EmmDev 2015-06-26 [John's Portraits of Christ] 7. Water of Life

7. Water of Life

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. John7:37-39

John 7 is all about Jesus attending the Feast of Tabernacles which is one of the three main festivals in Israel's liturgical calendar and took place around end September. The feast is both agricultural in that it celebrates the in-gathering of the harvest and spiritual in that it commemorates the time that God provided for the Israelites as they travelled for 40 years from Egypt to the promised land.

It is the most joyful of the three major feasts. A significant part of the proceedings was that the priests would collect water from the pool of Siloam and pour it out as a libation (drink offering) in the temple courts. During the pouring of water (and wine) it was tradition to sing Ps 118 which is a Messianic Psalm (parts of which were quoted at the triumphal entry.)

Jesus' brothers had urged him to perform His miracles in Jerusalem at the feast. Jesus declined and only joined the week long feast toward the end. He didn't perform any miracles, but there was fierce debate and although Jesus clearly hinted at His identity as the Messiah, He was not arrested. When the Pharisees asked the "temple police" why they didn't arrest Him, their answer was: "No one ever spoke the way this man does."

On the last day of the Feast, and we can only imagine that it was as the water libation was being poured out that Jesus shouted out the powerful invitation to come to Him for living water.

Living Water.
This is a theme that already came up in John 4 with the Samaritan woman. It's a theme that goes back to Ezekiel 47 where we find a vision of water flowing from the temple, getting deeper and deeper and bringing life wherever it goes.

• Those who drink it, like the Samaritan woman, find their thirst quenched.
• Those who drink it find themselves going deeper and deeper in their relationship with God.
• Those who drink it find that the deserts bloom around them and that dead seas come to life.

Jesus gives Living Water - He gives us His Spirit. When we come to Him - Living water will flow from us.
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EmmDevs will take a break for the school hols. I have included the chart from Thompson's Chain Reference Bible so that you can continue reading John if you would like. I'll pick up from ch.8 in the third term. God bless and much love, Theo

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