man spake, etc. This we cannot analyze, and must therefore leave it. (Lyman Abbott, D. D.)

Christ a preacher

as contrasted

I. WITH THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES.

1. In the spirituality of His instructions. The Jewish teachers and their modern imitators are distinguished by their degrading conceptions of religion, morality, and worship. The Scriptures are made a cumbrous book of court etiquette; the heart is ignored; judgment and mercy pass for trifles as compared with ritual; and theology is turned into hair-splitting casuistry. But what a Teacher is this! With Him a broken heart is a sacrifice; a believing heart a sanctuary; love to God and man all duty.

2. In the dignity of His instructions. Rabbinical teaching, ancient and modern, is gravely puerile, and as you pass from it to Christs you pass from a prison to a mountain top. Contrast with His their notions of

(1) Jehovah--the national patron with the Universal Father.

(2) The Messiah--the Jewish conqueror with the Saviour of the world.

(3) The law overwhelmed with traditional burdens and superstitions, with the law as pointing to and fulfilled by Him.

II. THE POETS. Apart from Christs influence, their teaching has no concrete reality nor anything to meet the deepest wants of the soul. Which of the non-Christian poets has sung anything calculated to make men holy, bring God near, secure pardon, lift the veil from the tomb, respond to any one of the queries of the human soul? But Christ says, God is a spirit, etc. There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. In My Fathers house are many mansions, etc. Come unto Me all ye that labour, etc. Where in uninspired poetry shall we find lines like these? Christ was a true poet, but He gave truths adapted to meet the urgent necessities of the soul.

III. THE PHILOSOPHERS.

1. They can do no more than conjecture in regard to religious truth. But here we must have authority absolutely Divine. Socrates confessed this necessity but could not meet it. Christ confessed it and met it. No man hath seen God at any time, etc. He did not reason, He affirmed.

2. They can only talk of abstractions, such as deity, laws of nature, etc., good words in their place, and so is humanity, and if you should call your friend humanity, you would deal with him as philosophers deal with God. But Christ teaches a personal God. Abstract teaching has its place, but to teach therapeutics to a man in a fever is as cruel as to mock at disease. Christ was a practical teacher, and told us not only what to believe, but what to do.

IV. THE PRETENDERS.

1. His claim, the loftiest ever made, was put forth under circumstances which fully attested its genuineness. It was open, in the presence of enemies, without human help. These and other tests would have detected imposture.

2. Imposters chiefly address the senses and the imagination, but Jesus whole manner is that of one who would win mans intelligent confidence, and all He said was to give a basis to intelligent faith. (E. N. Kirk, D. D.)

Christ the standard of preaching

Long before the Messiah appeared it was foretold that He should sustain the office of preacher. The spirit of the Lord God is upon Me. Consequently the Jews expected that He would appear in this character. When Messias cometh He will teach us all things. This general expectation Christ did not disappoint. As soon as He appeared He drew the attention of admiring multitudes, but His addresses were too galling not to rouse the resentment of the enemies of truth. Hence the incident before us. But, how did Christ preach to make such impressions on those who had resolved to resist Him.

I. Christ was a PLAIN Preacher. His ideas lay clear in His own mind. He was master of every subject on which He preached. He knew the whole character and counsel of Gee, the frame and constitution of the human mind, the circumstances of all mankind. Upon these subjects He expressed Himself in a style which was not only intelligible but agreeable to persons of every capacity. Sensible that figurative language is the voice of nature, He made free use of images, not borrowed from the arts which are confined to the learned few, but from the air, light, water, etc., which were familiar to all. Hence the common people heard Him gladly.

II. Christ was a SEARCHING Preacher. He knew the heart, and so was able to speak to the heart. This gave His preaching irresistible force, and men felt their whole souls to be naked before the all-seeing eye, and as they will feel at the day of judgment. Christ never drew a bow at a venture, but always sent His arrows home. Witness His dealings with the Pharisees, the rich young man, Martha, the woman taken in adultery, etc.

III. Christ was a SENTIMENTAL Preacher. His teaching was replete with interesting truths which not only enlighten the mind, but find the nearest passage to the heart. He urged, e.g., the necessity of disinterested love upon all His followers as the essence of true religion.

IV. Christ was a MOVING Preacher. He is the most moving Preacher, and possesses the power of persuasion in the highest degree, who is best able to convey His own views and feelings to the minds of His hearers. This Christ was able to do, and was thus able to move the minds of His hearers with whatsoever passions He wished to excite. What could equal His language to hardened hypocrites, and what could be more melting than His invitations to penitents! (N. Emmons, D. D.)

The teaching of Jesus Christ

I. ITS OBJECT. There is a primary sense in which Christ taught as never man taught, viz., in that He was Himself its object. Others, even the greatest, convey the truth, but are not that truth. Jesus alone could say, I am the Truth. The whole of Christianity is in Christ, neither He nor His disciples taught any other. The two terms of the religious problem are God and man. To know them is the whole of religious truth.

1. An apostle said, Show us the Father. Christ responded, He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. All that we can know of God Christ has taught, or rather shown us. All His perfections and all His works.

2. In the same way all concerning man, his true nature and high destiny, we see in Him who is the perfect man.

3. Not only so, but He reveals the true relations of God and man. He is the Mediator between the two. On the one hand, by the fact of His mediation He manifests mans fall and his inability to save himself, and on the other, the love of the Father who gave His Son that whosoever believeth in Him, etc.

4. All that we can know of the work of salvation is bound up in the person of Christ. He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, etc.

5. Christian morality, through sanctification, is entirely referred to Him.

6. As to the future, all depends on Christ, who will raise the dead, judge the world, and bring His own to glory. Are we not justified in saying with Paul, God forbid that I should glory, etc. Let us beware of withering this living teaching by our abstractions! Every doctrine, if separated from Christ, is smitten with barrenness.

II. The incomparable excellence of Christs teaching results also from its PERFECT FORM. The perfection of human words is measured by the fidelity with which they manifest the human soul. A man may be very eloquent and yet his words be a brilliant lie, because not in harmony with his moral state. Perfectly sincere words are perfect words, and they are only so when it can be said: As are the words so is the life. If this be the case our text is justified, for never was man sincere like Christ. He lived His words and spoke His life. His life was the perfect life of love, and His words were the perfect language of Divine love.

1. The love of Christ rested on His humility, and never man spake like this Man in respect to humility. Compare His words with the despotic authority or pompous solemnity of the Jewish doctors. Their teaching was like their persons, clothed with long robes and phylacteries, and sitting in Moses seat. Christ sat not on the benches of a Jewish school, had no official title, spake in the streets or by the sea side, and rendered homage to truth without exercising compulsion. And what could be more simple than His words. They were free from all solemn form. No doctor ever taught more in the style of a layman. He spoke as a friend to friends, without any rhetorical embellishment, and without aiming at effect. The simplicity of Christs words is what constitutes their perfection, By resting on external authority He would have confessed that His doctrine needed foreign aid; by enveloping it in solemn forms He would have suggested a doubt of its intrinsic value. Christ knew that nothing is so beautiful or powerful as truth, and He wished that it should appear alone in His teaching.

2. Christs love was especially characterized by mercy, which is love to the unfortunate and the poor, and the merciful character of Christs teaching is evinced by its popularity. It was admirably suited to the wants of the simple and ignorant many. For Christ never admitted that distinction between the profane and the initiated which is always found in the religions and philosophy of antiquity, but rather gave special attention to the former. Not that He rejected the enlightened; but He knew that a doctrine which suits the poor is a truth for poor and rich, ignorant and learned alike. He could speak, then, to the people without fear of restricting His mission; and who has ever spoken to them like the Saviour? In bringing the truth to the feeblest reason Christ took nothing from the truth, nor subjected it to any alteration. It is very easy to gain the goodwill of men if we flatter their errors and their prejudices, but Christ never employed that accommodation which is treason against the cause of God. If then He rejected this we can only explain the popularity of His teaching by the form He gave to it. He ever found means to connect the truth with some feeling, idea, or fact in harmony with itself. And so He made constant appeals to conscience, conviction of sin, need of deliverance, sorrow and suffering. Nor was He content to rest on general dispositions, He knew what was wanted by each, and He addressed to each the precise teaching that was made for him. Recall the numerous persons who conversed with the Saviour. You will not find a word that is not the most affecting that could have been pronounced. Is He talking to fishermen? He says, I will make you fishers of men. Is He addressing a doctor of the law? He makes constant allusion to his dignity. Is He speaking to a great multitude that He has just satisfied with food? He discourses of the bread of life. It was with the same design that Christ multiplied His admirable parables. None of His hearers, after listening to Him, could look on the external world without reading His doctrines there afresh, something to raise the thoughts to God. Never man spake like this man because never man loved our poor humanity like Christ.

3. The teaching of Christ was full of love also in that it was essentially creative and fertilizing to the mind of His hearers. A teacher not impelled by love does not tolerate spontaneity of thought in his disciples; but Jesus method was to give men a glimpse of the precious mine of truth that they might dig and search for themselves. He did not hurry anything, wishing to prepare the new bottles for the new wine, and pour it into them drop by drop. With what gentleness did He endure their slowness of understanding and weakness of faith.

4. The words of Christ were the expression of perfect love, because never was there addressed to man language so consoling as His. (E. DePressense, D. D.)

Our Lord as a Teacher

No one can read His discourses without seeing that He differs generically from all other teachers. He is an order by Himself (Joh_3:11-13).

I. Compare Him with SOCRATES, whom we know well, and have a full record of his teaching and methods. Like our Lord his one aim was moral improvement. His end in discovering truth was conduct. To know, with him, was but the way to live. But when we come to his method it contrasts sharply to that of Jesus. For he affirmed nothing, professed himself ignorant, but thought that by inquiry and consideration it might be possible to find out what ideas were just and what were false, and so to establish a sound healthy knowledge that might be the guide to a sound and healthy life. But he dreaded to say I have the truth about anything. This is the method of Act_17:27. Our Lords method is at the opposite pole. It is calm, convincing affirmation. It is entirely unparalleled. It is the word of One who does know; who has not to argue and inquire, but to declare. Its simplicity arises from absolute certainty. Agnosticism, notwithstanding, this is the teaching for which the world yearns, and which can only meet the worlds needs.

II. COMPARE HIM WITH MOHAMMED. Christ dealt only with the highest spiritual truth--with ideas and principles of conduct alone. He did not occupy Himself in marking out safe paths for men; He gave them light that they might see their way (Mat_11:1-5; Joh_10:24). This is in striking contrast with Mohammeds method. The chances are that if any one had asked him, Speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me, he would have had a revelation about it. The Koran is full of private direction and legislation, and it is that which has crippled the free development of Mohammedan society. Men go to it, not for principles of guidance, but for particular precepts. With Christ there is always a breadth which transcends the need of the moment, and furnishes a principle which is good for all times. This is the reason for the largeness of the development of Christendom. Christ tells us not what to do, but how to be. Mohammeds words are full of direction. Christs of inspiration. (J. Baldwin Brown, B. A.)

Christ the incomparable Teacher

BECAUSE IN HIM

I. DOCTRINE AND TEACHER ARE ONE. Other teachers are different from what they teach, and never make themselves the object of their own instruction. Christ is the sole Teacher who is able to say, I am the Truth, and as such the substance of His own teaching. Christs purpose was not to give a right conception of God, or to lead men to rightly know themselves. We have this in the Old Testament. His purpose was to reconcile men to God. Hence He required not faith in God--this the Jews had long ago--but in Himself.

II. DOCTRINE AND LIFE PERFECTLY HARMONIZE. This can be said of no other. However careful the teacher, his life falls behind his teaching. He could alone say, Which of you convinceth Me of sin? When He said, Be ye perfect as your Father, etc. He could also say, I and My Father are one. If He exhorted to resignation He said, Thy will be done. His requirement of self-denial was illustrated in His actual bearing of the cross. Of His new commandment He was the model, As I have loved you. He went about doing good to those who rejected Him, to enforce the duty of doing good to those who hate us, and prayed, Father, forgive them, that we might pray for our persecutors.

III. THE DOCTRINE AND THE GROUNDS OF THE DOCTRINE COINCIDE. Other teachers convince their scholars by proofs, and prophets by Thus saith the Lord--Christ simply says, Verily, verily, I say unto you. He is the ground of His teaching just as certainly as when the Lord God confirms His words by saying, As surely as I live.

IV. HIS DOCTRINE AND ITS EFFECTS ARE IN FULLEST UNISON. Every teacher aims at this, but no one fully reaches it. As the husbandman often finds that his seed does not germinate, so there are many whose teaching has not the desired results. One does not speak intelligibly, another wants impressiveness, a third dies prematurely. But Christ speaks so that even fishermen understand Him; so attractively that crowds press upon Him, and authorities envy Him; so irresistibly that friends cannot be turned from Him by threats. And now He speaks through a thousand tongues, in pulpits, schools, and homes. You who are burdened, do you not find rest in Christs teaching? You who suffer, comfort? You who are guilty, pardon? You who are dying, triumph? Verily the result of Christs teaching is not to be doubted. Conclusion: If, then, after eighteen centuries we are compelled to confess that, despite all the wonderful advances in knowledge, never man spake like Christ, it must be clear that He was more than a child of man. Were He only this we must have outstripped Him. (R. Nesselmann.)

Incomparableness of Christs teaching in

I. ITS MANNER. It was this which struck His hearers when on the mount Mat_7:29). It is no less striking to us who compare the I say unto you with the prophetic thus saith the Lord.

II. ITS MATTER. Never man spake

1. Such wise words. There have been many wise men, but as Solomon excelled all the children of the East, so may we say of the great Teacher a wiser than Solomon is here. His words were those of one who knew what was in man. How admirably does He lay open human hearts! With what Divine skill did He answer all questions I How suitably and readily--His enemies being judges (Luk_20:39).

2. Such holy words! He never spoke one that was idle or unprofitable.

3. Such gracious words (Psa_45:1-17; Luk_4:1-44.)!

III. ITS EFFECT (Luk_4:32).

1. It was a wonder-working voice which Jesus uttered. Devils fled before it, diseases vanished; it called the dead out of their tombs; the winds heard it and were still, the fig-tree and was withered. Yet what was so wonderful as its effect upon mens consciences! What terror and confusion it struck into His enemies (Joh_18:4), etc.!

2. It wrought wonders in those whom it called to mercy.

(1) Of conviction (Joh_4:29; Heb_4:12; 1Co_14:24-25).

(2) Of conversion (Joh_5:25). Look at the manner in which thedisciples were called.

(3) Of consolation (Mat_14:26-27).

Conclusion: What, then, is our duty?

1. To hear and obey (Heb_12:25; Joh_12:48;Pro_1:24).

2. To imitate (Eph_4:29). (A. Roberts, M. A.)

The incomparable ministry

The text is one of the truisms of Christianity, but the confession came from men who were not the disciples, nor particularly the audience of Jesus. They were a band of ignorant men, the mere police of the Sanhedrim. And it is remarkable that not a word was spoken by Christ directly to them why they should not execute their mission. What was said was said to the multitude at large upon subjects entirely independent of His guilt or innocence. The purpose of their coming is simply ignored. There were but two brief utterances after their arrival which the Evangelist has written down, and while it would be an improbable supposition that they were all that gave occasion for the confession, yet they were specimen utterances. They belonged to very different fields of thought and speech, and together go far towards giving an idea of Christs teaching as a whole.

I. (Joh_7:33-34.) Try to hear with the ears of these men, and to imagine the impression. Must not any one have said, What an independence of human enmity and human power. A little while I am with you, and then I go, asking no questions, dreading no interference. The officers heard, and felt themselves impotent. This man speaks that He doth know; He has His own times and seasons; Sanhedrim and Procurator are alike nothing to Him. But is there not a deeper awe behind? We shall seek Him and not find Him. Ye will be wanting Me one day. When terrified Jerusalem is crying for pity I shall be beyond the reach not only of violence, but of sight and access. Oh! in this day of your merciful visitation, be ye gathered under My wings. Never man spake like this man, were it but for the DIGNITY. We were born to have some one over us; may it be the right one! Other voices, counterfeiting the true Voice, have had an easy sway. But there is a Voice which moves heaven and earth, and if that Voice makes itself heard in the living world, in conscience we feel that if we had been sent by ten Sanhedrims we, too, should exclaim never man spake it!

II. (Joh_7:37.) Well He knew what was in man when He addressed this language to common humanity. If any man thirst, be it for comfort, rest, knowledge, holiness, or love, let Him come unto Me. Strange words these for these rough police- men to listen to when they came to apprehend this Man for a malefactor. And yet so simple were the words, so strong, so directly did they make appeal to the man within the man, finding him out in memory and conscience, reminding him of so many cisterns of human or sinful desire broken, awakening so many recollections of better impulses and higher aspirations, that they could not lay hands on Him.

III. Dignity alone might be coldness, and tenderness effeminancy, but DIGNITY AND TENDERNESS combined are an irresistible strength; and He who could utter both these sayings had a key to mans heart as God made it, and as man had corrupted it is sure of a hearing.

1. A little while, etc., He says to us, and it is well to hear Him sometimes speak in that tone. It is not true to represent Him as a mere humble suitor. The Voice which pleads is the Voice which made and which shakes heaven, and as He speaks now from heaven in heaven we must seek Him.

2. The dignity of Jesus is the one thought, and if He speaks of that it is to give energy to His tenderness. I will not affront any man by supposing that he thirsts not. He may tell me that he is satisfied--but all in the deep of their several hearts are athirst in one way or another. To how few of us is life as we would have it. Many delights once possessed have been lost. But there is a keener thirst, that of the spirit for the conscious love of its Maker. This Christ can quench. Try Him. (Dean Vaughan.)

The unrivalled eloquence of Jesus

The constables could not take Jesus for He had fairly taken them. Note by way of preface

1. That it is a sure sign of a falling Church when its leaders call in the aid of the secular arm. The Church which cannot maintain itself by spiritual power is dying, if not dead.

2. That in the end the spiritual power will baffle the temporal. The officers are fully armed, the preacher has no weapons, and yet they cannot arrest him. What stays their hand? It has come to be a combat between body and mind, and mind prevails. Abel may be killed, but from the ground his blood continues to cry. Martyrs have a greater power in their graves than in their pulpits.

3. That God can get testimonies to the majesty of His Son from the most unlikely places. Civil authorities do not employ the most refined and intellectual as officers, and the priests would naturally select those least likely to be affected by Christs teaching. Yet these rough, brutal men felt his matchless oratory. Not only as in the case of Saul can God direct a high character into the right path. He makes the wrath of men to praise Him, and compels adversaries to do Him homage. Let us note

I. THE PECULIAR QUALITIES of our Lords eloquence, as among kings, He is the King of kings, among priests the great High Priest, among prophets the Messiah, so is He the Prince of preachers, the Apostle of our profession. Christ spoke

1. Clearly, and yet His matter is profound. Did ever man speak so simply? Even little children gathered round Him. He never gives forth dark sayings that His hearers may credit Him with vast learning and profound thinking. And yet there is in His teaching a depth that genius cannot fathom, but all the while He speaks in short sentences, with plain words and homely illustrations. The common people with their common sense heard Him gladly,

2. With authority. He was a master dogmatist. It was not, It may be so, but Verily, verily, etc. And yet side by side with this there was an extraordinary self-sinking. He never assumed official dignity.

3. Faithfully, yet tenderly. Even Nathan could not be more true to human conscience. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, etc. There was no mincing matters because wickedness was associated with greatness, no excusing sin because it put on sanctimoniousness. He neither fawned on the great nor pandered to the populace. Perhaps no preacher ever used more terrible words with regard to the fate of the ungodly. Yet He did not break the bruised reed. What a Son of Consolation He was!

