EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL NOTES
John 7:14. Now about the midst, etc.—The middle of the feast, or “the lesser feast.” It was the fourth day of the feast most likely. Taught.—For the first time (of which mention is made, but see John 2:13-25) openly in the temple. The excitement caused by His non-appearance at the beginning of the feast had died away; and the ruling powers seem to have taken no concerted action against Him.
John 7:15. Letters.—I.e. He showed Himself to be well acquainted with the rabbinical learning and literary methods, and yet He had not studied in any of their schools. This fact might surely have led them to make a dispassionate inquiry regarding Him.
John 7:16. Doctrine.—διδαχή, teaching.
John 7:17. If any man, etc. (ἐάν τις θέλῃ τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ ποιεῖν).—If any man willeth to do His will—i.e. not only desires, but makes a distinct voluntary effort—seriously endeavours to do the will of God.
John 7:18. He that speaketh, etc.—The Jewish teachers had always in view for the most part their own glory and aggrandisement. This, and not doing the divine will, was their ruling motive. But our Lord never dissociated Himself from His Father. He never swerved from that highest aim in the universe—the divine will and the divine glory. His works, His teaching, proved that, and demonstrated His truth and righteousness. Thus all their charges against Him fell to the ground (John 7:12).
John 7:19. They professed to be jealous for the law, and yet they broke one of its cardinal statutes.
John 7:20. The people.—The multitude (ὁ ὄχλος). The mass of the people, especially those from Galilee and the provinces, did not know of the designs of the rulers against Jesus. The people of the city, however, seem to have been cognisant of the fact (John 7:25).
John 7:21. One work (ἔν ἔργον).—Our Lord did not notice the unseemly interruption of the “people,” as He knew it was made in haste and ignorance. But He continued His argument to bring home to them the inconsistency of their conduct, at the same time thus indirectly replying to the charge in John 7:20. He had done one work at which they were indignantly surprised, at which they marvelled—i.e. the healing of the impotent man on the Sabbath day (John 5:1 seq.)—and that not because He healed the man, but that He did so on the Sabbath. He therefore proceeded to point out (John 7:22) that they on the Sabbath “violated” the Sabbath law, or set it aside, when they circumcised children on that day. (Therefore [on this account], διὰ τοῦτο, belongs to John 7:21, Ye all marvel on this account.) Moses gave the Sabbath law; but it was he also who was commanded to ordain that circumcision. which was a patriarchal rite, should be performed on the eighth day even when that day was a Sabbath. “Moses himself acknowledged even a ceremonial (how much more a moral?) commandment (that of Circumcision) to be superior to the law of the Sabbath as those Jews understood it, … and I have done something superior and better than Circumcision, i.e. I have made a man every whit whole” (Wordsworth’s Greek Testament).
John 7:23. Circumcision.—“Circumcision makes the Sabbath give way,” said the Rabbis. For circumcision is the sign of the covenant of promise which precedes the law. “By means of circumcision the man is received into that covenant within which alone the blessing of the Sabbath rest can be imparted to him” (Besser). The law of Moses might not be broken.—The rite of circumcision (Genesis 17:12) was incorporated by Moses, or rather given its due place, in his economy (Leviticus 12:3). Are ye angry, etc.—“I healed the whole man, not only a part; whereas circumcision inflicts a wound. And that is to be performed on the Sabbath. Which work is the more sabbatical of the two?” (Wordsworth’s Greek Testament). The reference is evidently to the idea of the cleansing and consecration symbolised by circumcision, contrasted with the complete healing of the impotent man.
John 7:24. Judge … judge (κρίνετε … κρίνατε).—The habit of hastily and superficially judging is condemned strongly by our Lord (Matthew 7:1). Judge the righteous judgment means, Give an honest, straightforward judgment founded on the truth.
John 7:25. Them of Jerusalem.—The Jerusalemites. They were acquainted with the evil intentions of the rulers (see John 7:20).
John 7:26. But, lo, He speaketh boldly, etc.—The turn events had taken surprised them. Now that Christ had appeared in Jerusalem the rulers unaccountably left Him undisturbed, in spite of former threatenings. Was this to be taken to mean that the rulers know indeed, etc.?
John 7:27. They knew something about the earthly life of Jesus (Matthew 13:55-56). The most of the people thought of Him as from Nazareth. Probably some of those in Jerusalem knew of His lineal descent from David, and of His being born in Bethlehem. This would account for their falling back on the rabbinical interpretations of such passages as Isaiah 53, “who shall declare His generation?” “Justin, about the middle of the second century, puts these words in the mouth of the Jew Trypho: The Christ is, even after His birth, to remain unknown, and not to know Himself, and to be without power, until Elias appears, anoints Him, and reveals Him to all” (Godet). Does not this idea strangely coincide with Jesus’ hidden life until His baptism by John (Elias who was to come— John 1:29-34; Matthew 11:14; Matthew 17:12)?
John 7:28. Then cried Jesus, etc.—Jesus concedes to them a certain degree of knowledge concerning Him. But no one judges a man merely from the knowledge of certain facts of his life-history. He must be judged by His character, His true self, the manifestations of the Spirit that is in Him. Had they looked with unprejudiced eye on this revelation, they must have known whence He came in reality. But by their blind unbelief they exemplified their own tradition (“No man knoweth,” etc.— John 7:27). The reason for this unbelief lay in their misconception of God. Traditionalism and formalism had shut out from them the true knowledge and love of God. Not knowing the Father, how could they know the Son?
John 7:29. But I know, etc.—In contrast to their ignorance is His knowledge. One in essence with the Father, He is ever in closest communion with Him, as sent by Him.
John 7:30. They sought to take Him.—The Jews again, on the putting forth of this claim, tried to silence Him (John 7:25-26). But no one laid hands, etc.—Considerations of prudence (Mark 11:32), and perhaps also qualms of conscience, withheld them. But doubtless also a higher Power restrained them. His hour, etc.—“It was not His will to be then taken. Our hour is His will: what is His hour but His own will? He means the time when He deigned to be slain—not any time when He was compelled to die” (Aug. in Wordsworth).
