This is the Prophet - John 7:40

The apostle John wrote, “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”, and in chapter seven and verse forty of his book, John shared how the people said, “ of a truth this is the Prophet” where we read:

Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.

The verse reads, “Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said,” John began with the words, “Many of the people therefore” or “a large and great number of the people both male and female then, wherefore and these things being so”, “when they heard this saying” which means “at the time the people were endowed with the faculty of hearing Jesus' statement about living water flowing out of their bellies”, “said” or “uttered, declared and proclaimed” the following words. John shared how a large number of people listened to Jesus' words concerning the “living waters” flowing from them and declared the following words.

The verse continues, “Of a truth this is the Prophet.” John added the words, “of a truth” which means “verily, truly, surely and indeed” “this is the prophet” or “this man Jesus exists as the One who is moved by the Spirit of God and hence his organ or spokesman and solemnly declares to men what he has received by inspiration, especially concerning future events, and in particular such as relate to the cause and kingdom of God and to human salvation”. John shared how the people began to declare Jesus to be the “Prophet” who was to come from God.

When we meditate upon John's words in this verse, we learn how a great number of people believed Jesus to be the “Prophet” who was promised to them, and His words and deeds demonstrated it to them. Though the “religious leaders” wanted Jesus dead, these people believed Jesus to be the promised One. Each person has the opportunity to determine who Jesus is. Is He God's Prophet Messiah, or is He just a liar? God will judge each person by their discovery, and those who trust in, rely upon and cling to Jesus will be forgiven of their sins and granted everlasting life with God. Those who refuse and reject Jesus will find themselves face to face one day with the One who indeed and truly is “the Prophet” of Almighty God.

Next time John shares how some of the people ask, “shall Christ come out of Galilee?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".