"Living Waters Flow"
That You May Believe • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
Invitations to events
Outline
Outline
A Gracious Invitation (v.37-39)
A Pronounced Division (v.40-44)
A Transforming Pharisee (v.45-52)
Point 1: A Gracious Invitation (v.37-39)
Point 1: A Gracious Invitation (v.37-39)
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.
Setting:
the last day of the feast is the climax of the feast
It was the day when the most people were present.
You may miss the first few days…but you would be there for the last.
Culmination of the water ceremony:
Each day of the feast there was a water ceremony.
there was a procession of priests who descended to the southern border of the city
There a priest filled a golden pitcher as a choir chanted Isaiah 12:3 “3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”
The water was then carried back up the hill to the “Water Gate,” followed by crowds carrying a lulah in the right hand (tree branches reminiscent of the desert booths) and an ethrog in the left hand (citrus branches reminiscent of the harvest).
The crowd would shake these and sing Psalms 113-118.
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord!
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore!
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised!
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.
1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
1 I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
1 Praise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
2 For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
When the procession arrived at the temple, the priest would climb the altar steps and pour the water onto the altar while the crowd circled him and continued singing. On the seventh day of the festival, this procession took place seven times.”
The Purpose of the Water Ceremony
Remembering God’s provision of water in the wilderness
Looking forward to the time when water would flow from the temple abundantly.
Ezekiel 47:1 “1 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.”
Zechariah 14:8 “8 On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.”
Jesus’ Words
As this water ceremony is happening Jesus says:
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.
Jesus Declares himself to be God
Who provided the water?
God
Whose provision was Israel remembering?
God’s!
If you want water, you go to God.
Jesus says...
If you want water, come to me, because I am God!
Jesus is the fulfilment of the water ceremony
Already
Water provided
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
Eternal life now
Not Yet
we’re looking forward to the final fulfilment of this
Revelation 22:1-2 “1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
Jesus gives an invitation
John 7:37 “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.”
Only condition is that you have to thirst!
What does it mean to thirst?
Illustration: Movie Theatre
Marketers know how to tap into craving.
Picture yourself at the movie theatre…with a big tub of salty, buttery, popcorn.
And the add comes on with a huge refreshing ice cold soft drink…you hear the sounds of the ice clinking and the drink pouring…you’re thirsty.
Thirst for God
Spiritual connection:
You recognize your mouth is dry…and you can’t quench the thirst on your own.
You need something from outside to fill you.
As the thirst increases…it occupies more of your thoughts…and you know you need fluid to satisfy that craving.
There are different liquids you could drink:
anti-freeze…kill you.
salt-water…slowly dehydrate you more.
fresh…clean…pure…water…is what you actually need.
We are all thirsty!
all recognize that feeling of dryness on our lips and in the back of our throats.
Questions:
What are you turning to to satisfy that thirst?
Anti-freeze…poison.
Overt sins: drugs…pornography…gossip…covetousness…anger…hatred...
Salt-water…something that seems to satisfy for a while.
not sinful in and of themselves…but if they have the wrong place in our lives…or if we’re looking to them to fill us up in the way that only Jesus can…we will be left withered.
Job…spouse…hobby…friends…pastors…elders...
Or the fresh…clean…pure…water of Jesus?
Remind yourself that those other things don’t and can’t satisfy you.
Where do you seek to quench your thirst?
13 for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
What cisterns have you made…how have you become aware that they can’t hold water.
Meaning…they can’t satisfy your thirst.
Illustration: Ethan at Camp of the Ozarks
Sweet after sweet…butterfingers…reeses…m&m’s…gummies bears…sour patch kids…sour vines…and to top it all off a giant moon pie.
It tasted so good going down…
And it stayed down…for a little while...
And then it came back up…and they felt sick.
Reminded them…ease up…remember camp of the Ozarks…Yeah…thanks dad.
Remind yourself of the fleeting pleasures of sin.
Remember what that did with your relationship with God.
Remember the guilt and self loathing that came along with that.
Remember how that hurt your relationship with your kids when you said that.
Remember how you felt!