John 7:31. The facts mentioned in John 7:30, and our Lord’s calm assertion of His origin, backed by His miracles, led many to advance from the position they took up earlier to an approximation to belief in Him as the Messiah.
John 7:32. Murmured.—Our Lord’s appearance at the feast had aroused more keenly the undercurrent of excitement among the multitudes described in John 7:12. The Pharisees and chief priests, etc.—The Sanhedrin is meant probably. Here those, many of whom were mutually inimical—Sadducees and Pharisees—are seen uniting against a supposed common danger. The chief priests were those who had held the highest office in the priesthood, and also, it may be, the chief members of priestly families.
John 7:33-34. Yet a little while, etc.—A time—although short—was to be granted to them for repentance. Ye shall seek Me, etc.—The time was near when He should withdraw to His Father; and then their time of grace would be past (Luke 19:42; Matthew 23:39), and their long, dreary search for Him, which still continues to this hour, would begin.
John 7:35-36. Whither will He (this man, οὗτος) go, etc. The dispersed among the Gentiles (Greeks—ἡ διασπορὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων) were those Jews who were scattered among Greek-speaking peoples, e.g. in Alexandria, Antioch, etc. The Palestinian Jews looked down to some extent on those brethren “scattered abroad” (1 Peter 1:1). But the chief point in their contemptuous exclamation lies in the phrase “and teach the Greeks.” Rejected of the Jews, the chosen people: will this would-be Messiah make the dispersion a means of gaining the Gentiles as His disciples? Their incredulous question, however, received afterward an affirmative answer (Acts 13:46; Acts 26:18; Acts 26:20). (See Westcott, etc.)
John 7:38. As the Scripture hath said, etc.—The general sense of many passages is here crystallised in this expression: see Joel 3:18; Zechariah 14:8; Ezekiel 47:1-12. The latter passage especially is parallel to this thought. As the spiritual temple, of which Christ is the chief corner-stone, is composed of “living stones” (1 Peter 2:4-9), so from each believer flows the heavenly stream. Belly.—κοιλία = from within him (מִמּנּוּ, comp. Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:11). (See Reynolds, etc.)
John 7:39. But this spake He of the Spirit, etc.—This is the inspired Evangelist’s interpretation of our Lord’s words in John 7:38; and they are by him referred to the pentecostal out pouring of the Spirit. (Holy) Spirit not yet (given), etc—The words holy and given are omitted by many of the best authorities; but the sense of the passage is not thereby altered.
John 7:40. People.—Multitude, the general body of the people (see John 7:20). When they heard this saying, or these words (ἀκούσαντες τῶν λόγων).—The phrase indicates all the utterances of Jesus at the festival. The Prophet predicted of old (Deuteronomy 18:15), whom God had promised to raise up to them (Acts 3:22). See also notes on John 1:21 and John 6:14.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— John 7:14-40
John 7:14-31. The divine authority of Christ’s teaching and working.—Our Lord’s teaching not only astonished the unlearned multitudes (Matthew 7:28-29), but also filled the accredited teachers of Israel with amazement. He had not appeared in the temple before as a teacher. He had, it is true, stood once as a lad of twelve in those sacred precincts among the doctors of the law, “hearing them, and asking them questions” (Luke 2:46). Did any of them remember the wonderful child? and had any hopes been then awakened that He might come forth as leader of the nation? and did those hopes lead to all those endeavours, from the Temptation onward, to entice Him to become a prophet after their own hearts? It may have been, for Jesus was not unknown to many (John 7:27; John 6:42). But now that He came into the temple as a teacher of righteousness, although they marvelled, they would not listen sincerely; and their emphasis on the fact that Jesus had not been trained in the schools as a teacher was perhaps partly designed with a view to discredit His teaching. But even in their rejection and opposition to it they showed that—
I. Our Lord’s teaching was with authority, because of its contents and the manner in which He taught.—
1. It was so in its manner, not being marked by the subtilties and conceits of the rabbinical teaching. It was simple, straightforward, direct from the heart and to the heart.
2. He did not appeal to select coteries, to the learned few; it was one of the wonders of His gospel that to the poor it was preached. And men listened with eager intentness to the sublime thoughts enshrined in allegory, metaphor, simile, etc., and brought home in simple and telling fashion to mind and heart.
3. But the matter of Christ’s teaching also stamped it with authority. He did not “teach for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9). He taught the law in its spiritual fulness (John 7:22-24). He led men back and up to the first principles of spiritual and moral life and activity.
4. But His teaching was, above all, distinguished by the presence of eternal truth in it all. It is this that has led to the great teachers of the race being remembered. The truth in their teaching has kept it alive among men. But in Christ all the half-truths and fragments of truth are gathered up and concentrated into one clear, beautiful beam. Thus He could say confidently, appealing to all He had spoken, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me” (John 7:16). But it is further declared that—
II. Our Lord’s working was with authority.—
1. It was evident that the miracle wrought on the impotent man at Bethesda, on the Lord’s former visit to Jerusalem, had not been forgotten. The fact that Jesus, in His beneficent activity, had brushed aside impatiently the dust and cobwebs of tradition from the Sabbath law had thoroughly enraged the rulers. For was not this a distinct setting aside of their authority, since it set aside their teaching as to the law of the Sabbath?
2. But our Lord showed them that they in reality misinterpreted the law by their traditions, and showed them that even by their own action they justified what He had done. The law was intended for man’s welfare. The Sabbath law was a special instance of this. But here was a religious rite with a great spiritual signification which was permitted on the Sabbath; “for the Sabbath yields to circumcision,” said the Rabbis. And if it was thus permissible to set aside the Sabbath law so that he who was circumcised might be admitted into the ancient covenant with its rights and privileges, much more may that law be set aside when the healing of the whole man is concerned. Nay, to act otherwise would be contrary to the spirit of the law of the Sabbath; for “the Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27).
3. So ran our Lord’s arguments, and they were unanswerable (John 7:26). Had not those leaders been blinded by prejudice and hatred, they must have seen that Christ’s working was with authority, and must have confessed with Nicodemus, “No man can do these miracles,” etc. (John 3:2).
