Scripture Reading: John 7:1-32, 37-52
In this chapter we come to John 7. Like all the other chapters of this Gospel, this chapter is very profound. But although it is profound, it is written in a human way.
We have pointed out that the Gospel of John is the fulfillment of the tabernacle and the offerings. This is seen by the fact that this Gospel has much to say concerning the Jewish feasts. John 2:13 says, “The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.” This was the first Feast of the Passover that took place during the years of the Lord’s ministry.
The ministry of the Lord Jesus lasted three and a half years. The Passover is held in the first month of the Jewish calendar year, the month of Abib. The Lord Jesus was crucified on the Passover. According to Exodus 12, Jehovah said to Moses concerning the month of Abib, “This month will be the beginning of months for you; it shall be the first of the months of the year to you” (v. 2). When the children of Israel observed the Passover for the first time, the Lord commanded them to regard that month as the beginning of a new year. Actually, that was not merely the beginning of a new year; it was the beginning of their history. In addition to the Passover, the children of Israel were to have six other annual feasts: the Feasts of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Weeks (Pentecost), the Blowing of Trumpets, Expiation, and Tabernacles. These are the feasts which, according to the book of Leviticus, were to be held by the Jews throughout the centuries. John’s record concerning the Lord’s ministry was written according to the sequence of these feasts.
The last of the feasts mentioned in relation to the Lord’s life on earth was the Passover. At the time of the Passover, He was betrayed, judged, and crucified. It is helpful to realize that, according to the Jewish way of reckoning time, a new day begins in the evening. Thus, a day is counted as beginning not in the morning but in the evening. The Lord Jesus was betrayed and judged during the night of His last day. Then in the morning, at nine o’clock, He was crucified, and He was on the cross for six hours, until three o’clock in the afternoon.
From the Passover on which the Lord was crucified back to the Passover in chapter 6 of the Gospel of John is a period of one year. This was the last year of the Lord’s life on earth. From the Passover in John 6 back to the Feast of Purim in chapter 5 is approximately another year in the Lord’s ministry. Then from the Feast of Purim in chapter 5 back to the Passover feast in chapter 2 is yet another year. Before this Passover in John 2, the Lord had already been ministering for some months. This is the reason Bible students have calculated that the Lord’s ministry lasted for three and a half years.
Everything from verse 13 of chapter 2 through chapter 4 of the Gospel of John took place within the period of one year. As we have seen, in John 5 the Feast of Purim is mentioned. This feast is held in the last month of the Jewish calendar year. In John’s record there is no mention of anything that happened during the year between the Feast of Purim in chapter 5 and the Feast of the Passover in chapter 6. The first Passover in John is in chapter 2; the second is in chapter 6; and the third is in chapter 12. Between the Passover in chapter 2 and the Feast of Purim in chapter 5 is one year. Between the Feast of Purim in chapter 5 and the Passover in chapter 6 is another year. Then between the Passover in chapter 6 and that in chapter 12 is yet another year.
In the second part of chapter 1 we have a preliminary record regarding the Lord’s ministry. In this record we are told about John the Baptist. When John saw Jesus coming to him, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (v. 29). John also testified and said, “I beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He abode upon Him” (v. 32). In this chapter we also read of the Lord’s contact with certain ones who became His disciples. Furthermore, as we have pointed out, the preliminary record in John 1, an introduction to the entire Gospel, contains six important signs: the Word, the tabernacle, the Lamb, the dove, the stone, and the house of God. What is recorded in John 1 is a prologue, an introduction, to the following chapters. Then in the first part of chapter 2 the Lord changed water into wine (vv. 1-11). This was the beginning of signs and signifies life’s principle — changing death into life.
In the second part of chapter 2 a new year began that covers chapters 3 and 4. This year ended with the feast of Purim in chapter 5. Thus, we have the Passover in the first month of this year, and the Feast of Purim in the twelfth month of the year.
Let us now consider what happened during the first year of the Lord’s ministry according to the record in the Gospel of John. Following the sign of the changing of water into wine (2:1-11), at the beginning of the first year of the Lord’s ministry, we see in 2:12-22 life’s purpose — building the house of God. These verses speak of Christ’s cleansing of the temple and also of the body of Jesus, the temple, being destroyed and raised up in resurrection. Therefore, in chapter 2 we have the principle of life and the purpose of life. The principle of life is to change death into life, and the purpose of life is to build the house of God.
