When I was growing up my grandparents liked to take my sister and I on trips during our breaks from school. We went to a lot of different places, but one memory sticks out in my mind. One trip we made was to the aquarium in Chattanooga, TN. The aquarium was really awesome, and I loved almost every second of it. There was only one thing that I didn’t enjoy. They had a new 3D max movie about the ocean. So we were all sitting there looking at cool images of jellyfish, coral reefs, and fish. They were coming out of the screen, and I thought it was the coolest thing. Then, all of the sudden, huge sharks started swimming right at me. I won’t tell you how old I was during this trip, but it scared me. So much so that I took off my 3D glasses so I couldn’t see them as well. I could make out just enough of the blurry screen to keep up with what was going on, but the picture was not clear.
We have seen in the past few weeks, while reading about the ministry and life of Jesus, that people around him did not know quite what to think of him. Over and over Jesus has sought to bring clarity to the crowds. The people knew enough of God’s promises to be looking for a Messiah.
He promised Adam and Eve that their seed one crush the head of the one who tempted them. (Gen. 3:15)
He promised Abraham that through his offspring, all of the nations would be blessed. (Gen. 22:18)
He promised David that his throne would be established forever. (2 Sam. 7: 16).
He prophesied through Isaiah that a suffering servant would be pierced and crushed for transgressions and iniquities of his people. (Isa. 53:5).
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. God’s people had an understanding that He was working a salvation for them. They had an idea that somehow God would make all things right again. They knew enough to trust God, but their picture was blurry and unclear.
Then as we have studied. John the Baptist bursts on the scene and starts preaching a message about the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He says this man is none other than Jesus of Nazareth. And we have seen the things Jesus has worked and proclaimed during his ministry so far. He has claimed unity and equality with the father. He has called himself the bread of life. He has forgiven sins, healed people, and even walked on water. Jesus, in his compassion, has extended 3D glasses to the people he comes across to help them see with clarity who he is. And today we are going to look at yet another example of Jesus going to great lengths to show the people who he is. In this passage of scripture this morning he uses the Festival of Booths to show the people that He is the provision they have been looking for all along, and that he offers more than a temporary solution to their greatest needs.
I. Jesus shows himself to be the true fulfillment of the Festival of Booths.
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.
Let us look at verse 37 together... the feast John is mentioning here is the feast of booths. This feast was something that Israelites celebrated to praise God for his provision after their harvest, and also to remember the provision God made for them while living in the dessert. The festival began every morning with a water ceremony. It was a pretty elaborate ceremony, listen to his description:
“It began at the crack of dawn at the Temple each morning of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. A procession of priests, musicians, and other worshipers began at the Temple and proceeded about half a mile down to the Pool of Siloam at the southern tip of the City of David. Every morning for the seven days of the Feast this great procession wound its way for a full half a mile down from the Temple to the Pool. The High Priest, dressed in full vestment and carrying a golden pitcher, led the throng. The other priests followed him, along with the Levites, musicians, and all the worshipers. When the High Priest arrived at the pool, he dipped the golden pitcher into the pool, filling it, then headed back to the Temple. He led the entire procession back to the Temple through the Water Gate. There the crowd paused as trumpet players blew three blasts on silver trumpets. Then the priests would sing or shout, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3 NKJV). From there the High Priest slowly proceeded to the altar and ascended the ramp. At the very top of the ramp were two silver basins. The priest poured water from the Pool of Siloam into one, and wine was poured simultaneously into the other as the trumpet players blew the trumpets three more times. Then the congregation and choir of Levites sang Psalms 118:25, “Save now I beseech thee, O LORD, O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.”
So, the people celebrating this festival saw this happen every morning for six mornings, but the last day was different. It was what our text calls “the great day”. People of Jesus’ time called it Hoshana Rabba. On the great day, the priests would walk around the altar seven times and trumpets would be blown seven times. Each time the priests circled the altar people would shout, “Please bring salvation now. Please God, please save and bring salvation now.”
So, you can see how intentional Jesus was in choosing this day to cry out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” notice that the text says that Jesus cried out. He was passionately pleading with people to come to him for their provision. They were crying out for salvation, and he was crying out to tell them that it was right there in front of them. He is trying to show the people that the festival they have been celebrating for hundreds of years is being fulfilled right before their eyes. Jesus is their great provision.
I think it is important for us to understand what Jesus means by thirst. The type of thirst he is referring to is an attitude of brokenness over sin and a longing for peace with God. It is more of a spiritual state than a physical condition.
When was the last time you were really thirsty? For me it was during two a days while practicing football in high school. We practiced two times a day during the hottest part of the summer in late August. I spent all day getting thrown around by guys twice my size, and I was running until I thought I was going to pass out. There were a few moments that offered me a little sliver of hope and kept me going. These moments were when our coach would blow the whistle and let us run to the water cooler. We looked like a bunch of wild animals, all trying to beat one another to the cooler. You could have offered anyone of us 100 dollars, an xbox, or a brand-new truck and I still think we would have turned you down. There was only one thing we knew would quench our thirst, and it was the ice-cold water waiting for us on the sideline.