III. The causes and danger of the rejection of truth.—
1. The prejudices of the Jews led them to shut their eyes to the truth of Christ’s teaching and the evidently divine authority of His activity; and thus pride and passion led to their rejection of Him who came to save them—led them to indulge in feelings of hate, which terminated in awful transgression of the law they professed to revere (John 7:19), and a weary curse upon their race.
2. The same causes still are powerful among men, leading them to turn a deaf ear to the voice of truth. The “idols” of the tribe and the cave still attract many—still keep many from doing homage to truth. Too many still continue to judge according to the appearance (John 7:24), and passing by truth, as she stands with modest mien by the way, are lured by and follow the meretriciousness of error.
John 7:19-24. Keeping the law.—The limits of obedience to the divine will are too often marked simply by individual prejudices and predilections. Too many are content with what is merely an outward and formal adhesion to that will as revealed, or written on the conscience. Too few strive after that perfect righteousness and perfect keeping of the divine will manifested by Jesus in all His works and ways.
I. The observance of the letter of the law was—
1. By the scribes, etc., considered the chief end to be aimed at—the knowledge of that law and of the traditional interpretations of it. They followed the letter and lost the spirit, making the law a heavy yoke, “in place of a delight,” a burden grievous to be borne, instead of a cause of joy (Psalms 1:2-3, etc.).
2. So do many nominal Christians pride themselves on their knowledge of the truths of revelation. But how many misinterpret them! how many are entirely unaffected by them in life and conduct! (Romans 2:27).
II. Ritual observance was—
1. The Pharisaic method of keeping God’s law and doing His will. Their prayers, almsgivings, fastings, tithings, etc., were to them the be-all and end-all of religion (Luke 18:12); but they forgot the weightier matters of the law in their zeal for ritual and formal devotion (Matthew 23:23).
2. They are emulated by many who bear the Christian name. They are outwardly devout. The forms and ceremonies of religion have their zealous attention. But these are all observed in so formal and perfunctory a fashion, without the heart being engaged, that the life is altogether unaffected. Love does not rule in their hearts—they serve, actuated by some other motive, superstition or fear. Hence their religion is a form; and their so-called religious and their secular life may be (as it was in the case of the Pharisees in our Lord’s day) far apart to outward view, although in reality they are not. A merely formal religion is indeed, as Christ called it, an hypocrisy (Matthew 23:24-28).
III. The true method of observing the divine law.—
1. We are not to bind ourselves to the letter merely (2 Corinthians 3:6), but to live according to the spirit of the law.
2. And this men do when, following the precept and example of Jesus (Matthew 20:27; Romans 13:10), they serve in the spirit of love. Jesus had shown those Jews, in the miracle wrought on the impotent man, how “love is the fulfilling of the law.” But their minds were warped by prejudice, and their hearts filled with hatred. Hence they did not, could not, in that state keep that very law which they accused our Lord of breaking (John 7:19; 1 John 5:1-3).
John 7:17. The human will.—Our Lord taught His disciples to pray that the Father’s will might be done on earth perfectly, as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10); for that will is the peace of earth, as it is of heaven.
“Thus of life’s ‘essence’ ’tie in this blest home
To be conformèd to the will divine,
Whereby our wills one with His will become.
So that as all from grade to grade forth shine
Throughout this realm—thus is it pleasing to all
As to the King, to whose will we incline.
In His will is our peace. Toward it all
Things baste. It is the sea toward which flow
What it creates and nature makes.”—Dante, “Par.,” iii. 77–87.
There can be no nobler effort for man and no higher service than to know and do the divine will. It is only when created beings live in harmony with that will that they attain to highest happiness and peace. There is eternal blessedness where the divine will expresses itself through all and in all, in love, righteousness, goodness, truth, etc. So is it in the heavenly seats; but not so is it on earth. From our Lord’s words, therefore, we learn that—
I. Man’s will is free.—
1. Fatalism and necessitarianism find no place in the gospel of Christ. Man is not there regarded as a machine, very wonderful indeed and moved by most complex mechanism, but still a machine without volition and freedom of action. Such an idea is opposed to all human experience, and ignores to a great extent the facts of mental experience, of psychology. For what does it virtually amount to but this—that man is not a morally responsible being, but a waif acted upon by forces external to himself, without power of resistance, like a leaf hurried helplessly down the current of human destiny?
2. But this is not the doctrine of Scripture. It recognises man’s responsibility even without an external law; for the law is (more or less clearly in individuals) written on men’s consciences. And according to Scripture, “to him that knoweth to do good,” etc. (James 4:17). Unless this were so indeed, the precepts and commands of Scripture, as well as all other laws, human or divine, would be meaningless and vain. All Scripture precepts and promises imply man’s freedom of choice, and it is plain that our Lord acted on this view.
II. But man’s will is perverted by sin.—
1. This truth also is evidently recognised by our Lord (John 5:40). The fact that men do not always choose what is right and good is not the result of their being necessitated to do otherwise, but from the nature being depraved through sin.
2. This leads them often (even when they see what is good, and are convinced that it is for their best interests) to follow what is evil. “Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor” (Ovid). The moral judgment has been perverted, and the will so far weakened by sin—weakened, that is, on the side of good. Hence men often “choose the evil and reject the good.”
3. But it is a deliberate choice. They yield voluntarily. The voices of reason and conscience are frequently deliberately stifled or disregarded. And although the right and good are recognised, evil is followed.
4. In doing this men also frequently deceive themselves as to the consequences of their action. They think God will not be strict to reckon. They interpose good actions, which they imagine will wipe out or balance the bad, and thus they attempt to excuse themselves for not doing the divine will.
5. And what are the consequences? Happiness, peace, progress in good in any measure or fashion? Let the history of those Jewish rulers, among countless examples, bear witness!
III. How are men to attain to the knowledge of the divine will?—
1. How are they to know what His will is amid the perplexities of life and the conflicting opinions of men of “leading,” if not of “light”—amid the strifes of sects and apparently irreconcilable statements of doctrine?
2. There is a talisman which will bear us safely over these troubled waters, when we look to Christ’s example and hear His word, “If any man will to do His will,” etc. It is in the yielding up of our wills to do unreservedly whatever the divine will requires, and whenever it is revealed, that our voyage amid the perplexities of our time will be safe and certain.
