John 7: Rivers of Living Water for Anyone Who Is Thirsty

Introduction

"When was the last time you were truly thirsty?" Jon opens this Arun Church message with that question, in the series "Living in the River."

In August, he climbed Scafell Pike in the Lake District with a few friends, starting from the Great Langdale valley. At the start, a river ran alongside the path. The higher they climbed, the smaller it became, first a stream, then a trickle. Near the summit, the water came straight out of the rock: a small spring. The water in his bag, which he had carried for hours, was lukewarm and tasted of plastic. The spring water, though, was "absolutely delicious and refreshing." He had stagnant water on him, but here was something fresh, life-giving, that becomes a great river further down.

That is the starting point of this message on John 7:37-39: in the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stands up and promises rivers of living water to anyone who is thirsty.

Message outline

1. The Feast of Tabernacles, a memory and a hope

The preacher starts in Leviticus, "everyone's favorite book." In chapter 23, God gives Moses the instructions for the Feast of Tabernacles: it begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, lasts seven days, and the eighth day is a holy convocation.
For seven days, the people live in booths, "that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt" (Leviticus 23:43). In Hebrew, it is the feast of Sukkot. Practicing Jews still celebrate it every year, in late September or early October.
At the beginning of the series, the vision of Ezekiel 47 was presented: in exile in Babylon, the prophet sees a restored temple, from which water flows out beneath the threshold. That water becomes a stream, then a river that can no longer be crossed, with trees on its banks and healing for the nations.
Back in Jerusalem, the Israelites kept the feast of Sukkot and held on to these prophetic images from Ezekiel, and also from Zechariah, who also had a vision of the feast with flowing water. "Which brings us to Jesus. As always."

2. The water ritual at the temple

In Jesus' time, Herod the Great had completed the rebuilding of the second temple, an impressive monument. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law had organized their rituals there to keep the commandments of the Torah.
In John 7, Jesus' brothers urge him to go up to Judea (verses 2 and 3). He answers that his time has not yet come (verses 6 and 8), then goes up anyway, "not publicly, but as it were in secret" (verse 10). It is only in the middle of the feast that he begins to teach in the temple (verse 14).
According to the historian Josephus, Sukkot was one of the three great Jewish feasts. Pilgrims came from all over the known world: hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Jerusalem.
Historical sources, such as the Mishnah, describe the water ritual. Every morning of the feast, the priests and the Pharisees went down from the Temple Mount to the Pool of Siloam, about half a kilometer away, fed by a freshwater spring. They filled a pitcher and went back up in procession to the altar.
There, they poured the water on the altar to the sound of trumpets, in front of thousands of people singing psalms. They remembered Moses, prayed for God's provision over the land, celebrated the harvest "like a harvest festival today," and recalled Ezekiel's vision of water flowing out of the temple.

3. "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me"

It is in this setting, "on the last and greatest day of the feast," that Jesus stands and cries out: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37-38).
Jon calls it a "mic drop" moment. Imagine interrupting such a well-established feast, with its priests, its procession, its trumpets and its prayers. Jesus is saying, in effect: it is no longer this temple or this altar. "I am the fulfillment of all these prophecies. I am the fulfillment of everything you were waiting for. Come to me and drink."
It is easy to see why the priests and the Pharisees disliked him and told themselves they could not let him go on: "What a claim!"
The preacher loves the word "anyone." Not only those who have been purified, who have done their rituals or offered their sacrifice. The only qualification is thirst. "No ritual, no procession, no trumpet. Just come." It is free.
A few chapters earlier, in John 4, Jesus promised the Samaritan woman living water that wells up like a spring within. In John 7, it is a river flowing outward. We go from a spring to a river, from the personal to everyone.

4. Living water is the Holy Spirit

John himself explains what this is about in the next verse: "But he said this about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus wasn't yet glorified" (John 7:39). Jesus was announcing a promise still to come.
"Living water is not religious effort. It is not self-improvement. It is not an emotional experience." It is the Holy Spirit, a divine person.
Jon repeats the sentence so that it sticks: "The Holy Spirit is the presence of Jesus living in us and through us."
In John 16:7, Jesus says something that seems counterintuitive: "It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don't go away, the Counselor won't come to you." Because he died, rose again and ascended to heaven, we have the Holy Spirit everywhere, all the time, in each one of us. And when the congregation responds timidly, he calls out: "That was not very convincing."

