To All Who Thirst

We are thirsty people. Last year soft drink companies grossed over $333 billion in sales in the US alone.  According to the National Soft Drink Association, consumption of soft drinks is now over 600 12-ounce servings per person per year. Since 1978, soda consumption in the US has tripled for boys and doubled for girls. Young males aged 12-29 are the biggest consumers at over 160 gallons per year – that’s almost 2 quarts per day.  What makes that so startling is that on average the human body loses more than two quarts of water everyday.  We are thirsty people.

But our thirsts extend far beyond the soft drink world.  You might say we have a thirst for any and everything that we believe might quench our souls. One obvious thirst is our thirst for love. Everyone thirsts for acceptance and belonging. Everyone thirsts to be known and loved. Another thirst is our thirst for life – we want to enjoy life, have our relationships flourish and experience joy and meaning in all we do. We thirst for life, abundant life. We thirst for comfort and security; we thirst for peace and prosperity; and thirst for purpose and significance.  We are thirsty people.

In fact, if you’ve ever thirsted for love or life, or joy or meaning – then you’re in the right place today. Because as we return to the story of Jesus in the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks to all who thirst! In fact, in the passage we’re going to unpack today, Jesus makes the claim to be the ultimate thirst quencher.  But as we’re going to see from this passage, even though some believed Him, there were many who struggled to believe, and there were even some who refused to believe no matter what was said about him.  In fact, you could say that the climate in Jesus’ day was much like it is today, where people still refuse to receive the life Jesus offers.

So, this morning, we’re going to take a closer look at the life Jesus offers to all who thirst and then discover what keeps some people from receiving His great gift of life.  So, if you brought a Bible with you today, let me encourage you to open it to John 7.  Our passage today is John 7:37-52, where we’re going to begin by taking a closer look at what Jesus offers to all who thirst.   Let’s begin by reading verses 37-39, 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.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ^“streams of living water will flow from within him.”  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.  John 7:37-39

Here’s the scene: We’ve come to the final day, the greatest day of the Feast of Booths.  It is here on the steps of the Temple that Jesus claims to be the answer for out thirst.  But to understand the significance of His claim, we must first understand what is happening on this final day of the Feast.  Every day up to this day, there had been a water pouring ceremony at this Feast.  This was done to remember how God saved Israel when they were stuck in the desert without water. In the desert water means life.   Without water they were dying of thirst.  There’s was a desperate situation.  So, God commanded Moses to strike the rock, and water came forth.  So, when God gave them water, He gave them life.  This is what was celebrated every day of the Feast – God’s goodness to Israel in saving them with living water.

So, the first day of this feast, a PRIEST would read Zechariah 14:8: “On that day living water will flow out of Jerusalem” Then as the priest filled a golden pitcher with water from the Gihon Spring, a CHOIR chanted Isaiah 12:3 “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Next the water was then carried up the hill to the “Water Gate,” followed by crowds carrying palm branches and citrus fruit. As the crowd walked along, they would shake these branches and sing Psalms 113-118.  Then as they arrived at the temple, the priest would climb the altar steps and pour water on top the altar while the people encircled him and continued singing. On the seventh day of the feast, this procession took place seven times.  And for the Jewish people this ceremony was rich with symbolism.  First, it allowed them to look back at how God saved Israel by providing water from the rock in the desert.  But secondly, it allowed them to look forward to the fulfillment of Ezekial’s vision of rivers flowing from the temple in a miraculous display of God’s blessing in the future: Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east).  The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.  Ezekiel 47:1. Now what makes this second symbol so significant to the Jews, it that it also pictures the arrival of Messianic age, with the pouring out of the Spirit in the last days as described by Isaiah: For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendents. Isaiah 44:3

Now with all this in mind, we reach the climax of the Feast. It’s now the eighth day and this ceremony is played out by two priests who come to the altar of the Temple with two silver funnels that lead down to the base of the altar. Into the eastern funnel wine is poured. At the same time water is poured into the western funnel. As the priest pours the water the people are shouting for him to raise his hand. Immediately after the water is poured the great ‘praise’ is chanted: The ‘Praise’ is Psalms 113 to 118. As the Levites chant the first line of the Psalm, the people repeat it; then they respond by saying Hallelu Yah (Praise the Lord). Then in Psalm 118 the people not only repeat the first line: O give thanks to the Lord, but also these lines: “O then, work now salvation, Yahweh, O Lord now send prosperity,” and they end their praise by saying, “O give thanks to the Lord.” As they repeat these lines, they shake their palm branches as a praise for past blessings and to remind God of His promises. (repeat)

