Episode 54 - Rivers of living water - John 7:37-44

John 7:37   On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.40   When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people over him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

Recall that the feast spoken of here is the Feast of Booths (a.k.a. Feast of Tabernacles). John mentions that it was the “last day of the feast, the great day” which has significance in connection with what Jesus is saying. The feast, as I mentioned before, was to remember their ancestors wandering in the wilderness and God’s provision for them. At this feast, there was a ritual with water. Priests poured water on the altar each day and on the last day they did it seven times. You can find scholarly discussions in commentaries as to the various meanings of this ritual. However, I think most significantly it represents God’s miraculous provision of water in that desert area for so long. 

Earlier, Jesus had drawn a connection of himself to the bread that God provided for them in the wilderness. Their ancestors had survived on that bread but ultimately died. Jesus said that he was the true bread from heaven that would give them eternal life. Here, he is telling people at the feast that he is the source of “living water.” This is similar to what he told the woman at the well. 

The translation here I think could be better. To clarify, I understand Jesus saying that he is the source of the living waters. But, it is the one who “drinks Jesus” and believes in him who will receive the living waters flowing within him or her. John explains that this living water ever springing up within the believer is the Holy Spirit would be given to believers after Jesus had been glorified.

Jesus’ words obviously resonated with people as some said that he was surely the Prophet and others claimed that he was the Christ. But still, there were those whose reason over-ruled God’s revelation. They were aware that he had come from Galilee. But, they didn’t bother to investigate his genealogy as both Mary and Joseph can be traced back to David’s lineage. Matthew and Luke both record that he was born in Bethlehem.

It seems to me that our takeaway from this section is that Jesus provides an infinite supply of what we need for the eternal and abundant life that God offers. We need to “consume” Jesus. We need to believe what he did and said and internalize it as much as possible.