Copy of John 7:37-39, Rivers of Living Water

37 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. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" 39 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. 

In case you have forgotten, Jesus is teaching in the temple in the middle of the Feast of Booths. On the last and greatest day of the feast, the priest would take a bowl of water and would read from Ezekiel 47 and Zechariah 14:8 about streams of living water being poured out. As he spoke, he would pour out water, taken from the Pool of Siloam every morning, on the altar. Here in John, Jesus quotes from Isaiah 55:1, identifying himself as the source of this promised spiritual blessing through the death of the servant in Isaiah 53 who pays for the free gift of life.

Jesus has already made this promise to the woman at the well in chapter 4. What was said in private is now made public. Jesus is the source of the blessing of the Holy Spirit. Jesus will fulfill this water rite, representing a promise from God, when his blood is poured out on the cross. As he is sacrificed upon the cross, the Spirit will be poured out as the priest pours the water out of his bowl. This is perhaps one of the reasons that John records a literal flow of water came from his side (19:34), representing the outpouring of the Spirit.

John adds a comment to remind his readers that the Spirit had yet to be given at this time to all the people of God because Jesus had not yet been glorified by dying sacrificially on the cross. This does not deny that God had in the past poured out his Spirit on the prophets and writers of the Old Testament and upon his virgin mother and John the baptizer. There is a greater outpouring of the Spirit still to come.

Can you picture Jesus opening up his heart in this impassioned appeal to the people, including those who want him dead? Give thanks to Jesus today for offering you the gift of life through his sacrifice. And give thanks to the Spirit who is in you and gives you life.