Notes from John 7:25-53
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
John 7:37-39
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Reading this passage today, the Christian needs to get excited. While every word of scripture ought to stir the soul of the believer, words like this are particularly poignant because they describe us. Jesus Christ, preaching in the middle of a Jewish feast, spoke words that directly pointed to the reality of those who He would save.
If we believe in a sovereign God who foreordains all things including the salvation of men, this means that the Lord spoke these words with us in mind.
Rewinding 2,000 years, back to the Feast of Booths, Jesus’ message was powerful. Using the imagery of the feast, He explained it’s greater symbolism. The priests would pour water over a rock, symbolizing God’s provision in the wilderness when water flowed from a stone (Exodus 17). His words harkened back to the promises God, delivered through Isaiah, where supernatural provision would come in a more present way in the future (Isaiah 44:3).
Christ is the living water, and He was going to send the Spirit to minister to His people.
This kind of talk was polarizing. Some in the crowd drew nearer to Him, as the message of the kingdom became more and more clear. Others, particularly the Jewish authorities, grew in their discontent because His teaching undermined their false authority.
Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection were collectively the hinge point of history. He fulfilled the Old Testament, bringing its two-dimensional symbols into brilliant reality. He set in motion the promises of the latter days, where God’s people would receive His Spirit without measure.
Jesus’ life was not what some expected of the messiah. Like the water from the rock or the slowness in coming of Isaiah’s prophecies, sinful men found that He didn’t match their expectations. Let the Christian hold fast to the promises of God and the testimony of His word. We should anchor our hope on the scripture as illuminated by His Holy Spirit. After all, if His words are true it is from our innermost being that His living waters now flow.