4. Zealously, yet prudently. He was full of ardour, never preached a cold, dull sermon. Yet His fervour never degenerated into wildfire. He was not afraid of the Herodians, yet how quietly did He allow them to walk into the trap. He was ready to meet the Sadducees, but He was on His guard so that they could not entangle Him in His speech.

5. Lovingly. He was full of tenderness even to tears, but was far removed from that effeminacy which some times passes for Christian love. He was manly all through.

6. His preaching was remarkable for its co-mingling of all the excellencies which are found separate in His servants. He addressed the head and the heart. He aroused the conscience, but was also great in the arts of consolation.

7. The main aspect of His eloquence, however, was that it was the vehicle of the greatest truths.

II. PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS of this eloquence.

1. Do you remember when you first heard Him speak? Recall

(1) His words of pity. Come unto Me, etc.

(2) His words of persuasion. Turn ye, turn ye, etc., Come now let us reason together.

(3) His words of power, Awake thou that sleepest.

(4) His word of pardon.

2. Since we heard His pardoning voice, we have heard many a time

(1) His word of promise.

(2) His word of consolation.

(3) His word of fellowship.

3. There are some words spoken long ago which have been so quickened by His presence that we number them among our personal recollections. I have loved thee with an everlasting love; It is I, be not afraid, etc., etc.

III. PROPHETIC ANTICIPATIONS.

1. AS long as you live you are to speak for Jesus, but your hope for His kingdom lies in His voice. And we expect Him to speak more loudly yet, for the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth.

2. We expect Him to speak sweetly to us in the hour of death. Fear not, for I am with thee.

3. In paradise.

4. At the judgment. Come ye blessed of My Father. Will He say that to you, or Depart ye cursed. Anyhow your confession will be then if not now, Never man spake, etc. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The words of Jesus

I. HIS TRIBUNE. Those whose words have moved mankind have for the most part addressed an audience in some chamber selected for the suitability of its construction or for the sanctity of its associations. Not so with the words of Jesus. His tribune was the plank of Peters boat, the portico of Jerusalem, any place on which He chanced, to any person whom He met. He not only sought the people, but let the people seek Him; and some of His most striking utterances were addressed to a single auditor. The great orators of Notre Dame called their sermons conferences. But they are no such thing, for Lacordaire or Hyacinthe had it all to himself, like the least of us. But the Masters sermons were conferences in truth. He let the people interrupt Him by their questions, by bringing their sick, by leading their little ones to His arms. And yet, in spite of these defects of His audience-chamber, and difficulties with the audience, the golden silence made the silver speech the brighter.

II. CHRISTS TEXTS are a marvel of beauty for their appositeness. The well of Sychar suggests a sermon on the water of life; the feeding of the five thousand and a reference to the fall of the manna, a discourse of the bread of life; the water in the priests pitcher a promise of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. A corn-field was probably in sight when He said, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. And a vine may have trellised the window of the upper room, or a vineyard grown on the sunny slopes beneath, when He said, I am the True Vine. Thus would the attention of His auditors be riveted while Jesus spoke; they would leave Him astonished and delighted, and they would never forget words founded on facts before their eyes.

III. CHRISTS TOPICS were as varied as His texts were timely, and the variety was as striking as the timeliness. Some distinguished preachers have really only one topic, and, begin where they will, you soon find them on their favourite subject. But Jesus of Nazareth had no beaten paths, or rather all paths were alike familiar to His feet. A very short index often suffices for a very large volume, but it would require a catalogue of some length to tabulate all the subjects on which even our four brief Gospels tell us that Jesus had something to say. Natural as the singing of the lark was His speech; but His strain, like the larks, was never monotonous. The many-stringed harp of human life was in His hands, and He touched every chord, in turn. He has words to speak about Divine love, and words also about human charity. He has something to tell about the holiness of heaven, and something also about the happiness of earth: much about the Jerusalem above, and much about the earthly Zion. But how can we select where every stone is a gem, or to cull where every flower is an exotic? Enough that He touched upon everything in turn, and everything He touched turned to gold.

IV. CHRISTS MODE OF TREATMENT; we find this as varied as the topics. Sometimes there is the orderly succession of thoughts, built up into a harmonious whole, as in the sermon on the Mount. At other times there is a beautiful carelessness. Just as flowers and forest trees, creepers and mosses, are intermingled in nature, so amid stupendous subjects of appalling grandeur dealt with in the Masters teaching we find minute touches of gentleness and grace, which give the play of light and shade to the whole.

1. He taught as one having authority. He spake as one who dwelt in very deed in the secret place of the Most High. To the question How hath this man letters, having never learned? the answer is My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me. We do not wonder now that never man spake like this man.

2. A very human interest belongs to the words of Jesus from the fact that they are full of illustration. Sometimes it is parable all worked out, like a broad lace of gold, sometimes mere metaphor, like a golden thread flashing through a silken mantle, but at all times instance or illustration is ready to relieve the dry details of doctrine or precept. Since His words were so sparkling, no wonder that the common people beard Him gladly.

3. His words affect every faculty in succession.

(1) He speaks to the intellect, His hand the while digging wells in the surface of the earth, in which you can see the stars by day.

(2) He speaks to the heart, striking off appeal after appeal with a fervour that makes His words, not as the cold steel of the armoury, but the flashing iron of the forge.

(3) He speaks to the conscience a simple word, like a seemingly harmless wire, conveying an electric thrill to the soul.

4. Christ addressed mankind in many and varied capacities, but His versatility made Him equal to every occasion.

(1) lie spoke as a king, and never monarch spake like this man, whether he is sending his subjects to the field, putting the sword into one hand and the cup of sorrow into the other, or welcoming them home from the war and garlanding their brows with the joy of their lord.

(2) He spoke as a legislator, and never lawgiver spake like this man. Few but lawyers read law books; even the legal parts of the books of Moses are sealed to most men. But the second Moses has given His laws in such language that, while statesmen learn wisdom from their pages, little children linger over their lines. His code was suited to His own age and suitable to every age succeeding.

(3) He spoke as a teacher of morals, and never moralist spake like this man. When He told men to mark the secrets of their hearts as the seeds of sin He put His hand upon the plague spot which physicians for ages had been seeking in vain. And when He opened His mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit--the mourners, the meek, the merciful--a new era dawned upon mankind.

(4) He spoke as a teacher of wisdom, and never philosopher spake like this man. His apostles, though they knew it not, were the esoteric disciples of a school destined to outlive the most celebrated of antiquity. How few now care to read Aristotle, who wrote elaborate treatises, compared with the number of those who love to linger over the reported utterances of Jesus Christ, who never wrote a line I

(5) He spoke as a brother born for adversity, and never friend spake like this man. Do you yearn for sympathy? Come unto Me all ye that labour, etc. Do you ask for society? Lo, I am with you alway. Do you seek for intimacy? I have not called you servants … but friends. Do you pant for love? Greater love hath no man than this. And His promises are as full as His heart is large. Is your concern about earthly need? The very hairs of your head, they are all numbered. About heavenly grace? I am come that ye might have life. About death? I am the Resurrection and the Life. About eternity? Where I am there shall also My servant be.

(6) He spoke as a revealer of secrets, and never prophet spake like this man, for man never before or besides had such tidings to tell. He came, He said, because God so loved the world. He came to die, giving His life a ransom for many, shedding His blood for the remission of sins.

Conclusion:

1. Go to Him as a child of sin. A sinner went to Him once, and she came away amazed that He who was incarnate purity should notice her. Would not she say, Never man spake like this man ? And if you, sinner, go you will say the same.

2. Go to Him as a child of sorrow. Jairus went to Him bereaved, and he came away comforted. Mary of Magdala went in trouble, and she.came away at peace. Mary of Bethany went weeping, and she came away rejoicing. The woman who had an issue of blood went trembling, and she came away triumphing. You go too, sufferer, and see if He has not reserved a blessing for thee that shall make thee say, Never man spake like this man.

3. Go to Him as a child of man, and He will teach you about earthly duty; for He has words for parents, words for children, words for masters, words for servants, words for friends, words for enemies; and for all words such as never man spake.

4. Go to Him as a child of God, and He will teach you about the beginning of the spiritual life, the progress of the spiritual life, and the perfection of the spiritual life, till at length, tired of leaving you to listen at a distance, He shall take you to Himself, and there as He leads you unto living fountains of waters, while you drink in every word you will exclaim, Never man spake like this man. (J. B. Figgis, M. A.)

The testimony of sceptics

Is this the tone of an enthusiast or of a mere sectary? What sweetness, what purity of manners! What touching grace in His instructions! What elevation in His maxims! What profound wisdom in His discourses! What presence of mind, what acuteness, what justness in His replies! What empire over His passions! Where is the man, where is the sage who knew in this way how to act, suffer, and die? What prejudice, blindness, or bad faith does it require to compare the son of Sophroniscus with the Son of Mary! What distance between the two? They say that Socrates invented ethics; but others practised morality before he taught it. Aristides was just before Socrates described justice; Leonidas died for his country before Socrates taught the duty of patriotism; Sparta was temperate before Socrates praised sobriety; Greece abounded in virtuous men before he defined virtue. But Jesus--where did He find the lofty morality of which He alone gave both the lesson and the example? Prom the midst of a furious fanaticism proceeds the purest wisdom; among the vilest of the people appears the most heroic and virtuous simplicity. If Socrates lives and dies like a philosopher, Jesus lives and dies like a God. (J. J.Rosseau.)

The benefit of hearing the truth

It is good to come to the Word, though with ill intent; they that come to see only, as Moses did to the bush, may be called as he was. They that come to sleep may be taken napping, as Latimer saith. They that come to catch may be caught as those in the text. (J. Trapp.)

Christs matchless teaching

He spake with grace, and with gravity: they were all oracles that He uttered; honey-drops that fell from Him. Of Christ it might better be said than ever it was said of Crassus the Roman orator, Caetaros a Crassa semper omnes illo autem die etiam ipsum a sese superatum. (J. Trapp.)

The power of Divine truth

There went a man out of this place one evening who was spoken to by one of our friends, who happened to know him in trade, and had him in good repute. What I have you been to hear our minister to-night? The good man answered, Yes, I am sorry to say I have. But, said our friend, why are you sorry? Why, he said, he has turned me inside out, and spoiled my idea of myself. When I went into the Tabernacle I thought I was the best man in Newington, but now I feel that my righteousness is worthless. Oh, said the friend, that is all right; you will come again, I am sure. The Word has come home to you, and shown you the truth: ye will get comfort soon. That friend did come again, and he is here to-night: he takes pleasure in that very truth which turned him inside out; and he comes on purpose that the Word of the Lord may search him, and try him, and be to him as a refiners fire. (C. H.Spurgeon.)

I knew a man who was of a fierce temper, a troubler to his own household when he happened to fall into his fits; he was so passionate at times that I should not like to tell all the wild things which he would do. I have seen that man since conversion, and he has had things to test him which might, as we say, have provoked a saint, but he bore them patiently, and in a manner which I desire to imitate. The lion has become a lamb, he is gentle and tender; no one could think that he was the same man; indeed, he is not, for grace has made him a new man in Christ Jesus. We have seen persons revelling in licentiousness, who sinned greedily, who could not be satisfied with any common sin; but they have heard the gospel, and become chaste and even delicate in purity, so that the very mention of their former crimes has shocked them and made them weep. Such persons have manifested a watchful care against the fault in which they once delighted. They have been afraid to go near their old haunts, or to mix with their old companions. What has wrought this? What teaching must that be which accomplishes such marvels? (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Then answered the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?

The opponents of the truth

We have here a dramatic sketch of the opposition to Christ and His gospel, which may stand, in part, or as a whole, for every subsequent scene in which error has been pitted against the truth.

I. THE DEBATERS.

1. Their respective standings.

(1) Unequal. The officers were no match for the Sanhedrim in point of social position, religious profession, wealth, and learning. How often in this great controversy has there been a clean cleavage between the masses and the classes, and how often has God chosen, as here, the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty? etc.

(2) Equal. Nicodemus was the peer of his colleagues in all respects, and Christianity has seldom wanted defenders as completely equipped as their opponents, ready to fight them with their own weapons, and to meet them on their own ground.

2. Their qualities

(1) Interest and disinterestedness. The Jewish authorities had everything to lose by the success of Christ. The occupants of Moses seat must needs tremble when the seat itself was undermined. The officers, on the other hand, had nothing to gain, except the anger of their masters, and the possible deprivation of their offices; while Nicodemus, from his preeminent position, was in greater danger. These two forces have been conspicuously displayed all through the great struggle. But in every religious crisis the truth has triumphed over the powerful vested interests by which it has been opposed.

(2) Bigotry and candour. Selfishness blinds the eyes to the clearest evidence. The officers related simple facts, Nicodemus recited an incontestible principle. Both were plain, and were urged with obvious sincerity. But the chief priest would not see. The same fault marks the opponents of truth in all ages. There are sincere sceptics, men who cannot see, but these are never antagonists.

(3) Ignorance and knowledge. The Pharisees had not heard these particular words, and had therefore not felt their power. Hence their controversial weakness, which showed itself in the blind rage which ever characterizes the defenders of a lost cause. As for the principle of equity stated by their colleagues, while not theoreti- cally ignorant of it, they were practically unacquainted with it, for they never used it. But both the officers and Nicodemus were fortified with experimental know- ledge, and it is with this weapon that Christianity has invariably conquered. There is no getting over the argument, Once I was blind, but now I see.

II. THE METHODS OF DEBATE.

1. As between the Sanhedrim and the officers. To the plain unwarranted report of the latter, the former oppose

(1) An imputation of intellectual weakness. Are ye also deceived? This is the standard calumny against Christians. They have weak heads, and so are imposed upon by specious arguments, or unread, and so led astray for want of knowledge. In some circles to be a Christian is quite synonymous with deficiency of intellect and susceptibility to delusion.

(2) An assumption of infallibility--a characteristic of unbelief all through the ages. How can Christianity be true when the modern, advanced, progressive, ripe, thinker does not believe in it?

(3) Scurrilous abuse (Joh_7:49)--the time-honoured method of argument when there is no case; the well-worn weapon of anti-Christianity.

2. As between the Sanhedrim and Nicodemus. The latter appeals to a simple principle of equity. To this the former oppose

(1) A base insinuation. To belong to Galilee was about the grossest insult that could be perpetrated on a Jewish gentleman--but Christians are by this time accustomed to be accounted the offscouring of the earth. The offence of the Cross, so far as outward profession is concerned, has well-nigh ceased, but let a man in certain circles put its principles into practice, or venture to assert them, and what epithets, such as fanatic, humbug, canter, will be hurled at his head!

(2) A gratuitous assumption. Nicodemus had not said that a prophet had or would arise out of Galilee; nor had Christ asserted a Galilean origin.

Because a man has lived in a certain locality that is not to say that he was born there. How often has the opponent of Christianity fought an enemy of his own making? How many caricatures of the Trinity, the atonement, heaven, hell, etc., pass muster as Christian doctrines, and are criticized as such?

(3) The closure (Joh_7:53). The Sanhedrim having spoken there was an end of all discussion--a convenient course frequently adopted since. Christianity is not afraid of a patient hearing, but its opponents are. (J. W. Burn.)

Nicodemus saith unto them

Nicodemus

1. A timid but honest inquirer after truth (chap. 3.).

2. A calm and decided advocate of justice (chap. 7.).

3. A heroic confessor of the Lord bringing grateful offerings (Joh_19:39). Here he meets their boasts

(1) That no ruler believes in Jesus.

(2) That they were zealous for the law. (J. P. Lange.)

Boldness best

Nicodemus got little favour from the Pharisees, though his favourable feeling towards our Lord was so cautiously expressed. This is generally the case with those who act timidly as he did. People may just as well be out-spoken and bold. (Musculus.)

Nicodemus and the Sanhedrim

Nicodemus does not announce himself a believer in Jesus but he lays down a general principle sanctioned by the law of Moses (Exo_23:1); and by the law of nature. His cautious answer may have been dictated by a constitutional timidity, or by a hope that if the Pharisees would only have the fairness to examine the doe- trine and the claims of Jesus before they condemned Him they would not wish to condemn Him; that, like the officers who were sent to apprehend Him, they too would be filled with admiration for Him. But the Pharisees, who are blinded by envy and spite, see not the want of truth, or the falsehood as well as the irrelevancy of their answer to Nicodemus. Many prophets had come out of Galilee. But if not, that was no reason why prophets should not still arise in Galilee. Deborah the Prophetess was from the country of Galilee. She dwelt between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim (Jdg_4:1-24.). Anna the Prophetess was from Galilee, of the tribe of Asher (Luk_2:36). The prophet Jonah was of Gathhepher, a town of Lower Galilee in Zebulun (2Ki_14:25). There is also a general consent among commentators that the Prophecies of Hosea were delivered in the kingdom of Israel. It was also anciently believed that Hosea belonged to the tribe of Issachar, which would be included in the more modern district of Galilee. Nahum was born in Elkosh, a small village in Galilee; hence he was called Nahum the Elkoshite (Joh_1:1), The Prophet Elijah the Tishbite was born, according to some, in Thisbe, in the tribe of Naphtali, in Galilee; according to others in Gilead, on the east side of the Jordan. Elisha was born at Abel-Meholah, in the northern part of the valley of the Jordan. Though neither of these were strictly in the district called Galilee, they were neither of them in the country of Judaea, or in the kingdom of Judah, but both in the kingdom of Israel. Nicodemus simply asks that they should hear Him before they condemn Him. The answer of the Pharisees shows that they had already condemned Him, and unheard. It was impossible, they said, that He could be the Christ, because the Christ should come from Bethlehem, in Judah, and Jesus was born in Galilee. (F. I.Dunwell, B. A.)

Grace cannot remain hidden

Good blood will not belie itself: love, as fire, will not be long hid. Croesus dumb son could not but speak to see his father ready to be slain. Nicodemus, though hitherto a night-bird, now shows himself for Christ in a council. Nicodemus was but a slow scholar, Judas was a forward preacher; yet at last, when Judas betrayed Christ in the night, Nicodemus faithfully professed Him in the day. (J. Trapp.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 7:37. In the last day, &c. — Namely, the eighth day, when, according to the institution of Moses, (Lev 23:34; Lev 23:36; Num 29:35, where see the notes,) there was to be a holy convocation, or general and solemn assembly of the people, attended with some extraordinary sacrifices. This day is called the great day of the feast, on account of the high esteem in which the nation of the Jews held it, as a day kept holy solely on their own account. On the seven preceding days they held that sacrifices were offered, not so much for themselves as for the whole world; in the course of them, seventy bullocks being sacrificed for the seventy nations of the world: but the sacrifices of this day they considered as being offered for Israel alone, on whose behalf only several solemnities of the day were observed. Tremellius, on this text, observes, from the Talmud, that the Jews used on this day to march round the altar seven times, singing hosannas, with palm branches in their hands, in memory of the Israelites, in the days of Joshua, marching round Jericho seven times on the day of its fall. He informs us also, from the same authority, that on this day they drew water with great joy from the fountain or brook of Siloam, at the foot of mount Zion, and carried it to the priests in the temple, with the sound of the trumpet and great rejoicing, where they poured out part of it, mingled with wine, as a drink-offering, which they accompanied with prayers to God for rain. For, as at the passover, they offered an omer, to obtain from God his blessing upon the harvest; at pentecost, their first-fruits, to request his blessing on the fruits of the trees; so, at the feast of the tabernacles, they offered water, as a token of their desire for a plentiful rain to fall at the following seed-time; the people, in the mean time, singing, With joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation, Isa 12:3. Part of the water they drank, with loud acclamations, in commemoration of the mercy shown to their fathers, who were relieved by the miracle of a great stream of water made to gush out of a rock, when the nation was ready to die with thirst, in a sandy desert, where there was neither river nor spring.

