“On the last day of the festival Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’” (John7:37)

When Jesus spoke these words, he had already told a Samaritan woman, “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”(John 4:13)

Both then and now many of those who read or hear these words are puzzled by the meaning. The woman asked for the water from him, thinking he meant literal H2O, and today we wonder, what does he really mean? Is there really a stream of water that leads to eternal life? Jesus seems to be saying that there is.

In the Old Testament there are several references to such a stream: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go to meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1), and Isaiah wrote, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat.” (Isaiah 55:1)

Jesus’ words at the festival would have resonated with the crowd, but have we lost touch with their meaning? The water is clearly an invitation. Did the first century people understand the invitation better than we can? I believe that it wasn’t until the cross itself that Jesus opened wide the knowledge of the living water and it’s true meaning when he said, just before he died, “I thirst.” His thirst was the thirst of the psalmist and of the invitation from Isaiah, and his own invitation to come to him and drink. He lived his own invitation as he thirsted for the Father he knew could alone relieve his thirst.

Jesus preached about the Father’s Holy Spirit, welling up unto eternal life, and then displayed for us that very Holy Spirit on the cross for all to see and remember his words to us and to all generations. In everything he preached, Jesus displayed the way to eternal life. The water welling up to eternal life, the water that quenches our deepest thirst, the water that flows from within those who follow him, are all powerful symbols of God’s Holy Spirit at work in the world. Even the rain reminds us of God’s life—giving favor on our gardens and yards, rivers and lakes. When we look for living water, God is delighted to show Himself to us.

Love in Him,

Prue