3. But that is just the difficulty—to yield our wills wholly to God—to be what He would have us be, do what He would have us do, bear unmurmuringly all He send upon us—and to say, whether in health or sickness, in success or adversity, in life or death, as Christ did, “Not My will but Thine be done.” Here is the difficulty. Self-will, pride, selfishness, lead to rebellion and murmuring, in place of loyal obedience.
4. But this is just what an earnest man will seek most earnestly to do. Realising that there can be no higher service, he will desire with all his heart to do that holy will.
“Our wills are ours, we know not why;
Our wills are ours to make them Thine.”
Tennyson.
“Oh, be my will so swallowed up in Thine
That I may do Thy will in doing mine.”
Hannah More.
IV. To the earnest desire to do His will God will give the power to know and do it.—
1. For what is that will toward men? It is, e.g., our sanctification. “Be ye holy, for I am holy,” says the Lord. And when a man sincerely desires to escape from sin and attain to holiness, then the revelation of Jesus in all its brightness, as the express image of God’s person, is borne in upon him. He sees in Christ’s Gospel his need, the goal to be attained and the way thither.
2. And yet again the will of God toward men is love; and all who would perform that will must obey the command of love (Matthew 22:37).
3. But this love is here chiefly evidenced in love to our neighbour. In this is the true fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:8; 1 John 2:10, etc.). And it was their sinful transgression of this supreme law which condemned the Jewish rulers (John 7:19), who, in thought and action, were opposed to the divine will. It was this that lay at the root of their unbelief and their opposition to Jesus (John 1:5). They had not the submissive, filial spirit so conspicuous in the life of Jesus.
4. But how shall the earnest desire, the heart prepared to do God’s will, be attained to? Here we come again on the mystery of the interaction of the divine and human in redemption. But this desire and preparedness may be cultivated. Whence come men and women of most earnest Christian life? whence the majority of active labourers in the vineyard? Is it not from among those trained in pious homes, whose young minds and hearts have been filled with heavenly knowledge and love? (2 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 3:14-15).
John 7:24. “Judge not according to the appearance.”—As human nature is now constituted, this is one of the most difficult commands to keep. Men continually express judgment on their fellows and their actions; and those judgments are swayed by various influences—prejudices, prepossessions, self-interest, etc. In this age of criticism, judging of others seems to be a custom of many from youth up. Accusation, censure, condemnation, are indulged in often without mercy; faults of others are magnified and intensified; good characteristics are diminished in proportional degree. Such a spirit will not find place in the heavenly world. But the gospel does not leave the attainment of the spirit of right judgment to the eternal future. The germs of that perfect state are implanted here. The more we progress in love to our neighbour, the more will the fault of judging others pass away. Besides, men’s attempts at judgment of others are often an infringement of the divine prerogative. It is an endeavour with beclouded judgment, imperfect or erroneous information, and biassed minds, to do what the great Creator, who reads men’s hearts and thoughts, alone can do. But—
I. Are we never to judge of actions or character?—
1. Not so; for our Lord warns men that they must discriminate between false teaching and true, false assumptions and true. As we judge a tree by its fruits, so we must judge the “prophets” who claim our adherence.
2. Nor, of course, does our Lord in any way reflect on the province of human justice, although it must be inferred that in it also judgment must be according to righteousness. Human rights and equity must be enforced. The laws for the commonweal, of morality and social order, must be maintained; and men chosen for their character and learning are appointed to carry out the judgments of the law. Human justice has its source in the divine; and all codes and institutes of human law are attempts to bring us into harmony with eternal justice.
3. But the crown of justice is love; and here often human judgments fail and are imperfect, a fact shown by the continual shifting and changing of human laws. And the more the peoples approximate to the spirit of the gospel, the more humane, etc., do their laws become.
II. It is irresponsible and ill-founded judgments that our Lord commands us to avoid.—
1. We are to avoid rash and unthinking judgments—judgments founded plausibly on appearances, such as those passed on Christ by the Jews (John 7:23). We cannot enter into the hidden circle of motive and feeling in the life of another.
2. Nor are we to judge others without careful consideration of the meaning of their words and actions. Careful consideration may often bring to light an entirely different signification.
3. How often and mournfully this sinful habit has wrought havoc is evident in the history of the Church! True, men who become members of and teachers in the Church are not to be permitted to hold and promulgate opinions utterly subversive of the faith. But how frequently are subjects of dubious import, speculations on matters not directly bearing on the great fundamentals of the faith, made the occasion of harsh judgments and irretrievable wrongdoing! How terribly was this exemplified in the relations of the Jewish rulers, etc., to our Lord, as, hurried on by mistaken zeal for the law, and bitter enmity, they misjudged and condemned Him! And how fatally was this spirit perpetuated in the persecutions of the early Christians and in the horrors of the Inquisition!
III. “Judge righteous judgment.”—
1. It is essential to our higher life that we should be able to distinguish between good and evil, between wicked men and just men, so that we may not “walk in the counsel of the ungodly.”
2. But we are not left to our own unaided judgment here. There is a rule laid down for us here. We are to judge men “by their fruits.” There is an unerring standard given us—the revealed will of God; and in judging by this standard we are not following the fallible opinions of men, but the word of God.
3. It was just here that the Jewish rulers erred. They did not conform to the law God had given them (John 7:22-23). Even here too, then, we must discriminate, lest we fall into their error. It is not our duty to judge finally; so that even whilst we testify firmly against wrong and evil, our testimony must be given in the spirit of love. And in that case it will not be we who judge, but God by His word and law.
4. How often do men judge others by appearances, which are deceptive, and thus lead to much unhappiness and wrong! Men are not always what they seem to be. How often does it happen, when people have passed away, a chain of hidden circumstances may have come to light, overturning entirely the good or evil name they bore! How frequently the rough casket contains a precious jewel! How many rashly and harshly judged of men are accepted of God! Therefore, whilst discriminating between the evil and the good, we are to be careful to act in the spirit of love, and to obey the injunction of our Master—“Judge not according to the appearance,” etc.