The Jewish writers pretend that Haggai and Zechariah were the institutors of these rites, and that in performing them they acted according to the directions of these prophets. Be this as it may, it is probable, as Dr. Lightfoot has shown, from some Jewish writers, that among other things intended to be expressed hereby, the ceremony was also meant to be emblematical of their desire and expectation of the coming of the Messiah, and of the effusion of the Holy Spirit under his dispensation. But whatever might be the original intention of these ceremonies, we learn from the same writer (Tremellius) that the Jews had miserably perverted it, by the addition of their own magical ceremonies. Christ, therefore, probably intended to lead them back to the principal design and meaning of the institution, and to draw their minds from the terrestrial water, and all earthly and temporal things, to the water of life, and to himself, the chief scope of this feast and of all other ceremonies. For, as it was his custom to raise moral and spiritual instructions from sensible occurrences, he took this opportunity of inviting, in the most solemn and affectionate manner, all who were in pursuit, whether of knowledge, holiness, or happiness, to come unto him, and drink, in allusion to the rite they were then employed about. Jesus stood — Probably on some eminence, where he could be seen and heard by the surrounding multitude, as the priest did who poured out the water mentioned above; and cried — “Intentâ voce, quo magis attentionem excitaret,” (Grotius,) with a loud voice, that he might excite the greater attention. If any man thirst — That is, sincerely and earnestly desire true happiness, and long for the blessings promised under the administration of the Messiah; let him come unto me — By faith. Let him believe that I am able and willing to satisfy his most ardent and enlarged desires, and rely on me to do it; and drink — That is, he shall drink; he shall receive the blessings for which he thirsts; for I am most ready freely to communicate every needful blessing, and particularly those supplies of the Spirit, which you profess sincerely and earnestly to desire. Compare Isa 55:1.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jesus’s second Feast-of-Tabernacles discourse; its effects; followed by the defeat of the rulers, Joh_7:37-53.

37. In the last… great day—(See note on Joh_7:2)—No festal water (type of the Spirit) was drawn from Siloam on this day, and Jesus stood forth to supply the deficit by proclaiming the outpouring of the real Holy Spirit, 37-39. A divided sentiment and struggle ensue, 40-44. The officers return disappointed to the authorities who break up in division and defeat.

Jesus stood and cried—The second grand proclamation of Jesus through the crowd of fermenting parties. The commencement only of the discourse is given. Its purpose is to apply the typical waters to their now present antitype, proclaiming that the hour of their grand fulfilment has come.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(b) Christ as the dispenser of the spirit, the real, siloam with its water of life. increasing ferment in the people

Joh_7:37-44

37[Now]39 In the last day, that [the] great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man [any one] thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38He that believeth on [in] me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly [body]40 shall flow rivers of living water. 39(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe41 on [in] him should [were about to] receive, for the Holy Ghost [the Spirit] was 40not yet given, [omit given]42 because that [omit that] Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Many43 [some] of the people [multitude] therefore, when they heard this saying 41[these words],44 said, Of a truth this is the Prophet [This is truly the Prophet.] Others said, This is the Christ. But [omit But] some [Others]45 said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee [Doth the Christ then come from Galilee]? 42Hath not the Scripture said, That [the] Christ cometh of [from] the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem [from Bethlehem, the town]46 where David was?

43So there was a division among the people [the multitude] because of him. And 44some of them would have taken him [wished to seize him]; but no man [one] laid hands on him.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Joh_7:37. In the last day.—Meyer: “As the eighth day (the 22d Tisri according to Lev_23:34; Num_29:35; Neh_8:18) was reckoned in with the seven days of the feast proper, and as, Succah, fol. 48, 1, the last day (אַחֲרוֹן) of the feast is the eighth, John certainly meant this day and not the seventh (Theoph., Buxtorf, Bengel, Roland, Paulus, Amnion); especially as it was customary at a later period to speak of an eight days’ celebration of the feast of tabernacles (2Ma_10:6; Joseph. Ant. III. 10, 4; Gem. Eruvin. 40, 2; Midr. Kohel. 118, 3). To this corresponds, too, the translation ἐξόδιον (finale of the feast), by which the Septuagint expresses the designation of the eighth day, עֲצֶרֶת [solemn assembly] in Lev_23:36; Num_29:35; Neh_8:18. Comp. Ewald, Alterthümer, p. 481.” Tholuck: “A general jubilee (Plutarch calls it a Bacchanal) and splendid ceremonies of many kinds took place at this feast, so that the Rabbis were accustomed to say: He who has not seen these festivities, knows not what jubilee is. See H. Majus: Diss. de haustu aquarum.”

[Alford takes the same view as to the day, and then tries to solve the difficulty which attaches to it. “The eighth day seems here to be meant, and the last of the feast to be popularly used. But a difficulty attends this view. Our Lord certainly seems to allude here to the custom which prevailed during the seven days of the feast, of a priest bringing water in a golden vessel from the pool of Siloam with a jubilant procession to the temple, standing on the altar and pouring it. out there, together with wine, while meantime the Hallel (Psalms 113-118) was sung. This practice was by some supposed—as the dwelling in tabernacles represented their life in the desert of old—to refer to the striking of the rock by Moses:—by others, to the rain, for which they then prayed, for the seed of the ensuing year:—by the elder Rabbis (Maimonides, cited by Stier, iv. 331, ed. 2), to Isa_12:3, and the effusion of the Holy Spirit in the days of the Messiah. But it was universally agreed (with the single exception of the testimony of R. Juda Hakkadosh, quoted in the tract Succa, which itself distinctly asserts the contrary), that on the eighth day this ceremony did not take place. Now, out of this difficulty I would extract what I believe to be the right interpretation. It was the eighth day, and the pouring of water did not take place. But is therefore (as Lücke will have it) all allusion to the ceremony excluded? I think not: nay, I believe it is the more natural. For seven days the ceremony had been performed, and the Hallel sung. On the eighth day the Hallel was sung, but the outpouring of the water did not take place: ‘desidcraverunt aliquid.’ ‘Then Jesus stood and cried,’ etc. Was not this the most natural time? Was it not probable that He would have said it at a time, rather even than while the ceremony itself was going on?” This accords with the view taken by Lange (see below and Doctr. and Ethical No. 1), but Wordsworth, Owen and others defend the usual opinion that on the eighth day as well as on those preceding, and with louder and more general expressions of joy, the priest brought forth, in a golden vessel, water from the spring of Siloam, and poured it upon the altar, and that Jesus at that very time proffered the water of life to all who would come unto Him and drink.—P. S.]

The last day of the feast of tabernacles was an especially high day, being the close of the feast (as well as of the festal season of the year), and being a Sabbath, a day on which the congregation assembled according to the law (Lev_23:36), and which was therefore distinguished by a special sacrificial ritual. But one thing the day lacked, which distinguished the other days. On each of the seven preceding days, in the morning, occurred the festal water-drawing. A priest drew water daily with a large golden pitcher (holding about two pints and a half) from the spring of Siloam on the temple hill, brought it into the temple, and poured it out mingled with sacrificial wine, into two perforated dishes at the altar. The ceremony was accompanied with the sound of cymbals and trumpets, and the singing of the words of Isa_12:3, which Rabbi Jonathan paraphrased: “With joy shall ye receive the new doctrine from the chosen righteous.” This was the celebration of the miraculous springs which God opened for the people on their pilgrimage through the wilderness. But because the eighth day marked the entrance into Canaan, the water-drawing ceased. On this day the springs of the promised land gave their waters to the people; an emblem of the streams of spiritual blessing which Jehovah had promised to His people. To this symbolical performance the words of Jesus on the last day of the feast evidently refer (Leben Jesu, III. p. 619). It is of no account that, according to Rabbi Juda, the pouring out of the water took place on the eighth day also. This was probably a later supplement, if the statement is not an error.

The great day [τῇ μεγάλῃ].—That is, especially great in comparison with the other days.47 See the preceding remarks. Philo also [De Septenaris II. 298] observes that it was the close of the yearly feasts; i.e. of the three great feasts, not of all.

Cried, saying.—Jesus had not hitherto so openly presented Himself as the personal object of a saving faith.

If any one thirst [i.e. whosoever thirsts] let him come to me and drink.—See the observations on Joh_7:37. The reference of this preaching of salvation under the promise of a miraculous draught and fountain of water to the water-drawing is groundlessly considered by Meyer to be dubious. It agrees entirely with the character of the fourth Gospel, in which Jesus presents Himself in the most varied ways as the fulfilment of the Old Testament symbols. The spiritual import of the water-drawing appears in Isa_12:3 [“with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation”]. This water-drawing must be distinguished from the devotional water-drawing on days of humiliation and fasting, 1Sa_7:6.

[The invitation first given to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, is here extended to all the people on the great feast in Jerusalem. The N. T. closes with a similar offer of the water of life (Rev_22:17). There is an inner thirst as there is an inner man, and the former is deeper and stronger than the thirst of the body, and can only be satisfied from the fountain of life in Christ. “Under the imagery of one thirsting for water, which everywhere, and especially in countries like Palestine where the want of water is so frequently experienced, would be well understood, our Lord proffers to all such persons that which will forever satisfy the longings of the soul and give it permanent rest.” Owen. “An allusion to the water drawn in a golden vase from the pool of Siloam and poured on the altar in the temple… as a memorial of the water from the rock smitten in the wilderness, and typical of the living water of the Spirit from the true Rock (1Co_10:4).” Wordsworth.—P. S.]

Joh_7:38. He that believeth48 in me, etc.—Explaining the expression: “Come unto me and drink.”—As the scripture hath said.—These words are not to be connected with ὁ πιστεύων, as if the meaning were: “He who according to the scripture believeth in Me” (Chrysostom, Calovius, and others). An ἔστι may be understood. Meyer: Ὁ πιστεύων is nominat. absol. The question then is, what words of Scripture the Lord means. The expression [which follows: “out of his body shall flow rivers of living water”] does not occur literally in the Old Testament; so that Whiston and others took up the idea that it was from some canonical or apocryphal sources now lost. Against this are (1) the usage of the New Testament, (2) the general reference to “the scripture,” which, as such, seems to be intended to point rather to a promise running through the Old Testament than to any particular passage (see Isa_44:3; Isa_55:1; especially Isa_58:11; Eze_47:1 ff.; Joe_2:23; Zec_13:1; Zec_14:8). Olshausen fixes particularly on those passages which promise a flowing forth of living water from the temple, the believer being considered as a living temple.49 And undoubtedly Christ at least would as surely have Himself considered the true temple-fountain, as He in John 2 presented Himself as the true temple. The notions of the temple (John 2) and the fountain (John 4) here run together. The question is whether the believer also will himself be a temple-spring. See the next paragraph.

Out of his belly (body)—Ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ. That κοιλία (בֶּטֶן) may denote in Hebrew usage the inward part, the heart, is proved by Pro_20:27, and similar passages (see Bretschneider’s Lexicon); hence Chrysostom [his successors] and others have taken κοιλία as equivalent to καρδία. [Augustine: the inner man, the heart’s conscience.—P. S.] The only question is, why the Lord chose the strong term. Meyer [p. 312] thinks it should be strictly understood of the abdomen [Bauchhöhle, as the receptacle of water taken into a man], and then this should be taken figuratively. His body shall give forth living water as a stream of a fountain (through the mouth!); without the figure, the divine grace and truth which the believer has taken from the fulness of Christ into his inner life, remains not shut up within himself, but imparts itself in overflowing abundance to others. This rendering accounts for the striking expression κοιλία no better than that of Chrysostom. Κοιλία, in the wider sense denotes any belly-like cavity [the belly of the sea, of a mountain, of a large vessel, etc.]. If we keep in view the symbolical reference to the “water-feast,” we may refer the expression to the belly of the temple hill (Gieseler [in the Studien und Kritiken, 1829, p. 138 f.]; see Lücke, II. p. 229), and also to the body of the great golden pitcher with which the priest drew the water (Bengel). We have previously (Leben Jesu, II., p. 945) given the former interpretation.50 But as Christ Himself is the parallel of the temple hill with the spring of Siloam, so the believing Christian is well represented by the golden pitcher with which the priest drew the water; at least this enters into the choice of the expression.51 The meaning is: The whole Christian is a vessel of grace emptied of vanity, filled with the Spirit. Of course the pitcher of itself yields no stream of living water; but this is just the miracle of the true life, that, being drunk (Joh_4:10) or drawn in faith (as in our passage), it becomes a flowing fountain of living water. To refer the ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ to Christ (Hahn: Theologie des Neuen Testaments, I. p. 229 [and Gess: Person Christi, p. 166]), jars with the context, especially Joh_7:39. The living water is explained below.

[Shall flow rivers of living water.—Ποταμοί is put first in the original to emphasize the abundance. Chrysostom comments on the plural: “Rivers, not river, to show the copious and overflowing power of grace: and living water, i.e. always moving; for when the grace of the Spirit has entered into and settled in the mind, it flows freer than any fountain, and neither fails, nor empties, nor stagnates. The wisdom of Stephen, the tongue of Peter, the strength of Paul, are evidences of this. Nothing hindered them; but, like impetuous torrents, they went on, carrying everything along with them.”—P. S.]

Joh_7:39. But this spoke he of the Spirit which they that believe in him were about to receive.—[An explanatory remark of the Evangelist similar to the one in Joh_2:21. Important for apostolic exegesis. Otherwise the Evangelists never insert their own views or feelings to interrupt the flow of the objective narration which speaks best for itself.—P. S.].—According to Lightfoot the Rabbins also considered the water-pouring or libation of the feast of tabernacles as the outpouring of the divine Spirit (haustio Spiritus Sancti). [Comp. the prophetic predictions of the Messianic outpouring of the Spirit, Joe_3:1; Isa_32:15; Isa_44:3; Eze_36:25; Eze_39:29].

According to Lücke (II. p. 230) the “living water” is intended to mean as much as “eternal life” [Joh_4:10; Joh_4:14], but not the Holy Spirit; and John’s exposition may be indeed “epexegetically correct, but is not exegetically accurate.”52 His arguments are: (1) “The outflowing, ῥεύσουσιν ἐκ, is not a receiving (λαμβάνειν).” But the receiving is everywhere identical with faith, and the Spirit, which the believers received, also in fact flowed forth. (2) “The ῥεύσουσιν cannot be an absolute future, excluding the present.” But neither has the gospel history made the outpouring of the Holy Ghost so; for before this, in fact, a certain miraculous power already flowed forth from the apostles [comp. also Joh_20:22]. (3) “Olshausen, it is true, observes that even in the New Testament the Spirit is conceived under the figure of water, as the description of the Spirit as ‘poured out,’ Act_10:45, Tit_3:6, clearly shows. But how comes it, that the corresponding emblem of water is never expressly used in the New Testament for the Holy Ghost. We have ὕδωρ τῆς ζωῆς, but never ὕδωρ τοῦ πνεύματος.” This is accounted for by the fact that the symbol arose from the contrast, so vivid to Palestinians, between the stagnant water of cisterns and the living water of springs. The legal system gave a certain measure of life, like cistern water, which did not propagate itself, and easily corrupted. The gospel dispensation of faith gave the water of life, which like a fountain replenished itself, increased, and was always fresh. And this was the Spirit. Lücke says: “The essential affinity of the expressions ζωὴ αἰώνιος and πνεῦμα is undeniable.” Here, however, is more than affinity; the two expressions denote the same life of the Spirit, only under different aspects.

Meyer rightly adduces for the correctness of the Evangelist’s explanation the strength of the term ποταμοί (to which ῥεύσουσι may be added). But when he goes on to remark, that John does not consider the Holy Ghost Himself to be meant by the living water, but only says of the whole declaration, that Jesus meant it of the Holy Ghost, leaving the Christian mind to conceive the Spirit as the Agens, as the impelling power of the stream of living water,—he runs substantially into Lücke’s interpretation.

We have only to distinguish between the Spirit of the life, as the cause, and the life of the Spirit, as the effect; carefully remembering that the cause and the effect are here not physically separate, but penetrate each other. Assuredly the words of Jesus speak directly of the operation of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit is a self-supplying spring.

On the doctrine of the Spirit of God in the Old Testament and of the Holy Ghost in the New, comp. the biblical and dogmatic theologies; Spirit is the uniting formative principle of visible life. So the air, the symbolical spirit of the earth; so the spirit in man. And the Spirit of God is, in the first place, the uniting life and formative principle of the creation (Gen_1:2; Psa_33:6); then, of the life of the creature, and in particular of man (Gen_6:3; Psa_104:29-30); then, of the theocracy (Num_11:25, etc.). Subsequently the promise of a new kingdom (see the Prophets). So in the New Testament, the one life and formative principle of the life of Jesus, of the body of disciples, of the New Testament Church, of the new world.

For the (Holy) Ghost was not yet [οὔπωγάρἦνπνεῦμα (ἄγιον).53—For the reasons above given we keep the ἅγιον. The Spirit was already always present; the Spirit of God had evidenced Himself even in the Old Testament; but the revelation of God as Holy Ghost was not yet given. In the glorification of Christ the Spirit of God first came to view as the Holy in the specific New Testament sense. The ἦν is therefore emphatic; He was not yet present and manifest upon earth to men. The addition [δεδομένον, given, in the E. V.] in cod. B. (Lachmann) seems to be a gloss explanatory of the difficult term. Christ was conceived, in deed, by the Holy Ghost, and anointed with the fulness of the Spirit; but this was as yet a mystery to the world; the Holy Ghost could not come into the world till after the ascension of Christ, Joh_16:7. Hofmann (Schriftbeweis I., p. 196): “The outpouring of the Spirit was the demonstration of His super-mundane nature”—and of His intra-mundane existence; the appropriation of His perfect form of life and vital operation to the world (comp. Act_19:2).—“The Macedonians were unwarranted in applying this passage against the personality of the Holy Ghost. It is metonymia causæ pro effectu.” Heubner. (Or also: metonymia existentiæ pro revelatione),

[Because Jesus was not yet glorified (ἐδοξάσθη).—By the atoning death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God the Father, from whence He promised to send and did send the Spirit, as the Spirit of the gospel redemption. In promising this Spirit, Christ expressly said that He must withdraw His visible presence from the disciples and return to the Father before the Comforter could come (Joh_16:7). The previous working of the Spirit under the old dispensation was preparatory, prophetic, fragmentary and transitory, like the manifestations of the Logos before the Incarnation. On the day of Pentecost the Spirit took up His abode in the Church and in individual believers, as an immanent and permanent principle, as the Spirit of the God-Man and Saviour, as the Spirit of adoption, as the Spirit of truth and holiness, who reveals and glorifies Christ in the hearts of believers, as Christ revealed and glorified the Father, and abides with them forever.—P. S.]

Joh_7:40-41. When they heard the sayings [instead of this saying].—The reading: “heard the sayings,” has the weight of authorities. The total impression of Christ’s utterances at the feast is therefore intended. The “heard” is emphatic: those of the people who listened to Him with earnestness (ἀκούσαντες τῶν λόγων), said, etc.—Of a truth this is the Prophet.—Meyer groundlessly says, this means the prophet who was to precede the Messiah, not the Messiah Himself; and yet it means the person promised in Deu_18:15. That is, these people are all agreed that Jesus is the Prophet in general. After this, however, they divide. Some are decided, others are not. The ἀκούσαντες separate into ἄλλοι, ἄλλοι. The former declare outright, that He is the Prophet of Deu_18:15; He is the Messiah. The latter, who would admit Him to be the Prophet, the forerunner of the Messiah according to the Jewish theology, have a difficulty—the supposed Galilean origin of Christ. The birth of Christ in Bethlehem was unknown to them. John considers it superfluous to show up their error, and hence De Wette has gratuitously inferred that John himself did not know that Christ was born in Bethlehem.54 John well knew that the conditions of faith had to lie higher and deeper than such a circumstance. Minds which sincerely yield themselves to the impression of Christ, could easily learn His origin, and so be delivered from their error.

