v. 37-39 The magnitude of this statement can in no way be conveyed by me in this small space. Here we have Jesus standing up in the midst of a the great feast, pointing to one of the great symbols used in the feast (that of water, lots of water), and essentially saying that He is the fulfillment of all that that water points to. The Jews may not have understood it at the time, but this is plain enough in Jesus’ words. He is the Heavenly Spring from whom we must drink if we want to know and share life.

The fact that Jesus said this in the context He did should make us marvel at Him all the more. If we could have only been there, amidst the great celebration, to hear this Man stand up and call all the people to believe in Him so that they might overflow with rivers of living….what would we have done? Surely we would have been inclined to think that He was a little crazy. But then again, He spoke with such authority, with such power. But He isn’t overly special, nothing in Him that is overly desirable, at least on the surface. So how can we accept such a teaching? How can we embrace the saying of this man? How can He say that He is the One whom a great aspect of the feast points to?

Well, our only hope–and the Jews only hope–is that their eyes would be opened by the Spirit of God. No one can come to Jesus unless the Father enables them to. No one. It is very clear cut. So even then, when a man stood up to declare Himself the means through whom every man could find satisfaction, only the Spirit of God could humble the heart and enlighten the mind to recognize that this was and is the Truth.

v. 46 The officers themselves could not even arrest Jesus while He spoke at the feast. There was a note of such authority, of such power that they dared not approach Him. This is awesome. May we marvel all the more at our great Savior.