John 7:37-40. The spiritual fountain.—The thirty-ninth verse gives the key to the deeper meaning of this passage. For the meaning of John 7:37 see pp. 216, 217. The thirty-eighth verse is an advance beyond John 7:37. In the latter we have the source of the spiritual stream; in the former that spring of life, accepted and received, becomes in turn, in those who drink, also a living fountain, flowing forth in refreshing streams to men. That spiritual stream is the Holy Spirit. But it could not come down to men to dwell in them with power until Christ had been glorified. But what is the meaning of John 7:39? Had not the Holy Spirit come to men before this, to a Simeon, a Zacharias, an Anna, and many another godly man and woman? Yes; but to them individually and specially, and not in the way in which it would flow from heart to heart after Pentecost, in accordance with the old prophetic promise (Acts 2:16-18; Joel 2:28-32). That could not be then, till Christ was glorified, till He had ascended, “leading captivity captive,” etc., His atoning work all completed and accepted by the Father, so that He was ready to be communicated to men in all His life-giving fulness by the Spirit, whom He was to send down to His waiting Church. Consider the fountain-head, the reservoirs and cisterns, the vitalising energy of this spiritual stream.
I. The fountain-head.—
1. This need not long detain us. Its rise, its mysterious depths, are hidden from human view. Its waters issue from that land which human eye hath not seen, of which the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple. The prophet saw the stream issuing from under the right side of the temple; and John, in the apocalyptic vision, saw it proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb (Ezekiel 47:1; Revelation 22:1).
2. This stream rises indeed from the unfathomable and eternal deeps of the divine wisdom, power, and love. We cannot go further; we lose ourselves in the infinite.
3. But when this stream of life, in all its fulness, appears among men, it is seen to flow to them through the Saviour. “God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him” (John 3:34). “It pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell” (Colossians 1:19). And out of this fulness all His people receive grace, etc. (John 1:16).
II. The reservoir and cisterns for the distribution of the spiritual, life-giving Stream.—
1. The great reservoir is the Church of Christ, and the cisterns the hearts of believers. The stream must be spread by irrigation, if the desert is to be fertilised and the fruits of righteousness to grow on what was erewhile a barren waste. And through the communities and lives of believers the Redeemer spreads His spiritual blessings among men.
2. And here we are privileged to see how this blessed promise could be given. “He that believeth on Me, from within Him [ממנוּ, Exodus 17:6] shall flow,” etc. (John 7:38). Christ and His Church are one body. He is the head, and they are the members of His body. The same spiritual life that is in Him flows to them, now full, free, and uninterruptedly, since He has been glorified, His redeeming work completed. It needed first that the Rock should be smitten (1 Corinthians 10:4), and then the streams of salvation flowed forth for all the children of men.
3. But more wonderful than the ancient miracle is the miracle of grace wrought in Christ. For not only do those who drink have their thirst quenched, they in turn—hearts that have been hard and stony as the granitic ribs of Horeb—melted by the power of divine love and grace, become fountains of blessing to all around. See how gloriously this was exemplified at Pentecost, when the disciples were all “filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:4). With what joy they bore witness of Christ, with what power His word was preached, with what tokens of success were their hearts gladdened! See how the relentless persecutor was met on the way to Damascus, and from that heart stony-proud, smitten by grace, there flowed to. Europe and the West the life-giving message of salvation.
4. These times are gone now! Truly they are. There was need in those early days of the Church for such special and wonderful gifts as were given by the Spirit to the apostles and early ministers of the word. But the gifts of the Spirit in His wonted manner of working are still given to “whomsoever will.” And the whole of Christendom to-day is a wonderful proof of that mighty spiritual influence that is working among men.
5. The special promise of this verse also is evidently fulfilled in many a consecrated life. It is quite true the majority of those called by the name of Christ are not distinguished by the full stream of blessed influence here promised to those who believe; and the reason is that their faith is small: there is some obstruction, some sin—worldliness, selfishness, etc.—shutting the channels which unite them to Christ, and hindering the inflow of His spiritual power. Hence it is not wonderful that only droplets, instead of streams of heavenly influences, flow from their lives to the world around. For this is the purpose and end of this life-giving stream which flows from the Father and the Son through the Church and its members into the world.
III. The vitalising energy of this spiritual stream.—
1. It is a stream of living water; and not alone shall it be in those who receive it a “living fountain springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14); its vitalising energy does not cease there, but flows on from heart to heart, from life to life.
2. The reservoir and cistern are not intended to absorb the stream, but to be the channels of distribution. Just as in an Eastern garden there are not only fresh greenery, flowers, and fruit by the banks of the stream which passes by or through it, but where every tiny irrigating stream is turned, there too the ground becomes fruitful, so when the love and grace of God are shed abroad in men’s hearts by the Holy Spirit, how great becomes their power to comfort and strengthen others! And how does the Lord give to those who seek thus to spread His spiritual blessings ability to receive more for themselves! To those who do not selfishly conceal and bury their spiritual gift out of sight, where it can benefit no man, but put it forth and circulate it among men, to them shall be the reward. To those who thus have shall be given, and they shall have abundance (Matthew 25:29).
3. But alas! how often among men are those streams retarded in their flow. The days of sultry heat, of burning temptation, love of the world’s pleasures, come, and the stream dries up; or the cold frosts of worldliness and a practical materialism seal up the fountain of the heart, so that the soul-garden yields no fruit, the flowers of grace and beauty of the Christian character wither and die, and only an arid enclosure meets the gazer’s view.
4. Ah! it is in ourselves, it is by our unbelief, that the flow of this heavenly, vitalising stream is often so meagre and its influence so feeble. Think of what Christ intended this gift to be, and what might be the result of its bestowal, did we look for it and pray for it in all its fulness. Would we be such feeble witnesses for Christ as we are? would we do so little for the advance of His kingdom? Were the love of God shed abroad in men’s hearts in all its fulness by the Holy Ghost (Romans 5:5), would the world stand where it does to-day, with its crimes, its wars and fightings, its dishonesty, its hatreds and strifes between man and man, even among those nations who nominally accept Christ as their spiritual king? Do not too many plume themselves on being and doing all that Christ requires? (Revelation 3:17-18). And if any should say, We know that we are spiritually poor, very deficient in spiritual possession and power, etc., even here is their condemnation. For to them, as to all, the Saviour cries, as He cried of old in the temple, “If any man,” etc. (John 7:37); “He that believeth on Me … out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38).