Joh_7:42. Hath not the scripture.—Isa_11:1; Jer_23:5; Mic_5:1.—Where David was.—1 Samuel 16.

Joh_7:43. So there was a division.—This division or violent split among those who accorded recognition to the Lord in different degrees, must be distinguished from the division between all those who were friendly to Him and the enemies, of whom Joh_7:44 at once goes on to speak, or the analogous divisions in Joh_9:16; Joh_10:18. There were at first but a few among the people, who made common cause with the hostile Pharisees. See below.

Joh_7:44. And some of them.—That is, not of the two preceding classes, but of the people who heard His words. As ἐξ αὐτῶν stands after ἔθελον, it is even a question whether the words should not be ἐξ ἑαυτῶν: would have taken Him of themselves, on their own responsibility. De Wette thinks they might have wished to rally the intimidated officers. But the probability is that the officers, as a secret police, as under-sheriffs, had mingled with the people; for no point is mentioned, at which they showed themselves openly; and such an arrangement would correspond with the scrupulous caution of the Sanhedrists. These hostile people, therefore, felt an impulse to open the summary process of zealotism against Jesus.—But no man laid hands on him.—They were still fettered by the counsel of God, on the one hand, the fear of the adherents of Jesus, on the other, an involuntary awe. And that the servants of the Sanhedrin did not venture to seize the Lord, we first learn in the next section.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. It yields an incongruous conception, to suppose (with Tholuck and the older expositors,) that Jesus stood and proclaimed aloud the words of Joh_7:37-38, while the priest was carrying that holy water through the fore-court, and the people were giving themselves up entirely to their jubilations over this symbol. Just then He would have announced that in Him was offered in reality what was there signified in symbol. So public an assault upon the temple-worship, as should assume even the appearance of a vehement rivalry, cannot be expected of the Lord. On the contrary, the eighth day, with its lack of the festal water-drawing, must have brought with it to the attendant people a sense of want, to which Jesus addressed His call with good effect. At that moment, when the symbolical lights of a legally inefficient religion were burning low and going out, the evangelical substance of the symbols appears. The points which determine the symbolical utterance of the Lord are these: (1) The water-drawing was a symbol of spiritual blessing. The redeemed of Israel, on their second return to Canaan, were to draw water on the way with joy out of the wells of salvation, Isa_11:12; Isa_12:3. (2) Siloam was situated, indeed, on the temple-hill, but it rose not in the temple itself, but outside of it, at the foot of the holy mountain. So the true spirit of life was lacking in the sacerdotal worship of the temple; it appeared most in the prophetic office, symbolized by the fountain of Siloam in Isa_8:6. (3) Hence the prophets foretold the future priest-hood and worship of the Spirit under the figure of a stream issuing from the temple, Ezekiel 47; Joe_3:18. All Jerusalem was to become full of fountains, Zec_14:8; in fact the whole people was to be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, Isa_58:11. (4) The eighth day of the feast of tabernacles, in its symbolical place, denoted the time of this gushing life of the Spirit; hence it was primarily a day of expectation, of longing, of prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Ghost (see Leben Jesu, II. p. 942). This is the Lord’s opportunity. In Him the miraculous fountain of the eighth day, for the breaking forth of which from the temple they hoped, was given to the people.

2. Out of his belly. Tholuck: “Luthardt’s observation, that ‘even the corporeal nature was to be an abode of the Holy Ghost,’—is irrelevant.” Yet this is, in fact, involved in the idea of regeneration, of the inner man, of the members made instruments of righteousness (see Leben Jesu, II. John 945: “Their new human nature itself will become the ground whence these springs of water shall issue”). Rivers of living water. While in Joh_4:14, the self-replenishing of the inner life is promised, here the impartation of new life appears in its tendency to issue into the world as a stream for the refreshing of others. Comp. Tholuck, p. 224.

3. On the relation between the Holy Ghost and eternal life, comp. the Exegetical and Critical remarks on Joh_7:39.

4. For the Holy Ghost was not yet (given). In what sense? since even in the Old Testament the Spirit of God, as the Holy Spirit, inspired the prophets, 2Pe_1:21, and was the principle of life in the devout, Isa_63:10-11; Psa_51:12; Psa_143:10. That the prophets of the Old Testament were conscious of a difference between the measure of the Spirit vouchsafed to them and the New Testament revelation of the Spirit, is shown just by the Old Testament predictions of the streams of living water (see above); of the effusion of the Spirit (Joe_3:1); of the anointing of the Messiah with the sevenfold Spirit of God (Isa_11:2; Isa_61:1); and of the Spirit of the inward law, or of regeneration (Jer_31:33; Eze_36:26). Tholuck: “The majority of ancient and modern commentators consider the difference only quantitative (one of degree). Chrysostom: Ἤμελλε τὸ πνεῦμα ἐκχεῖσθαι δαψιλῶς, etc. Chrysostom, however, gives a qualitative difference (difference in kind(?) not in the πνεῦμα itself, but in the aim of its operations: Εἶ χον μὲν οἱ παλαιοὶ πνεῦμα αὐτοί, ἄλλοις δὲ οὐ παρεῖχον. Such a difference in the πνεῦμα itself Augustine points out, in the fact that the Christian impartation of the Spirit was connected with miraculous gifts; so Maldonatus, the Lutheran expositors Tarnow, Hunnius, Gerhard, Loci, I., 308, Lyser, Calovius, Meyer.” Evidently this would not prove much; for the Old Testament prophets also wrought miracles. Brenz, in singularly arbitrary style: “Not till after Pentecost did the preaching de remissione peccatorum go forth, which was in the strict sense the opus Spiritus.”—This is, after all, of the centre of the thing, though not the whole thing. On the contrary Luthardt regards as the qualitative difference that which is indicated in Rom_8:15 and 2Ti_1:7 : “The Holy Ghost was not yet in His office; the old preaching and law were still in force.” That is, correctly, it was not yet the economy of the Holy Ghost. “Cocceius also, in opposition to the identification of the economies which was current in his time, presses this distinction of the tempus promissionis et consummationis. Equidem puto, hic evidentissime dici, adeo multum interesse inter tempus, quod antecessit glorificationem Christi et id, quod consecutum est,” etc. P. 226.—The complete exhibition of Christ and His work in history was the objective condition precedent of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost; the complete spiritual susceptibility of the disciples, as matter of history, and in them the susceptibility of the world, was the subjective condition.” Not until all the elements of the life of Christ and of His redeeming agency had appeared in objective and subjective reality, could the Spirit of the life of Christ enter into believers, and become the Spirit of believers. And not till then could it become manifest and begin an economy of its own as the Holy Ghost, who has His life personally in Himself (Leben Jesu, II. 2, 946). The absolute exaltation of Christ above the world was the condition of His absolute sinking within the world, which made Him the principle of the new life in believers; this first brought into full manifestation that glory of the Holy Ghost which is a new form, and the third form of the personality of God, and at the same time a wholly gracious operation (gratia applicatrix). Yet this blessing of the life of Jesus must be distinguished from His personality itself, and the Spirit imparted to believers is not to be considered, as it is by Tholuck, “the Son of man Himself transfigured into Spirit.”

5. Important as it is that the dispensation of the Spirit he duly appreciated, it is wrong to talk, as the Montanists, the Franciscan Spiritualists, the Anabaptists, and Hegel do, of a separate age or kingdom of the Holy Ghost, supposed to lie beyond the kingdom of the Son.

6. The divisions among the disciples of Jesus themselves, of which the Evangelist tells us, are intimated also in Matthew (Joh_16:14). In them is reflected the much larger division which was germinating between the friends and the enemies of Christ, and which is the main thing in the section before us. Lücke’s supposition that the ostensible objection that Jesus was not from Bethlehem, whence the Messiah ought to come, was made in particular by the scribes among the people, is gratuitous. But it could not enter into the Lord’s plan, to work upon the people with the testimony of His birth in Bethlehem; because His way was, to leave the popular notion of the Messiah quite aside, and to have His Messiahship recognized from His spirit and His work.

7. Here at last a knot of fanatical enemies of Jesus, who would fain seize Him, comes to light in a marked manner among the people themselves. It was the murderous intent of which Jesus had before testified: “Ye seek to kill Me.” They fain would, they well might; but involuntary reverence for the Lord, fear from above, and fear of the people, still restrained them.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Jesus at the feast of His people: 1. At the beginning: staying out of sight. 2. In the middle: appearing and teaching. 3. At the close: standing and calling aloud.—The last day of the feast, the most glorious.—As the hours of grace decline, Christ sounds His gracious call the louder.—How majestically Christ will stand at the last day of the feast of the world, and how loud His call will be then.—Christ the true end of all feasts.—Christ the truth and substance of every sacred feast.—Even of that feast.—As the need of salvation is a thirst, so faith is a drinking (a refreshment) in the highest and holiest sense.—Thirst, as a prophetical pointing: (1) to spiritual thirst; (2) to the spiritual refreshment of salvation; (3) to the destination of the man to be a fountain of life to others.—The call of Christ at the feast of water-pouring: 1. His invitation. 2. His promise.—The measure of the supply which Christ gives to the believer’s thirst: 1. The believer himself shall drink. 2. Out of his belly shall flow streams of living water (he shall give drink to many).—As Christians are to be lights through the light of Christ, and shepherds through the staff of Christ, so they are to be fountains of life through Christ, the fountain of salvation.—“Out of his belly (body):” Even our bodily nature is to be sanctified as a vessel of the Spirit (from mouth and hand, eye and footsteps, it should trickle and stream with blessing).—The promise of the new life a promise of the Spirit.—“The Holy Ghost was not yet:” 1. The declaration. 2. Its import for us.—How the outpouring of the Holy Ghost was dependent on the exaltation of Christ: 1. The world must first be perfectly reconciled, before it can be sanctified. 2. Christ must first transcend sensuous limitation in time and space, before He can communicate Himself to all everywhere according to His essential life. 3. Christ must first be fully the Lord of glory, before He can glorify Himself through the Spirit in all hearts.—In Him the world was offered up to God; therefore through Him God could enter into the world.—All parts of His redemptive manifestation were completed; therefore the Spirit of the whole could come forth.—When the manifestation of the Father was completed, it was followed by the manifestation of the Son. “When the manifestation of the Son was finished, it was followed by the manifestation of the Holy Ghost; while yet this itself was a glorifying of the Son, and of the Father through the Son.—The glory of the dispensation of the Holy Ghost.—The different effects of the words of Christ.—The division over the words of Christ.—The division between the friends and enemies of Christ shades off among His adherents themselves (Joh_7:41), and among His enemies (Joh_7:44).—The hand of God overruling the hands of the enemies of Christ: 1. A hand of omnipotence (they can do nothing, so long as He restrains). 2. A hand of wisdom (they can do no harm, when He lets them loose). 3. A hand of faithfulness (they must serve His people, when He lets them prevail). 4. A hand of triumph (they must destroy their own work, and judge themselves).

Starke: What it is to thirst. To long after righteousness and salvation, Mat_5:3; Rev_22:17, etc.—Nova Bibl. Tub.: We can most nobly keep our feast-days by coming to Jesus.—Majus: The wells of salvation are open to all men who are like dry ground.—Quesnel: In vain do we seek to satisfy our desires and quench our thirst among created things; we only thirst the more, with a thirst unquenchable, till we come to Christ.—According to the breadth and depth of the vessel of our faith will be our portion of the water.—“Rivers,” a type of overflow, Isa_48:18; Isa_66:12.—Majus: True faith is like a copious fountain; it cannot restrain itself from gushing forth in holy love.—Hedinger: Christianity spreads; it is fain to communicate itself by holy conversation, testimonies of disapproval, patience, etc.—Cramer: The world will never be of one mind concerning Christ; and yet amid a multitude of divisions the true church and the true

religion can easily be maintained.—He who loves and seeks the truth, finds it. But he who contemptuously asks, What is truth? falls into error.—Quesnel: We have not so much to fear from the evil will of men, as from our own.—Ibid.: Blessed is he who is in the hand of God, whom no fleshly arm of man can hurt.—It is the method of antichrist always to use force.—Osiander: God upholds those who follow their calling in spite of all the rage and bluster of enemies, till they have finished their course.

Braune: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” Faith has three constituents: Longing for the satisfaction of the most stringent wants; turning of the heart to the Saviour who helps; and reception of that which He offers, and which exactly meets the longing.—From Him, from His personality as sanctified by faith, rivers of living water, active, vigorous quickenings in rich abundance overflow to others. The believer came with thirst, with the feeling of want; and he sends forth rivers.

Gerlach: While John records the grand words of the yearning invitation and mighty promise, he feels how far they were from being fulfilled to any disciple who came to the Lord at he time he spoke them; and that the day of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost was but the beginning of their true fulfilment.

Heubner: Pfenninger: Every good thing in the world must be longed for, thirsted for; else it is not a good.—Bengel: Nothing but thirst, yet sincere thirst, is needed. To him who has a true thirst, nothing is of so great account as the satisfaction of it. Without Christ everything is dry and barren: everything should drive and draw us to Him.—The believer is not only to receive vital force for himself, but also to become a fountain of life for others.—The Spirit of God is a fulness, out of which we are to impart to others.—When Christians can give but little, they prove thereby that they themselves have not much of the Spirit.—What comes from the Spirit tastes, so to speak, like fresh spring-water, not flat like water which has grown stale in a vessel.—We lack in faith, therefore lack in the spirit.—Discord commonly arises wherever Jesus and the gospel attack men.—Thorough inquiry and thorough knowledge would have solved the doubt and discord. The authors of divisions and schisms are swelling smatterers, who have no true knowledge of the Scriptures.

Schleiermacher: We see everywhere, that the Redeemer of the old, to which His people ever persist in adhering, points them at every opportunity to the new.—But what else was the fruit which the life of the Lord was to bring forth, than just this: that the fulness of the Godhead which dwelt in Him, should pass thence to the community of believers, the whole congregation of the Lord.—Besser: There is a doubleness in the nature of the church [and of every believer]: like Abraham, she is blessed and she is a blessing (Gen_12:2).—She is both at once: a garden and a “fountain of gardens” (Son_4:15-16).

Footnotes:

[39]Joh_7:37.—[The δέ after ἐν is not without force, and should not have been omitted in the E. V.—P. S.]

[40]Joh_7:38.—[ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ. Alford and Conant retain the strong term of the A. V. Noyes translates: from within him; Luther and Lange: body. Κοιλιά properly means belly, abdomen, bowels, stomach, as the receptacle of food, but tropically also, in Hellenistic usage, the inward parts, the inner man, the heart (καρδία comp. the Lat. viscera), and so it is taken here by Chrysostom and others. The LXX. often interchange κοιλία and καρδία. See the Exeg.—P. S.]

[41]Joh_7:39.—Lachmann [Alford] reads πιστεύσαντες [those who believed] instead of πιστεύοντες on the authority of B. L. T. [א. D. rel. Tischend.: πιστεύοντες.—P. S.]

[42]Joh_7:39.—Ἄγιον [Holy before Spirit] is omitted by Lachmann and Tischendorf, after the Vulgate, Itala, most versions K. T. As B. D. and others have the word, we may suppose the omission of ἅγιον to have been occasioned by doctrinal considerations, which, however, have rather made the passage more difficult than easier. Δεδομένον [given] which Lachmann, after Cod. B., retains, stands less firm. [Both ἅγιον and δεδομένον are wanting in Cod. Sin. which simply reads οὕπω γᾶρ ἥν πνεῦμα (without the article). So Tischendorf in the 8th ed. Alford omits δεδομένον and retains ἅγιον, but puts it in brackets. Westcott and Hort put [ἅγιον] δεδομένον on the margin.—P. S.]

[43]Joh_7:40.—Ἐκ τοῦ ὅχλου ἁκουσαντες. The πολλοί [text. rec.] or τινὲς [explanatory] are dropped, according to B. D. L. T. &c.

[44]Joh_7:40.—Τῶν λόγων Lachmann, Tischendorf, according to [א] B. D. E. G. &c. [Cod. Sin., Tischend., Alf.: τῶν λόγων τούτων, Lat. hos sermones, verba illa, hæc verba. The text. rec. reads τὸν λόγον—P. S.]

[45]Joh_7:41.—Instead of ἅλλοι δὲ Lachmann has οἱ δέ after B. L., etc. [Tischend. after Cod. Sin.: ἄλλοι—ἄλλοι without δέ—P. S.]

[46]Joh_7:42.—[This is the position of the Greek, ἀπὸ Βηθλ. τῆς κώμης ὅπου—P. S.]

[47][Meyer: The μεγαλότης of the eighth day consisted just in this, that it brought the great feast to a solemn close.]

[48][Ὁ πιστεύ ων is an emphatic absolute nominative. The predicate is not expressed, but implied in the words ποταμοί … ῥεύσουσιν. Such irregularity is not unfrequent in the best Greek classics. It is intended to give greater prominence to the noun, hence to the necessity of faith. Similar instances Joh_6:39 (πᾶν); Joh_17:2; Act_7:40; Rev_2:26 (ὁ νικῶν–δώσω αὐτῷ); Joh_3:12; Joh_3:21; comp. Buttmann, Neutestamentl. Grammatik, p. 325.—P. S.]

[49][The most remarkable and appropriate of these passages are Eze_47:1-12, where rivers are prophetically described as issuing from under the threshold of the temple eastward (Joh_7:1), and making alive and healing all that is touched by them (Joh_7:9); Zec_14:8 : “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem” (ἐξελεύσεται ὕδωρ ζῶν ἐξ Ἰερουσαλήμ); and Isa_58:11, where Jehovah promises the thirsty to satisfy his soul in drought and to make him “like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” To these prophetic words the quotation applies in a free and comprehensive way, and the characteristic ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ is an interpretation in application to the individual believer. Compare here also the remarks on p. 182 in regard to the fact made almost certain by recent researches that there was a living spring beneath the altar of the temple, from which all the fountains of Jerusalem were fed, the source of the “Brook that flowed hard by the oracles of God,”—the “perennial river the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God” (Psa_46:1).—P. S.]

[50][So also Olshausen: The believer is here represented as a living temple. Alford: The temple was symbolic of the Body of the Lord (see Joh_2:21); and the Spirit which dwells in and flows forth from His people also, who are made like unto Him, Gal_4:6; Rom_8:9; 1Co_3:6.—P. S.]

[51][This interpretation seems rather far-fetched. The cavity of a small vessel is hardly designated by belly. Besides the Christian is not only an instrument, but a living member, of Christ, and Christ Himself is in him. Godet’s reference to the rock in the wilderness, which Moses smote, so that ἐκ τ. κοιλί ας αὐτοῦ corresponds to מִמֶּנּוּ, Exo_17:6, is still mere artificial.—P. S.]

[52][Alford justly remarks that it is lamentable to see such an able and generally right-minded commentator as Lücke carping at the interpretation of an apostle, especially John, who of all men bad the deepest insight into the wonderful analogies of spiritual things. The difficulties raised by Lücke rest in his own misapprehension. John does not say that the promise of our Lord was a prophecy of what happened on the day of Pentecost, but of the Spirit which the believers were about to receive. The water of life after all is the life of the Spirit, for the “Spirit is life” and “the mind of the Spirit is life.” Rom_8:6; Rom_8:10. The communication of eternal life always implies the gift of the Spirit of Christ.—P. S.]