Then a silence follows…       It is at this point, out of the silence Jesus stands and cries out: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”  Jesus is not interrupting the ceremony. He is fulfilling it. He is making a claim and a promise:

Jesus’ Claim: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” This is a dramatic pronouncement.  Jesus claims that He is the provision of God. Jesus claims to be the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation, peace and prosperity. Jesus claims to be the One who will give the Holy Spirit.  And with this claim Jesus invites the thirsty to come to Him for life. For He is the salvation they thirst for.  So, with His claim, right there on the Temple steps, Jesus announces to all that He is the Messiah.  For He promises something only the Messiah himself can promise.  What’s his promise?

Jesus’ Promise is this: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 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. John 7:38-39. If you come to him and drink, not only will He give you a drink, but He will put a river of water in your heart. Now to those in the desert, a cup of water is great, but a river of water changes everything – for it can change your life!  A river of water guarantees life; for it pictures a source of unending life. So, this is what Jesus promises:  If you come to Him and drink, He will give you unending life by putting His Spirit inside you.

This is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Jesus is offering Himself as the source of eternal life to anyone who comes to him and drinks. This is a stunning claim.  Jesus is the rock from which God’s living water flows. He is the rock in the desert that was struck to give us life. He was struck by the fists of those who mocked him. He was struck by the nails that pierced His hands.  And He was struck by God, so God could give us the living water to save us.  Isaiah predicted this clearly when he wrote these words: Surely, He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgression, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5

It was on the cross where Jesus became the rock that was stricken for us. He took the blows meant for us so He could give living water to anyone who believes.  And today, he still speaks to the thirsty – and claims to offer unending life to anyone who will come to Him and drink. Jesus is the Rock that offers springs of living water.  Only God’s Anointed could deliver on such a gift.  And only one conclusion can come from what Jesus claims: Jesus must be the Messiah!  That’s the good news in this passage.  Jesus offers living water to anyone who is thirsty.  All you have to do is come to Him and drink.  All that’s required of you is to come to Him and believe.

But from what we see next, Not all who hear the good news will believe   Listen now to how the people responded: On hearing His words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” Thus, the people were divided because of Jesus.  Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.  John 7:40-44 Now, there were many who heard Jesus’ claim and responded with belief – with faith. They believed Jesus was the Messiah. They understood what the Scriptures promised and believed Jesus was the fulfillment of those promises. But once again, there were still many who were not sure what to believe.  Some believed he was the Prophet.  But others were skeptical of His Messianic claim. Why? Because they were ignorant of Jesus’ earthly origin. They were ignorant of his birthplace, thinking he was born in Galilee. They were ignorant of his linage, thinking he was not an offspring of David.  So once again the people were divided because of Jesus.

In fact, by this point in John’s gospel, Jesus has repeatedly done the kinds of works the Messiah would do and taught the kinds of truths the Messiah would teach.  But there were still so many struggling to believe in Jesus.  No matter how authoritative his teaching, no matter how miraculous His works, no matter how profound His claims, there were still many people who struggled to believe in Jesus.

Let that be a reminder to us today.  No matter how confident your faith in Jesus, no matter how well you explain Jesus, no matter how much evidence you give for Jesus… there will always be people who struggle to trust in Jesus. There will always be people who’ll be confused about Jesus. There’ll always be people who’ll struggle with the hard teachings of Jesus.  And there will always be people skeptical of the claims of Jesus.