John 7:37. Satisfaction for the soul.—In the East, during the long rainless summer, the wadies, in which during winter there is usually a copious supply of water, are dried up. It is only where a perennial stream or fountain exists that human habitations are reared. Every village has its perennial spring—every habitation must be near one. Water is everywhere precious. Thus we find it, as might be expected, frequently referred to in Scripture. It is used as an emblem of freshness and fertility, of comfort and blessing. It is quite in keeping with the prominence of this natural element, and the universal recognition of its indispensableness, that the Saviour calls men to Himself, as the source of the living waters of salvation. In our Saviour’s words we are reminded of—
I. The passing away of the types and shadows of which He is the antitype and substance.—
1. “Here again Jesus lays His hand on the great thoughts and facts of the old order, and claims to be what they shadowed” (Maclaren).
2. All that prophets promised is fulfilled in Him (Isaiah 55:1; Psalms 23:2, etc.).
3. He alone can satisfy the spiritual needs of humanity. The longings of the soul, the soul-thirst of the race, manifested in their eager though blind search after God, their greedy resort to “broken cisterns,” etc. (Jeremiah 2:13), in the vain attempt to attain to that satisfaction, He alone can give (Psalms 42:1; Psalms 63:1, etc.). Those needs of the race and that consuming soul-thirst are met and satiated in His gospel, which comes to them with—
II. Refreshing and strengthening power.—
1. Water is absolutely essential to life; and although in well-watered lands the need is not felt so much, still it is universally recognised. In the East, however, for reasons just stated, its preciousness is realised.
2. In the hot noonday, with the blazing sun looking down from the cloudless Syrian summer sky, how refreshing it is to sit by some cool, refreshing spring, and quaff the fresh, sparkling water! No wonder the people call some of those fountains by beautiful names: “Fountain of milk,” “of honey,” etc. How thereby is the labourer refreshed for his work and the traveller for his onward journey!
3. And on the arid and dusty desert, where often there is a march of twelve to eighteen hours between indifferent springs, how precious does every drop of even inferior water become! And when all the sinews are unstrung, and life is languishing and dying, how does the draught of fresh water strengthen and infuse new life! In the East, when drought comes, all nature languishes, etc. (1 Kings 18:1-6; Genesis 21:12-21).
4. There is nothing which causes a man’s name to be remembered more with blessing in the Orient than to erect a fountain for general use.
5. So Christ comes to quench man’s spiritual thirst. Men seek satisfaction in the world’s pleasures, ambitions, pursuits, prizes, intellectual gains, and so forth. Many of these things may be good in themselves, but are insufficient for the needs of the soul. In so far as that is concerned, they are like the mirage, which deceives the traveller with the hope that soon he will stand on the shores of the pleasant lake and quench his burning thirst, when lo! the vision vanishes and he despairs. But Christ never deceives! Who come to Him drink and are satisfied. The gospel comes to men also with—
III. Cleansing, health-giving power.—
1. Though not specially referred to here, these properties of the living water should not be overlooked. The “cleansings” of the Jews were all symbolical of the cleansing power of Christ’s gospel; they were a testimony to man’s sinfulness and his need of cleansing. So under the gospel, baptism is symbolical of the same need, and of the way in which it may be met. “Ye are washed,” etc. (1 Corinthians 6:11); “Now ye are clean” (John 15:3, etc.).
2. Good water is essential to health. In the East in some quarters the supply of water is not only indifferent but actually bad, and its use in such cases leads often to serious and lasting disease. Thus the joy of men when they have a pure, good water-supply.
3. The streams of the world’s pleasures are poisoned; they cause spiritual and moral disorder. But who so drinks of the life-giving stream of Christ’s gospel, that water shall be in him as a well of water springing up unto eternal life (John 4:14). Our thoughts are further directed in John 7:38 to—
IV. Spiritual hydrodynamics.—
1. The power of water needs no demonstration. It is a scientific dream, which may yet become a reality, that the ocean and mighty rivers may yet be “harnessed” to electric engines, and drive the machinery of the world. Give water a sufficient head, and see how great, how destructive a force it often becomes. How beneficial also, irrigating and fertilising, like the Nile, a mighty empire for millennia.
2. So, too, is it with the living water. When Church machinery is driven by this power, the Church will indeed move and revolutionise the whole race of men.
3. If the reservoir and cisterns are freely united to the great living Fountain, then through millions of channels the streams of grace will How to thirsty, sinful, fainting souls, bringing satisfaction, cleansing, quickening (see also John 7:37-40).
HOMILETIC NOTES
John 7:37-40. The feast of tabernacles.—
1. The feast of tabernacles (from סֻכָּה a hut or booth) was held in autumn, and was indeed called the feast of ingathering (Exodus 23:16), as it signalised the completion of the labours of the husbandmen, when the corn, the vintage, and olive harvest were past. “In the fourteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruits of the land, ye shall keep the feast of the Lord seven days” (Leviticus 23:39; Deuteronomy 16:13, etc.). It was followed also by a special “holy convocation” on the eighth day, in the morning of which the people broke up their booths and returned to their houses. By some this eighth day was regarded as a part of the feast (Leviticus 23:36; Nehemiah 8:18).
2. It was to the Israelites a special memorial of the wilderness march of their fathers toward Canaan, when they tabernacled in the wilderness, and when the altar of God and the ark of the covenant were sheltered by a tent, under whose roof the priests fulfilled their holy service. And in remembrance of this the people lived for seven days in huts or booths constructed of branches of olive, pine, and other trees, covered over with boughs and reeds or reed mats. In the East these “huts” are set up now, as they were in the time of our Lord, in the courts of the houses, on the flat roofs, or in the fields.