[53] [The ἦν can, of course, not refer to the essential or personal existence and previous operation of the Spirit, who is coëternal with the Father and the Son, who manifested Himself in the creation (Gen_1:3; Psa_33:6) and through the whole O. T. economy, as the organizing, preserving, enlightening, regenerating and sanctifying principle (Gen_6:3; Exo_31:3; Psalms 51; Psalms 104, etc.), who inspired Moses and the prophets (Num_11:25; 1Sa_10:19; 1Sa_10:26; Isa_61:1; 2Pe_1:21), who overshadowed Mary at the conception of Christ (Mat_1:20; Luk_1:35), who descended upon Him without measure at the baptism in Jordan (Joh_1:32-33; Joh_3:35), but to the presence and working of the Spirit as the Spirit of Christ with the fulness of the accomplished redemption in the Christian Church, or to the dispensation of the Spirit, which, according to the promise of Christ (John 14-16), commenced after His resurrection and ascension, on the day of Pentecost.

The readings δεδομένον, δοθέν, ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς, are all superfluous glosses to guard against a misunderstanding. If anything is to be supplied to ἦν, it should rather be present (aderat), or working (ἐνεργοῦν), or in the believers (ἐν πιστεύουσι) from the preceding.—P. S.]

[54][Alford: “The mention of the question about Bethlehem seems to me rather to corroborate our belief that the Evangelist was well aware how the fact stood, than (De Wette) to ismply that he was ignorant of it. That no more remarks are appended, is natural. John had one great design in writing his Gospel, and does not allow it to be interfered with by explanations of matters otherwise known. Besides… if John knew nothing of the birth at Bethlehem, and yet the mother of the Lord lived with him, the inference must be that she knew nothing of it,—in other words, that it never happened.” Owen argues from this passage in favor of the importance of the genealogical tables of Matthew and Luke to answer Jewish objections like these against the acknowledgment of Jesus as the Messiah.—P. S.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John

THE ROCK AND THE WATER

Joh 7:37 - Joh 7:38.

The occasion and date of this great saying are carefully given by the Evangelist, because they throw much light on its significance and importance. It was ‘on the last day, that great day of the Feast,’ that ‘Jesus stood and cried.’ The Feast was that of Tabernacles, which was instituted in order to keep in mind the incidents of the desert wandering. On the anniversary of this day the Jews still do as they used to, and in many a foul ghetto and frowsy back street of European cities, you will find them sitting beneath the booths of green branches, commemorating the Exodus and its wonders. Part of that ceremonial was that on each morning of the seven, and possibly on the eighth, ‘the last day of the Feast,’ a procession of white-robed priests wound down the rocky footpath from the Temple to Siloam, and there in a golden vase drew water from the spring, chanting, as they ascended and re-entered the Temple gates where they poured out the water as a libation, the words of the prophet, ‘with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.’

Picture the scene to yourselves-the white-robed priests toiling up the pathway, the crowd in the court, the sparkling water poured out with choral song. And then, as the priests stood with their empty vases, there was a little stir in the crowd, and a Man who had been standing watching, lifted up a loud voice and cried, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.’ Strange words to say, anywhere and anywhen, daring words to say there in the Temple court! For there and then they could mean nothing less than Christ’s laying His hand on that old miracle, which was pointed to by the rite, when the rock yielded the water, and asserting that all which it did and typified was repeated, fulfilled, and transcended in Himself, and that not for a handful of nomads in the wilderness, but for all the world, in all its generations.

So here is one more instance to add to those to which I have directed your attention on former occasions, in which, in this Gospel, we find Christ claiming to be the fulfilment of incidents and events in that ancient covenant, Jacob’s ladder, the brazen serpent, the manna, and now the rock that yielded the water. He says of them all that they are the shadow, and the substance is in Him.

I. So then, we have to look, first, at Christ’s view of humanity as set forth here.

You remember the story of how the people in the wilderness, distressed by that most imperative of all physical cravings, thirst, turned upon Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Why have ye brought us here to die in the wilderness, where there are neither vines nor pomegranates,’ but a land of thirst and death? Just as Christ, in the former instances to which we have already referred, selected and pointed to the poisoned and serpent-stricken camp as an emblem of humanity, and just as He pointed to the hunger of the men that were starving there, as an emblem, go here He says: ‘That is the world-a congregation of thirsty men raging in their pangs, and not knowing where to find solace or slaking for their thirst.’ I do not need to go over all the dominant desires that surge up in men’s souls, the mind craving for knowledge, the heart calling out for love, the whole nature feeling blindly and often desperately after something external to itself, which it can grasp, and in which it can feel satisfied. You know them; we all know them. Like some plant growing in a cellar, and with feeble and blanched tendrils feeling towards the light which is so far away, every man carries about within himself a whole host of longing desires, which need to find something round which they may twine, and in which they can be at rest.

‘The misery of man is great upon him,’ because, having these desires, he misreads so many of them, and stifles, ignores, atrophies to so large an extent the noblest of them. I know of no sadder tragedy than the way in which we misinterpret the meaning of these inarticulate cries that rise from the depths of our hearts, and misunderstand what it is that we are groping after, when we put out empty, and, alas! too often unclean, hands, to lay hold on our true good.

Brethren, you do not know what you want, many of you, and there is something pathetic in the endless effort to fill up the heart by a multitude of diverse and small things, when all the while the deepest meaning of aspirations, yearnings, longings, unrest, discontent is, ‘My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.’ Nothing less than infinitude will satisfy the smallest heart of the humblest and least developed man. Nothing less than to have all our treasures in one accessible, changeless Infinity will ever give rest to a human soul. You have tried a multiplicity of trifles. It takes a great many bags of coppers to make up L. 1000, and they are cumbrous to carry. Would it not be better to part with a multitude of goodly pearls, if need be, in order to have all your wealth, and the satisfaction of all your desires, in the ‘One Pearl of great price’? It is God for whom men are thirsting, and, alas! so many of us know it not. As the old prophet says, in words that never lose their pathetic power, ‘they have hewn out for themselves cisterns’-one is not enough-they need many. They are only cisterns, which hold what is put into them, and they are ‘broken cisterns,’ which cannot hold it. Yet we turn to these with a strange infatuation, which even the experience that teaches fools does not teach us to be folly. We turn to these; and we turn from the Fountain; the one, the springing, the sufficient, the unfailing, the exuberant Fountain of living waters. Some of you have cisterns on the tops of your houses, with a coating of green scum and soot on them, and do you like that foul draught better than the bright blessing that comes out of the heart of the rock, flashing and pure?

But not only are these desires misread, but the noblest of them are stifled. I have said that the condition of humanity is that of thirst. Christ speaks in my text as if that thirst was by no means universal, and, alas! it is not, ‘If any man thirst’; there are some of us that do not, for we are all so constituted that, unless by continual self-discipline, and self-suppression, and self-evolution, the lower desires will overgrow the loftier ones, and kill them, as weeds will some precious crop. And some of you are so much taken up with gratifying the lowest necessities and longings of your nature, that you leave the highest all uncared for, and the effect of that is that the unsatisfied longing avenges itself, for your neglect of it, by infusing unrest and dissatisfaction into what else would satisfy the lowest. ‘He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase,’ but he that loves God will be satisfied with less than silver, and will continue satisfied when decrease comes. If you would suck the last drop of sweetness out of the luscious purple grapes that grow on earth, you must have the appetite after the best things, recognised, and ministered to, and satisfied. And when we are satisfied with God, we shall ‘have learnt in whatsoever state we are, therewith to be self-sufficing.’ But, as I say, the highest desires are neglected, and the lowest are cockered and pampered, and so the taste is depraved. Many of you have no wish for God, and no desire after high and noble things, and are perfectly contented to browse on the low levels, or to feed on ‘the husks that the swine do eat,’ whilst all the while the loftiest of your powers is starving within. Brethren, before we can come to the Rock that yields the water, there must be the sense of need. Do you know what it is that you want? Have you any desire after righteousness and purity and nobleness, and the vision of God flaming in upon the pettinesses and commonplaces of this life which is ‘sound and fury, signifying nothing,’ and is trivial in all its pretended greatness, unless you have learned that you need God most of all, and will never be at rest till you have Him?

II. Secondly, note here Christ’s consciousness of Himself.

Is there anything in human utterances more majestic and wonderful than this saying of my text, ‘If any man thirst, let him come to Me’? There He claims to be separate altogether from those whose thirst He would satisfy. There He claims to be able to meet every aspiration, every spiritual want, every true desire in this complex nature of ours. There He claims to be able to do this for one, and therefore for all. There He claims to be able to do it for all the generations of mankind, right away down to the end. Who is He who thus plants Himself in the front of the race, knows their deep thirsts, takes account of the impotence of anything created to satisfy them, assumes the divine prerogative, and says, ‘I come to satisfy every desire in every soul, to the end of time’? Yes, and from that day when He stood in the Temple and cried these words, down to this day, there have been, and there are, millions who can say, ‘We have drawn water from this fountain of salvation, and it has never failed us.’ Christ’s audacious presentation of Himself to the world as adequate to fill all its needs, and slake all its thirst, has been verified by nineteen centuries of experience, and there are many men and women all over the world to-day who would be ready to set to their seals that Christ is true, and that He, indeed, is all-sufficient for the soul.

Brethren, I do not wish to dwell upon this aspect of our Lord’s character in more than a sentence, but I beseech you to ask yourselves what is the impression that is left of the character of a man who says such things, unless He was something more than one of our race? Jesus Christ, it is as clear as day, in these words makes a claim which only divinity can warrant Him in making, or can fulfil when it is made. And I would urge you to consider what the alternative is, if you do not believe that Jesus Christ here sets Himself forth as the Incarnate Word of God, sufficient for all humanity. ‘I am meek and lowly in heart’-and His lowliness of heart is proved in a strange fashion, if He stands up before the race and says, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.’

III. Note, further, Christ’s invitation.

‘Let him come . . . and drink’-two expressions for one thing. That invitation sounds all through Scripture, and, perhaps, there was lingering in our Lord’s mind, besides the reference to the rock that yielded the water, some echo of the words of the second Isaiah: ‘Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.’ ‘Nay!’ said Christ, ‘not to the waters, but to Me.’ And then we hear from His own lips the same invitation addressed to the woman of Samaria, with the difference that to her, an alien, He pointed only to the natural water in the well that had been Jacob’s, whereas, to these people, the descendants of the chosen race, He pointed to the miracle in the desert, and claimed to fulfil that. And on the very last page of Scripture, as it is now arranged, there stands the echo again of this saying of my text, ‘Let him that is athirst come’-there must be the sense of need, as I was saying, before there is the coming-’and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.’

Now, dear friends, beneath these two metaphorical expressions there lies one simple condition. I put it into three words, which, for the sake of being easily remembered, I cast into an alliterative form: approach Christ, appropriate Christ, adhere to Christ.

Approach Christ. You come by faith, you come by love, you come by communion. And you can come if you will, though He is now on the throne.

Appropriate Christ. It is vain that the water should be gushing from the rock there, unless you make it your own by drinking. It must pass your lips. It must become your personal possession. You must enclose a piece of the common, and make it your very own. ‘He loved us, and gave Himself for us’; well and good, but strike out the ‘us’ and put in ‘me.’ ‘He loved me and gave Himself for me.’ The river may be flowing right past your door, yet your lips may be cracked with thirst, even whilst you hear the tinkle of its music amongst the sedges and the pebbles. Appropriate Christ. ‘Come . . . and drink.’

Adhere to Christ. You were thirsty yesterday: you drank. That will not slake to-day’s thirst, nor prevent its recurrence. And you must keep on drinking if you are to keep from perishing of thirst. Day by day, drop by drop, draught by draught, you must drink. According to the ancient Jewish legend, which Paul in one of his letters refers to, about this very miracle, you must have the Rock following you all through your desert pilgrimage, and you must drink daily and hourly, by continual faith, love, and communion.

IV. We have here not only these points, but a fourth. Christ’s promise.

‘He that believeth on Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’ That is one case of the universal law that a man who trusts Christ becomes like the Christ whom he trusts. Derivatively and by impartation, no doubt, but still the man who has gone to that Rock, to the springing fountain as it pushes forth, receives into himself an inward life by the communication of Christ’s divine Spirit, so that he has in him a fountain ‘springing up into life everlasting.’ The Book of Proverbs says, ‘The good man shall be satisfied from himself,’ but the good man is only satisfied from himself when he can say, ‘I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me,’ and from that better self he will be satisfied.

So we may have a well in the courtyard, and may be able to bear in ourselves the fountain of water, and where the divine life of Christ by His Spirit has through faith been implanted within us, it will come out from us. There is a question for you Christian people-do any rivers of living water flow out of you? If they do not, it is to be doubted whether you have drunk of the fountain. There are many professing Christians who are like the foul little rivers that pass under the pavements in Manchester, all impure, and covered over so that nobody sees them. ‘Out of him shall flow rivers of living water’-that is Christ’s way of communicating the blessing of eternal life to the world-by the medium of those who have already received it. Christian men and women, if your faith has brought the life into you, see to it that approaching Christ, and appropriating Christ, and adhering to Christ, you are becoming assimilated to Christ, and in your daily life, God’s grace fructifying through you to all, are ‘become as rivers of water in a dry place, and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

RIVERS OF LIVING WATER FLOWING OUT OF THE HEART

Joh 7:37-39. “And on the last great day of the festival, Jesus stood, and continued to cry out, saying, If any one may thirst, let him come and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture said, Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. And He spoke this concerning the Spirit which those believing on Him were about to receive; for He was not yet; because Jesus was not yet glorified.” This is really the grand, salient proclamation of all the preaching of our Savior recorded by John on the present occasion.

The Scripture here referred to is Eze 47:1-12, where we have that glorious description of the holy waters, flowing out from the right hand of the altar eastward, and down into the Dead Sea, transforming the wilderness of Judea into blooming gardens and fruitful fields, sanctifying and redeeming the poisonous waters of the Dead Sea, filling them with multitudes of the most valuable fishes, revivifying the whole surrounding country, dotting the shores of that desolate sea with thriving villages and populous cities, clothing the whole surrounding country with fruits and flowers, perennial verdure, and transforming all that vast, desolate region into an earthly paradise, thus symbolizing the wonderful potency of Spirit- filled people to transform the darkest jungles of our city slums and the gloomy wastes of heathen lands into holiness camp-meetings and millennial harbingers. The E. V., unfortunately, mars this wonderful passage by the translation, “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,” using a word entirely too physical in its signification to harmonize with this superlatively spiritual passage. The word is koilia, which means “belly, stomach, heart, chest,” etc. Now you see the word we want here is “heart.” How beautiful the passage, “Out of his heart [i.e., his interior, spiritual being] shall flow rivers of living water!” This is one of the finest passages in all the Bible, transcendently profound, sublime, thrillingly edifying, lucidly expository of the glorious, positive side of experimental sanctification, progressing indefinitely, through time and eternity — first, ankle-deep, putting us where we walk with God incessantly, going only where Jesus goes; then wading in to the knees, reaching an experience of great proficiency in kneeology, though ever so ignorant of theology, where we learn the grand secret of conquering on our knees; passing another interim of recognition and appreciation, we wade in up to the loins — i. e., get where we vote our whole precinct for the Lord Jesus Christ, in everything keeping our eye on God, all temporal interests and emoluments left in oblivion; passing another interval of progress, we wade in over our heads; as now the waters have risen to a swimming depth, the specific gravity of the human body being less than that of water, we have nothing to do but lie supine, with limbs relaxed, facing the blue dome of the beautiful celestial temple, and float ad libitum with the current of God’s providence and grace, perfectly secure in the triple leadership of His Word, Spirit, and providence, respectively guiding the intellect, heart, and body.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7:37-38 living water: See 4:10-14. A water ceremony was held each day during the Festival of Shelters, with prayer for God to send rain in the late autumn. The final day, called “the great day,” was the climax of the festival, when the ceremony was repeated seven times. Water was poured over the altar as Levites sang Isa 12:3 (see Zech 14:8; see also Mishnah Sukkah ch 4). • Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Jesus fulfilled an essential element in the Festival of Shelters. He himself is the source of living water, available to anyone who believes.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh 7:37. Ἐσχάτῃ, in the last) This was the seventh day: not the eighth, inasmuch as it was one which had its own proper feast. See F. B. Dachs, ad cod. Succa, p. 373; comp. p. 357, 405. This seventh day was an especially solemn one in the Feast of Tabernacles; Lev 23:34; Lev 23:36, “On the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord; it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein;” Num 29:12, “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month,” the Feast of Tabernacles began, etc.; Neh 8:18, “Day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God; and they kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly.” 2Ch 7:8, “Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the river of Egypt; and in the eighth day they made a solemn assembly,” etc. Jesus also Himself made this day a great day; nor was there remaining before the passion of the Lord another such day of so great solemnity, and celebrated by so large a crowd. He therefore availed Himself of the opportunity[205]).—εἄν τις διψᾷ, if any man thirst[206]) An apposite expression, even [independently of other reasons] on account of that rite, when on that last day of the feast they were wont to draw water from the fountain of Siloah, and to pour it in libation upon the altar of the whole burnt-offering. See Surenhus. de Alleg., V. T., p. 354. [To thirst is the first distinguishing mark of a soul panting for salvation, and a most sure characteristic of such a one.—V. g.]—ἐρχέσθω, let him come) Rev 22:17, “The Spirit and the bride say, Come.—And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

[205] The antitypes to the Passover and Pentecost were realized in the sacrifice of Christ, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Jerusalem before the entire abolition of types. Thus also in this passage it is permitted to us to observe an antitype to the Feast of Tabernacles, which the Saviour enlightened with such a splendour of His own glory, repeating at Jerusalem that remarkable promise, Zechariah 14 (ver. 18, 17, which points to Jerusalem; [the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to worship at the feast of tabernacles; whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts, even upon them shall be no rain]), and soothing the minds of believers by the very abundant fulfilment of it, then to be so immediately looked for.—Harm., p. 354, etc.

[206] There are not wanting persons who, in the present day, think that His speech in this passage refers to the miraculous gifts of those who received the apostolic doctrine. (See D. Ernesti Bibl. theol. Noviss. T. i. p. 791.) Nor truly can any one maintain with good reason that these gifts are not referred to: Comp. ver. 39, etc., “The Holy Ghost was not yet given,” etc. Yet I should be sorry to think, that this universal and most solemn promise should be so restricted, as that you must think, that those gifts of the Holy Spirit are excluded, which every soul that is weary of vanity thirsts for. In fact the passage Zec 14:8, “It shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem,” compared with Joh 8:1, “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness” not obscurely teaches, that those gifts of the Spirit are at least at the same time implied, of which every one hath need, in order that he may be brought to a real state of rest, and a better life.—E. B.

