At the start of this section, the priests send officers to arrest Jesus for a trial. Jesus responds cryptically of where He goes, but then the scene jumps to the last day of the feast where Jesus spoke to the masses of an offer of "living water." Dr. Sproul then expounds on this reference being about the Holy Spirit. The crowd then tries to determine who Jesus really is. When the officers return they tell the Jewish leaders that no man ever spoke like this Man. Dr. Sproul finishes this section with the reappearance of Nicodemus and the Pharisees turning against him.

I now invite the congregation to stand for the reading of the Word of God. We continue to read from John 7:32–52. Hear the Word of God:

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.”

But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” So there was a division among the people because of Him. Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”

The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”

Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”

Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”

He who has ears to hear the Word of God, let him hear. Let us pray.

Father, take now this Word, which You have revealed by Your Spirit of truth, and use it to pierce our souls, to cut between bone and marrow, between sinew and muscle, that we may be changed by its hearing. We ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Feast of Tabernacles

Notice the context of the narrative that I just read to you. These things took place during the Feast of Tabernacles, when pilgrims from all over the country journeyed up to Jerusalem to spend a week there in celebration. Earlier in our study of John’s gospel, we saw Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles at the beginning of His ministry, and now He returns to Jerusalem for that same feast.

If you recall, this feast commemorated the time the Israelites spent in the wilderness, and two benefits they received from God during their sojourn in the desert are recalled and celebrated in the liturgy of the tabernacle. One was the receiving of manna from heaven, when God provided the necessary provisions to keep alive the pilgrims out of Egypt. That, of course, is linked to what we recently studied: Jesus’ discourse on the bread of heaven, the bread that He is—the Bread of Life.

The second thing the Feast of Tabernacles commemorated was Moses providing water from the rock for the people of God when they were besieged by thirst in the wilderness. That is important because during the celebration, as I mentioned earlier, there was a water-pouring ceremony in which water was carried to the temple in golden vessels. That was the highlight of the feast. We will see what transpires in the middle of this celebration of the tabernacles.

The section I read today begins with a somewhat ominous announcement that the authorities in Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin, had written a formal commission for Jesus’ arrest. They sent the temple officers with the announced task to search Him out, put Him under arrest, and bring Him back for trial with a view toward execution.

We are only in the seventh chapter of John; it is too early for us to have Jesus being arrested and executed. Jesus has already noted that His hour had not yet come. The Pharisees were convinced that the hour had come. They had heard all they wanted to hear from Jesus, so they were prepared to act, and act decisively. The arrest warrant was issued, and the officers were sent.

Jesus Must Depart

It is in this context of the officers coming to arrest Jesus that He speaks publicly, and He says: “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.” The people have no idea what Jesus is talking about, but the rest of Scripture makes it abundantly clear, particularly in later chapters of this very gospel. Jesus is talking about His departure by way of ascension.

I am convinced that the most neglected dimension of the life of Jesus in the church today is His ascension. Without the ascension, the cross and the resurrection are meaningless. The climax of Jesus’ earthly ministry comes when He ascends into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God. He goes to His investiture, His coronation, where the Father crowns Him as King of kings and Lord of lords. It is at that moment that the glory is restored to Christ in His heavenly kingdom.

We know that Jesus is talking about His ascension by what He says a few moments later, but for now, it is cryptic. He says, in essence: “I’m going someplace, and where I’m going, you will not be able to find Me. Where I’m going, you will not be able to go.”

“Then the Jews said among themselves, ‘Where does He intend to go that we won’t be able to find Him? Is He going to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?’” Those Greek-speaking Jews who had been dispersed beyond the borders of Israel, into Alexandria and Greek colonies around the world, were the Greeks of the diaspora, or the dispersion. They are essentially saying: “Is that where He’s going? Is He going to leave the nation? Is He going to go out into the hinterlands, where the Greek-speaking people are, who will never be able to find Him? What is this that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

Jesus’ Provocative Shout

The narrative breaks at this point. It leaves us with this discussion among Jesus’ contemporaries about His enigmatic statement. Then, in verse 37, we read what happens on the last day of the feast: “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out.”

Let us get that in our minds. Many people are gathered in Jerusalem for this sacred celebration. Jesus comes into their midst, and He begins to shout. Everyone stops what they are doing, and they listen to His words, because they are indeed provocative.

Jesus says: “If anyone thirsts”—this is while the Jews are pouring the water out, remembering the water that came from the rock in the Old Testament—“let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” These very words that our Lord whispered privately to the woman of Sychar, the Samaritan woman at the well, He now shouts to the masses.

The Spirit Not Yet Given

“But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” Beloved, do you hear this? What does it mean that the Holy Spirit was not yet given?