It is easy for us to think of thirst in physical terms, and wonder how in the world anyone who heard Jesus offer would turn it down. Sadly, we know from people’s reactions to Jesus’ invitation that many people turned away from him. Why would this be the case?
Let’s think about this from the perspective of the religious leaders. Here they are during one of the most important festivals of the year. A festival steeped in tradition. They have an idea of who God is. And Jesus, the man who has claimed equality with God and healed people on the Sabbath, does not fit the bill. How could God be like this? He eats and talks to sinners. Doesn’t he know God is holy? They are blinded by their pride and are only thirsty for selfish gain.
Then we have the crowds who have been following Jesus. We have seen their hearts in the past couple of weeks. A lot of them were just looking to have physical needs met, they were not interested in what Jesus tried to offer.
People today are the same way. We are uncomfortable thinking about a God who doesn’t fit our beliefs and feelings perfectly. We are prideful and find it hard to submit to Jesus who calls us to die to ourselves and love our enemies. Parts of us do not want to extend grace to those who we deem undeserving.
We also settle so easily for things that can never satisfy us. Our hearts long to be fulfilled by something, but the truth is that all the world has to offer cannot provide for us what Jesus provides. No matter how good we are at our jobs, no matter how good of a spouse we are, no matter how many times we go to church. We will never be free from the burden of sin and guilt until we come to Jesus and drink.
If you are here this morning and you feel the weight of your sin, then hear these words of Jesus and know that the offer is being extended. Jesus, God in the flesh, died in the place of sinful man. He took the wrath of God that should have been placed on his people. He defeated sin and death, rose again, and has all authority in heaven and earth and he is offering this morning that people thirsty for pardon and reconciliation would come to him and drink and take the provision he has made.
II. Faith in Jesus overflows to those around us.
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.”
The phrase whoever believes in me is synonymous with coming to Jesus and drinking. Those who are thirsty for Jesus will drink or believe, and as a result Jesus says that out of that persons’ heart will flow rivers of living water. There is not one specific text here that Jesus is referring to, but several prophecies from the Old Testament.
One example of this is from Isaiah 41: 17-20,
“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.18 I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. 19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together, 20 that they may see and know, may consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.
The phrase living water here carries a lot of significance to the crowd Jesus is speaking to. They are not living in a society with running water in their homes. They cannot just go turn on the sink when they need to cook or clean. They were dependent on a source of water to be able to do the things they needed every day. I’ve got two pictures of water here. The first one is dead or stagnant water. Let’s say you are living in a society where this is your only source of water for your family. You want to make some spaghetti for dinner. Can you tell me with a straight face that you would boil noodles in water from this pond? I don’t think so. So, let’s look at this next picture of some living or moving water. Now this is more I like it. I wouldn’t mind cooking with some crisp clean water like that.
These two pictures are just a way to illustrate what Jesus is trying to get across to the crowd. Before we believe in Jesus our hearts are spiritually dead in sin. They look like the first pond. But after God gives us a new heart along with the gift of faith in Jesus our hearts are changed into living water. We change from being unhelpful and dead... to people who can bring life and blessing to others through the message of the gospel. This new change is initiated and sustained by the work of the Holy Spirit.
John helps us understand this truth by including verse 39 in this part of the Scripture. It is kind of like a teaser, a small introduction, into what Jesus expounds on later in John. I think it would be helpful for us to look at two passages where Jesus explains more fully the role of the Spirit in the lives of his people.
John 14: 15-17,
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
The Spirit in this passage is described as a helper. Jesus promises his people the very presence of God dwelling with them forever.
John 16: 4-14,
“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
The Spirit in this passage is shown as the one who will bring conviction to the world and guide the people of God as they follow Jesus.
I was trying to think of an example of someone who kind of exemplifies everything that we have learned from the Scripture this morning, and I think Peter is a great example. Peter was one of the disciples that Jesus called during the beginning of his ministry, but Peter was also someone who denied Jesus three times while Jesus was being tried by the high priest. We see that he was truly broken by his sin and wept bitterly over it. Then after Jesus rose from the grave he showed great compassion to Peter by allowing him to profess his love for him three times and charged him with the task of taking care of Jesus’ people. Then on the day of Pentecost the Spirit is finally poured out on the people of God, and Peter, who once denied Christ, gives a bold witness for Christ in front of a large crowd.I want to read you some of his message in Acts 2:22-39,
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus,[c] delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it...Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “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. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
Know this for sure. If you are a believer here this morning. The same Spirit that convicted Peter of his sin, changed his heart from a stagnant pond to living water, and empowered him to witness for Jesus is living in you. You can have great confidence that Jesus has not left you an orphan. The Holy Spirit is with you so you can tell people with boldness about the one who quenched your thirst when nothing else would do. And if you are here this morning, broken over your sin, and you want to come to Jesus and drink. I pray that you would take his invitation now and not wait any longer.