3. When a sabbatical year came round, during this festival, part of the law was daily read in public. And as the year on which these events took place seems, without doubt, to have been a sabbatical year, part of the law that would be read was that written in Deuteronomy 1:1 to Deuteronomy 6:3. There is no doubt reference to this in John 7:19-23—especially to Deuteronomy 5:20, which command the Jews were deliberately setting at defiance in their murderous intentions against Jesus.
4. There is one ceremony not mentioned in the Old Testament, but observed in later times, which seems to emerge prominently here. During the seven days of the feast proper—perhaps on the eighth day as well—the people assembled in the temple before the time of the morning sacrifice, each bearing in the one hand a bunch of twigs, and in the other a citron (in attempted literal conformity with Leviticus 23:40). One of the priests meanwhile went to the Pool of Siloam with a golden vessel, which he filled with water, and, returning to the temple, poured out the water into a silver basin, with perforated bottom, which stood on one side of the altar of sacrifice; and wine was at the same time poured into a similar basin on the other side, both being connected by pipes with the Kidron. Then the Hallel (Psalms 113-118) was sung by all present, and the sacrifices of the day offered. This interesting ceremony called to the remembrance of the people that miracle of divine mercy when from the smitten rock in Horeb refreshing streams flowed to satisfy the thirst of emancipated Israel (Exodus 17:6-7, etc.). But the Jewish rabbinical teachers gave to the ceremony a spiritual signification as well. “Maimonides (note in Succah) applies it to the very passage which appears to be referred to by our Lord (Isaiah 12:3).… The two meanings are of course perfectly harmonious, as is shown by the use St. Paul makes of the historical fact (1 Corinthians 10:4): ‘They drank of that spiritual Rock which followed them,’ etc.” (Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible).
5. Another interesting feature of this festival—the lighting of the great lamps at nightfall in the temple area—may be more appropriately referred to at John 8:12. This festival was one which was celebrated with great and even abounding rejoicing. “There is a proverb in Succah (vi.), ‘He who has never seen the rejoicing at the pouring out of the water of Siloam has never seen rejoicing in his life.’ Maimonides says that he who failed at the feast of tabernacles in contributing to the general rejoicing according to his means incurred especial guilt (Carpzov, p. 14)” (Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible).
6. One cannot wonder at all this rejoicing when it is remembered what the festival signified to that people, and what it called up, to mind and heart, of the divine mercy and goodness in the past to their race. It reminded them of the first halt they made after leaving Egypt at “ ‘Succoth’—the place of booths or leafy huts—the last spot where they could have found the luxuriant foliage of tamarisk and sycamore and palm, ‘branches of thick trees to make booths,’ as it is written” (A. P. Stanley). It reminded them also of the smitten rock, of the long wilderness sojourn, of the promises that had been all fulfilled. And in the hearts of all true Israelites these remembrances would awake the feeling of hope—as they do among that people at the present day.
7. But all that this great and joyful feast meant to the Jews we can rejoice in, in a spiritual sense, when we look to Christ. In Him we are delivered from a greater bondage than that of Egypt; in Him our pilgrimage is an assured and certain course to the heavenly Canaan; in Him we drink of living water from the smitten rock; in Him no more are we shut out from the immediate divine presence “dwelling between the cherubim,” nor need priestly mediators to supplicate for us; for now the Tabernacle of God is with men in Christ our Emmanuel—God is with us; and the ancient promises are all fulfilled (Leviticus 26:11; Ezekiel 37:27).
John 7:37-38. Christ the smitten rock.—What was this rite? A simple emblem intended to recall one of the great theocratic favours, the springing of water from the rock in the wilderness. Why, then, should not Jesus, instead of stopping at the emblem, go back to the divine fact which this rite commemorated? And if this is the case, it is to the rock itself, whence God made the water to spring for the people, that He compares Himself. He had in chap. 2 represented Himself as the true temple, in chap. 3 as the true brazen serpent, in chap. 6 as the bread of heaven; in chap. 7. He is the true rock; in chap. 8. He will be the true light-giving cloud; and so on till chap. 19, when He will at length realise the type of the Paschal Lamb. It was thus that Jesus, according to the Fourth Gospel, made use of each festival to show the old covenant realised in His person, so entirely did He know and feel Himself to be the essence of all the theocratic types. So much for the opinion of those who represent this book as a writing either foreign or even opposed to the old covenant—a book in which, on the contrary, every root of Christian truth is planted in the soil of the Old Testament.—Dr. F. Godet.
John 7:39. All earlier manifestations of the Spirit overshadowed by Pentecost.—Our Lord Himself has thrown most light upon this perplexing saying when, on promising the Paraclete, He said, “He shall not speak of [or, ‘from’] Himself: He will take of Mine, and show unto you” (John 16:13-14); and when He declared (John 16:7-10) that He must Himself go to the Father, resume His antenatal glory, carry our nature, dishonoured by man, but now clothed with an infinite majesty, to the very throne of God, as the condition of the gift of the Paraclete. There was, in the constitution of nature, in the order of providence, in the revelations of the prophets, in the person of the Son of man, that wherewith the blessed Spirit was ever and ceaselessly working; but not until the atonement was made, till God had glorified His Son Jesus, not until the person of the God-man was constituted in its infinity of power and perfection of sympathy, were the facts ready, were the truths liberated for the salvation of men, were the streams of living water ready to flow from every heart that received the divine gift. In comparison with all previous manifestation of the Spirit, this was so wonderful that John could say of all that had gone before, “Not yet,” “not yet.”—Dr. H. R. Reynolds.
ILLUSTRATIONS
John 7:37. Streams from the smitten rock.—In the case of each of the main supports of the Israelites, there have been memorials preserved down to our own time of the hold acquired on the recollections of the Jewish and the Christian Church. The flowing of the water from the rock has been localised in various forms by Arab traditions. The isolated rock in the valley of the Leja, near Mount St. Catherine, with the twelve months, or fissures, for the twelve tribes, was pointed out as the monument of the wonder at least as early as the seventh century. The living streams of Feiran, of Shuk Mûsa, of Wady Mûsa, have each been connected with the event by the names bestowed upon them. The Jewish tradition, to which the apostle alludes, amplified the simple statement in the Pentateuch to the prodigious extent of supposing a rock or ball of water constantly accompanying them. The Christian image, based upon this, passed on into the Catacombs, when Peter, under the figure of Moses, strikes the rock, from which he takes his name; and it has found its final and most elevated application in one of the greatest of English hymns,—
“Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.”
