Following Jesus Can Seem Lonely at Times, But There's Hope! {John 7}
9:30 AMFollowing Jesus can lead you to lonely places at times. Have you ever felt the sting of persecution by those you love; family, friends, or neighbors? Sometimes we're called to take a stand, or step out in faith when no one is willing to stand with us, but take heart, Jesus knows all about that and this chapter is proof, and here in this chapter, He also offers us hope!
We see here in chapter seven, Jesus’ own brothers questioned His divinity and seemed to be mocking Him. No one seems to understand, and if they did, they certainly weren't willing to admit it, for Jesus was receiving death threats from the religious leaders who should have been on His side.
In order for us to better understand all that's taking place here we need to know a bit more about this festival they are all celebrating:
The Feast of the Booths or the Feast of
the Tabernacles was actually a party in many ways for
the Jewish people. The people would moved out of their homes for a week and
lived under shelters made of branches, similar to camping out today. The purpose behind this religious festival
was to remind the nation of Israel
The Temple Temple
If we skip down to verse 37, we are on the
seventh and last day of this feast. It was called the great day because a
lot of special things happened then. On this day the priests would
march seven times around the altar chanting Psalm 118:25, "O LORD, save us, we pray. We beseech You, O LORD, cause us to prosper!" On the seventh
trip around the altar they would pour out the water.I believe it was at that moment that Jesus stood and shouted this incredible invitation, and invited all those who were thirsty to come to Him and drink.
1 Corinthians
10:4 tells us that the rock in the Old Testament from which the water miraculously flowed was Jesus. He was that rock, and now we know that the water
that poured from that rock was the Holy Spirit.
So, when we believe in Jesus, His Holy Spirit is given
freely! Those of us who are in Christ possess His Spirit and His Spirit will freely flow through us onto others. The people then couldn't have fully understood all that Jesus was saying at that time. But now we know the Holy Spirit literally dwells in every believer all over this world. We aren't ever alone, for we are on a mission working with the Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent King of kings!
Just how cool is that?
Blessings,
sue
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