Christ, the Water of Life
John 7:37-44
Have you heard about water that consists of more than two hydrogens and one oxygen atom?
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Published July 19th, 2020; Updated November 26th, 2020
Main point summary
Notes
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notes
Main point summary
Jesus's words left the crowd divided, and the guards did not arrest Him.
Notes
7:37 Thirsting for God What did Jesus mean with "If anyone thirsts"? Creation is marred with imperfections and disappointments. Every soul yearns in different forms for the better or the ultimate but can't find it on earth. All it gets are glimpses of satisfaction, which last only for a short while. Anyone who searches for the ultimate is essentially "thirsting for Christ" knowing or unknowingly. It's a spiritual thirst for the Ultimate, or in other words, a thirst for God. Why is He using the "drinking" analogy? The drinking analogy connects with the Spirit of God's work from whom "rivers of living water" flow. So, drink of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit fills your heart and reaches others through you. You'll become the medium to offer others to drink of Christ. The Spirit will work through an obedient Christian's actions and words to convict of sin and point to ultimate fulfillment in Christ. 7:38 Drinking and offering to Drink What did Jesus mean when He spoke about "believing in Him"? The Jews knew from the scriptures about the promised Messiah. Jesus was the person of which the prophets spoke about in scripture. He fulfilled the promises that needed supernatural power. Now, believing meant to trust that Jesus was that promised Messiah and pledge allegiance to Him. How will there be hearts from which rivers of living water flow? The account of Acts shows the beginning of this supernatural work at Pentecost. Throughout the last 2000 years, it continued with many witnesses of transformed lives through the flow of this 'living water'. The origin of every river is its spring. The origin of the 'rivers of living water' is the Lord Jesus. Those rivers flow through the spirit via faith in Christ. 7:39 Ascension and Pentecost Jesus spoke earlier about going back to the Father. Here John writes about Jesus's glorification (Resurrection and Ascension to the Father) and the progression of God's work on Pentecost. 7:40-42 Further Division Three groups: 1. The many - a prophet. They got that right but were still wrong to limit Jesus to just a prophet. 2. Others - the Christ. Those in the crowd got it right. They saw in Jesus not only a prophet but also a priest and king - the Christ. 3. The third group was in confusion. They didn't have their facts straight. Jesus was of the seed of David and was born in Bethlehem.
Phrase
editing
NT
John 7:37-44
nkjv
The promise of the Spirit for faith in Christ
On the last day,
Temporal
that great day of the feast,
Reference
Jesus stood and cried out, saying,
Ground
“If anyone thirsts,
Condition
let him come ... and drink.
Content
to Me
Destination
as the Scripture has said,
He who believes in Me, ... out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Result
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit,
Context
whom those ... would receive;
Explanation
believing in Him
Manner
for the Holy Spirit was not yet given,
Concessive
because Jesus was not yet glorified.
The response of the crowd
Therefore ... when they heard this saying,
many from the crowd,
Result #1
said, “Truly this is the Prophet.”
Others said,
Result #2
“This is the Christ.”
But some said,
Result #3
“Will the Christ
Content #1
come out of Galilee?
Source
Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes
Content #2
from the seed of David
Source #1
and from the town of Bethlehem,
Source #2
where David was?”
So there was a division among the people
because of Him.
Now some of them wanted to take Him,
but no one laid hands on Him.
phrasing
Discourse
John 7:37-44
On the last day,
that great day of the feast,
ideaexplanation
Jesus stood and cried out, saying,
temporal
“If anyone thirsts,
let him come to Me and drink.
conditional
He who believes in Me,
as the Scripture has said,
out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
comparison
actionresult
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit,
whom those believing in Him would receive;
for the Holy Spirit was not yet given,
because Jesus was not yet glorified.
ground
Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said,
“Truly this is the Prophet.”
Others said,
“This is the Christ.”
But some said,
“Will the Christ come out of Galilee?
Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?”
negativepositive
series
So there was a division among the people because of Him.
inference
Now some of them wanted to take Him,
but no one laid hands on Him.
concessive
progression
For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work. (Leviticus 23:36 ESV) “On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly. You shall not do any ordinary work, (Numbers 29:35 ESV) And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule. (Nehemiah 8:18 ESV)
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (Isaiah 55:1 ESV) but 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.” (John 4:14 ESV) Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. (John 6:35 ESV)
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3 ESV)
but 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.” (John 4:14 ESV)
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10 ESV)
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 descendants. (Isaiah 44:3 ESV) For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13 ESV) so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith... (Galatians 3:14 ESV)
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. (Joel 2:28 ESV) But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: [17] “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; [18] even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:16-18 ESV) I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ (John 1:33 ESV)
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4 ESV) Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. (Acts 2:33 ESV)
For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. (John 3:34 ESV) If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13 ESV)
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. (John 14:16-17 ESV) 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. (John 16:7 ESV)
Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, “When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?” (John 7:31 ESV)
When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” (John 6:14 ESV)
And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ? (John 7:26 ESV)
You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: [4] ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.’” Selah (Psalms 89:3-4 ESV) The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Matthew 1:1 ESV)
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. (Micah 5:2 ESV) And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, (Luke 2:4 ESV)
The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” (1 Samuel 16:1 ESV)
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. (John 9:16 ESV) There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. (John 10:19 ESV) And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, he is leading the people astray.” (John 7:12 ESV)
So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. (John 7:30 ESV)
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