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John 7 - Devotion · The Five Minute Bible Podcast

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  Welcome to Five Minute Bible in our journey through the New
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  Testament. In each episode, we take just a
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  few minutes to focus on one chapter of the New Testament,
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  exploring the truths God is teaching us through His Word and
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  expanding our view of who He is. Before you listen, make sure
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  you've gone straight to the source, either by reading
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  today's chapter of the Bible yourself or listening to today's
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  read along episode in this podcast feed.
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  If you haven't done that yet, feel free to pause and do that
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  now. When you're ready, let's dive
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  into God's Word together. In John Chapter 7, we see Jesus
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  go up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths and during the time of
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  celebration He teaches in the Temple.
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  What we as readers see all throughout this chapter, before,
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  during, and after His teaching, is the response of different
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  individuals and groups to the teaching and ministry of Jesus.
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  Let me show you what I mean. In verse 12, as Jesus arrives to
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  Jerusalem, He is who is on everyone's minds.
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  Listen to this verse. There was much grumbling among
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  the crowds concerning Him. Some were saying He is a good
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  man. Others were saying no.
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  On the contrary, He leads the people astray.
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  Shortly thereafter, Jesus begins to teach and is immediately met
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  with this response in verse 15. The Jews then were astonished,
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  saying how has this man become learned having never been
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  educated? Not long into his teaching
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  though, after Jesus tells the crowds that they do not follow
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  the law of Moses because they are seeking to kill him, a
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  reality that will be demonstrated soon, the crowd
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  reacts in verse 20 this way. The crowd answered, You have a
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  demon who seeks to kill you. As Jesus continues to teach,
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  another group says that he cannot be the Christ because no
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  one will know where the Christ comes from.
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  But they all know where Jesus is from.
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  When Jesus asserts that he's from God, this group
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  unsuccessfully attempts to seize Jesus.
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  In the next verse, however, we see that this response is not
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  universal. Listen to verse 31.
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  But many of the crowd believed in him, and they were saying,
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  when the Christ comes, he will not perform.
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  More signs than those which this man has, will he?
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  After Jesus finishes teaching, we see even more division over
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  who this Jesus is. Some asserted that he must be
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  the promised prophet. Others said he was the Christ.
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  Still others said there was no way the Christ could come from
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  Galilee. And the result of all this is
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  that a division occurred in the crowd.
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  There were some who wanted to seize him and others who
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  marvelled at him. So what should we take away from
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  an account like this? Why would the biblical author
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  include this chapter for his readers?
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  Here's the short of it. Jesus is divisive.
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  Not divisive in the sense that he's attempting to stir up
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  trouble for no reason. In fact, there's never been a
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  peacemaker like Jesus. No, Jesus is divisive by the
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  very nature of who he is. Jesus is the way, the truth, and
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  the life. But as we should well know, the
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  truth is divisive. For some the truth is salve to
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  the soul, but for others it's simply too hard to swallow.
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  And that's what we see here. Jesus asserting himself to be
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  exactly who he is, the Christ, the Son of God, is met with
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  outright rejection, confusion, disdain, and faith.
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  And so the question again turns to us, What will we do with
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  Jesus? What will we do when his
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  teachings are hard to follow? What will we do when he makes us
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  uncomfortable? Will we trust him or will we
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  reject him? Jesus tells us there is but one
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  right response. Listen to his words in verses 37
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  and 38. If anyone is thirsty, let him
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  come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the
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  Scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers
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  of living water. Jesus is the only one who can
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  satisfy our souls, who can satisfy the deepest longings of
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  our hearts. Above the noise, above the host
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  of responses to Jesus from the world, believe yourself that He
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  is who He says He is. Believe that He is the Son of
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  God, slain, so that you and I might have life and receive the
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  joy and peace that only He can provide.