Posted on 05/26/2023 9:18:30 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
“Rivers of Living Water” (John 7:37-39)
Last weekend Susan and I went to Excelsior Springs, Missouri, to attend the wedding of Pastor and Mrs. Paul Flo. Excelsior Springs got its name and its fame long ago from the springs of water located there--healthful, healing waters, with restorative powers, it was said. Well, it so happened that when we went out there on that Friday, I wasn’t feeling so well. But when we returned on Sunday evening, I came back . . . with a bad case of acute bronchitis. I guess the healing waters of Excelsior Springs didn’t do me much good. By the way, I went to the doctor Monday morning, and now I’m doing much better.
Now while the springs of healing water in western Missouri may not cure what ails you, I know some waters that will. And these healing waters are flowing right here, right now. Because today our Lord Jesus Christ invites you to come to him, and he will give you “Rivers of Living Water.”
Our text is the Holy Gospel for today, John 7:37-39, reading again: “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
Now the words that Jesus speaks here, there are two different ways to translate them. I’ve given you both ways in your bulletin, and I’ve labeled them A and B. Both options are provided in the ESV and in other translations, as well.
Let’s look first at translation A: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now the way this translation reads, it sounds like the living waters will flow from out of the believer. “Whoever believes in me,” it says, “‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” And you can certainly make a case for that reading, both grammatically and theologically. Grammatically, you can read the Greek text that way, so that the “his” in “his heart” refers to “Whoever believes in me.” And that can make sense theologically, too. For the person who believes in Christ--yes, you could say that the Christian does have rivers of living water flowing out of him. His faith wells up in him and overflows. The living waters of the gospel flow out in an abundance of hope and joy, in the Christian’s life of good works, in the worship of God, and in witness to Christ the Savior. “Whoever believes in me . . . ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
Isn’t this like what Jesus told the woman at the well, in John chapter 4? There Jesus spoke of “living water” that would become in the believer “a spring of water welling up.” And that woman then did overflow in joy and excitement. She told her whole village about this man who is the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. So there were rivers of living water flowing out from the woman at the well.
Then we have a similar scenario on the Day of Pentecost, which we’re celebrating today, as we heard in Acts chapter 2. Rivers of living water are flowing out in all directions from the heart of Peter and all the believers. Moved by the Spirit, their tongues are telling the mighty works of God. Peter begins preaching the life-giving gospel to the crowd that had gathered, giving them the promise that “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” So there were rivers of living water flowing out from the hearts and mouths of the believers on Pentecost.
All this supports the first way to read this text: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”’ In this translation A, the living waters flow out of the believer.
But then there’s a second way to read the text, which also makes sense both grammatically and theologically. Let’s look at that. It’s translation B, and it reads as follows: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, and let him who believes in me drink. As the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
This too is a legitimate way to translate the passage. It’s the alternate translation provided in the ESV and in other Bibles as well. This translation uses the same Greek words; it just changes the punctuation. It breaks up the two sentences at a different point. Literally, it would go like this: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, and let him drink, the one who believes in me.” Then the second sentence would be: “As the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
Notice what this does. In this translation, the first sentence has two parts that say the same thing in parallel fashion. “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me” is the first half of the sentence. And the second half restates the thought: “and let him drink, the one who believes in me.” This type of parallel construction is very common, biblically. And here it would describe faith as a thirsty person coming to Jesus and believing, by drinking the thirst-quenching water that Jesus gives. That makes a lot of sense. This sentence then is Jesus’ invitation in two parallel parts, for thirsty people to come to him and to have their thirst quenched by trusting in him.
And so that changes where the second sentence begins. Now the second sentence would read: “As the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” And this changes the one from whom the rivers of living water flow. In translation A, they flow out of the believer. Here in translation B, the rivers of living water flow out from Jesus. Thirsty people are invited to come to Jesus and drink, because he is the source of that living water. “Out of his heart,” that is, out of Jesus’ heart, “will flow rivers of living water.”
My friends, whichever way we translate the passage, this much is true: Jesus is the source of the living water. He invites us to come to him and to drink and have our thirst quenched. How about you? Are you thirsty? Do you feel the dryness in your soul that comes from sin and a guilty conscience? Are you troubled by your sins? Then come to Jesus and drink. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
Yes, Jesus is the source of the living water. That’s also what he told the woman at the well: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Likewise, on the Day of Pentecost. The living water comes from Jesus. Having been crucified and then raised from the dead, having ascended into heaven and now sitting at the right hand of the Father, the exalted Lord Jesus Christ pours out the Spirit on his church. He provides the water. He provides the life.
Now one thing we haven’t discussed yet. Our text says, “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up,” etc. So which feast was this? There were three major festivals in the Hebrew calendar, Passover, Weeks, and Tabernacles. The feast mentioned in our text was the Feast of Tabernacles. Tabernacles commemorated how the Lord had miraculously provided for Israel during their wilderness wanderings. And on the last day of the festival, as it was observed at Jesus’ time, there was a special water ceremony to remember how the Lord had supplied the Israelites with water in the wilderness. And how had that taken place? It happened when the Lord God directed Moses to strike a rock with his rod, and out flowed fresh water in the desert. A miraculous, divine, life-saving supply.
So it is with Jesus. Jesus was taken to Golgotha, Calvary, the Place of the Skull, a place of death. There he was crucified. There the Lord of life, the Son of God sent from heaven, died to atone for the sins of the world, your sins and mine. And when Jesus died, a soldier came and struck him with a “rod,” so to speak--a spear, in Jesus’ side--and out flowed a sudden rush of blood and water. Jesus himself is the Rock of Ages, from whose pierced side flow the rivers of living water. Because he died, we live. By his blood, our sins are forgiven. And by the living water of the Spirit, which Jesus gives, we receive the gift of faith. By Christ’s death and resurrection, you and I are saved from death for eternal life.
And by our ascended Lord pouring out the Spirit on his church, on us Christians, now the rivers of living water flow out from us to others: in works of mercy, in words of witness, in songs of worship and praise. The source of the living water is Jesus himself. The flow goes from him to us, and then from us to others.
“Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Out of whose heart? Out of Jesus’ heart and into us. Then out from our heart, toward God in faith and worship, and toward our neighbor in fervent love and witness. “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Either way you read this passage, we come out at the same place. The rivers of living water flow out to us from Jesus and then out through us to others. So go with the flow!
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Ping.
Thank you for sharing this….
Why didn’t you turn to The Living Waters of Jesus christ, are great physician?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.