I want to begin today by discussing children blowing out candles on a birthday cake.  I know that is a strange place to start a sermon.  So I ask you to bear with me.  But kids, candles, and birthday cakes are something everyone has in common. The scene I want you to visualize is the moment the candles are all lit, the wish has been made, and the kid has drawn in that mighty breath of air to blow across the candles.  Just then, an older brother moves closer to the cake and blows out the candles before the birthday child can do so.  You have the scene in mind.  The birthday child’s joyful moment in the spotlight is gone.  Joy is replaced with anger.  I want you to keep that sort of emotional experience in mind. We are going to see and understand how anger from that sort of experience became a blinding rage that kept some from believing in Jesus as Christ and turning others into murderers. Welcome to our next stop on Jesus’ journey to the resurrection.  It is a journey that will change your life.

We begin today’s segment of Jesus’ journey to the resurrection; we find Jesus at home with his brothers, James, Joses, Judas, and Simon.  It was time for the Festival of Tabernacles.  The festival was a seven-day celebration, remembering the exodus from Egypt.  This festival was one of three festivals that many Jews celebrated in Jerusalem.  Jesus’ brothers, who did not then believe in Jesus’ ministry, said to Jesus, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” (John 7:3-4).  Jesus, who was already being sought by the Jewish ruling authority that they might kill him for blasphemy, said to his brothers, “8 You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival because my time has not yet fully come” (John 7:8).  Jesus’ brothers left for Jerusalem, but Jesus remained in Galilee.

Over the centuries, the Festival of Tabernacles became a popular celebration for the people.  The high point of the Festival came near the end of the week when the high priest poured water from the pool of Siloam into a golden cup on the altar.  The Jews saw this part of the worship as a plea from God for rainfall of the coming year and a symbolic request for God to send His Messiah, His chosen person, to restore Israel.  One time, about 100 years before the celebration we are discussing, the high priest, who was also the king of Israel, poured the water from the pool onto his own feet.  This outraged the worshippers, who thought the high priest and king’s action was disrespectful of God and the ceremony.  In their anger, the worshippers threw citrus fruit at the man.  The king and high priest angrily sent his troops into the crowd with drawn swords.  Soon, 6,000 worshippers lay dead.  The moment of pouring out the water was an emotionally charged event.

Sometime after Jesus’ brothers left for the festival in Jerusalem with its emotionally charged outpouring of water, Jesus went to Jerusalem secretly.  Jesus entered the Temple courts and began teaching on the fourth day of the seven-day festival.  “15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without having been taught?’” (John 7:15).  Jesus explained that His teaching was not of his own but was God’s, the one who sent him. 25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they [the ruling council] are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from” (John 7:25-27).  The people had become confused.  Was Jesus the Messiah?  Was Jesus a dangerous man the rulers wanted to kill?  People’s questions about Jesus persist today.  Jesus forces no one to believe in Him.  As in Jesus’ day, so it is true today, each person must answer this question: "Who is Jesus?”

“32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him [Jesus]. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him [Jesus]” (John 7:32).  But the guards were not able to arrest Jesus as it was not his time.

 A few days passed, and It was the festival's last day.  The last day would conclude with pouring the water from the Pool of Siloam into the golden cup.  The final prayer was for rain to come and a petition that God would send his Messiah.  It was the chief priest's cherished and emotionally charged moment.  It was, if you will, the moment for the birthday child to blow out the candles on the cake.  John wrote, “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.’”  It was to the high priest the moment the older brother blew out his candles on the birthday cake.  Against the backdrop of water pouring out and the high priest’s prayers for rain and the Messiah, Jesus said loudly, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.”  This was the most straightforward public sign that Jesus was making known He was the Messiah. Jesus’ words angered the high priest and the Pharisees, but they no longer controlled troops, just a few Temple guards.  This must have been an electrifying moment where everyone’s attention was captured. It must have been one of those moments where you hold your breath and wonder what will happen next.   The water that came from God as a blessing of hope was now being proclaimed by Jesus to be Him.  Jesus was saying, “I am the hope that you seek.”  Only Jesus would satisfy the thirst and the needs of the people. Before people could react, Jesus continued, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

“40 On hearing his [Jesus] words, some of the people said, ‘Surely this man is the Prophet.’  41 Others said, ‘He [Jesus] is the Messiah’” (John 7:40). Still others did not believe someone from Galilee could be the Messiah as the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem of Judea.  “43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him” (John 7:43-44).

Anger consumed the chief priest, a man named Caiaphas.  Jesus had upstaged Caiaphas and had declared himself God’s Messiah.  Temple guards were dispatched to arrest Jesus.  “45 Finally, the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why didn’t you bring him in?’  46 ‘No one ever spoke the way this man does,’ the guards replied.  47 ‘You mean he has deceived you also?’ the Pharisees retorted. 48 ‘Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them’” (John 7:45-49).  As plainly as Jesus expressed his identity as Messiah, the Jewish ruling council just as plainly rejected Jesus and his claim.