Remind yourself that God provides the way out.
1 Cor 10:13 “13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
What does it mean to come to Jesus & Drink?
ESV: “To come to Jesus and drink means to believe in him, to enter into a trusting, ongoing personal relationship with him. Both the image of ‘coming’ to Jesus as one who would come to a person and the image of ‘drinking’ imply not mere intellectual assent but a wholehearted personal involvement and participation.”Invitation is extended to all.
Think of what these people represented.
All backgrounds and social positions…high and the low…the wealthy and the poor
All different types of sin
The sins in their lives.
Unfaithfulness, deceit, adultery, drunkenness, homosexuality, idolatry, gossip, hatred, abusiveness, injustice, partiality…the list could go on and on.
Think about the people here in this room...
Look around for a second…think about everyone here…think about the sins represented in your own life and in other...
And Jesus says to you…come to me…all of you…every single one of you…if you’re thirsty…come to me and drink.
Result of Belief: Living Water flows from believers
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
Water from Jesus poured out to us.
Holy Spirit comes to us.
Then God uses us to be his ambassadors…to go out to others.
Jesus ministers to others through his spirit-filled people.
Application: Living Water in your life?
How do you see living water flowing out from you?
Is the gospel of Jesus flowing from you to others.
Words and Actions
Displaying and Proclaiming Jesus!
Gospel of Jesus—flows from you to others!
Holy Spirit
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.
Spirit not yet given (v.39)
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.
happens at Pentecost
HS was present in the OT
But not in full measure.
But in the New Covenant…there is an outpouring of the HS in an unprecedented way.
There is an infilling of the HS in a spectacular way.
Our bodies are the temple of the HS now.
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
Transition to Point 2:
Transition to Point 2:
A Gracious Invitation (v.37-39)
Fall all who thirst to come to him.
A Pronounced Division (v.40-44)
Those there at the feast are divided over Jesus.
Over who he is and where he’s from.
Point 2: A Pronounced Division (v.40-44)
Point 2: A Pronounced Division (v.40-44)
40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people over him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
Who Is Jesus
Question that demands an answer…these people understand that Jesus can’t be ignored…they have to determine for themselves who He is.
Application: True For You
You have to make a determination for yourself as to who Jesus is.
The Prophet
Some think he is “The Prophet”
That is the prophet like Moses, but greater.
reference to Deuteronomy 18:15
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
The Christ
Greek work for Messiah
The promised one…the anointed one.
The kingly figure from the line of David who would reign upon David’s throne forever and who would rescue God’s people.
Deliver them from their enemies and establish his kingdom.
Jesus is Both: Prophet, Priest, King
Jesus is actually both.
He is our great prophet, our great high priest, and the great eternal king.
The debate centers on his place of origin
V.42—Bethlehem would be the Messiah’s birthplace.
Because he would come from the line of David…therefore he would be from David’s City.
2 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.
Bethlehem is David’s City
1 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.”
Where is Jesus from?
Their understanding of the OT…should actually lead them to know that Jesus is the Messiah
They know that the Christ is supposed to come from Bethlehem.
If that had taken the time to investigate a little further, they would have known that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
Therefore…this is even further proof that Jesus is the Christ.
But there’s a Division over his identity
And the debate is on.
Application: Jesus came to bring a sword
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Application: Side with Jesus
Even when it’s tough.
Your love and devotion to Jesus supercedes your love and devotion to everything else in this world.
Father, mother, son, daughter…your very family.
If there is division over who Jesus is…you lovingly side withe Jesus.
Application: The Word of Jesus Divides
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Side withe Jesus.
Transition to Point 3:
Transition to Point 3:
A Gracious Invitation (v.37-39)
All who thirst, come to me.
A Pronounced Division (v.40-44)
Who is Jesus?
A Transforming Pharisee (v.45-52)
Where we return to someone we met in chapter 3. Nicodemus.
Point 3: A Transforming Pharisee (v.45-52)
Point 3: A Transforming Pharisee (v.45-52)
45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Temple Police
45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”
Temple Police
Chief priests and Pharisees sent for them to arrest Jesus.
