Sermon by Pastor Brent Kompelien

January 22, 2023

INTRO

1. Before we get started with our text today, I just want to give you a heads up for the passage next week. Mark Revell, who is one of the members here and is the Director of Training for our denomination’s missions agency ReachGlobal, will be preaching next Sunday. He will be picking up our series in John 8:12-30 and talking about Jesus as the light of the world.

2. But I want to let you know that we will not be preaching John 7:53-8:11, which many of your Bibles have marked off in italics with some notes. These verses are absent from the earliest Greek manuscripts and other early copies of the New Testament in different languages. And the words of the text itself have numerous expressions and vocabulary that are not present in the rest of the gospel of John, but rather have more in common with Luke’s writing. This story probably happened, but this account seems to have been added to the text later and was not originally written by John himself. So we are not going to preach this text as part of our series because John didn’t intend for this story to be in his gospel when he first wrote it. If you have questions about this, let me know!

3. ASK — When was the time when you’ve been the most thirsty?

1. ILLUST — I like to run, and I remember last summer I decided to run the 10 miles loop trail around Hastings. I usually don’t run quite that far, so this was a stretch for me (get it!).

1. It was a hot day and I knew I would need to stay hydrated, but I also didn’t really want to carry water with me for the whole 10 miles.

2. I’ve done this trail many times on my bike, and I knew there is a water fountain about halfway around the loop near downtown. So I made a plan. I would hydrate a lot before I left, then hydrate again halfway, and then hydrate again when I got back home.

3. Well, the water fountain downtown was not working when I got there. And I was too proud to go into a restaurant all sweaty to ask for water. So I decided to just keep going.

4. By the time I got 3/4 of the way around the loop, I was SO thirsty. I was really getting desperate. At this point in the run I was near the Government Center and Walmart in Hastings, less than 2 miles from my house. I just couldn’t go any farther!

5. So I stumbled into Walmart. I didn’t have any money to buy water or gatorade, so I was counting on a free water fountain.

6. And there it was! My savior! I walked up to the water fountain, hoping it was working. And as I pushed the button and water came shooting out of the spout, I bent down to take drink after drink of the water…people were staring at me, all sweaty and smelly, wondering what was wrong with me. But I savored that water like I haven’t savored water before.

4. Friends, maybe you’ve felt like that before. Life can feel like that 10 mile loop where you set out with the best intentions, you make a plan, and you’ve got your own idea of how things will turn out. But then you get thrown a curveball, the plans fall apart, or you are faced with trials or suffering that you didn’t ask for, or in my case, maybe you did ask for it by not being prepared.

5. Contrary to our culture’s message that you deserve comfort and pleasure and success, the reality is that life is hard, circumstances never pan out how you plan them, and sooner or later everyone is faced with the harsh truth that things aren’t right in this world and things aren’t right in my heart. There’s a point you will reach where you’re like me on that 10 mile loop, desperately thirsty but too proud to ask for help, searching for water to end your suffering.

6. Here’s my question for you this morning when you examine your life — Are you thirsty yet? Are you thirsty for something that will actually satisfy? In other words, when you’re desperate, what are you going to do? Who or what are you trusting in? In your life, are you thirsty for Jesus yet?

7. We are going to look at a passage this morning that immediately follows the dividing line moment of chapter 6 when Jesus said, “You need me, the Bread of Life, day-by-day,” and the crowds of people said, “This teaching is too hard,” and they turned back and abandoned Jesus.

1. After this dividing line moment, the rest of the gospel of John displays a growing intensity between those who choose to trust in Jesus and those who don’t. There is division and arguing about who he is, all while Jesus reveals his light and comfort and peace to those who have ears to hear.

2. APPLY — Its not too different from our culture. Jesus is a divisive figure. As we are going to see in this passage, some people view him as a prophet, some a deceiver, some a brilliant teacher, and others see him as merely a good person but nothing more.

1. Not much has changed today. Chances are your friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors have wildly different views on Jesus.

2. We are going to immerse ourselves into a story about Jesus going to an annual festival in Jerusalem, about 6 months after the feeding of the 5000, in order to hear directly from Jesus’ own words about who he is, and to witness the growing division among the people that will eventually lead to the cross.

Open with me to John 7. We are going to read the entire chapter and put ourselves right into the story of Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles. Then we will dive into the background of this festival in order to be challenged with this question: Are you thirsty for Jesus?

As we read, I want to imagine yourself in the story. I had the privilege of doing a study tour of Israel years ago, and I took this picture of a scale model of the first century city of Jerusalem. (SLIDE 2) This is the temple mount and the courtyards where the crowds gathered and Jesus taught. Imagine yourself there as I read. READ John 7:1-52.

