Tag Archives: feast

A SOB IN HIS VOICE – 11

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John 7:37 NLT‬
[37] On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!”

What did Jesus think when He saw the water ceremony being done once again? How many times had He witnessed the same thing…the high priest pouring water on the ground, only for the water to disappear into the hot sand, leaving only a patch of mud that would soon dry up.

What a picture of the religion God’s people were trying to practise. It had become like water poured into the sand. It benefitted no one because it had nothing to offer.

For Jesus, this ceremony was even more poignant because He was God in person, there for spiritually thirsty people who would believe in Him, forever… but they refused to receive Him.

What could be greater for thirsty souls than a fountain of crystal clear water inside them, always in them to drink at will. God often described Himself as a spring of living water for His people, there to quench their thirst if they would but come and drink, but which they had forsaken for worthless idols.

Jeremiah 2:13 NLT‬
[13] “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”I

His invitation was always there for anyone to drink and will remain until the end of time.

Isaiah 55:1 NLT‬
[1] “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money!”

‭His supply of living water is endless.

‭Psalms 46:4 NLT‬
[4] A river brings joy to the city of our God, the sacred home of the Most High.

‭Ezekiel 47:1 NLT‬
[1] “In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side.”

‭Revelation 22:1-2 NLT‬
[1] “Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. [2] It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations….
[17] The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.”

Water… we cannot live without it. A miracle substance made up of two elements, oxygen, which we breath, and hydrogen, apparently a versatile substance which has many uses in industry.

However, apart, they cannot do anything for thirst but fused together, they become water. We drink beverages for various reasons but when we are thirsty, only water will do.

It’s no wonder God made water for thirsty people but water is no use to us if we don’t drink it.

Why did Jesus have a sob in His voice when he shouted out His invitation? He knew His people would reject Him.

‭Luke 19:41-44 NLT‬
[41] “But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. [42] “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. [43] Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. [44] They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.”

‭Matthew 23:37 NLT‬
[37] “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.”

Jesus’ offer of life falls on deaf ears when the heart is hardened by sin and unbelief.

And He weeps…

CHANNELS OF LIVING WATER

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CHANNELS OF LIVING WATER

“On the last and greatest day of the feast, 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 him.'” John 7:37-38 (NIV).

What an invitation! What a promise!

On the Great Day of the feast, the seventh of eight days, when the Water Ceremony was being carried out by the priest (water drawn from the pool of Siloam was poured into a basin as a drink offering to the Lord in thanksgiving for life-giving water and a prayer for rain to water their crops), Jesus shouted out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. As Scripture has said, rivers of living water (mayim chayim) will flow from within him!’ 

The focus of the worshippers was on the water that was always scarce and was vital for life. Once more Jesus, with His attention on the hearts of men, was offering them a source of living water which would satisfy their unconscious inner thirst and connect them to the perennial Source of real life. What He offered was not only for them but through them to quench the thirst of others around them as well. They would become a conduit of life, not just a reservoir.

Imagine the reaction of the people! This roaming rabbi was at it again, trying to draw the people’s attention away from their physical lives and refocusing on their broken connection with their Source. Like all of us, the people of Jesus’ day were more interested in getting their own needs met than in doing what God wanted them to do – to be channels through whom He could meet the needs of others.

Whatever our needs are, God’s way to meet them is for us to look for someone else to bless. Jesus assured us that our Father knows our needs before we ask Him. Why does He allow us to have needs? It’s His way of creating a current of resources that will keep circulating instead of our becoming a reservoir that will, like the hoarded manna, become stale and polluted. 

Jesus put it in a nutshell like this: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38 (NIV).

It takes a powerful work of God, through the Holy Spirit to change us from self-centred, selfish people to people who care about the needs of others more than their own. What was Jesus offering His people?

“By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.'” John 7:39 (NIV).

This is not about being baptized in the Spirit so that you can become a spiritual “giant”, wowing people with your power and “holiness”, drawing attention to yourself as some privileged super-saint with supernatural ability to do spectacular things.

How tragic that in many streams in the church today, the Holy Spirit has been reduced to magic and goose bumps. Jesus insisted that the greatest person is the one who can come down to the level of a child and treat him with respect and dignity because of his potential; the one who can go to the tap and give a drink of water to a thirsty beggar because he was also created in the image of God.

It takes the power of the Holy Spirit to remove a stony heart and replace it with a heart of flesh. Satan can counterfeit miracles, but he cannot counterfeit the character of Jesus.