Through the pages of the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit is everywhere. It is the Holy Spirit who anoints the prophets, the priests, and the kings. It is the Holy Spirit who changes the hearts of unbelievers and makes them the people of God. There is no regeneration, there is no salvation apart from the operation and ministry of the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost was present in the Old Testament. But the anointing of the Holy Ghost, the empowering of the Holy Ghost, was limited to a few isolated individuals like Moses, Elijah, and Samson. You recall that in Numbers 11, God commanded Moses to take seventy elders, and He would take from the Spirit that was upon Moses and distribute it to those seventy so that they could help carry the burden of ministry. When the Spirit came upon these elders, we remember the story of Eldad and Medad, who were wandering outside the camp, speaking in ecstatic utterances. People began to realize that the Spirit was upon them. Joshua was very upset, and he came to Moses. He said: “Moses, Eldad and Medad are out there, prophesying in the camp. Forbid them.” Moses said: “Are you envious, Joshua, for my sake? I wish that all of the Lord’s people were prophets and that He would put His Spirit upon them.”

That anguished cry of Moses became a prophecy on the lips of Joel, and that prophecy looked forward to the day when what Luther called “the priesthood of all believers” would be made a reality. Every single member of the community of the faithful would be endowed by the Holy Ghost, empowered from on high to participate in the ministry of Christ’s kingdom. If you are a Christian, you have received the Holy Ghost. You are an anointed person, and you are to be used by God for the furtherance of the kingdom of Christ.

That great outpouring of the Spirit upon the people of God was a future hope in the Old Testament, and it was not fulfilled until the day of Pentecost, when all heaven broke loose, and the Spirit descended upon the church. But what we are told here in the text is that this could not happen until the Messiah first entered into His glory.

The Spirit had come upon Jesus at His baptism, but He was not to come upon the church until Jesus was lifted up and returned to the Father. Then, together, the Father and the Son send the Holy Ghost into the world in a more powerful and complete way to apply the work of the Son. Today, that is the chief ministry of the Holy Ghost: to take the work of the Son and bring it to fruition in us. Jesus is saying here what He will later say in more detail to His disciples: “I have to go away, because until I go away, the Spirit cannot come.”

Is He the Christ?

“Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, ‘Truly this is the Prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Christ.’” But then John tells us that some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee?” They were saying, in effect: “Out of Nazareth? We all know where the Christ is going to come from. We’ve read the Old Testament. We’ve read Micah. Christ is going to come from Bethlehem in Judea, from the city of David.”

The people had no idea that Bethlehem was exactly where Jesus had been born. All they knew was that He had come to them from Galilee, and so the people were scratching their heads: “Who is this Man? Is He a prophet? Is He demon-possessed? Is He the Christ, from Galilee?”

Then John tells us, “So there was a division among the people because of Him.” What else is new? That division is as serious this morning as it was that day in Jerusalem.

The Arrogance of the Pharisees

Listen to this: “Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.” Where were the temple officers? They were sent to arrest Him, and when they come forward to arrest Him, all of a sudden, everyone stops, and they hear this voice: “Is anyone thirsty?” The officers stop in their tracks, and they listen to the people around Him saying, “This is the Prophet, this is the Christ.”

With their tails between their legs, the officers go back to the authorities in Jerusalem, and the Pharisees are beside themselves. The Pharisees ask, “Where is your prisoner?” The men answer: “We didn’t get Him. We’ve never heard anyone talk like this before. You should have been there. There was no way we were going to put our hands on Him.”

“Then the Pharisees answered them, ‘Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.’”

There has never been a more arrogant bunch in all of history than the Pharisees. In the rabbinic tradition, they talk with contempt about what they called the am haʼaretz, the “people of the land.” The Greeks would call them the hoi polloi, the uneducated masses, the people who did not have the sophisticated learning that we looked at a couple of weeks ago with respect to Jesus and His credentials.

The Pharisees thought: “What, are you going to listen to these people that say that He’s the Prophet and that He’s the Messiah? Is anyone saying that who’s a Pharisee? No, just the people of the earth.” They are saying, “Let the people be damned.” That is what they are saying.

Then one of their own steps forward and says: “Excuse me. Is this the way we operate with our law? Do we condemn someone without even hearing him, investigating, or having the evidence in place? I’m not one of the am haʼaretz. My name is Nicodemus. I’m a member of the Sanhedrin.” Here, one who came secretly to Jesus at night, now, in this crisis moment in the life of Christ, steps up to the plate and speaks in our Lord’s defense.

The moment passed, and the attempt to arrest Jesus was aborted as the people continued to argue about who He was. But already, the storm clouds were rising, and Jesus could see the foreboding events that were about to unfold, events that would take Him out of this world and back to His Father.

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.