When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, 

"This truly is the Prophet."

Others said, 

"This is the Messiah."

But some said, 

"Surely the Messiah doesn't come from Galilee, does he? 

Doesn't the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David's offspring and from the town of Bethlehem, where David lived?"

So the crowd was divided because of him. Some of them wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.

John 7:40-44 CSB

We love certainty. 

Different people seemed certain about different things;

Belief in Jesus as a prophet.

Belief in Jesus as Messiah.

Belief that Jesus is a fraud.

Jesus was right there at the height of a key religious festival, telling people he was the source of living water.

People locked onto certainty, prophet, Messiah, fraud. They seemed to bypass the mystery of living water, what that could mean for them, and focussed on the labels.

Jesus was judged.

Had a label put on him.

Labels contain. 

They're how we create certainty.

But Jesus was not and will not be contained by our labels (and neither will anyone else, neither will you. 

Don't let others labels define you either).

In our quest for certainty Jesus often seems to leave room for mystery, for further enquiry, giving us the opportunity to go a little deeper...

Go a little deeper into the mystery today...

#gospelofjohn

#mystery