Jesus: Not Peace but Division

In Jerusalem, at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stood up among a large crowd in the Temple courtyard and offered an invitation in the form of a water analogy: "Thirst, come, drink, believe in the me and I will give you living water - the Holy Spirit - and eternal life." The Jews who heard would have made the connection to the water ritual performed each day during the Feast of Tabernacles, and would have understood that Jesus was claiming to be the Messiah. John then recorded the responses of five groups of people at the Temple: Jesus' supporters, Jesus' opponents, the Temple Guards, the Pharisees, and Nicodemus. In all cases, Jesus' invitation resulted in division: arguments, disagreements, insults. Jesus causes division; it was part of his plan to do so, for two reasons: he demands that we choose to either believe in him or not; he calls us to a high standard of commitment to love him above all else. | John 7: 37-52