Gospel of John [16:28-31]. Implications of the glorification of Christ [part 4]. Joh 7, 8.

Title: Gospel of John [16:28-31]. Implications of the glorification of Christ [part 4]. Joh 7, 8.

 

One can see that these could be interpreted as a son who is a man only, David's son, and not deity, but then other passages would have to be interpreted loosely.

 

PSA 110:1

The Lord [Yahwey] says to my Lord [Adonay]:

"Sit at My right hand,

Until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet."

 

In the form adonay the word means "Lord" par excellence or "Lord over all," [Vine's Expository Dictionary]

 

ISA 9:6

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;

And the government will rest on His shoulders;

And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

 

DAN 7:13 "I kept looking in the night visions,

And behold, with the clouds of heaven

One like a Son of Man was coming,

And He came up to the Ancient of Days

And was presented before Him.

 

DAN 7:14 "And to Him was given dominion,

Glory and a kingdom,

That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language

Might serve Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion

Which will not pass away;

And His kingdom is one

Which will not be destroyed.

 

By developing a preconceived notion of the Messiah, not in reference to deity or as from the Father as the Son of God eternal, but as the king of the nation/son of God, the Jews made it harder on themselves when He came and revealed who He really was. This is why John the Baptist was sent first as the forerunner in order to tell them to repent of their self-absorbed ways and self-will, for the kingdom of God is at hand, make straight the highways of the Lord God in your mind.

 

It is clear that they expected an earthly kingdom and the disciples did also, but the disciples came to recognize Him as the Son of God.

 

MAT 26:63

And the high priest said to Him, "I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God."

 

It could be that the high priest put these two names together because Jesus already claimed to be the Son of God.

 

Whatever their prior interpretation of the passages we have just seen in the OT concerning the coming Messiah, once they had heard Him, seen Him, and witnessed His miracles, they are without excuse.

 

JOH 15:22 "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

 

JOH 15:23 "He who hates Me hates My Father also.

 

JOH 15:24 "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.

 

JOH 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

 

JOH 7:38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'" 

 

JOH 7:39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

 

The implications of the victory of Christ and His return to the Father in glory are immense. It means no more thirst to those who believe. It means no more hunger. It means complete fulfillment of a person within and thorough refreshment. It also means the refreshment of others.

 

This water, bubbling up to eternal life within and so satisfying every desire and refreshing every want, also flows out to refresh the lives of others.

 

In verse 38, the Lord said this was in the scripture.

 

Living waters flow out of Jerusalem at the second advent of Christ, after He defeats all the armies that rose up against Him.

 

ZEC 14:8

And it will come about in that day that living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.

 

Ezekiel adds that everything will live where this river goes.

 

EZE 47:9

"And it will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there, and the others become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.

 

This is not just some canal cut through Jerusalem, but a living river which gives continual life to everything it touches.

 

JOE 3:18

And it will come about in that day

That the mountains will drip with sweet wine,

And the hills will flow with milk,

And all the brooks of Judah will flow with water;

And a spring will go out from the house of the Lord,

To water the valley of Shittim.

 

God is a fountain of living waters. The Jews of Judea, before the captivity, had forsaken these waters and attempted (metaphorically) to dig their own wells. Wells of stagnant water.

 

JER 2:13

"For My people have committed two evils:

They have forsaken Me,

The fountain of living waters,

To hew for themselves cisterns,

Broken cisterns,

That can hold no water.

 

The New Jerusalem in the new heavens and earth will also have a river flowing from the throne of God.

 

REV 22:1-2

And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

 

This river flows within the believer now. He must recognize it, believe its purity and power, and so allow it to quench Him.

 

COL 3:3

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

 

Now, in the Church age, from the believer's heart where Christ abides, a river of living water fills within and flows outward by means of God the Holy Spirit.

 

This is a result of Christ's glorification.

 

JOH 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

 

JOH 7:38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'" 

 

JOH 7:39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

 

JOH 7:40 Some of the multitude therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, "This certainly is the Prophet."

 

Just as Jesus' feeding the multitude in the wilderness suggested to the people that he was the second Moses, the coming prophet of DEU 18:15, 18, so now His offer of water suggests a similar suggestion, since many knew that Moses brought water out of a rock for their forefathers to drink.

 

It may have taken the beginning of the Church to identify the promised prophet "like Moses" with the Son of David. In this crowd, those who believe Jesus to be the Messiah and those who believe Him to be the second prophet like Moses have different beliefs.

 

JOH 7:41 Others were saying, "This is the Christ." Still others were saying, "Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He?

 

JOH 7:42 "Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?"

 

Popular opinion #3: The Christ would be born in Bethlehem, from the house of David.

 

The irony is again brought out by John in that those who wondered at Him being the Messiah were confused about His place of birth. Galileans had a look and an accent to their speech and we can be sure that Christ had both. If the crowd were told of His birth in Bethlehem, would they have believed it?

 

JOH 7:43 So there arose a division in the multitude because of Him.

 

JOH 7:44 And some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

 

Speaking soon afterwards the Lord informs them that He is the light of the world.

 

As the ceremony of the water-pouring provides an effective setting for Jesus' proclamation about the living water, so the setting for His further claim to be the light of the world may be provided by another feature of the festival of Tabernacles: the temple precincts were brightly illuminated. We are told in JOH 8:20 that He spoke this time from the temple treasury.

 

I am the light of the world message was likely at night. At the feast of Tabernacles the temple precincts were brightly illuminated.

 

 

JOH 8:12 Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." 

 

Implications of glorification of Christ: rivers of living water within; an illumined heart that guides the believer's path.