But the good news that we see here, is that there will be some who will believe in Jesus, but then again, there will always be people who resist and even oppose faith in Jesus. In fact, some will refuse to believe no matter what you say Let’s pick up the story in verse 45, Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted.  “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him?  No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.” John 7:45-49

Earlier in chapter 7, the chief priests had dispatched the temple guards to go find Jesus and arrest him.  So, these Temple guards were there when Jesus claimed to be the Messiah; when Jesus stood up and cried out: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” But now they’ve returned empty handed.  Baffled by this, the chief priests ask, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”  And to this they reply, “No one ever spoke the way this man does. “Now you need to know something about these temple guards. These temple officers were Levites.  They’ve heard preachers and teachers all their lives.  So, when they bear witness of what they heard from Jesus, you get the sense they believe or they want to believe, “No one ever spoke like this man!” But the leaders quickly shoot them down. They accuse them of being deceived by Jesus. That statement alone shows where the religious leaders stand. They believe Jesus was a false teacher. But they’re not done. After accusing them of falling prey to deception, they slam the door shut on their potential faith by appealing to their peers “Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?”  Basically saying, that no one of any importance believes in him, therefore, you shouldn’t either. So, they use the strongest form peer pressure to shut down their faith. But they’re still not done.  Next, they resort to character assassination, by comparing their would-be faith with the crowd, calling the crowd “cursed.”  Basically saying, “If you believe like this crowd, then you’re no true Levite. Levites know the law – this crowd knows nothing of the law.” Talk about opposing belief before it gets a chance to root. These religious leaders were so dead set against Jesus, that they used every argument in their power to tear down the would-be faith of these guards.

Let me remind you something about your faith today. Not everyone is going to support your faith in Jesus. There will be those who will attack you for your faith. There will be some who will say you’ve been deceived. They may even liken you to those who are part of a cult.  Or they’ll use peer pressure to undermine your faith. Or they may even try to make you feel stupid for believing in Jesus by telling you, “No intelligent person believes in Jesus today.” Not everyone is going to support your faith in Jesus. Some are so dead set against Jesus, they’ll say or do anything to undermine your faith.

And when that happens, we need to remember the guy who stood up for Jesus: Nicodemus. Look at verse 50, Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” John 7:50-52

At this point we see the full-blown arrogance of the religious leaders. They’re so sure of their own beliefs that they won’t even heed the reproof of Nicodemus.  Nicodemus even cites the law that says Jesus deserves a hearing.  But they’ll have none of it.  In fact, since they refuse to be corrected, they reveal how their own sense of self-importance has hardened their hearts to God. At this point they are so full of pride that their pride won’t let them consider the possibility that Jesus may truly be the Messiah. So, kudos to Nicodemus for taking a stand for the truth.  Because he reminds us, that sometimes there is nothing you can say or do to convince people to believe in Jesus.  Sometimes you’re going to meet people who are so arrogant in their own beliefs, that they won’t give you a hearing.  And when you meet someone like that, remember Nicodemus.  He stood up for the truth.  And sometimes you may have to do the same. Sometimes you may be the only one standing up for Jesus.

 Now, we’ve come to the close of this amazing encounter with Jesus.  It ends on a sour note.  It just seems the more Jesus puts Himself out there as the Messiah, the more Jesus reveals that he is the hope people are looking for, the more people seem to oppose him and even reject Him.  But we need to remember, that John started this gospel saying that this very thing would happen.  He wrote this of Jesus: The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was His own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God John 1:9-12

Jesus came to His people at the climax of the feast that celebrates God’s goodness.  He came to His own and offered Himself as the living water of salvation.  He offered Himself as the fountain of God’s blessing for abundant life, peace and prosperity to all who would receive Him.  And what happened? Most failed to recognize Him and others outright rejected Him.  But some believed.  Some believed Jesus was who He claimed to be, but most did not.

So, the question I have for you today is this: What do believe about Jesus?  Do you recognize Jesus for who He claims to be?

Do you recognize Jesus as the ultimate thirst quencher?  Do you appreciate the lengths He went through for you to give you life?  Do you believe He has come to fill your life with His eternal life – these rivers of living water, the abundant and vibrant Holy Spirit of God?  Do you see that Jesus is truly the only One who is able to satisfy your thirsts for love and life, comfort and security, peace and prosperity?  Do you hear Jesus’ voice offering you living water?  If you do, then it’s God’s voice speaking to you today, and offering you real life in Jesus.

If you do, know this.  Jesus’ invitation is as real today as it was the day He stood up and shouted “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ^“streams of living water will flow from within him.”  His offer still stands: if you are willing to come to Him and believe.  If that’s you, then come to Jesus.