5. The promise fulfilled at Pentecost, offered to you

The promise is fulfilled later, during another Jewish feast, Pentecost. The disciples wait in Jerusalem, as Jesus asked them to. A sound like a mighty wind fills the house, tongues of fire rest on each of them, and all are filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4).
They go out speaking languages they never learned. The pilgrims who came for the feast hear the good news of Jesus in their own language, and about three thousand people become disciples that day and are baptized.
Peter says to the crowd: "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off" (Acts 2:38-39).
"Those who are far off, that is us." The promise was not reserved for the disciples of that day. It is for you, today, every day.
The preacher admits, however, that we often forget it, caught up in everything we have to live through. He has known moments when the presence of the Spirit was tangible in a room, but "those moments have not been the norm for me." He gets distracted and does not always turn his attention to God. The river, though, is always there: it is our attention that needs to turn toward what God is doing.

6. The Holy Spirit is a person

"The Holy Spirit is not a force. He is not a thing, nor something you wield. He is not an energy. He is not an atmosphere." There is God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The word "Trinity" is not in the Bible; it came later to describe this relationship. But in Acts 2:38, Peter already names God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. They are persons, with a character, to be known.
Since he is a person, you can talk to him, get to know him, become familiar with how he works, and listen to what he suggests in your conversations, your thoughts, your prayers and your Bible reading.
The Holy Spirit does not draw attention to himself: he leads people to Jesus and makes our relationship with God possible.
He produces love, joy, peace, patience ("the one I need"), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). For Jon, the mark of Christian maturity is right here: each year, are you becoming more loving, kinder, more like Jesus? He suggests asking your family, and adds with humor: "Yes, apart from that thing yesterday."

7. Come and drink

The preacher stops there: "I could talk for hours about Jesus and the Holy Spirit," but as he prepared, he sensed that God wanted above all to be present with the congregation.
The invitation is simple: are you spiritually thirsty? Do you feel dry in your relationship with Jesus? Do you long for the abundant life God has promised? "Then come and drink."
To recognize the Spirit at work, listen for the small nudges in your mind. The Holy Spirit is gentle, good, loving and humble. He does not force, he does not control, he does not trap you. To those who have been manipulated in the past, Jon says: "I'm sorry, but the Holy Spirit is not like that."
"If you feel anxiety, that is not the Spirit. If you feel fear, that is not the Spirit." Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).
In his closing prayer, he asks the Father to send his Spirit into this school hall where the church meets, to breathe out words and images, to show where we need to ask forgiveness and make things right, and to help each person take hold of this river of living water that flows in us and out to others.

Key takeaways

In the middle of the water ritual of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus presents himself as the fulfillment of everything the temple and the prophets announced.
The only condition for coming to drink is to be thirsty: no ritual, no procession, no qualification.
Living water is the Holy Spirit, the presence of Jesus living in us and through us.
The promise given at Pentecost is for you, for your children and for all who are far off. The river is always there, even when your attention is elsewhere.
The Holy Spirit is a person, gentle and never coercive. He leads to Jesus and produces his fruit in you, starting with love.

Personal application

Do you feel dry right now in your relationship with Jesus? What keeps you from simply coming to drink?
Like the lukewarm water in the backpack, what "stagnant" water are you relying on instead of returning to the source?
What pulls your attention away from the Spirit's presence during your days?
Do you take the time to talk to the Holy Spirit and to listen to what he suggests in your prayers and your Bible reading?
If you asked your family, what would they say: have you become more loving and kinder this year?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

Why does Jesus speak of living water during the Feast of Tabernacles?

Every morning of the feast, the priests drew water from the Pool of Siloam, went back up in procession to the temple and poured it on the altar, praying for God's blessing and remembering Ezekiel's vision. It is on the last day, against that backdrop, that Jesus stands and says: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!" He presents himself as the fulfillment of what the ritual was waiting for.

What does living water refer to in John 7?

John explains it in verse 39: Jesus was speaking about the Spirit, which those believing in him were to receive. For Jon, living water is neither religious effort, nor self-improvement, nor an emotional experience: it is the Holy Spirit, the presence of Jesus living in us and through us.

Do you have to meet any conditions to receive living water?

No. Jesus says "if anyone is thirsty": the only qualification is thirst. No ritual, no procession, no trumpets. Peter confirms it at Pentecost: the promise is for you, for your children and for all who are far off (Acts 2:39).