²⁵Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, “Isn’t this the man they want to kill? ²⁶But look at this! He’s speaking in public, and no one is saying anything to him! Can it be that the rulers really know that this man is the Messiah? ²⁷However, we know where this man comes from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸Then, while Jesus was teaching in the temple courtyard, he said loudly, “You know me, and you know where I come from. I didn’t decide to come on my own. The one who sent me is true. He’s the one you don’t know. ²⁹I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

³⁰The Jews tried to arrest him but couldn’t because his time had not yet come.

³¹However, many people in the crowd believed in him. They asked, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more miracles than this man has?”

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd saying things like this about him. So the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest Jesus.

³³Jesus said, “I will still be with you for a little while. Then I’ll go to the one who sent me. ³⁴You will look for me, but you won’t find me. You can’t go where I’m going.”

³⁵The Jews said among themselves, “Where does this man intend to go so that we won’t find him? Does he mean that he’ll live with the Jews who are scattered among the Greeks and that he’ll teach the Greeks? ³⁶What does he mean when he says, ‘You will look for me, but you won’t find me,’ and ‘You can’t go where I’m going’?”

³⁷On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus was standing ⸤in the temple courtyard⸥. He said loudly, “Whoever is thirsty must come to me to drink. ³⁸As Scripture says, ‘Streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.’ ” ³⁹Jesus said this about the Spirit, whom his believers would receive. The Spirit was not yet evident, as it would be after Jesus had been glorified.

⁴⁰After some of the crowd heard Jesus say these words, they said, “This man is certainly the prophet.” ⁴¹Other people said, “This man is the Messiah.” Still other people asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? ⁴²Doesn’t Scripture say that the Messiah will come from the descendants of David and from the village of Bethlehem, where David lived?” ⁴³So the people were divided because of Jesus. ⁴⁴Some of them wanted to arrest him, but they couldn’t.

Read in Logos

John 7:37–38: On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‛Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”