Temple police = Levites authority to maintain order in the temple.
Police respond:
chief priests and Pharisees are upset because the police haven’t arrested Jesus.
The officers are blown away by Jesus’ teaching.
No one has ever spoken like this man!!!
Were called in the previous passage
Chief Priests and Pharisees Appeal to Their Own Authority
I want you to see the pride in the response of the Pharisees here.
47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
v.47—Pharisees appeal to their own authority
In pride…they tell these guards
Hey we’re the authority on this matter.
Take your direction from us…none of us have believed in this man as the Prophet and the Christ
Therefore you shouldn’t either.
Illustration:
Picture someone with an elitist mentality.
Arrogance and contempt which they have for the lowly, unlearned people.
Sometimes experts get it wrong.
Why? Why do These Religious Experts Get It Wrong
Many different reasons
sometimes it’s their focus…so zeroed in on something that they can’t see any other options.
Fresh eyes…take someone who knows nothing about the subject and get their input…able to see without biases.
Here…it’s also a matter of the heart.
They’re unwilling to submit to someone they thought was inferior…someone who was beneath them spiritually.
Illustration:
Irony in John
Comedian is the only one in the room who doesn’t get the joke.
The golf pro is the only one who doesn’t sink the putt.
The irony in the book of John: those who should believe don’t.
Application: Continue to be shaped by God
By his Word
Through his holy Spriit
By his people
The spiritually mature are easily edified
A critical, argumentative heart (like the Pharisees) isn’t a sign of spiritual maturity.
A humble heart that is willing to listen and learn and be conformed into the image of Christ…now that’s a sign of spiritual maturity.
Transition
In this passage, we encounter someone sho is in this process of being shaped and molded by the words of Jesus.
We encounter a “Transforming Pharisee”
v.50-51—Nicodemus
50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”
Nicodemus Ch. 3
Process:
Comes to Jesus
Willing to ask honest questions.
Doesn’t quite get it.
Remains in private.
Nicodemus Ch. 7
Doesn’t come right out and defend Jesus.
But it’s clear that Nicodemus is siding with Jesus to some degree here.
Secrecy has moved to Public
Nic appeals to their own law.
Nicodemus Ch. 19
He has become a devoted follower of Jesus.
Application: Conversion is a Process
Don’t give up on people.
Most of the time someone’s conversion is a process.
There is a process of transformation.
Our Job
Remain patient
Remain fervent in prayer
Remain open to conversations
Be an instrument of the Waters of Eternal life.
Trust that as you cling to Jesus and the gospel in your own life.
That will overflow from you to others.
Contrast to Other Pharisees
This is how these other religious leaders respond to Nicodemus.
52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”
Galilee:
Reformation: “Galilee was held in contempt by the Sanhedrin as a mixed-race region where the law was not zealously observed.”
They Seek Conformity
They attack Nicodemus for the slightest sign of insurrection.
They go after him for just a glimmer of siding with Jesus.
They hate Jesus…and so they hate anyone associated with Him.
They are blind to their own Scriptures
Prophets did come from Galilee
ESV: “Contrary to the Pharisees’ implication, prophets occasionally did arise from Galilee, such as Johan (2 Kings 14:25), and possibly Elijah (1 Kings 17:1) and Nahum (Nah. 1:1).”
If they knew the Scriptures, they would know that what they were saying was false.
But they are in a dark spot.
They want Jesus gone…
And we see here that anyone who wants to associate with Jesus needs to be willing to stand amidst divsion...
And stand against opposition…opposition in this case from the learned and respected in their culture.
Conclusion
Conclusion
A Gracious Invitation (v.37-39)
All who thirst, come to me.
A Pronounced Division (v.40-44)
Who is Jesus?
A Transforming Pharisee (v.45-52)
Where we return to someone we met in chapter 3. Nicodemus.
Next week
This week:
We saw Jesus as the fulfilment of the first major rite of this festival.
The water right…where Jesus shows that living water flows from him…and he will be the source of that water in the eternal kingdom.
