Midfeast of Pentecost #
Today’s feast not only marks the halfway point between the Resurrection of Christ and the Descent of the Holy Spirit, but it also commemorates a particular event described in the Gospel. As the Evangelist John writes, on the day of the midfeast (referring to the Jewish feast of Passover), the Lord entered the Temple in Jerusalem and taught those gathered there, interpreting for them the writings of the prophets. “And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him” (John 7:15–18).
With this reply, the Lord wondrously accomplishes two aims, corresponding to the two natures He possesses—divine and human. As man, He gives an example of humility, seeking no glory for Himself as a man and offering a model for all who believe in Him: to seek not one’s own, but to seek only the fulfillment of God’s will in all things, from the loftiest spiritual labors to the simplest needs of daily life. As God, He bears witness to His equality and consubstantiality with the Father. He speaks, in essence, the same truth which He will soon state plainly: “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30).
In doing so, He not only answers the Jews’ question—“How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (meaning: not having studied from books or with a teacher)—but also foreshadows a truth soon to be revealed visibly on the day of Pentecost: “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever […] But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:16, 26). And again: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come” (John 16:13). By clarifying, “he shall not speak of himself,” Christ again affirms the unity of essence within the Persons of the Trinity, who act by one will. The Spirit, by whom He was incarnate of the Virgin, by whom He taught and worked miracles, who always abides in Him—the Spirit “who spake by the prophets”—will also act and speak through Christ’s disciples, instructing them in faith, hope, and love, guiding them in every endeavor. He is the One who reveals to man the will of God. Therefore, Christ says: “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” It is the Holy Spirit who reveals to those who love God that the teaching of Christ is divine and true. The witness of the Spirit is infallible, unlike the witness of the weak human mind, which—through pride or blindness—may even distort the words of the sacred books.
This is precisely what is discussed in the Gospel reading for today’s feast.
“Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?” the Lord asks the Jews. “If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?” (John 7:19, 23). Christ here shows how the deceived mind, unenlightened by the light of the Spirit, can distort the very purpose of God’s commandments. The Jews, in honoring the Sabbath as a God-given day of rest, do not consider it sinful to perform a circumcision on an infant on the Sabbath in order to keep the Law. Yet they seek to kill Christ for healing a paralytic on the Sabbath—a man who had lain for years at the pool—merely by His word and telling him to walk home. Can anything be more senseless? And yet even such twisted, malicious madness—such inhuman cruelty under the guise of piety—is possible for the fallen human mind, when it is deprived of the Spirit’s help and refuses to know Him.
Hearing Christ’s dialogue with the scribes, some of the residents of Jerusalem said, “Is not this he, whom they seek to kill? But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ? Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is” (John 7:25–27). In fact, they were mistaken: the Scriptures clearly proclaimed that the Messiah—the true Teacher and Savior of their people—would come from the town of Bethlehem. In response to these murmurings, the Lord publicly declared in the temple: “Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me” (John 7:28–29).
In these words, the Lord Jesus Christ again affirms His divine dignity and rebukes the Jews, who prided themselves on worshipping the one God since the days of Abraham. He tells them that by refusing to acknowledge the Son, they show they do not truly know the Father. And what prevents them from recognizing the Son is their self-satisfied pride. They imagine that they possess true faith, truth, and wisdom simply by inheritance from their forefathers, and that they need nothing more to be pleasing to God. But spiritual life is a continual turning of the human heart toward God, a ceaseless asking, a thirst like that spoken of by the prophet David: “O God, my God, unto Thee will I rise early: my soul hath thirsted for Thee; how often hath my flesh longed for Thee” (Psalm 62:1–2); “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before the face of God?” (Psalm 41:3). This thirst is proclaimed in today’s feast by the Church’s hymns. A symbol of the divine quenching of this thirst, given by the Holy Spirit, is the blessing of water, which is performed today.
As we partake of the blessed water, let us pray for the outpouring of the one source that can never be exhausted, ever able to flow within the heart of man—the Holy Spirit of God. “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink” (John 7:37). Inspired by this call of Christ, let us spend the second half of the season of Pentecost in prayer, thanksgiving, holy joy, and works of brotherly love, in expectation of the coming of His Life-giving Spirit.
At Vespers, Stikhera at the Stikhovna, Tone 1
Thou didst come to the sanctuary, O Wisdom of God, at the midfeast, teaching and reproving the unbelieving Jews, the Pharisees and scribes, and crying out to them with boldness: “Let him that thirsteth come unto Me and drink the living water, and he shall never thirst unto eternity. He that believeth in My goodness, out of his belly shall flow rivers of everlasting life.” O Christ our God, glory be to Thee, for Thy mercy and compassion!
Tropar, Tone 8
At the midfeast, O Savior, fill my thirsty soul with the waters of godliness, for Thou didst cry to all: “Let him that thirsteth come to Me and drink.” O Fountain of life, Christ our God, glory be to Thee!
Svetilen
Thou who possessest the cup of inexhaustible treasures, grant me to draw water for the remission of my sins, for I am consumed with thirst, O Merciful One, the only Compassionate and Bountiful Lord.