In chapter 3 we have the case of Nicodemus, an elderly religious gentleman. This chapter reveals that Nicodemus had a serpentine nature and that he needed to be replaced by Christ as the bronze serpent in order to receive eternal life and thereby become part of the universal increase of Christ. The revelation here is deep and profound, and it requires much study.
In chapter 4 we have the case of an immoral Samaritan woman. This woman did not have satisfaction in her human life, and she did not have the genuine worship of God. Therefore, Christ came to her in order that she might have satisfaction by drinking the living water and might know how to worship the Father in spirit and reality.
When we put together the two cases of Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman, we have a full view of God’s salvation. God’s salvation is to replace our old man and redeem our sinful person so that we may be born again to have a new life, the eternal life, and thus become part of the increase of Christ. We will have a source of satisfaction in our human life and also the way to worship God in reality. Both the source and the way are the Christ who is our Redeemer and Savior.
We have seen that the background of chapter 5 was the Feast of Purim and that the feast here was at the end of the first full year of the Lord’s ministry. The Lord Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and there He enlivened the impotent man. By doing this the Lord indicated that He is the only One who can give life and that apart from Him the holy city, the holy temple, and all holy persons and holy things are nothing. Christ alone can cause us to have the real Feast of Purim, a feast which indicates that we have passed out of death into life. We may say that the situation of the Jews at the time of the first Feast of Purim was a passing out of death into life. With this feast as the background, the Lord Jesus said in 5:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, He who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life.” The significance of the record in John 5 is that nothing should replace Christ, for He is everything, and only He can enliven us.
Following the record in chapter 5, we have the second year of the Lord’s ministry, a year covering the time from the Feast of Purim in chapter 5 to the Passover in chapter 6. However, as we have indicated, the record in the Gospel of John does not say anything about what took place during this year.
A new year, the third year of the Lord’s ministry, began with the Passover in chapter 6. The Passover includes redemption with the blood of the lamb and with the feeding on the lamb, the unleavened bread, and bitter herbs. The main significance of the Passover in chapter 6 is eating. The people in John 6 were hungry and in need of food. They needed the feast of eating, the Feast of the Passover. But apart from Christ, the One who is prevailing in every way, even the Passover is empty. The crowd that gathered around the Lord was made up of empty people in need of food. The only One who could feed them is the One who is the bread of life, the living bread, the bread of God, the bread out of heaven, and the true bread. In chapter 6 all these terms describe Christ as the bread of life. The unleavened bread of the Passover was not the real bread; it was merely a shadow. The substance of that bread is Christ as the bread of life. He is the true bread from God who has come to be our life so that we may live.
Christ is not only the bread of life — He is also the living bread. The food that we take into us enables us to live. The food that we eat is organic and something of life. For example, vegetables, fruit, cereal, and meat are all organic, and they all come from living things. Because we eat living food, we also are living. This illustrates what the Lord meant when He said that He is the living bread. If we receive Him as this living bread, we shall live because of Him. In 6:57 the Lord Jesus said, “He who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.” Here the Lord seemed to be saying, “I am the living bread out of heaven. If you eat this bread, I will be living in you, and you will live because of Me.”
At the beginning of the new year in chapter 6 of John, we have the Feast of the Passover. But the food eaten during this feast was merely a shadow of Christ as the real food. He is the only One who can truly feed us and make us living.
Between the Passover in chapter 6 and the Feast of Tabernacles in chapter 7 is another period of time of almost a year concerning which nothing is recorded in this Gospel. The Passover was the first of the annual feasts mentioned in Leviticus 23, and the Feast of Tabernacles was the last (vv. 5, 34). Exodus 23:15 and 16 speak of three of the annual feasts: “You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread...and...the Feast of the Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labors from what you sow in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering, at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors out of the field.” The Feast of Ingathering is the Feast of Tabernacles, held at the end of the year. The point here is that between the Feast of the Passover in John 6, held at the beginning of the year, and the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7, held at the end of the year, there is no record in John’s Gospel of anything that happened in the Lord’s ministry.
The Feast of Tabernacles was a feast for enjoyment and satisfaction. This feast can be compared to Thanksgiving as it is celebrated in the United States. The feast on Thanksgiving Day is a feast of ingathering, a feast held at the end of the year after the crops have been harvested. The Feast of Tabernacles is also a feast of ingathering.