If we are hungry to become a truly righteous person, one who is generous towards others, and thirsty for a new heart of mercy and compassion instead of selfishness and greed, Jesus is the bread of life and the living water. He will give you in abundance what you crave!

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Water And Light

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WATER AND LIGHT 

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'” John 8:12 (NIV).

Although the interlude which records Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery doesn’t seem to fit, it apparently happened in the temple while He was teaching the people. The water ceremony which we spoke about in a previous post, was part of the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. The lighting of the candelabras took place on the second day of the feast.

“According to the Mishnah (part of the oral tradition of the rabbis), gigantic candelabras stood within the court of the women. Each of the four golden candelabras is said to have been 50 cubits high. A cubit is somewhere between 18 and 22 inches, so we’re talking about candelabras that were about 75 feet tall! Each candelabrum had four branches, and at the top of every branch there was a large bowl. Four young men bearing 10 gallon pitchers of oil would climb ladders to fill the four golden bowls on each candelabrum. And then the oil in those bowls was ignited.

“Picture sixteen beautiful blazes leaping toward the sky from these golden lamps. Remember that the Temple was on a hill above the rest of the city, so the glorious glow was a sight for the entire city to see. In addition to the light, Levitical musicians played their harps, lyres, cymbals and trumpets to make joyful music to the Lord. What a glorious celebration! The light was to remind the people of how God’s Shekinah glory had once filled His Temple. But in the person of Jesus, God’s glory was once again present in that Temple. And He used that celebration to announce that very fact. He was teaching in the court of women just after the Feast, perhaps standing right next to those magnificent candelabras when He declared to all who were gathered there,”

(http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/BibleStudyAndTheology/jewishroots/Feast_of_Tabernacles_Jews_For_Jesus_David_Brickner.aspx?option=print)

Although many of the Jewish leaders were scathing about Jesus’ apparent origin in Galilee (although they failed to realize that He was born in Bethlehem as the Scripture had predicted), God had promised that a great light would shine out of Galilee (Isaiah 9:1,2).

The people were unwittingly using ceremonies and symbols which they did not understand while the fulfilment of their symbolic expectation was right there among them! They were celebrating their Messianic hope with physical light while Jesus was offering them a new life of freedom from the demands of selfishness and sin (darkness) so that they could live the lives He intended for them, living lovingly and generously towards others (light).

“‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'” John 8:12 (NIV).

There was pain in the heart of Jesus over the spiritual leaders of the nation who refused to recognize and come to Him as the light. He was inviting the people to set aside all their efforts to please God by following rules and rituals. God had set out His teaching (torah) in His law but they had found it impossible to fulfil all His requirements. The leaders laid a heavy burden on the people through their yoke of legalism.

Jesus offered them a better way. ‘Follow me,’ He said, ‘and you will never walk in darkness.’ He told them that He had not come to do away with the law but to show them how to fulfil it. In His offer of “living water” there was a promise that the Holy Spirit would be in them, like the water they drank every day to quench their thirst, to give them life and enable them the follow Him.

If they followed His way of life, living for others instead of for themselves, their lives would be filled with His light, the joy and peace of God that would bring them satisfaction and fulfilment instead of dissatisfaction and discontent.

He still invites us to follow Him!

 

Channels Of Living Water

Bible Study, , , ,

CHANNELS OF LIVING WATER 

“On the last and greatest day of the feast, 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 him.'” John 7:37-38 (NIV).

What an invitation! What a promise!

On the Great Day of the feast, the seventh of eight days, when the Water Ceremony was being carried out by the priest (water drawn from the pool of Siloam was poured into a basin as a drink offering to the Lord in thanksgiving for life-giving water and a prayer for rain to water their crops), Jesus shouted out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. As Scripture has said, rivers of living water (mayim chayim) will flow from within him!’

The focus of the worshippers was on the water that was always scarce and was vital for life. Once more Jesus, with His attention on the hearts of men, was offering them a source of living water which would satisfy their unconscious inner thirst and connect them to the perennial Source of real life. What He offered was not only for them but through them to quench the thirst of others around them as well. They would become a conduit of life, not just a reservoir.

Imagine the reaction of the people! This roaming rabbi was at it again, trying to draw the people’s attention away from their physical lives and refocusing on their broken connection with their Source. Like all of us, the people of Jesus’ day were more interested in getting their own needs met than in doing what God wanted them to do — to be channels through whom He could meet the needs of others.