Joh 7:37-38. [208] ἘΆΝ ΤΙς ΔΙΨᾷ, ἘΡΧΈΣΘΩ ΠΡΌς ΜΕ, ΚΑῚ ΠΊΝΕΤΩ· Ὁ ΠΙΣΤΈΥΩΝ ΕἺς ἘΜῈ, ΚΑΘῺς ΕἿΠΕΝ Ἡ ΓΡΑΦῊ, ΠΟΤΑΜῸΙ ἘΚ Τῆς ΚΟΙΛΊΑς ΑὐΤΟῦ ῬΕΎΣΟΥΣΙΝ ὝΔΑΤΟς ΖῶΝΤΟς) A new and plausible]) punctuation is proposed, ἘΆΝ ΤΙς ΔΙΨᾷ, ἘΡΧΈΣΘΩ ΠΡΌς ΜΕ· ΚΑῚ ΠΙΝΈΤΩ Ὁ ΠΙΣΤΕΎΩΝ ΕἸς ἘΜΈ· ΚΑΘῺς ΕἾΠΕΝ, Κ.Τ.Λ. But the ΧΙΑΣΜΌς would be rather harsh, let him that thirsteth come: let him that believeth drink. In the present punctuation the sense remains unbroken, and flows spontaneously, thus: If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and He shall drink; he that believeth on Me shall be fully satisfied out of My abundance. Comp. ch. Joh 6:35, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and He that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” An imperative after an imperative has the force of a future, as presently at Joh 7:52, ἐρεύνησον καὶ ἴδε, search and you shall see. Nor is the construction of the succeeding words thereby injured. The Subject is, He who believes on Me: the Predicate is, As the Scripture hath said, Rivers of living water shall flow out of his belly. Only the copula, is, or rather shall be,[209] needs to be supplied, almost in the same way as at ch. Joh 6:30, Joh 17:2, “As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him, so it is;” Luk 21:6, ταῦτα ἅ θεωρεῖτε, ἘΛΕΎΣΟΝΤΑΙ ἩΜΈΡΑΙ ἘΝ ΑἿς, Κ.Τ.Λ. [i.e. “These things” are of such a kind “that the days shall come,” etc.] But in this passage the sentence is continued by means of the Quotation, and the Believer is compared to the Lord Himself of believers, concerning whom the promise treats.

[208] καὶ πίνετε, and let him drink) The whole matter must be brought to this deduction. Many come to Jesus; but they are wanting to their own selves, so as to prevent their enjoying the most delightful fruition itself, which otherwise would follow upon their drawing nigh to Him.—V. g.

[209] “As the Scripture hath said,” etc., so it shall be.—E. and T.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_7:37. As the eighth day (the 22d Tisri) was reckoned along with the seven feast days proper, according to Lev_23:35-36; Lev_23:39, Num_29:35, Neh_8:18, as according to Succah, f. 48. 1, the last day of the feast is the eighth, it is clear that John meant this day, and not the seventh (Theophylact, Buxtorf, Bengel, Reland, Paulus, Ammon), especially as in later times it was usual generally to speak of the eight days feast of Tabernacles (2Ma_10:6; Josephus, Antt. iii. 10. 4; Gem. Eruvin. 40. 2; Midr. Cohel. 118. 3). In keeping with this is the very free translation ἐξόδιον (termination of the feast), which the LXX. give for the name of the eighth day, עֲצֶרֶת (Lev_23:36; Num_29:35; Neh_8:18), i.e. assembly; comp. Ewald, Alterth. p. 481.

τῇ μεγάλῃ] the (pre-eminently) great, solemn. Comp. Joh_19:31. The superlative is implied in the attribute thus given to this day above the other feast days. Wherein consisted the special distinction attaching to this day? It was simply the great closing day of the feast, appointed for the solemn return from the booths into the temple (Ewald, Alterth. p. 481), and, according to Lev_23:35-36, was kept holy as a Sabbath. The explanation of ἐξόδιον in Philo, de Septenario, II. p. 298, that it denoted the end of the yearly feasts collectively, has as little to do with the matter (for τῇ μεγάλῃ has reference only to the feast of Tabernacles) as has the designation יוֹם טוֹב in the Tr. Succah, for this means nothing more than feast day. If, indeed, this day had, according to Tr. Succah (see Lightfoot, p. 1032 f.), special services, sacrifices, songs, still no more was required than to honour it sicut reliquos dies festi. Its μεγαλότης consisted just in this, that it brought the great feast as a whole to a sacred termination.

The express designation of the day as τῇ μεγάλῃ is in keeping with the solemn coming forth of Jesus with the great word of invitation and promise, Joh_7:37-38. The solemnity of this coming forth is also intimated in εἱστήκει (He stood there) and in ἔκραξε (see on Joh_7:28).

ἐάν τις διψᾷ, κ.τ.λ.] denoting spiritual need[269] and spiritual satisfaction, as in Joh_4:15, in the conversation with the Samaritan woman, and in Joh_6:35; Mat_5:6. We are not told what led Jesus to adopt this metaphorical expression here. There was no need of anything special to prompt Him to do so, least of all at a feast so joyous, according to Plutarch, Symp. iv. 6. 2, even so bacchanalian in its banquetings. Usually, a reason for the expression has been found in the daily libations which were offered on the seven feast days (but also on the eighth, according to R. Juda, in Succah iv. 9), at the time of the morning sacrifice, when a priest fetched water in a golden pitcher containing three logs from the spring of Siloam, and poured this, together with wine, on the west side of the altar into two perforated vessels, amidst hymns of praise and music. See Dachs, Succah, p. 368. Some reference to this libation may be supposed, because it was one of the peculiarities of the feast, even on the hypothesis that it did not take place upon the eighth day, derived either from the old idea of pouring out water (1Sa_7:6; Hom. Od. μ. 362, al., so De Wette); or, according to the Rabbis (so also Hengstenberg), from Isa_12:3, a passage which contains the words sung by the people during the libation. But any connection of the words of Jesus with this libation is all the more doubtful, because He is speaking of drinking, and this is the essential element of His declaration. Godet arbitrarily interpolates: He compares Himself with the water from the rock in the wilderness, and represents Himself as this true rock (comp. 1Co_10:4).

[269] Luther: a heartfelt longing, yea, a troubled, sad, awakened, stricken conscience, a despairing, trembling heart, that would know how it can be with God.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 7:37-44 . Jesus proclaims His ability to quench human thirst with living water .

Joh 7:37 . ἐν δὲ τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ … This exact specification of time is given that we may understand the significance of the words uttered by Jesus. The Feast of Tabernacles lasted for seven days (Lev 23:34 , Neh 8:18 ), and on the eighth day was “an holy convocation,” on which the people celebrated their entrance into the holy land, abandoning their booths, and returning to their ordinary dwellings. On each of the seven feast days water was drawn in a golden pitcher from the pool of Siloam, and carried in procession to the Temple, in commemoration of the water from the rock with which their fathers in the desert had been provided. On the eighth day, which commemorated their entrance into “a land of springs of water,” this ceremony was discontinued. But the deeper spirits must have viewed with some misgiving all this ritual, feeling still in themselves a thirst which none of these symbolic forms quenched, and wondering when the vision of Ezekiel would be realised, and a river broad and deep would issue from the Lord’s house. Filled with these misgivings they suddenly hear a voice, clear and assured, Ἐάν τις διψᾷ , ἐρχέσθω πρός με καὶ πινέτω : that is, whatever natural wants and innocent cravings and spiritual aspirations men have, Christ undertakes to satisfy them every one. To this general invitation are added words so enigmatical that John finds it necessary to explain their reference.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

III. On and after the great day of the Feast: 7:37-8:59.

The last and great day of the feast has arrived; Jesus lays aside the apologetic form which until now He has given to His teachings. His word assumes a solemnity proportioned to that of this holy day; He declares Himself to be the reality of all the great historic symbols which the feast recalls to mind. Such declarations only aggravate the unbelief of a part of those who surround Him, while they draw more closely the bond already formed between the believers and Himself.

Four Divisions: 1. The true source: Joh 7:37-52; John 2. The true light: Joh 8:12-20; John 3. The true Messiah: Joh 8:21-29; John 4. The incurable nature of Jewish unbelief: Joh 8:30-59. The passage Joh 7:53 to Joh 8:11, which contains the story of the woman taken in adultery, does not appear to us to belong to the genuine text of the Gospel.

1. The True Source: 7:37-52.

John reports the discourse of Jesus and gives the explanation of it (Joh 7:37-39); he describes the different impressions of the multitude (Joh 7:40-44); he gives an account of the meeting of the Sanhedrim, after the return of the officers (Joh 7:45-52).

ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

Vv. 37-52.

1. The explanation given by Godet of the reference to the living water in Joh 7:37 and the light in Joh 8:12 as connected with the two great Divine gifts to the Israelites in their life in the wilderness, which was commemorated in this feast, seems to the writer of this note to be the best one which has been offered. At the end of the feast, and when all minds were naturally turned toward the experiences in the desert, it was natural that Jesus should represent Himself and the new life under these figures, as He had done under the figure of the water of the well, at Sychar, and of the bread, in the sixth chapter.

2. The remark of the evangelist in Joh 7:39, though not having precisely the same form as those in Joh 2:21-22, etc., may not improbably be regarded as, like them, indicating an understanding of the meaning of Jesus’ words which was obtained only after His ascension. The last clause of the verse declares simply what was the fact with regard to the coming of the Spirit. It does not affirm any absolute necessity in the case. If the Divine plan, however, was to reveal the truth at first by the incarnation of the Logos in the person of a man, with the necessary limitations of a single human life, we can easily understand how the wider and greater spiritual influence should have been introduced only after the glorification of Jesus.—

3. The interruption on the part of the people breaks off this discourse, and hence we are unable to determine as confidently as might otherwise be the case what the precise meaning of Joh 7:38 is. But there is evidently an advance here beyond the thought of Joh 4:14. In that passage, it is the internal life of the believer which is referred to, but here the outgoing of this internal life in its blessing influence for others is set forth. This working of the interior life outward was, of course, dependent for its fulness on the greater outpouring of the Spirit which began with the Day of Pentecost. It was to be one means by which that glorification of Jesus on earth was to be accomplished, which is alluded to in Joh 12:23 and Joh 17:1, and which was to be connected with and follow upon His glorification in heaven.

4. With reference to Joh 7:41-42 two points may be noticed: (a) that the supposition on the part of the people here spoken of, that Jesus came from Galilec, may easily be explained in connection with the fact that His life had been passed there almost from its very beginning, and (b) that John does not state his own view, but theirs. The conclusion that he did not know of the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem is simply an inference drawn from the fact that he does not insert here a correction of this error. But his object in the narrative is clearly to give the accurate statement of the condition and progress of opinion in the minds of the people and their rulers, and not to show how far that opinion was correct or incorrect. The critics everywhere demand that the evangelist should follow a plan in accordance with their own preconceived ideas, but he was writing from a different standpoint and with a different purpose.

5. The conduct of Nicodemus here is certainly far from that moral cowardice which has been so generally charged upon him because he came to Jesus at first by night. It is worthy of remark that the oldest and best authorities mostly omit the word νυκτός here. The author makes no reference in this passage, therefore, to his coming by night. But, whether he alludes to this fact or not, he does not give any indication of any disapproval of his course.

6. The last clause of Joh 7:52 may be best explained by supposing that the persons opposing Nicodemus were not speaking of ordinary prophets, but of a great prophet, like ὁ προφήτης of Joh 7:40, or the Christ. Galilee was not the region, they thought, from which such a prophet could be expected to come. If this was their meaning, the difficulty supposed to arise from the case of Jonah is removed.

Vv. 37, 38. “On the last and great day of the feast, Jesus stood, and, speaking with a loud voice, said: If any thirsts, let him come to me and drink;

38. he that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” Almost all the interpreters at the present day acknowledge that the last day of the feast is not the seventh, which was distinguished in no respect from the others, but the eighth, which was marked by certain special ceremonies. No doubt, only seven feast days are mentioned in Deu 16:13. The same is the case in Num 29:12; but in this passage there is found, in Joh 7:35, this supplementary indication: “And on the eighth day ye shall have a solemn assembly, and ye shall do no work;” which agrees with Lev 23:36, and Neh 8:18 : “So they celebrated the solemn feast seven days, and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, as it was ordained,” as well as with Josephus (Antiq.3.10, 4, “Celebrating the feast during eight days”), 2Ma 10:7 and the statements of the Rabbis. The two modes of counting are easily explained: the life in tents continued seven days, and on the eighth day the people returned to their dwellings. Probably, in this return there was seen, according to the ingenious supposition of Lange, the symbol of the entrance and establishment of the people in the land of Canaan. Philo sees in this eighth day the solemn close of all the feasts of the year. Josephus also calls it: “the sacred closing of the year” (συμπέρασμα τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἁγιώτερον). This day was sanctified by a solemn assembly and the Sabbatic rest; the whole people, abandoning their tents of leafy branches, went in a procession to the temple, and from thence every one returned to his house. The treatise Succa calls this day “the last and good day.”

The δέ indicates an advance: the narrative passes to something greater. The terms εἱστήκει (pluperfect, in the sense of the imperfect) and ἔκραξε, cried, designate a more solemn attitude and a more elevated tone of voice than ordinary. For the most part, Jesus taught sitting; this time, apparently, He stood up. He was about to apply to Himself one of the most striking Messianic symbols among all those which the national history contained. It is difficult to hold, with Reuss, that the figure of which He makes use at this solemn moment was not suggested to Him by some circumstance connected with the feast. Thus almost all the commentators think that He alludes to the libation which was made every morning during the sacred week. Led by a priest, the whole people, after the sacrifice, went down from the temple to the fountain of Siloam; the priest filled at this fountain, already celebrated by the prophets, a golden pitcher, and carried it through the streets amid joyful shouts of the multitude, and with the sound of cymbals and trumpets.

The rejoicing was so great that the Rabbis were accustomed to say that he who had not been present at this ceremony and the other similar ones which distinguished this feast, did not know what joy is. On the return to the temple, the priest went up to the altar of burnt-offering; the people cried out to him: “Lift up thy hand!” and he made the libation, turning the golden pitcher to the West, and to the East a cup filled with wine from two silver vases pierced with holes. During the libation, the people sang, always to the sound of cymbals and trumpets, the words of Isa 12:3 : “Ye shall draw water with joy out of the well of salvation,” words to which the Rabbinical tradition quite specially attributed a Messianic significance. It may seem probable, therefore, that Jesus alludes to this rite. No doubt, objection is made that according to Rabbi Judah, this libation was not made on the eighth day. But even if it were so, Lange judiciously observes that it was precisely the void occasioned by the omission of this ceremony on this day that must have called forth this testimony which was designed to fill it. This method of acting was much better than that of creating a sort of competition with the sacred rite, at the very moment when it was being performed as on the preceding days in the midst of tumultuous joy. Nevertheless we have a more serious reason to allege against this reference of the word of Jesus to the ritual libation.

Would it be worthy of Jesus to take for His starting-point in a testimony so important as that which He is about to give, a ceremony which is altogether human? What was this rite? An emblem contrived by the priests for recalling to mind one of the great theocratic miracles wrought in the desert, the pouring forth of the water from the rock. Now, why should not Jesus, instead of thinking of the humanly instituted emblem, have gone back even to the divine blessing itself, which this rite served to recall? The word which He utters stands in a much more direct relation to the miracle than to the ceremony. In the latter it was not the question of drinking, but only of drawing and pouring out the water, while, in the miracle in the wilderness, the people quenched their thirst from the stream of water coming forth from the rock. It is, then, not to this golden pitcher carried in the procession, but to the rock itself from which God had caused the living water to flow, that Jesus compares Himself. In chap. 2. He had presented Himself as the true temple, in chap. 3, as the true brazen serpent, in chap. 6, as the bread from heaven, the true manna; in chap. 7, He is the true rock; in chap. 8, He will be the true luminous cloud, and soon, until chap. 19 where He will finally realize the type of the Paschal lamb. Thus Jesus takes advantage of the particular circumstances of each feast, to show the Old Covenant realized in His person, so fully does He feel and know Himself as the essence of all the theocratic symbols. In view of all this we may estimate aright the opinion of those who make the fourth Gospel a writing foreign or even opposed to the Old Covenant (Reuss, Hilgenfeld, etc.)!

The solemn testimony of Joh 7:37-38 therefore places us again face to face with the scene in the wilderness, which had been so vividly recalled, during the course of the feast, by the joyous ceremony of the libation. The first words: “If any man thirsts,” bring before our eyes the whole people consumed by thirst in the wilderness. To all those who resemble these thirsting Israelites, the invitation, which is about to follow, addresses itself. Thirst is the emblem of spiritual needs. Comp. Mat 5:6 : “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.” These are the hearts which the Father has taught and drawn by means of a docile listening to Moses. The expression ἐάν τις,if it happens that any one, reminds us how sporadic these cases are; for the spiritual wants can be easily stifled. For every thirsty heart, Jesus will be what the rock from which the living water sprang forth was for the Israelites: “Let him come unto me and drink.” These two imperatives, thus united, signify: There is nothing else to do but to come; when once he has come, let him drink, as formerly the people did. Reuss, Weiss and Keil object to this interpretation of Joh 7:37, that in Joh 7:38 it is the believer who is represented as the refreshing stream. But Joh 7:38 can in no case serve to explain the idea of Joh 7:37.

For there is between the two, not a relation of explanatory repetition, but a relation of distinctly marked advance. The believer, after having his own thirst quenched (Joh 7:37), becomes himself capable of quenching the thirst of other souls (Joh 7:38); this is the striking proof of the fullness with which his own spiritual wants have been satisfied. Now, if the idea changes from Joh 7:37 to Joh 7:38, the figure may also change. In Joh 7:37, the believer drinks of the water of the Rock; in Joh 7:38, he becomes himself a rock for others. How magnificently is the promise of Joh 7:37 : Let him drink, confirmed by this experience! He will be so filled, that he will himself overflow in streams of living water. One of the greatest difficulties of this passage has always been to know what expression of the Old Testament Jesus alludes to, when He says in Joh 7:38 :as the Scripture has said; for nowhere does the Old Testament promise to believers the privilege of becoming themselves fountains of living water. Meyer, Weiss, Keil, Reuss, etc., cite passages such as Isa 44:3 : “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty...and my Spirit upon his seed”; 55.1: “All ye who are thirsty, come to the waters;” 58:: “Thou shalt be like a watered garden and as a fountain whose waters fail not.” Comp. also Joe 3:18; Zec 14:8; Eze 47:1 ff. etc. But, 1. In none of these passages is the idea expressed which forms the special feature of the promise of Jesus in Joh 7:38—that of the power communicated to the believer of quenching the thirst of other souls. 2. Nothing in these passages can serve to explain the strange expression κοιλία, his heart (literally, his belly). Hengstenberg, always preoccupied with the desire to discover the Song of songs in the New Testament, cites Son 4:12 : “My sister, my spouse, thou art a barred garden, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed,” and Joh 7:15 : “Oh fountain of gardens, oh well of living waters, flowing streams from Lebanon!” And as these citations strike against the same objection as the preceding, he tries to explain the figure of κοιλία by an allusion to Son 7:2, where the navel of Sulamith is compared to a round goblet. What puerilities!

According to Bengel, Jesus was thinking of the golden pitcher which served for the libation during the feast; according to Gieseler, of the subterranean cavern situated in the hill of the temple, from which escaped the waters which came forth by the fountain of Siloam. But these two explanations of the term κοιλία give no account of the formula of citation which refers us to the Old Testament itself (ἡ γραφή, the Scripture). By a desperate expedient, Stier and Gess desire to connect the words:he that believeth on me, with Joh 7:37, and to make them the subject of the imperative πινέτω : “Let him that believeth on me drink.” One comes thus to the point of referring the pronoun αὐτοῦ, “of his heart,” no longer to the believer, but to Christ. But where has the Scripture ever spoken of the κοιλία of the Messiah? And the construction is evidently forced. The pronoun αὐτοῦ cannot refer to the object ἐμέ me, but only to the subject of the sentence: “he that cometh.” Chrysostom makes the Scriptural quotation bear upon the notion of believing: “He who believes on me conformably to the Scriptures.”