We see here that belief in Jesus as God’s Son, God’s Messiah, was rejected the moment Jesus said He was.  Those who rejected Jesus called those who believed Jesus an uneducated mob and cursed them.  Not much has changed in 2,000 years.  If you are a Christian, meaning you believe Jesus is the Son of God, then to many people, you are an ignorant person who should be cursed.  If you are a Christian, then many people find you and your beliefs offensive.

Why do people find Christ, Christianity, and you offensive?  In Jesus’ case, Jesus offended the religious leaders by declaring that salvation would be found in Him, not in religious practices.  The chief priests, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees believed that strict adherence to their rules and practices made them righteous.  Standing before God, they could say, “We are Abraham’s children, and we have worshipped God through faithful sacrifice and rituals. We must now accept us.”

But Jesus stood in the Temple, the place of rituals, and while the chief priest was celebrating his great moment, Jesus said, “This is not the way to God.  If you thirst for God, come to Me.  Whoever believes in Me shall have eternal life.”  Jesus' words overturned the idea of ritual and said the truth rests in Christ. That Jesus would say there is only one way to God, Him, is offensive.  If there is only one right answer, all other answers are necessarily wrong.  To accept Jesus means you cannot say, “My truth is…”  There is only “the truth.”  To accept Jesus means you cannot say, “I deserve to be in heaven because I am a good person.”  Only God is good.  People reject Christ because they want to live their lives their way and then demand God accept them for the way they are.  Jesus said, “If you want God, come to Me; there is no other way.”

Understanding that Jesus is the way to God is central to Jesus’ journey to the resurrection.  In these past few weeks, we have seen that Jesus told Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council, to move from the realm of the world to the realm of God you must be born again.  That second birth is a spiritual birth, a gift from God.  We then saw that Jesus healed a man paralyzed for 38 years. There, we learned that Jesus has the power to heal and the power to cancel sin.  When challenged, Jesus said He was the Son of God.  The ruling Jewish Council was outraged and wanted to kill Jesus. Last week, we saw Jesus say that he was the bread of life and that to know God, one must eat of Jesus’ flesh and drink of his blood.  The idea here was that Jesus sustains life now and eternal.  Followers left Jesus, and the Jewish ruling council wanted to kill Jesus all the more.  And now, Jesus said if you thirst for God, come to Him and drink, for whoever believes in Him shall have living water within them for all eternity.  The Jewish ruling council now actively sought to arrest Jesus so that they could kill him.

Jesus’ journey to the resurrection is a combination of the good news of God and the desire of men to kill Jesus.  We can understand this conflict because God chooses to show His power by giving life, and humanity chooses to show its power by taking life.

The good news shared by Jesus was that anyone could enter the realm of God if they were born again by the Spirit of God. Anyone could have their sins canceled not by works but by the power of Christ.  Anyone could have a life sustained and preserved for eternity if they only came to Christ for nourishment.  Anyone could have their thirst for God quenched if they only came to Christ for living water.  This is the good news of Jesus.  That news was so radical to what the people of Israel had been taught that conflict with the teachers of Israel was not only likely, it was necessary.  We read elsewhere in Scripture, “He (Jesus) then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31). The conflict between the good news of Jesus and the beliefs of the Jewish ruling council would end with Jesus’ resurrection.  But there can be no resurrection unless there is first a death.  Jesus said this means the Jewish rulers must reject him, and they must kill Jesus.  As strange as it may sound, Jesus’ death was part of God’s plan to show the truth of Jesus’ words and the wrongness of the Jewish council.  Jesus’ death was necessary to cancel sin and demonstrate the power of God to bring forth life from death.

Because of the resurrection, belief in Jesus of Nazareth would forever change the believer.  The change would be inward and expressed outwardly.  There is an indwelling of his spirit, which flows out to others.  The believer's heart is changed, and from them “flows rivers of living water.” 

Jesus challenged and changed the sacred moment of water pouring out, claiming, “God has met your thirst; follow me.”  His words needed a response.  On that day, “On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”  Others said, “He is the Messiah.”  Still others doubted.  You see, Jesus’ words compel us to make a choice.  Either we must believe his words and receive him as the water of life, or we must reject him.  There is no middle ground.  When we accept and act on Jesus’ words, when we accept and act on the purpose He has for our lives, we move from the world into God’s kingdom.  Some, even our brothers and sisters, will not believe in what we hold as truth.  They will seek to distract us in their own ways and certainly will not support us. That is one reason we come together each week: to have the support of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We have to ask ourselves today, “Where am I? Do I believe Jesus’ words that my thirst for true life is met in him?  Have I accepted him wholeheartedly such that I know His Spirit is within me and the waters of life flow from me?  Or do I sit in the darkness of the world?”  Only you can answer those questions.

 This day, in this setting, let’s receive again the outpouring of God’s grace through Jesus Christ.  Let us thirst no more.  Amen and Amen.