Ep. 63: Living Water
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JOHN 7:37 – 8:11
It was ‘the last, the great day of the Feast’ and Jesus was once more in the Temple. We have here the only Jewish festival which has no counterpart in the cycle of the Christian year, just because it points forward to that great, yet unfulfilled hope of the Church, the ingathering of Earth’s nations to the Christ.
The celebration of the Feast corresponded to its great meaning. Not only did all the priestly families minister during that week, but it has been calculated that no fewer than four hundred and forty-six priests with a corresponding number of Levites, were required for its sacrificial worship. In general, the services were the same every day, except that the number of bullocks offered decreased daily from thirteen on the first to seven on the seventh day.
‘The last, the Great Day of the Feast’ was marked by special observances. The pilgrims are all in festive clothing. In his right hand each carries what is called the Lulabh, which consisted of a myrtle and willow-branch tied together with a palm branch between them. This was supposed to be in fulfilment of the command in Leviticus 23:40. ‘The fruit of the goodly trees’ mentioned in the same verse of Scripture, was supposed to be the Ethrog, the so-called Paradise-apple (possibly the fruit of the forbidden tree), a species of citron, which each worshipper carries in his left hand.
When the Temple procession had reached the Pool of Siloam, the priest filled his golden pitcher from its waters. Then they went back to the Temple, timing it so that they should arrive just as they were laying the pieces of the sacrifice on the great altar of burnt-offering, towards the close of the ordinary morning-sacrifice service. A threefold blast of the priests’ trumpets welcomed the arrival of the priest, as he entered through the ‘Water-gate’ and passed straight into the Court of the Priests. Here he was joined by another priest, who carried the wine for the drink-offering. The two priests ascended ‘the rise’ of the altar and turned to the left. There were two silver funnels here, with narrow openings, leading down to the base of the altar. The wine was poured into the wider east side of the altar and, at the same time, the water poured into the western and narrower opening, the people shouting to the priest to raise his hand, to make sure that he poured the water into the funnel.
For, although they said that the water-pouring was an ordinance instituted by Moses, this was a disputed point between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The High-Priest Alexander Jannaeus had on one occasion poured the water on the ground when he was nearly murdered, and in the riot, that ensued, six thousand persons were killed in the Temple.
We can have little difficulty in determining at what part of the services of ‘the last, the Great Day of the Feast,’ Jesus stood and cried, ‘If any one thirst, let him come unto Me and drink!’ It must have been with special reference to the ceremony of the outpouring of the water, which was considered the central part of the service. Moreover, all would understand that his words must refer to the Holy Spirit since the rite was universally regarded as symbolic of his outpouring.
These words have remained as the call of Jesus to all that thirst, whatever their need and longing of soul may be. But, as we listen to these words as originally spoken, we feel how they mark that his hour was indeed coming, the preparation past, the manifestation in the present, unmistakable and urgent and the final conflict at hand.
Amidst all this, the strongest testimony to his person and mission remains to be told. It came, as so often, from an unexpected place. Those Temple officers, whom the authorities had commissioned to watch for an opportunity to seize Jesus, came back without having done so yet.
But their intentions were clear and there was one standing among the Temple authorities, for whom an uneasy conscience would not allow him to remain quite silent. It was the Sanhedrist Nicodemus, still a secret disciple. He could not hold his peace and yet he dared not speak for Jesus. So he made a compromise of both by speaking as a righteous, rigid Sanhedrist. ‘Does our law judge a man, except it first hear from himself and know what he does?’
This is an extract from the book, Jesus : Life and Times, available for £10 here (Finalist for Academic Book of the year at 2023 CRT awards)