Thirst for Living Water

“And in the last day of the great feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” (John 7:37)

This was the feast of Tabernacles or Booths also called Sukkot. It takes place sometime late September to mid-October after the fall harvest and celebrates the provision of the Lord during the forty years in the desert. Jews are commanded to celebrate this feast among two others that are required. “You shall keep the Feast of Tabernacles seven days after you have gathered in your grain floor and your wine press.” (Deuteronomy 16:13)

It's at this feast that Jesus declares that anyone who thirsts can go to Him and drink on the last day of the feast which was the seventh day. He said this in a crowd of people celebrating. The result was that many believed Jesus to be the Messiah but there was a division among the people because Jesus had come out of Galilee, not knowing that Jesus was born in Bethlehem as the Scriptures said. So, there was that discussion among the people.

The Pharisees wanted Him seized, but even the officers were astonished at His words and did not seize Him. The Pharisees accused anyone who disagreed with them of not knowing the Law and being cursed which they said of the crowd that believed on Jesus. “But this crowd, not knowing the Law, is cursed.” (John 7:49) Nicodemus, the Pharisee who came to Jesus at night, believed but kept it secret because of the opposition of the Pharisees. When he interjected with a question of their judgement without hearing from Him, they quickly accused him of being from Galilee, in other words one of His disciples and not knowing the Law. “Nicodemus said to them, (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them), Does our law judge the Man before it hears Him and knows what He does? They answered and said to him, Are you also from Galilee? Search the scriptures and see that a prophet has not been raised out of Galilee.” (John 7:50-52) We find this intimidation from the Pharisees several times.

I don’t think the people at the feast understood completely what Jesus was saying when He said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” They hadn’t heard anything like that and always interpreted what He said in natural terms. Jesus continues, “He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." (John 7:38) Jesus was speaking about the Holy Spirit Who would come after the ascension of Jesus to heaven. “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, so that He may be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him nor know Him. But you know Him, for He dwells with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.” (John 14:16-18) Jesus was preparing His disciples for the fact that He would go. But He promises not to leave them alone and that He would come to us.

At the feast the people probably related the rivers of living water with Ezekiel’s prophecy. Although they didn’t relate the living water with the Holy Spirit, they probably recognized it as an indication that Jesus was the Messiah Who would fulfill Ezekiel’s prophecy. “And it shall be that every living soul which swarms in every place, there where the two torrents go, that soul shall live. And there shall be very many fish, because these waters shall come there. And they shall be healed. And all shall live where the torrent goes.” (Ezekiel 47:9) They were ecstatic about what they believed the new era would bring with Jesus overcoming the Romans and setting up a Jewish state which is what they wanted and believed Jesus would do. And when Jesus was arrested without protest or using His miraculous power to overcome the Romans, they were disenchanted with Jesus and angry that He didn’t overthrow the Romans. And so, we have that situation and the prompting of the Pharisees to demand that Jesus be crucified.

What Jesus said when He stood up before the crowd was that if we come to Him, He will give us divine life through the Holy Spirit Who will be given to those who believe on Him. This is what we are thirsting after, what satisfies our thirst. And this divine life flows out of our hearts. What we say and what we do not only glorifies the Father but blesses others as we declare God’s Word and God’s Truth in this world. This is the life that is in us. And this is the life that pours out of us. It’s the Holy Spirit living in us (1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Timothy 1:14) and Jesus living through us. “I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf.” (Galatians 2:20)