But nothing in the idea of faith calls for a special appeal here to the Old Testament. Semler, Bleek, Weizsacker think they see in this passage an allusion to an unknown apocryphal writing;Ewald to a lost passage of Proverbs. These would be singular exceptions in the teaching of Jesus. The true explanation seems to me to come from the event itself, of which we believe that Jesus was thinking in Joh 7:37. It is said in Exo 17:6 : “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come from within it (mimmennou) waters and the people shall drink;” and Num 20:11 : “And abundant waters came forth,” comp. also Deu 8:15; Psa 114:8. It seems to me probable that these passages had been read on the occasion of the feast, and, that, being present to all minds, they furnished the occasion for this citation: as the Scripture hath said. The expression of Jesus ποταμοὶ ὕδατος, rivers of water, reproduces that in the Mosaic narrative מיִם רְִַבּים ַ (abundant waters). The expression κοιλία αὐτοῦ, his belly, is derived from the word mimmennou, from within him. This figure, borrowed from the interior cavity of the rock, from which the waters must have sprung forth, is applied first to Christ Himself, then to the man whose thirst Christ has quenched, and whom He fills with His presence and grace. The future ῥεύσουσιν, shall flow, recalls the similar form of the Old Testament: “waters shall come forth.” The word ὁ πιστεύων, he that believeth, is a nominative placed at the beginning as a nominative absolute, and one which finds its grammatical construction in the αὐτοῦ which follows: comp. Joh 6:39; Joh 17:2, etc. If the change of idea and of figure from Joh 7:37 to Joh 7:38 appears abrupt, it must not be forgotten that, according to Joh 7:40, and from the nature of things, we have only a very brief summary of the discourse of Jesus.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There are two principles of our salvation: the one is to be thoroughly touched with a true feeling of our extreme poverty: the other to seek in Christ only (whom we catch hold on by faith) the abundance of all good things.

The last day of the feast of Tabernacles, that as, the eighth day, was as high a day, as the first.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the last day, that great day of the feast--the eighth (Lev 23:39). It was a sabbath, the last feast day of the year, and distinguished by very remarkable ceremonies. "The generally joyous character of this feast broke out on this day into loud jubilation, particularly at the solemn moment when the priest, as was done on every day of this festival, brought forth, in golden vessels, water from the stream of Siloah, which flowed under the temple-mountain, and solemnly poured it upon the altar. Then the words of Isa 12:3 were sung, With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of Salvation, and thus the symbolical reference of this act, intimated in Joh 7:39, was expressed" [OLSHAUSEN]. So ecstatic was the joy with which this ceremony was performed--accompanied with sound of trumpets--that it used to be said, "Whoever had not witnessed it had never seen rejoicing at all" [LIGHTFOOT].

Jesus stood--On this high occasion, then, He who had already drawn all eyes upon Him by His supernatural power and unrivalled teaching--"JESUS stood," probably in some elevated position.

and cried--as if making proclamation in the audience of all the people.

If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink!--What an offer! The deepest cravings of the human spirit are here, as in the Old Testament, expressed by the figure of "thirst," and the eternal satisfaction of them by "drinking." To the woman of Samaria He had said almost the same thing, and in the same terms (Joh 4:13-14). But what to her was simply affirmed to her as a fact, is here turned into a world-wide proclamation; and whereas there, the gift by Him of the living water is the most prominent idea--in contrast with her hesitation to give Him the perishable water of Jacob's well--here, the prominence is given to Himself as the Well spring of all satisfaction. He had in Galilee invited all the WEARY AND HEAVY-LADEN of the human family to come under His wing and they should find REST (Mat 11:28), which is just the same deep want, and the same profound relief of it, under another and equally grateful figure. He had in the synagogue of Capernaum (Joh 6:36) announced Himself, in every variety of form, as "the BREAD of Life," and as both able and authorized to appease the "HUNGER," and quench the "THIRST," of all that apply to Him. There is, and there can be, nothing beyond that here. But what was on all those occasions uttered in private, or addressed to a provincial audience, is here sounded forth in the streets of the great religious metropolis, and in language of surpassing majesty, simplicity, and grace. It is just Jehovah's ancient proclamation now sounding forth through human flesh, "HO, EVERY ONE THAT THIRSTETH, COME YE TO THE WATERS, AND HE THAT HATH NO MONEY!" &c. (Isa 55:1). In this light we have but two alternatives; either to say with Caiaphas of Him that uttered such words, "He is guilty of death," or falling down before Him to exclaim with Thomas, " MY LORD AND MY GOD!"

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 37. In the last day, that great day of the feast] This was the eighth day, and was called the great day, because of certain traditional observances, and not on account of any excellence which it derived from the original institution. On the seven days they professed to offer sacrifices for the seventy nations of the earth, but on the eighth day they offered sacrifices for Israel; therefore the eighth day was more highly esteemed than any of the others. It is probably to this that the evangelist refers when he calls the last day the great day of the feast. See the account of the feast of tabernacles, in the note on Joh 7:2. It was probably when they went to draw water from the pool Siloam, and while they were pouring it out at the foot of the altar, that our Lord spoke these words; for, as that ceremony pointed out the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit, our Lord, who was the fountain whence it was to proceed, called the people to himself, that, by believing on him, they might be made partakers of that inestimable benefit.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

37. On the last day. The first thing that ought to be observed here is, that no plots or intrigues of enemies terrified Christ, so as to cause him to desist from his duty; but, on the contrary, his courage rose with dangers, so that he persevered with greater firmness. This is proved by the circumstance of the time, the crowded assembly, and the freedom he used in exclaiming, while he knew that hands were stretched out on all sides to seize him; for it is probable that the officers were at that time ready to execute their commission.

We must next observe, that nothing else than the protection of God, on which he relied, enabled him to stand firm against such violent efforts of those men, who had every thing in their power. For what other reason can be assigned why Christ preached on the most public day of the festival, in the midst of the temple, over which his enemies enjoyed a quiet reign, and after that they had prepared a band of officers, but because God restrained their rage? Yet it is highly useful to us, that the Evangelist introduces Christ exclaiming aloud, Let all who thirst come to me For we infer from it that the invitation was not addressed to one or two persons only, or in a low and gentle whisper, but that this doctrine is proclaimed to all, in such a manner that none may be ignorant of it, but those who, of their own accord shutting their ears, will not receive this loud and distinct cry.

If any man thirst. By this clause he exhorts all to partake of his blessings, provided that, from a conviction of their own poverty, they desire to obtain assistance. For it is true that we are all poor and destitute of every blessing, but it is far from being true that all are roused by a conviction of their poverty to seek relief. Hence it arises that many persons do not stir a foot, but wretchedly wither and decay, and there are even very many who are not affected by a perception of their emptiness, until the Spirit of God, by his own fire, kindle hunger and thirst in their hearts. It belongs to the Spirit, therefore, to cause us to desire his grace.

As to the present passage, we ought to observe, first, that none are called to obtain the riches of the Spirit but those who burn with the desire of them. For we know that the pain of thirst is most acute and tormenting, so that the very strongest men, and those who can endure any amount of toil, are overpowered by thirst. And yet he invites the thirsty rather than the hungry, in order to pursue the metaphor which he afterwards employs in the word water and the word drink, that all the parts of the discourse may agree with each other. And I have no doubt that he alludes to that passage in Isaiah, All that thirst, come to the waters, (Isaiah 55:1.) For what the Prophet there ascribes to God must have been at length fulfilled in Christ, as also that which the blessed Virgin sung, that

those who are rich and full he sendeth empty away, (Luke 1:53.)

He therefore enjoins us to come direct to himself, as if he had said, that it is he alone who can fully satisfy the thirst of all, and that all who seek even the smallest alleviation of their thirst anywhere else are mistaken, and labor in vain.

And let him drink. To the exhortation a promise is added; for though the word — let him drink — conveys an exhortation, still it contains within itself a promise; because Christ testifies that he is not a dry and worn-out cistern, but an inexhaustible fountain, which largely and abundantly supplies all who will come to drink Hence it follows that, if we ask from him what we want, our desire will not be disappointed.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(37) In the last day, that great day of the feast.—The question whether the seventh or the eighth day of the feast is intended here, is one of antiquarian rather than of practical interest. The words commanding the observance in Deu_16:13, and Num_29:12, mention only seven days; but this latter passage is followed in Joh_7:35 by a reference to the solemn assembly on the eighth day. With this agree the words in Lev_23:35-36; Lev_23:39, and Neh_8:18. Later the eight days of the festival are certainly spoken of as in the Talmud, in 2Ma_10:6, and Jos. Ant. iii. 10, § 4. The best modern authorities are for the most part agreed that it was the eighth day, i.e., the 22nd of Tishri, that is here referred to. It was the “great day” as the octave of the feast, and the day of holy convocation.

Jesus stood and cried.—Comp. Note on Joh_7:28. Here the vivid remembrance of the writer remembers the attitude as well as the voice.

If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.—These words were almost certainly suggested by part of the ritual of the festival, which consisted in a solemn procession with music, and headed by a priest, which went on each morning from the Temple to the pool of Siloam, where the priest filled a golden vase with water and carried it to the Temple amid the joyful cries of the people. He then poured it out on the western side of the altar of burnt-offering; while another priest poured a drink-offering of wine, at the same time, on the eastern side of the altar, and the people during this act chanted the words of “the Hallel,” Psalms 113-118. If we accept the eighth day as that referred to in this verse, then this ceremony was. not repeated; but its very absence may have suggested the fuller declaration of the reality of which it was the representation. The current Rabbinical interpretation of the symbolism connected it with the gift of the latter rain, which was at this season; and also with the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Talmud says expressly, “Therefore is its name called the house of drawing, because from thence is drawn the Holy Spirit,” as it is said, “with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation” (Jer. Succa, v. 1). Thoughts like these would be connected with this ritual by the Jews and by Jesus Himself, and the exact form which His own thought takes is marked by the words, “If any man thirst.” He stands there on the great day of the feast, and around Him are men who for seven successive mornings have witnessed acts and uttered words telling, though they know it not, of the true satisfaction of spiritual thirst, and thinking of the descent of showers on the thirsty ground, and in some vague way of the Holy Spirit’s presence. They are as the woman of Samaria was by the side of the true well. For every one who really knew his need, the source of living water was at hand. (Comp. Notes on Joh_4:7-15.) That very Feast of Tabernacles, with its dwelling in tents, moreover, brought vividly to their minds the wilderness-life; and as in the past chapter the manna has formed the basis of His teaching about the Bread of Life, so here the striking of the rock and the streams gushing forth in the desert would be present to their minds. In the interpretation of one who was himself a Pharisee, and was taught in the schools of Jerusalem, “that rock was Christ” (1Co_10:4).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37. In the last day, that great day] Now on the last day, the great day. This was probably not the seventh day, but the eighth day, which according to Lev_23:36; Lev_23:39; Num_29:35; Neh_8:18, was reckoned along with the seven days of the feast proper. To speak of the seventh day as ‘the great day of the feast’ would not be very appropriate; whereas the eighth day on which the people returned home was, like the first day, kept as a Sabbath (Lev_23:39), and had special sacrifices (Num_29:36-38). In keeping with the solemnity of the day Christ solemnly takes up His position and cries aloud with deep emotion (see on Joh_7:28).

stood] Or, was standing.

If any man thirst] The conjectural reference to the custom of pouring water at the Feast of Tabernacles is probably correct. On all seven days water was brought from the pool of Siloam and poured into a silver basin on the western side of the altar of burnt offering, a ceremony not mentioned in O.T. Apparently this was not done on the eighth day. Accordingly Christ comes forward and fills the gap, directing them to a better water than that of Siloam. The fact that the water was poured and not drunk, does not seem to be a reason for denying the reference, especially when we remember how frequently Christ took an external fact as a text (comp. Joh_4:10, Joh_5:17; Joh_5:19, Joh_6:26-27, (Joh_8:12?) Joh_9:39, Joh_13:8; Joh_13:10; Joh_13:12-17; Mar_10:15-16; Mar_10:23-24, &c.). The pouring of the water would be suggestive enough. In such cases there is no need for the analogy to be complete, and in the present case it would add point to the reference that it was not complete. Mere pouring of water could not quench even bodily thirst; Christ could satisfy spiritual thirst. ‘Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.’ Isa_12:3.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He that believeth on me,.... Which explains what is meant by coming to Christ, and drinking; for these acts are no other than for a man to go out of himself to Christ, and live by faith on him, and his grace. To which what follows is a great encouragement;

as the Scripture hath said: some refer these words to the preceding clause concerning believing in Christ, which the writings of the Old Testament speak of, as in Deu 18:15, and the sense is, that he that believes on Christ, the object of faith the Scripture points at, and in him, as that directs and requires; that believes in him as the mighty God, and as the prophet, priest, and King, and as the only foundation of the church, and lives by faith upon him, as just men do, then

out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water, though rather they belong to what follows; and do not design any particular place of Scripture; for no such one is to be found, where the following passage is expressed in so many words; but all those Scriptures which speak of grace, under the metaphors of water, and abundance of water, as rivers and floods of water, and of the effusion of the Holy Spirit, under such figurative expressions, such as Isa 41:17. Hence the Syriac version reads in the plural number, "as the Scriptures hath said"; referring to more than one: "out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water"; the grace of the Spirit of God is signified by water, because it is of a cleansing and purifying nature, as faith and hope are, having to do with the blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin; and because it fructifies and causes the saints, as trees of righteousness, to grow, and bring forth fruit; and especially because it is cooling to those who are scorched with the heat of a fiery law, and very refreshing to thirsty souls: and it is called "living" water, because by it dead sinners are quickened, drooping saints are revived, and comforted; spiritual life in them is maintained and supported, and it springs up to, and issues in eternal life: and it is expressed by "rivers" of living water, because of the abundance of it in regeneration, justification, and pardon; it is grace for grace, abundance of grace believers receive from Christ; and from him, in whom those large measures of grace are, they "flow out" again, even "out of his belly": from within him, out of his heart, the seat of it, by his lips, both in prayer to God, and in conversation with the saints, to whom he communicates his rich experiences of grace, to their comfort, and the glory of God: for grace is of a diffusive and communicative nature; out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh: and also it flows out by his life and conversation, which is sober, righteous, and godly; and this the grace of God teaches and influences: and this grace, as it is permanent and lasting itself, even perpetual, and always abiding; so it continues to flow, and to show itself in its acts and effects, in one way or another. The Jews ought not to find fault with Christ's using such expressions, mystically understood, since they, comparing Moses and the Messiah together, say,

"as the first Redeemer caused a well to spring up, so the last Redeemer shall cause waters to spring up, according to Joe 3:18 (e).''

(e) Midrash Kohelet, fol. 63. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

Ver. 37. In the last day] In this eighth day (which the Jews called Hosanna Rabbah) they read the last section of the law, and likewise began the first; lest they might otherwise seem more joyful in ending their sections than willing to begin them. (Tremel. ex Talmud.) Upon this day also, by the institution (say they) of Haggai and Zechariah (but more likely by their own superstition), they did, with great solemnity and joy, bring great store of water from the river Shiloh to the temple; where it being delivered unto the priests, it was poured upon the altar, together with wine; and all the people sang that of the prophet, Isa 12:3; "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." Hereunto our Saviour is thought to allude, Joh 7:38; "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of water;" provided that he believe in me, so as the Scripture saith he should. For so (after Chrysostom) Heinsius, De Dieu, and others expound it.

He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said] sc. That men should believe on me, to such I make a promise, that out of his belly, that is (by a catachresis), {a} out of the bosom and bottom of his soul "shall flow rivers," &c.: he shall not only have sufficient for himself, but wherewith to refresh others.

{a} Improper use of words; application of a term to a thing which it does not properly denote; abuse or perversion of a trope or metaphor. ŒD

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In the last day - The eighth day of the festival.

That great day - The day of the holy convocation or solemn assembly, Lev 23:36. This seems to have been called the great day:

1.Because of the solemn assembly, and because it was the closing scene.

2.Because, according to their traditions, on the previous days they offered sacrifices for the pagan nations as well as for themselves, but on this day for the Jews only (Lightfoot).

3.Because on this day they abstained from all servile labor Lev 23:39, and regarded it as a holy day.

On this day they finished the reading of the law, which they commenced at the beginning of the feast.

5.Because on this day probably occurred the ceremony of drawing water from the pool of Siloam.

On the last day of the feast it was customary to perform a solemn ceremony in this manner: The priest filled a golden vial with water from the fount of Siloam (see the notes at Joh 9:7), which was borne with great solemnity, attended with the clangor of trumpets, through the gate of the temple, and being mixed with wine, was poured on the sacrifice on the altar. What was the origin of this custom is unknown. Some suppose, and not improbably, that it arose from an improper understanding of the passage in Isa 12:3; “With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” It is certain that no such ceremony is commanded by Moses. It is supposed to be probable that Jesus stood and cried while they were performing this ceremony, that he might:

1.Illustrate the nature of his doctrine by this; and,

2.Call off their attention from a rite that was uncommanded, and that could not confer eternal life.

Jesus stood - In the temple, in the midst of thousands of the people.

If any man thirst - Spiritually. If any man feels his need of salvation. See Joh 4:13-14; Mat 5:6; Rev 22:17. The invitation is full and free to all.

Let him come unto me ... - Instead of depending on this ceremony of drawing water let him come to me, the Messiah, and he shall find an ever-abundant supply for all the wants of his soul.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Our Saviour thinketh not fit to take any notice of their guess, whither he would go, nor replies any thing to it. The feast of tabernacles was to hold seven days, Lev 23:34, in which they were to offer up burnt offerings, Lev 23:36. The eighth day was to be kept as a sabbath; there was in it to be a holy convocation, no servile labour was to be done. Christ on that day discoursed again to the people, crying aloud, and publicly,

If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink; that is, If any man stand in need of any spiritual good, righteousness, strength, comfort, &c., it is to be found in me; let him come to me, by faith acknowledging, receiving, and embracing me, as the Mediator and Saviour of the world, and he shall have from me whatsoever spiritual influence of grace he stand in need of. Those who remember what our Saviour told the woman of Samaria, Joh 4:10,14, where he compared himself to living water, will easily understand this the sense of these words. The condition on our parts is expressed under the notion of thirsting; which we know is the natural appetite, craving some liquid thing to refresh the man under his drought; and it is expressive of an exceeding great passion, and so made use of both in the Old Testament and the New to signify a soul’s passionate desire of spiritual things, Isa 55:1; Mat 5:6.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 37-39. (6) The claim to be Organ and Giver of the Holy Spirit.

