John 7:37-39
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 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.
Drink Deeply of the Life-Giving Water of Jesus, Your Rock
Did you see the connection? Do you know why, on Pentecost Sunday, of all days, I didn’t say a word about the Holy Spirit in my children’s message, but talked exclusively about Moses in the wilderness? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, because it’s hidden in the details. The first 9 words of our Gospel for today set the stage for us: On the last and greatest day of the festival.[1]
Jesus was in Jerusalem for the Festival of Tabernacles. It was an eight-day celebration of God’s providence during the 40 years that the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness after being set free from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. For eight days, faithful Jewish believers would vacate their comfy homes and set up booths in their backyards, as a reminder of the vagabond survival of a whole generation of Israelites, who – despite being in a barren wasteland for 40 years – were nevertheless blessed every day to find bread miraculously appear on the ground, quail run through their camp, and water in the unlikeliest of places.
In fact, it was that water that became a special feature of the festival. On days 2-8, the priests would lead a procession from the Temple in Jerusalem to the Pool of Siloam, draw water, carry it back to the Temple, and pour it at the base of the altar as a visual reminder of how God continually provided for his people.
Can you picture it? The priests with their pitchers of water pouring them at the base of the altar. The sound of water gushing out and trickling down the paving stones. The people remembering Moses striking the rock with his stick in the desert and water pouring forth. And Jesus blurting out in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.”[2]
If it were anybody but Jesus, that’d be sacrilegious. But because it is him, it’s as if a switch got flipped and the scene centuries in the making suddenly jumps into sharp focus. It had always been about Jesus. Jesus had always been the thing that people were missing. Jesus had always been the thing that people needed the most. Jesus had always been the answer that God was eager to give because Jesus is freedom and life and forgiveness and love.
What do you thirst for? What gaping hole persists in your life? What need drives you to your knees in your better days, or causes you to clench your fists in your lesser days?
There’s nothing wrong with having a need. That’s the wilderness of the world we live in. We’re not in heaven yet. So, it’s unsurprising to continue to get bad news about the health of your parents or grandparents. It comes as no shock at all that there’d be conflict even between family and friends. We should only expect to continue to have reasons to worry about how we’re going to continue to take care of ourselves and our families.
It’s what we do with that need that can become a problem. Oftentimes it comes down to a choice either to circle the wagons or circle the drain, and both keep us from finding the satisfaction that can only come from Jesus.
Something happens, so you put your nose to the grindstone. You’re just going to push your way through. But for how long, and at what cost? I commend the effort, but are you strong enough? Can you singlehandedly turn the tide of your life? Can you will yourself to a better life? And what’s happening while you’re trying? What relationships are you letting wither on the vine – your kids, your spouse, your parents, your God? When you try so hard, where is your trust in the Lord? When you put all your hope in yourself, what happens when you inevitably let yourself down?
Then you circle the drain. You let out a constant refrain of complaint. Woe is me! What did I do to deserve this? Why is everyone else letting me down? Why is God letting me down? And the more you allow the grievances to accumulate, the more you play the victim in your life, the more you betray the dis- and the malcontent you harbour in your heart.
Thirst is only natural in the wilderness of the world we live in. It becomes a problem when we complain about it or seek to quench it on our own, which is what makes Jesus’ invitation such welcome music to our ears: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.”[3]
Who is Jesus speaking to? Thirsty people like you. People like you who come to him empty-handed in every sense of the word. People like you who have gaping holes in your life and in your heart, who have real need physically and spiritually. People like you who have no answers, only problems, but who find in Jesus not only providence but patience and forgiveness and life and love.
Those Israelites in the desert were grumblers and complainers. They were always the victim in their own stories and they let God know about it. But what did God do about it? Did he have Moses raise that rod in judgment? No. He lifted it in mercy, and with patient forbearance he supplied their need. He didn’t strike the people down for their sin. He struck the rock and gave them life.
And do you know what that rock that gave the Israelites life was meant to symbolize – the same water-giving rock the Jews were celebrating at the Festival of Tabernacles? Paul tells us: They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.[4]
This whole festival that Jesus was in Jerusalem to celebrate was about Jesus being the answer to our greatest need, which goes deeper than food and water and the air we breathe. It touches spirit and salvation and eternal life. Our sin threatened to separate us from our God forever and throw us into an eternity away from him where we would long for a drop of water to cool our thirsty tongues. But he sent his Son to pour out his blood in love on the cross to quench our thirst and satisfy our need, to forgive your sin and assure you of a salvation that does fill the gaping void in your life.
You didn’t get the diagnosis you were looking for. Come to Jesus and be filled with a life that will not end in death, but will continue in heaven, where there is no weakness or pain or cause for tears, but life in your Lord forever.
You can’t enjoy the company of the person you care about because of the conflict that has sprung up between you. Come to Jesus and receive full reconciliation with your God, who keeps no record of wrong but who credits you with his perfect Son’s perfect righteousness and therefore also a perfect relationship with your Father in heaven and all those he calls his own.
You still worry about how you’ll be able to provide for yourself and your family. Come to Jesus and receive in him your daily bread – the health and the life that he gives you, the skills and abilities he’s bestowed on you, the opportunities he lays before you. And know that a day will come when the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be your light and your life forever.
Anyone who is thirsty, come to Jesus and drink. Whoever believes in him, rivers of living water will flow from within them.[5] That’s God’s promise to you. And that’s the secret Spirit at work within you.
It’s Pentecost Sunday. I’ve only said the word “Spirit” twice in this sermon so far. And you know what? I don’t think he’d mind. Do you know what the Holy Spirit’s whole job is? It’s to point you to Jesus. That’s why he allowed Peter and his friends to speak all those different languages – not so that they could say how great the Spirit is, but so that they could declare the wonders of God,[6] i.e. so that they could talk about Jesus to people who didn’t know him yet.
That’s why the Spirit gives different kinds of gifts to different kinds of people – not so that you can pat yourself on the back and flaunt your wisdom, eloquence, or compassion, but so that by your wisdom, eloquence, and compassion you can point others to Christ, so that the Spirit can enable them to say, “Jesus is Lord,”[7] just as he has enabled you to say that.
And this pouring out of the Spirit isn’t some measly performative gesture we only make once a year. Jesus calls it rivers of living water that will flow from within you. There’s no scarcity of the Spirit. We’re not in a drought without him. Jesus promises and delivers an abundance of his Advocate.
You don’t need to be able to speak in tongues to know that the Spirit wells up inside you. The fact that you’re here is all the evidence you need. The confession we’ll share in another minute is an expression enabled by the Spirit within you. The faith at work in your life every day is further proof, as you recognize the intrusion of temptation, resist the sinful desires of your flesh, and put into practice the fruit of the Spirit among the people in your life (e.g. love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control).
Rivers of living water flow from within you, and your heart is not a drain; it’s a fountain. Your heart isn’t where the Holy Spirit goes to evaporate; it’s where he goes to overflow so that so many more can hear and know the wonders that God has performed for you in Jesus your Saviour.
Do you see the connection now? The rock is Christ. The water is the Spirit abundantly at work in your heart and in your life, and it’s the Father who in love gives you both a rock-solid foundation, and rivers of living water to provide you faith and life in abundance now and forever. Amen.
[1] John 7:37
[2] Ibid
[3] John 7:37
[4] 1 Corinthians 10:3,4
[5] John 7:38
[6] Acts 2:11
[7] 1 Corinthians 12:3