Next week:
We will look at Jesus being the fulfillment of the second major rite of this festival as we return to the theme of light and darkness.
EXTRAS
EXTRAS
Boice: “On that day the priests, accompanied by the worshipers, went outside the city to the pool of Siloam—the pool to which Jesus later sends the blind man. Here they filled golden pitchers with water. Then, returning to the city, they marched seven times around the altar and concluded by pouring the water from the pool upon it. Clearly, the ceremony reminded them of God’s provision of water for the people during their forty years in the wilderness.”
He reuses the sermon (John 4:10-14) that he gave to the Samaritan woman at the well.
JMac:
V.37—“A tradition grew up in the few centuries before Jesus that on the 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles, a golden container filled with water from the pool of Siloam was carried in procession by the High Priest back to the temple. As the procession came to the Watergate on the South side of the inner temple court, 3 trumpet blasts were made to mark the joy of the occasion and the people recited Isaiah 12:3, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” At the temple while onlookers watched, the priests would march around the altar with the water container while the temple choir sang the Hallel (Psalms 113-118). The water was offered to God at the time of the morning sacrifice. The use of the water symbolized the blessing of adequate rainfall for crops. Jesus used this even as an object lesson and opportunity to make a very public invitation on the last day of the feast for His people to accept Him as the living water.”
V.37— “The water-pouring rite was also associated within Jewish tradition as a foreshadowing of the eschatological rivers of living water foreseen in Ezekiel 47:1-9 and Zechariah 13:1. The significance of Jesus’ invitation centers in the fact that He was the fulfillment of all the Feast of Tabernacles anticipated, i.3., He was the One who provided the living water that gives eternal life to man.”
Jesus fulfills the meaning of the feast of booths
Reformation: “There was a ceremonial water-drawing (commemorating the provision of water in the wilderness, Num. 20:2-13, and a lamp lighting ritual. The first of these ceremonies provided the setting for Jesus’ proclamation in vv.37,38 the second for His statement in 8:12.”
HCSB: “Streams of living water flowing from deep within Jesus’ followers fulfill the end-time blessings predicted int he OT. John noted in verse 39 that these streams are emblematic of the Spirit, who would be given after Jesus’ exaltation with the Father (20:22).”
ESV: “…picture the inward work of God in a believer as a river of water flowing out to bring blessing to others.”
Gary Burge: “A second Western or Christological punctuation views Christ as the source of the living water and enjoys not only the support of antiquity (Justin, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Irenaeus) but contemporary scholars as well. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me. And let him drink—who believes in me. As the scripture has said, ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’” This view interprets the participle (the believer) as the one who drinks. The Scripture citation now stands on its own with Christ as the source of living water. A superior translation reflecting the nuances of the Greek might read: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me—and if he believes, let him drink. As the Scripture has said, ‘Streams of living water will flow from his belly.’”
Reformation: “Jesus is referring to the blessing of Pentecost. Of course, the Holy Spirit was present in the Old Testament period, but at Pentecost He entered into a more intimate relationship with believers.”
There are three OT passages that connect water with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
3 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.
24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
Life Application: “Although the Romans ruled Palestine, they gave the Jewish religious leaders authority over minor civil and religious affairs. The religious leaders supervised their own Temple guards and gave the officers power to arrest anyone causing a disturbance or breaking any of their ceremonial laws. Because these leaders had developed hundreds of trivial laws, it was almost impossible for anyone, even the leaders themselves, not to break, neglect, or ignore at least a few of them some of the time. But these Temple guards couldn’t find one reason to arrest Jesus. And as they listen to Jesus to try to find evidence, they couldn’t help hearing the wonderful words he said.”
Life Application: “This passage offers additional insight into Nicodemus, the Pharisee who visited Jesus at night (chapter 3). Apparently Nicodemus had become a secret believer. Since most of the Pharisees hated Jesus and wanted to kill him, Nicodemus risked his reputation and high position when he spoke up for Jesus. His statement was bold, and the Pharisees immediately became suspicious. After Jesus’ death, Nicodemus brought spices for his body (19:39). That is the last time he is mentioned in Scripture.”