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast. A question arises Was the last day the seventh or the eighth day? and why was it called the great day? The question cannot be finally answered. The Feast of Tabernacles, according to Num_29:12 and Deu_16:13, is said to last seven days; and, so far as the Mosaic ceremonial goes, the ceremonial of the seventh day was less imposing and festive than either of the preceding days. But Num_29:35 shows that the eighth day was also celebrated as a solemn assembly, on which no servile work could be done. (cf. Lev_23:36 Neh_8:18) In RAPC 2Ma 10:6 eight days of the feast were spoken of. On the day of holy convocation the people removed or left their booths, and thus commemorated, with great rejoicing, the close of the wilderness period and the commencement of their national history. It may, moreover, have been called "the great day" because it was the closing day of all the festivals of the year. Josephus calls it "the very sacred close (sumperasma) of the year." The LXX gives the curious translation exodion , for azereth, equivalent to "assembly." This exodion Philo ("De Septenaris") describes as the end of the festivals of the sacred year. Meyer, Alford, Godet, Lange, and many others regard the eighth day as that here referred to by the word "great," and find, in the very absence of the ceremonial of drawing water from the Pool of Siloam, the occasion which provoked the reference of our Lord to his own power to meet the spiritual thirst of mankind, thus repeating what he had said to the woman of Samaria of his own grace, with further and nobler expansions. The songs which had been sung on every previous day of the feast were sung without the special rejoicings and water ceremonial. Hence some have thought that the very contrast between the previous days and this last day, "great" in other respects, may have made the reference quite as impressive as if the following words had been spoken in some pause, or at the conclusion of the great Hallel of the seventh day. So Westcott. It should, however, be noted that Rabbi Juda (in the Genesisara on "Succah") asserts that the water pouring took place on the eighth day as well. This is supposed, by Lange, to be inaccurate or a later addition. Edersheim, however, has given strong reasons for believing that very special ceremonial took place on the seventh day. The people, all carrying in both hands their palm, myrtle, and citron branches, divided into three companies, one of which waited in the temple, one went to Moya to fetch willow branches to adorn the altar, and a third repaired with music to the Pool of Siloam, where the priest filled his golden goblet with water, and returned, with blast of trumpet, by the water gate, to the court of the priests. There he was joined by other priests with vessels of wine. The water was poured into the silver funnel, and at this act burst forth the great Hallel (Psalm 113-118) in responsive chorus. The people shook their palm branches as they sang the words, "Oh, give thanks unto the Lord." On the last day, the great day of the feast, the priests compassed the altar seven times before the sacrifices were kindled, and the songs accompanying the ceremony of this day were called "the great Hosanna." As the people left the temple they shook off their willow leaves on the altar, and beat their palm branches to pieces. Edersheim thinks that it was at the moment when the pause after the great Hallel occurred that Jesus lifted up his voice, and there is much probability in the suggestion. Alford, accepting the non-pouring of the water on the eighth day, considers that the very absence of that ceremonial provided the opportunity for the great utterance which follows. Chrysostom says, on the eighth day, "when they were returning home, he giveth them supplies." Jesus stood and cried adopting an unusual attitude of command, and unaccustomed energy of voice (Joh_1:35 and ver. 28, note) If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink. Christ thus identifies himself with the deepest meaning of the Old Testament and the Hebrew ritual. The sabbath and the temple found the highest expression of their meaning in his life and work. Godet thinks that the underlying reference here was to that of which the ceremonial was a memorial, and pointed to the smiting of the rock in the wilderness, from whose hidden depths the rushing waters flowed. The cry, "If any man thirst," might certainly recall the terrible drought in the wilderness, though there does not seem to me any definite reference to it in what follows. The libation of water was certainly not offered to the multitudes to drink, but the ritual use of water treats it as andement absolutely essential to our human life. The people gave thanks that they had reached a land where fell the early and latter rain, and fountains and wells and springs of living water ran. Christ offered more than all the utter final quenching of all torturing thirst. The people sang Isa_12:3, "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." He said, "Come to me," and your joy shall be full. To the woman at the well he had said that the water he would give should be in the soul as a well of water springing up into eternal life. but in this connection he promised a much more precious gift.

Vers. 37-39. The address of Jesus.

He makes no reply to Jewish objection.

I OCCASION OF THIS ADDRESS. "The last and great day of the feast.

1. It was the eighth day, and was kept as a sabbath.

2. It was designed to commemorate the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan.

3. It was usual on this day for the people to go, under the guidance of the priest, to the fountain of Siloam, where a pitcher was filled with water, and brought back with joy to the temple. This usage probably suggested the figure used by our Lord in his address.

II CHRIST OFFERS THE ONLY SATISFACTION THAT CAN MEET THE SPIRITUAL WANTS OF MAN. "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink

1. The language implies the sense of spiritual need.

a. There is in man a thirst for righteousness.

b. There is a thirst for peace.

c. There is a thirst for the reconciliation of difficulties.

2. The language implies float Christ is himself the Rock in the wilderness,out of which the waters of salvation flow. (1Co_10:4)

(1) This water was emblematic of future blessing in the ancient prophets. (Eze_47:1, Eze_47:12) He is the Fountain of gardens, the Well of living waters, "as rivers of water in a dry place" to thirsty souls. There is fulness of grace in Christ; it flows incessantly into the hearts of his people; they can drink of it till their souls are as a watered garden.

(2) Mark how the Lord transfers to himself figure after figure of Old Testament times the rock, the manna, the brazen serpent, the fiery pillar.

3. It implies that the thirst can only be relieved by the actual drinking ofthe living water. Our Lord refers directly to faith.

III THE BELIEVER HIMSELF IS TRANSFORMED INTO A ROCK. "He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

1. We have here the refreshing vigour of faith.

2. The reception of blessing from Christ leads to its fuller distribution of believer"s to all within their influence. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

IV THE EXPLANATION OF THE NEW VIGOUR AND INFLUENCE OF THE BELIEVER. "But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified." The reference is to the approaching Pentecost.

1. The language does not imply that the Spirit had not yet existed in believers, for Old Testament saints were raved in the same manner as New Testament saints. It is the Spirit"s office in all dispensations alike to apply the redemption of Christ to believers.

2. It implies that the Spirit was to come, not for mere sanctifying work, but as the fountain of gifts to the Church. This was the peculiarity of the Pentecostal gifts. This was the origin of the "unction" of believers. (1Jn_2:20)

3. The gift of the Spirit was essentially connected with the glorification of Christ. "Because that Jesus was not yet glorified." Jesus must first die, rise again, and ascend to heaven before the Holy Ghost would descend upon the Church. This is the first allusion to Christ"s glorification.

The thirsting invited to the Fountain of living waters.

It was our Lord"s wont to make use of the most familiar objects, the most ordinary events, the most customary practices, in order to illustrate and to enforce spiritual truth. To set forth man"s need of teaching, of heavenly grace, of salvation, Christ spoke of hunger and of thirst, of bread and of water. On the occasion of the Feast of Tabernacles, there was performed a ceremony which may have immediately suggested the language of the text. This was the drawing of water from the Pool of Siloam, which was borne in procession to the temple, and poured out as a sacred libation before the Lord. It was probably upon the suggestion of this ceremony that our Lord uttered the memorable and encouraging words of the text.

I THE THIRST OF THE HUMAN SOUL. This thirst is deep seated in the nature of man. It manifests itself in the many forms of restless activity by which men seek to satisfy their aspirations. The powerlessness of the world to quench this thirst is an indication of the Divine origin of the soul. He who drinks at a cistern will find that the cistern will run dry. He who quaffs the water of a pool may find the water foul and turbid. Pie who tries to quench his thirst by draughts from the sea will learn that, so far from assuaging, these salt waters only increase the thirst. "The frail vessel thou hast made, No hands but thine can fill; For the waters of this world have failed, And I am thirsty still.

II THE SATISFYING GIFTS OF GOD"S HOLY SPIRIT. That which the world cannot do, the Spirit of God can do; he can fill the created nature with peace, purity, truth, and power. The river of God"s love flows on forever; it is inexhaustible. "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." "Blessed are they that... thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

III THE INVITATION AND PROMISE OF JESUS.

1. He claims himself to dispense the satisfying gifts of the Spirit. He is the Rock in the wilderness, from which flows the stream of living water. Thus he said, "Let him come unto me;" and at an earlier period of his ministry, "I would have given thee living water.

2. The terms upon which this blessing is conferred are such as are most encouraging to the hearer of the gospel. Faith is required from the thirsting applicant. This is evidently intended by the use of the words "come" and "drink." The blessing must be appropriated. And yet the satisfying provision is offered freely; it is not bought, but given. "Drink of the water of life freely. T.

Good news for the thirsty.

Jesus uttered forth this cry on the great day of the feast a time of ceasing from work, a time of solemn assembly. Quietly as Jesus had gone up to the feast, by this time he had become the Centre of a vast concourse. Because the concourse would be vast and not over quiet, and also because his message, if important, was tremendously important, he cried. We feel that, in doing this, that voice which spake as never man spake would only rise from sweetness to sublimity.

I WHY DID JESUS PUT HIS INVITATION IN THIS PARTICULAR WAY? It could hardly be because of the present surroundings of the people. Jerusalem was plentifully supplied with water. Not a soul in the crowd but could get a drink very quickly. The main reason must be found in the feast which had brought the people together. It was the feast instituted to commemorate the forty years in the wilderness, and serious people would call to mind all the events of that period. Prominent among the experiences of wandering Israel was the miraculous supply of water. Where would the people have been but for the God who turned bitter waters into sweet, and made springs to burst forth in the desert? Thus the observers of the feast would be led to think of the intenser thirst of the inward man. Jesus tried to put the truth in every possible way. What did not catch the experience of one would catch that of another. Not everybody would this appeal of the Lord touch. They would not have been through the experiences and reflections which gave a proper feeling of the urgency and the pain of thirst. But if in all that crowd hearing the cry of Jesus there was but one, only one, who had known the agonies of thirst far away in some sandy waste where no water was, it was worth while for Jesus to shout aloud so that that single man might hear.

II How THIS INVITATION IS TO BE MADE ATTRACTIVE TO US. We know nothing by our own experience of dry and thirsty lands. Wander anywhere through broad England and you can get a drink of water for the asking. We may sometimes have been inconvenienced a little, but that is no sufficient experience of thirst which lasts only for an hour or two. Reading accounts of some shipwrecks, we may gather a little of the feeling. Coleridge puts it thus in "The Ancient Mariner water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.

Of all the physical wants man can feel, none is capable of being raised to such a pitch of intensity as the want of water. So, down underneath the figure Jesus employs, there is a suggestion of the terrible suffering some have to undergo in finding spiritual truth and peace. As few comparatively know the full suffering of bodily thirst, so few comparatively know the full suffering of spiritual thirst. Few know such a state of heart as would warrant them in saying that their souls thirst for God. The way of agony is the way some must travel before they can be filled with the fulness of God. But intense agony in the sphere of the spiritual, as in the sphere of the natural, must be an exceptional thing. Yet who can tell but he may illustrate the exceptional, and so need to get guidance through the word of Jesus here? There are many things that say, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." Then the thirsty drink, and find their thirst unquenched and intensified. We may have our natural Elims. What if they change to Marahs? What if the rushing stream dries away to a few tantalizing and useless drops? Y.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

On the last, the great day of the feast - On this day there was the greatest concourse of people, and they were then wont to fetch water from the fountain of Siloam, which the priests poured out on the great altar, singing one to an other, With joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation. On this day likewise they commemorated God's miraculously giving water out of the rock, and offered up solemn prayers for seasonable rains.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Jesus the Living Water:

v. 37. In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.

v. 38. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

v. 39. (But this spake He of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified. ")

It on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the "day of the great Hosanna," on which the leaves of the willows and the other branches that had been used for the building of the booths were shaken off and the palm branches were waved against the altar, when the priests went around the altar seven times in a procession of thankfulness, and when a priest was commissioned to get a pitcher of water from the pool of Siloam and then pour it out at the side of the altar. All these ceremonies had been introduced in the course of time, and the Jewish teachers had explained some of them, especially the last, as a symbol which would find its fulfillment in the days of the Messiah. The proclamation of Jesus at this point was therefore very important and significant. He not only applied the words Isa 12:3 to Himself, but indicated that all other prophecies which were connected with this festival had found their fulfillment in Him. The water of the pool of Siloam was considered living water, since it was replenished from time to time by means of a natural siphon from a spring in the rock. But, after all, it was only earthly water, which could quench the thirst for only a short while. But those whose soul thirsts for God, as the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, Psa 42:1-2, must go to the Savior for their soul’s refreshment. For in the salvation earned through Christ’s Passion and death there is full satisfaction for the desire of all humble souls for mercy and forgiveness. Jesus is the fountain of living water, for in Him there is true, everlasting life. Every one that accepts Him and His salvation will never again be tortured with thirst, for he will possess the fullness of God’s mercy. And that is not all. The believer will himself become a fountain of living water, Isa 58:11; Isa 44:3. The Spirit, who has entered into his heart in regeneration, has worked spiritual life in him. This life daily gains in strength and willingness. It must manifest itself in deeds of the Spirit, in good works. There will daily be a new and full supply of knowledge and love, through the work of the Holy Spirit, given to all believers. At that time indeed the great revelation of the Spirit, the Pentecostal miracle, had not yet taken place; Jesus had not yet finished His earthly work, to enter into the glory of His Father. But the work of the Spirit in the Word is efficient at all times; sanctification is His peculiar office and ministry. The Spirit has now been revealed as He that glorified Christ. We have a greater measure of His manifestations in our days than the believers of the Old Testament had, Joe 2:28. "At the time when Jesus preached, He promised the Holy Spirit, and therefore the Holy Spirit was not yet there; not that He was not in existence in His nature, in heaven, but that He was not manifested in His revelation and in His work. For that is the special work and office of the Holy Spirit that He reveal and glorify Christ, that He preach and give testimony concerning Him. This office was then not yet in active working; the office of glorifying Christ the Lord was not yet in use, that is, the preaching of the forgiveness of sins, and how one may be delivered from death, have comfort and joy in Christ, that it concerns us: all this was at that time unheard of and not mentioned; that deliverance, salvation, righteousness, joy, and life should be given us through that man, Christ, whom people did not know at that time."

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The feast of tabernacles (which is the first here meant) lasted eight days; the first and last of which were to be kept holy with religious assemblies and sacrifices; and it was a custom among the Jews, upon that solemn day, to offer up a pot of water unto God, which they drew out of the fountain of Siloam: with reference to this custom, Christ here cries with a loud voice, inviting the people to fetch and draw from him, as from a living fountain, all the sanctifying gifts and saving graces of the Holy Spirit.

Learn hence, That Jesus Christ is the original and fountain of all saving grace, whom, if we thirst after, repair to, and by faith depend upon, as a Mediator, we shall certainly receive what influences of grace soever we want and stand in need of.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37. In the last day. Probably the eighth day, possibly the seventh. The eighth was a day of holy rest added to the seven days of the feast. If any man thirsteth, let him, etc. Jewish writers say that water was brought every day of the feast in a golden pitcher from the pool of Siloam and poured upon the altar. It is thought that it was when this water was poured out that Jesus cried out, and pointed to the living water.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

Some time has passed. It is now the last day of the festival and Jesus speaks to the crowd.

great day

It is "great" because it is the last, or most important, day of the festival.

If anyone is thirsty

Here the word "thirsty" is a metaphor that means one's great desire for the things of God, just as one "thirsts" for water. AT: "Those who desire the things of God like a thirty man desires water" (See: Metaphor)

let him come to me and drink

The word "drink" is a metaphor that means to receive the spiritual life that Jesus provides. AT: "let him come to me and quench his spiritual thirst" (See: Metaphor)

He who believes in me, just as the scripture says

"As the scripture says about anyone who believes in me"

rivers of living water will flow

The "rivers of living water" is a metaphor that represents the life that Jesus provides for those who are spiritually "thirsty." AT: "spiritual life will flow like rivers of water" (See: Metaphor)

living water

Possible meanings are 1) "water that gives life" or 2) "water that causes people to live." (See: Metaphor)

from his stomach

Here the stomach represents the inside of a person, specifically the non-physical part of a person. AT: "from inside of him" or "from his heart" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

festival

cry

word of God

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

37. ἐν … μεγάλῃ. Now on the last day, the great day. This was probably not the seventh day, but the eighth day, which according to Lev 23:36; Lev 23:39; Num 29:35; Neh 8:18, was reckoned along with the seven days of the feast proper. To speak of the seventh day as ‘the great day of the feast’ would not be very appropriate; whereas the eighth day on which the people returned home was, like the first day, kept as a Sabbath (Lev 23:39), and had special sacrifices (Num 29:36-38). Comp. 2Ma 10:6. In keeping with the solemnity of the day Christ solemnly takes up His position and cries aloud with deep emotion (see on Joh 7:28). The εἱστήκει and ἔκραξεν are very graphic: comp. Joh 1:35, Joh 18:5; Joh 18:16; Joh 18:18, Joh 19:25, Joh 20:11. He was standing, beholding the multitude engaged in the ceremonies of the last day of the Feast, and moved by the sight He cried aloud.

ἐάν τις διψᾷ. The words recall Isa 55:1 and Rev 22:17, ὁ διψῶν ἐρχέσθω. See on Joh 7:30. The conjectured reference to the custom of pouring water at the Feast of Tabernacles is probably correct. On all seven days water was brought from the pool of Siloam and poured into a silver basin on the western side of the altar of burnt offering, a ceremony not mentioned in Q.T. Apparently this was not done on the eighth day. Accordingly Christ comes forward and fills the gap, directing them to a better water than that of Siloam. The fact that the water was poured and not drunk, does not seem to be a reason for denying the reference, especially when we remember how frequently Christ took an external fact as a text (comp. Joh 4:10, Joh 5:17; Joh 5:19, Joh 6:26-27, (Joh 8:12?) Joh 9:39, Joh 13:8; Joh 13:10; Joh 13:12-17; Mar 10:15-16; Mar 10:23-24, &c.). The pouring of the water would be suggestive enough, especially as it represented the water from the rock (1Co 10:4). In such cases there is no need for the analogy to be complete, and in the present case it would add point to the reference that it was not complete. Mere pouring of water could not quench even bodily thirst; Christ could satisfy spiritual thirst. ‘Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.’ Isa 12:3. Thus S. John, having shewn us Christ as typified by the Brazen Serpent (Joh 3:14) and the Manna (Joh 6:51), now shews Him as the Rock.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37-52.] Jesus the giver of the Spirit (37-39). Consequences of the discourse (40-52).

37,

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37. Jesus seems to have continued His teaching daily, or at any rate continuously, in the Temple; and on the last day of the feast, He made a special and final appeal to His hearers to accept His message.

εἱστήκει1 ὁ Ἰησοῦς. Jesus, like other teachers, was accustomed to sit as He taught (see on 6:3); but at this point, to emphasise the momentousness of His words, He rose and cried out (see on 7:28 for ἔκραξεν, and cf. Pro 8:3, Pro 8:9:3, Pro 8:5), “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” Cf. Isa 55:1.

ἐρχέσθω πρός με. So אcBLNTWΘ, but א*D om. πρός με. Cf. 6:35.

“The last day, the great day, of the Feast” of Tabernacles was probably the eighth day (see on 7:2), on which were special observances. The ritual on each day, and probably on the eighth day also (although this seems to be uncertain), comprised an offering of water, perhaps (when the rite was initiated) symbolising abundance of rain to ensure a good crop at the next harvest. Rabbi Akiba says as much: “Bring the libation of water at the Feast of Tabernacles, that the showers may be blessed to thee. And accordingly it is said that whosoever will not come up to the Feast of Tabernacles shall have no rain.”1 At any rate, a golden vessel was filled with water from the Pool of Siloam, and the water was solemnly offered by the priest, the singers chanting, “With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation” (Isa 12:3).

This water ceremonial may have suggested the words of Jesus: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.”

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The last day. The eighth, the close of the whole festival, and kept as a Sabbath (Lev 23:36). It was called the Day of the Great Hosanna, because a circuit was made seven times round the altar with "Hosanna;" also the Day of Willows, and the Day of Beating the Branches, because all the leaves were shaken off the willow - boughs, and the palm branches beaten in pieces by the side of the altar. Every morning, after the sacrifice, the people, led by a priest, repaired to the Fountain of Siloam, where the priest filled a golden pitcher, and brought it back to the temple amid music and joyful shouts. Advancing to the altar of burnt - offering, at the cry of the people, "Lift up thy hand !" he emptied the pitcher toward the west, and toward the east a cup of wine, while the people chanted, "With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." It is not certain that this libation was made on the eighth day, but there can be no doubt that the following words of the Lord had reference to that ceremony.

Stood [ειστηκει] . The imperfect, was standing; watching the ceremonies. Both A. V. and Rev. miss this graphic touch.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.