The Feast of the Passover signifies feeding, and the Feast of Tabernacles signifies satisfaction. The feeding at the Passover in John 6 was a shadow; it was not the real feeding. Likewise, the satisfaction at the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7 is also a shadow. Only Christ is the reality of both the Feast of the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles.
At the end of the Bible we see an eternal tabernacle, the New Jerusalem. For eternity we will enjoy a feast of tabernacles. The New Jerusalem will be our tent, our tabernacle, where we will have full enjoyment and full satisfaction. The river of living water will flow throughout the New Jerusalem for eternity. In eternity we will have the full enjoyment of this feast.
We have seen that in chapter 5 of John everything is annulled, and only Christ remains as the available One and the availing One. Do you realize that, apart from Christ, nothing avails in human life? Your education and your employment are not availing. Everything except Christ is empty. Our need, then, is Christ for our feeding and satisfaction. We do not need the holy city, the holy temple, or any other holy things. Furthermore, apart from Christ, not even the Bible is availing. According to the picture portrayed in chapters 5, 6, and 7 of John, we need feeding and satisfaction. Who can feed us? Who can satisfy us? The Lord Jesus is the only One who can feed us and satisfy us.
We have just said that only the Lord Jesus can feed us and satisfy us. Now we need to ask what kind of Jesus can do this? In chapter 6 of John we have the incarnated and crucified Jesus. In chapter 7 we have a Jesus who was not yet resurrected, not yet glorified (v. 39). The living water was not available until He was resurrected, for in resurrection He changed His form to become the life-giving Spirit as the real river of water. From the day of His resurrection the river began to flow, and the full enjoyment of this river began at Pentecost, when the river came as a flood upon the disciples to satisfy them.
Through crucifixion and resurrection the Lord Jesus became the life-giving Spirit. First He was the Savior and the Redeemer, and then He became the Spirit who gives life. In the first few verses of the Gospel of John we see that Christ was the Creator. Then through incarnation He became the Savior and the Redeemer. After His death and resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit, the very breath breathed into His disciples (20:22).
It is crucial for us to see that Christ has annulled everything and that only He Himself avails for our feeding and satisfaction. Because Christ is the bread of life as the living bread within us and because He is also the fountain of living water, He can feed us and satisfy us. Eventually, this fountain flows forth to become the river of living water. First Christ was the fountain, and now as the life-giving Spirit He is the river. In order for the fountain to flow, it had to be opened through Christ’s death. Christ was “cut” on the cross so that the fountain could become the life-giving Spirit as the flowing river to satisfy us.
In the scene in chapter 6 there was the Feast of the Passover. In the scene in chapter 7 there was the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of the Passover is the first of the Jewish annual feasts, and the Feast of Tabernacles is the last (Lev. 23:5, 34). The Feast of the Passover, at the first of the year, implies the beginning of man’s life (Exo. 12:2-3, 6), which involves man’s seeking for satisfaction and results in man’s hunger. The Feast of Tabernacles, as the last feast of the year, implies the completion and success of man’s life, which will end and result in man’s thirst. In the scene of the Feast of the Passover, the Lord presented Himself as the bread of life, which satisfies man’s hunger. In the scene of the Feast of Tabernacles, the Lord promised that He will flow forth as the living water, which quenches man’s thirst.
After the full harvest of their crops, the Jewish people observed the Feast of Tabernacles to enjoy what they had reaped in the worship of God (Deut. 16:13-15). Hence, this feast signifies the completion, achievement, and success of man’s career, study, and other matters of human life, including religion, with the joy and enjoyment thereof.
With the Passover at the beginning of the year and the Feast of Tabernacles at the end, we see the beginning and end of human life. At the beginning of life, we are full of expectation, but we are also hungry. We may be hungry for a good education or a career. But eventually, when we come to the end of human life, we will be thirsty. Young people, who are full of expectation, are hungry. But the older ones, who are at the end of human life, are thirsty. Young people may expect to have a high education and a promising career. Their hunger will continue throughout life. However, when they come to the end of their life, they will realize that they are thirsty, that they are not satisfied. Therefore, we need the Lord Jesus as both the living bread to feed us and the fountain of living water to satisfy us. We may say that, in particular, at the beginning of human life He is our food, and at the end, He is the river of living water.
As an elderly person, I am no longer at the beginning of my human life. However, I can testify that I am not thirsty. On the contrary, I am filled with living water and overflowing with it, for I enjoy the Lord, who is the life-giving Spirit, as my satisfaction. Because this living water fills me to overflowing, I am able to water others so that they may be satisfied.