Ok, let’s review what is going on here:

1. It is time for the annual Feast of Tabernacles and Jesus’ brothers try to convince him to go speak publicly to gather more followers. (SLIDE 3a) Did you know Jesus had brothers? Matthew 13:55-56 says that their names were James, Joseph (Joe Jr.), Simon, and Judas. And the text says that Jesus also had sisters.

1. His brothers weren’t believers at this time. But we know from Acts 1:14 that his brothers were with the disciples immediately after Jesus’ ascension and joined with them constantly in prayer, so evidently they became believers later on.

2. At this moment, they wanted Jesus to show his power publicly. But like others already in the gospel of John, they impose their demands and expectations on him, thinking that they will push him to public displays of power to prove whether he is really the Messiah or not.

1. ILLUST — Just like brothers! They don’t believe him. They try to convince him to go to the Festival as a test. It is a challenge; an ultimatum.

2. But one of the strongest themes in the gospel of John is that Jesus is always operating within God the Father’s will. (SLIDE 3b) So at this point he doesn’t have clarity from the Father that he should go up to Jerusalem, but after his brothers leave Jesus must have heard from the Father that it was time to go to Jerusalem, part-way through the festival.

3. Jesus begins teaching and astonishes everyone, he challenges them on their hypocrisy with the Sabbath, and he explains how he is speaking with the authority of God himself, and that he will go to heaven after his death and resurrection.

1. It is the Jewish leaders, especially the Scribes and Pharisees, who can’t handle this. ILLUST — You see, one of the markers of the Rabbinic schools was that all claims were grounded in historic precedent. Rabbis always referred to a long lineage of teachers in their arguments. In other words, one’s teaching authority lie in the ability to call upon and interpret the tradition of their ancestors. ILLUST — Its like constitutional law! Everything comes down to precedent.

1. Jesus plays right into this reality when he says, “My teaching is not my own” (v. 16). They probably expected him to follow up that sentence with an appeal to one of the Rabbinical authorities. But he doesn’t! He shocks them with his answer! Jesus appeals directly to God the Father (v. 28)! (SLIDE 3c) He skips the Rabbinical authorities and speaks directly with the authority of God!

2. Interestingly, at the end of this passage we see Nicodemus for the second time. He still doesn’t believe, but you can see that he’s sympathetic to Jesus and then he gets accused by his own Pharisee friends that he’s going soft on them!

4. The people are struggling to understanding all this, division about Jesus is growing (SLIDE 3d), and the Jewish leaders send out the Temple Police to arrest Jesus, but in the background of everything Jesus says and does is this Feast of Tabernacles. I want to tell you about this festival because it reveals the deeper meaning behind Jesus’ words and it challenges us to consider whether we truly are thirsty for him.

Feast of Tabernacles (SLIDE 4a)

1. (SLIDE 4b) This was the last of the 7 annual festivals of the Jewish people. (SLIDE 4c) It was occurred in the fall and was established in Exodus 23 and Leviticus 23 to celebrate the ingathering of the harvest and commemorated the wilderness wanderings after the Exodus from Egypt. The ancient historian Josephus said that this was the most popular of the annual festivals and brought in thousands of people to Jerusalem.

2. (SLIDE 4d) The festival started on a Sunday and lasted for 7 days. (SLIDE 4e) The people were to celebrate God’s blessing on Israel’s 7 major crops: grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, honey, wheat, and barley (Deut. 8:8). The main ceremony, from Sunday to Saturday, recalls the creation week and is filled with celebration and rest.

1. KEY — This is the 7th festival of the year lasting 7 days celebrating 7 crops. You can see, there’s a crescendo happening here that is all about God blessing his creation, through his redemption, anticipating the coming of the Messiah and God’s kingdom!

3. (SLIDE 4f) People would put up temporary dwellings made from branches and leaves to live in for the week. Those who lived in cities would build these temporary dwellings on their flat roofs or in their courtyards. Hence the name “Feast of Tabernacles” (dwellings or tents).

1. ILLUST — It was literally like camping! I heard recently of an Old Testament professor who made an assignment during their study of Leviticus for his students to set up tents near a lake on campus so they could experience the Feast of Tabernacles for themselves and feel what it is like to depend on God for provision in the wilderness. That’s a pretty cool discipling-by-doing activity!

4. Because the Feast of Tabernacles was in the fall, water was of central importance. (SLIDE 5a) It was a festival that looked forward to God’s provision through the coming rainy season. Israel is an arid land with a rainy season from November-March and a long dry season from April-October. The rains were critical for their survival.

1. (SLIDE 5b) And so this festival remembered God’s provision of water in the wilderness, (SLIDE 5c) and it was symbolic of the anticipated spiritual “raining” down of God’s power and presence in the Messianic age.