Whatever our needs are, God’s way to meet them is for us to look for someone else to bless. Jesus assured us that our Father knows our needs before we ask Him. Why does He allow us to have needs? It’s His way of creating a current of resources that will keep circulating instead of our becoming a reservoir that will, like the hoarded manna, become stale and polluted.

Jesus put it in a nutshell like this: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38 (NIV).

It takes a powerful work of God, through the Holy Spirit to change us from self-centred, selfish people to people who care about the needs of others more than their own. What was Jesus offering His people?

“By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.'” John 7:39 (NIV).

This is not about being baptized in the Spirit so that you can become a spiritual “giant”, wowing people with your power and “holiness”, drawing attention to yourself as some privileged super-saint with supernatural ability to do spectacular things.

How tragic that in many streams in the church today, the Holy Spirit has been reduced to magic and goose bumps. Jesus insisted that the greatest person is the one who can come down to the level of a child and treat him with respect and dignity because of his potential; the one who can go to the tap and give a drink of water to a thirsty beggar because he was also created in the image of God.

It takes the power of the Holy Spirit to remove a stony heart and replace it with a heart of flesh. Satan can counterfeit miracles, but he cannot counterfeit the character of Jesus.

If we are hungry to become a truly righteous person, one who is generous towards others, and thirsty for a new heart of mercy and compassion instead of selfishness and greed, Jesus is the bread of life and the living water. He will give you in abundance what you crave!

It’s The Choice That Counts!

Bible Study, , , ,

IT’S THE CHOICE THAT COUNTS

“However, after His brothers had left for the festival, He went also, not publicly but in secret. Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, ‘Where is He?’ Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about Him. Some said, ‘He is a good man.’ Others replied, ‘No, He deceives the people.’ But no one would say anything publicly about Him for fear of the leaders.” John 7:10-13 (NIV).

Jesus was certainly the centre of attention and the talk of the town!

He knew what He was doing when He made it clear to His taunting brothers that He would not be going to Jerusalem at the same time as they were. He knew the Jewish leaders were looking for Him. It was not wise to make a public appearance because there was no knowing what they were planning.

Not only were the leaders against Him but the crowd was also divided. Those who had received ministry from Him in one way or another would definitely have spoken well of Him. Those who were influenced by their leaders would have echoed their misgivings. They muttered among themselves, not daring to make their opinions public in case they fell foul of the big shots who had spies everywhere.

Jesus went to Jerusalem when the crowds on the road had dispersed but He kept a low profile in the city until the appropriate moment when He would reveal Himself. He was not afraid but He was wise. He didn’t want to start a riot prematurely.

“Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews there were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without being taught?'” John 7:14,15 (NIV).

It was the rabbi’s job to teach. There was nothing unusual about Jesus gathering a crowd around Him as He began to speak about the kingdom of God. Perhaps there were other rabbis teaching in the temple as well. What the Jews could not understand was the authority with which He spoke compared with the other rabbis’ constant reference to the ancients. ‘Rabbi So-and-so said this and Rabbi So-and-so said that,’ and so it went on.

Jesus simply said, ‘This is what the ancients said, but I say…’ and they could not understand the difference. What right had He to speak with such authority that what He said put paid to all debate? They assumed that as a village lad from Nazareth in Galilee of all places, He would have had minimal education and yet He had the status and recognized authority of a rabbi and carried out the function of a rabbi. It was His authority they could not get over because no other rabbi spoke as He did.

The reason they could not fathom His authority was because they refused to believe its source. Jesus constantly affirmed His connection with the Father. “Jesus answered, ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.'” John 7:16, 17 (NIV).

That’s it! It all comes down to choices, once again. Jesus was saying, ‘What is your heart attitude towards God? If you sincerely desire to be connected to Him and to do what He wants, you will have no trouble in discerning who I am and what my source is.’

God promises that He will “reward those who earnestly seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6b). The Father does not reveal Himself to curiosity seekers. He is not building a fan club. He gives His attention to those who put aside their own interests to listen to Him and to find out His mind for their lives. He always leaves the initiative to us to make the first move towards Him. There is no value in waiting for God to draw near to us when He has done everything He can to pave the way for us to approach Him.

The Jews who constantly confronted and discredited Jesus would never experience the wonder of God’s revelation of Himself to them. It was their unbelief that effectively shut the door in their faces to the possibility of knowing God. They had religion but they did not know God.

Faith in God’s word opens the door to everything He has made available to us in Christ.