Chapter 7 Jesus, Under Constant Threat of Death, Proclaims That Rivers of Living Water Will Result From His Death.
In the previous chapter Jesus has proclaimed His coming death (John 6:51-58), being aware that the Judaisers were planning to kill Him (John 5:18). That was preparatory for what is now coming. For in this chapter it will be stressed that the threat of death was now hanging over Him continually. It is indeed a main theme of the first part of the chapter. Thus He is going forward from this point on ever aware of the cloud hanging over Him. But in the midst of it, at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, He boldly defends Himself and follows it by proclaiming the coming of a great work of the Spirit of God which will flow out to the world. Indeed He declares that this work will actually result from His death and glorification. The chapter is also prominent in bringing out that His impact had been such that many were questioning whether He was the Messiah. Note that His defence of His ministry comes between two incidents in which His Messiahship is in question. The writer wants us to see Jesus' defence of His ministry as closely connected with the general views that were being discussed around Him, reminding us of the fact that while He did not specifically claim it, He really was the Messiah.