5. By the 1st century, the most prominent element of the Feast of Tabernacles was daily corporate worship that centered on an elaborate water ritual:

1. On each of the seven days of the festival, a golden pitcher was filled with water from the pool of Siloam and was carried in a procession led by the High Priest back to the temple.

2. As the procession approached the Water Gate on the south side of the inner court of the Temple, three blasts were sounded from the Shofar.

3. While the people watched, the priests proceeded around the altar with the pitcher of water, while the temple choir sang from Psalms 113-118.

4. When the choir reached Psalm 118, everyone would shake a palm branch tied with willow and myrtle twigs in their right hand, while raising a piece of citrus fruit with their left hand, and all cried “Give thanks to the Lord!” three times.

5. The water was offered to God at the time of the morning sacrifice, along with the daily drink-offering of wine. The water and the wine were pour into their respective silver bowls, and then poured out before the Lord on the altar.

1. The water represents God’s provision in the wilderness and the wine represents the outpouring of the Spirit, anticipating the coming messianic age in which a stream from the sacred rock would flow over the whole earth.

6. This water rite at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles looks backwards and forwards:

1. Backward: Remembers the water miracles in the wilderness in the book of Exodus.

2. Forward: It is a foretaste of the rivers of living water foreseen in the prophets and fulfilled in Revelation 22 when God restores his whole creation!

6. Don’t miss this friends: Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of all that the Feast of Tabernacles symbolized and pointed to! (SLIDE 5d) He is the fulfillment of that water rite, he is the water and the wine that is poured out to redeem God’s people and inaugurate the Kingdom of God!

1. The Apostle John himself writes later in 1 John 5:6-12 (SLIDE 5e) — “This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

2. Remember how divided everyone is at this moment in John 7 at the Feast of Tabernacles. Here is the dividing line again: Jesus is the only way, and he speaks with the very authority of God the Father, and if you’re with him you have eternal life!

7. IMPORTANT — This is the culmination of it all: Jesus stood up to speak on the last and greatest day of the feast, which would have been a Sabbath day and would have followed the water rites at the pinnacle of the festival.

1. ILLUST — (POUR THE WATER!) The people would have just seen the priests pouring out the water before the altar of the Lord. They would have listened to its sound and seen its droplets and remembered God’s provision in the wilderness and looked ahead to the coming of the Messiah! ARE YOU THIRSTY YET?

2. KEY — You see, when Jesus says at this moment, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink,” (SLIDE 6a) he is claiming that he is inaugurating the perfect rest of God, bringing his redemption and on-going presence to his people through the the dawning of his Kingdom! He is our provider, he is our redeemer! As the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:4, Jesus is the spiritual rock that is split, his body would be beaten and killed, just like the rock in the wilderness that Moses struck with his staff, and from Jesus flows the living waters that bring eternal life!

8. Friends, this Living Water is the promise of the Spirit, the downpayment of the future of heaven! (SLIDE 6b)

1. In verse 38, we see that those who believe in Jesus will have “rivers of living water” flow from within them.

2. In other words, believers are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, who is the life-giving presence of God dwelling in your inner being, transforming you, making you a new creation!

1. ILLUST — Remember that the festival is about “tabernacling” as a celebration of God’s presence with his people in the wilderness. And remember that John already wrote in John 1:14 that Jesus is the Word made flesh “tabernacling among us.”

2. So now, when you trust in Christ and surrender your life to him, you have the very presence of the Triune God tabernacling in you by the Spirit! (SLIDE 6c) You join in the fulfillment of this Feast of Tabernacles and all that it anticipates and promises! Wow!

APPLY

1. I’ll ask again: Are you thirsty for Jesus yet? As you face the difficulties of life, as you are confronted with your sin, as you try to navigate the ups and downs of your finite human plans and inadequate power to save yourself…are you desperate to take a drink from the waters of life yet?

2. Friends, Jesus’ fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles is so important because we need his presence and provision every single day! Though we dwell in the tents of our temporary and corruptible bodies, wandering the wilderness of this world, we have the sure promise of the resurrection and a permanent home with Jesus in the new heavens and new earth. And we have received the Holy Spirit abundantly today, having God’s very wisdom, power, comfort, and love near to us moment-by-moment as a seal of the promises to come.

3. In order to know this living water from Jesus that alone can satisfy, all you need to do is ask. You don’t need to prove to God that you’re good enough. You don’t need to worry that you’re unworthy. You don’t need to let the power of sin or evil stop you…all you need is to open your hands in repentance, and open your heart to Jesus in faith.

1. Isaiah 55:1-3 says, (SLIDE 7) “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live.”