A. P. Stanley.
John 7:38. Believers blessed in order to become the medium of blessing to other.—The result of real communion with Jesus Christ is not terminated in the rest, as of satisfied desires, which it brings, bat passes on further to make us the medium of bringing blessings to others. The end of personal religion is not personal reception, but communication, for which reception is the indispensable prior requisite. If a professing Christian has no impulse to impart, he had better examine himself whether he has drunk of the water of life. The paradox is true that we slake our own thirst by giving others to drink. In England we have in some places what we call “swallow holes,” where a river plunges into the ground and is lost. Too many professing Christians are like these. But we are meant to be water-carriers, not water-drinkers only.—Dr. A. Maclaren.
John 7:38. The Church is too much a silent Church.—There was never so much public and official witness-bearing as there is at the present day, but it needs to be supplemented by private individual testimony. The Church is too much a silent Church. She ought to be a witnessing Church. There are hundreds of thousands of people in this land, with Christian men and women on every side of them, who have never had a word of direct testimony addressed to them. There is a morbid, unnatural silence among professed Christians which requires to be broken. They are the truest patriots and the most effective social reformers who most truly live the Christian life; and they are rendering the best service to the community to which they belong who are seeking to set up the kingdom of God, which is the empire of Christ, over the hearts and consciences of men.—Morris.
John 7:38-39. Water a type of the gospel.—Water typifies the gospel because of its abundance. When we pour the water from the pitcher into the glass we have to be careful or the glass will overflow, and we stop when the water has come to the rim. But when God, in summer, pours out His showers, He keeps pouring on, and pouring on, until the grassblades cry, “Enough!” and the flowers, “Enough!” and the trees, “Enough!” but God keeps pouring on and pouring on until the fields are soaked, and the rivers overflow, and the cisterns are all filled, and the great reservoirs are supplied, and there is water to turn the wheel, water to slake the thirst of the city, water to cleanse the air, water to wash the hemisphere. Abundance! and so with this glorious gospel. Enough for one; enough for all. Thousands have come to this fountain, and have drunk to the satisfaction of their souls. Other thousands will come; and yet the fountain will not be exhausted.—Dr. T. De Witt Talmage.
John 7:38-39. Religious activity should not absorb the contemplative life.—[An] earnest address in English, delivered by Protap Chunder Mazoondar, of the Brahmosomaj faith, had the remarkable sequel of his immense audience rising to their feet and singing “Nearer, my God, to Thee,” as he was recalled at its close to receive the hearers’ thanks. Yet he bad given utterance as fearlessly as the Buddhist [who had formerly spoken] to the feelings shared by every thoughtful member of the religions among whom our missions work, when they come to Europe or America, and see how far Western nations are from Christianity. “Your activities are so manifold that you have little time to consider that the sanctification of your own souls is the question of all importance.… What is religion without morality?… Moral attainments do not mean holiness: living and moving in God is the secret of personal holiness.” Could words be more true or better timed than these? Surely the very stones are crying out against the selfish counterfeit of Christianity in which so many of us live to-day. These words were from a speaker who claimed, like so many others, that his religion embodied the best of all religions, and that in its services the best was culled from all of the so-called sacred writings. He has indeed learned much truth somewhere, and the view he presented of his teachings undoubtedly owes great things to Christianity, and leads one to suspect it to be an attempted compromise between a tottering heathendom and conquering Christ. This Indian declaimed against caste, and foretold its abolition, related gleefully the crusade against widow-burning, and urged an increase of public sentiment against child marriage, and in favour of other moral reforms. Were these ever heard of before the Christian missionary entered India? Oh for such a man as this to be India’s Paul! Was not Lather such a one, and were not many of the brightest pioneers of Christianity? Should not all Christendom join in prayer that men like this, so near the light, should taste of it fully and bear it forth?—“Council of Creeds at Chicago.” From The Christian, October 5th, 1893.
John 7:39. Christian influence.—No one is entirely without influence. If not a stone can be cast into the sea on one coast without the ripple formed touching the opposite coast, though unseen by human eye, so no human being is entirely indifferent to his fellows. We are either useful or hurtful to each other, we make others joyful or miserable, we forward God’s kingdom or stay its progress, we lead or mislead. Either rivers of living waters or pestilential streams flow from us, from the moment when we open or shut our hearts to or against the word of God, the cross of Jesus, the Holy Spirit. Even from the last and least of those who are Jesus’ disciples shall streams of living water flow. Yonder is a sick and weakly member of the family who fears that he or she is a burden to others. But it is a believing soul, and streams of heavenly peace, of genuine patience, flow in blessing through that home and surroundings. Who is usually less in evidence and so inconspicuous as a mother, who teaches her children to pray and labour? No history of the world or of the Church seems to take account of this. But when a mother brings her children quietly and gently to the Saviour, in spite of the inconspicuous position she occupies she is influencing the community—is influencing the centuries. To use the well-known proverb, “The world is ruled from the nursery.” By our own power we can do nothing. The Holy Spirit is the stream of living water. He it is who gives to drink, who impels, who streams through and from us without constraint or subtlety, without leaving men to faint after His sudden inflow. Around all is dry: who can turn the desert into a garden? Around are drooping souls: who can raise them up? Around is a lying, deceitful, mocking world: whose mouth can duly reprove them of sin, of righteousness, of judgment, so that whoever will permit themselves to be saved may be saved? Against us are Satan and his emissaries: who will overthrow them? After us comes a waiting, hoping generation: who will leave it a rich inheritance? Before us is a Saviour who desires that men should pray for labourers for His harvest: who will pray for this, who will offer themselves? Give Thy Church men of prayer and confessors, give her soldiers and pastors, heroes and physicians; let us seek our brethren until we find them and confirm them. O Holy Spirit, come and visit us! Amen.—Translated from Dr. R. Kögel.