Two Year Gospel Study Week 89

The Gospel of John Week 11
Scripture: John 7:22-59.

Pastor opens by sharing details of the Feast of Tabernacles and the scriptures of the Living Water that were read during this 8 day festival. Festival readings included: Ezekiel 47:1-12, Zechariah 14:8 and Jeremiah 17:13b. 

As our story opens, it is the Feast of Tabernacles and these scriptures would have been read. Pastor goes on to share that there has been much learned over the last 100 years and especially in the last 15 or so that helps to bring this text and the story alive. As we look at what we know about the time of Jesus and what we are discovering, they are changing our understanding of the Bible, bringing a new sense of significance and even urgency as what we are discovering is a testimony that says, “This is real!”

Some recent archeological work has found what is believed to be the City of David - but not at all where it was thought to be, and the discovery of the Hezekiah Tunnel, and more recently the Pool of Siloam show us a different location than originally thought for the Pool and also that it was a very large pool, not a small one. Also that it was filled with fresh water by the Han Spring flowing through the Hezekiah Tunnel into the Pool. The Pool of Siloam was the only fresh - or living water in the city of Jerusalem.

Pastor shares the events of Tabernacles and the pouring out of water into the Temple by the priests carrying it from the Pool of Siloam for the first 7 days of the festival.  On the 7th Day they carried and poured water 7 times in the Temple. 

So as our story continues, it’s either Day 7 (7 times the priests poured water in the Temple) or it’s Day 8 (the day of rejoicing, and celebration) when we read verse 37-38, “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

He is essentially telling them that what you’ve been doing for the last week with the pouring of water, point to Me and it’s what the prophets said would happen when Messiah comes, that living water would pour out of the Temple. And then it goes on in verse 39, “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.and that the Living Water is the Holy Spirit.”  Jesus is saying that He is the fulfillment of what the prophets have declared and that everyone who believes on Him will receive the Holy Spirit.  Jesus is calling us to a new day - the fulfillment of what the prophets have said - Messiah-  is here!  And He, the Messiah, gives the Holy Spirit. Jesus is claiming to be God.

At this some called Him prophet, others called Him Messiah and others were in disbelief and angry. The crowd became divided with many wanting to seize Jesus.  The temple guard go and report back to the chief priests.

The chief priests were Sadducees and they united with the Pharisees, a group that they did not get along with but they did unite together over their desire to do away with Jesus.  The very ones who should have embraced Jesus as the Messiah, instead say, “Let’s kill Him.”

Pastor concludes by saying in 6 months from this event  of Tabernacles, the Passover will be celebrated and we will see Jesus dead, and raised during another important festival and how this festival too, finds its fulfillment in Jesus.
    

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    ⁃    The Gospel of John study is part five of five of our Two Year Study of the Gospels. 
    ⁃    The Gospel of John may be one of the most powerful books ever written. Many people have come to faith after reading only this book of the Bible.  Scholarly and archeological discoveries in recent decades give us new insight on details in the Gospel of John. We can now understand it as the most Jewish rather than the most “Gentile/Greek” of the Gospels, and when we do that we see many things that we missed before.

Our 2 year study of the gospels is great for large group, small group or home group study and can be started at any time!