Jesus Revealed Pt. 7 - The UnexpectedSample

The Last Day of the Feast  

Thoughts on the Passage

This is the eighth day of the feast. It is the last day, and in closing the festival, the religious leaders take water and pour it out at the entrance of the temple. They do this for two reasons. 

First, it is a prayer to God that He will give rain for the coming year, providing moisture for crops and animals so they can come back next year and give thanks for a bountiful harvest. Second, it is a cry to God to fulfil Ezekiel 47 where God shows the life-giving nature of water. It is not just physical life, it is transformational life. It transforms the desert, it transforms the salty sea, it releases life everywhere it goes. The Spirit of God releases life, and they recognize that they are asking God’s Spirit to flow from the house of God to the nation Israel and to the nations around.

Jesus stands up in the middle of this solemn ceremony and cries out – “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” Jesus is declaring that He is the source of the living water. We saw this in Chapter 4 with the woman at the well, we saw it again in Chapter 6 with the crowd wanting bread, and we see it again here. Each of these pictures is different, but the message is the same – Jesus is the source of life. There is no other place that people can turn to and receive life. 

There is one other key thought here. The Spirit of God will pour out of God’s people as a river. This is just like what we see in Ezekiel 47. It seems very small when it starts, but it grows into a rushing river very quickly. Jesus declares that this river of the Spirit will flow out of us. When it flows out of us, it will produce the same blessing and fruitfulness that we see in Ezekiel 47.

Application

Come to Jesus today for a big drink of water. Thirsty for truth? Jesus will speak truth into our lives and into our confusion. Thirsty for a heart that follows hard after God? Jesus will meet this desire. Thirsty for…? Go to Jesus.

Let the Spirit flow out of us to our world. Let it touch people and their needs. It will release life.

Time to Pray

Father, sometimes we look for just a little water when You have rivers available to us. We are satisfied with a cup of cold water, and You are here with a river for us to swim in, jump in, splash in and drink until we cannot hold any more. Forgive me for being so small in my prayers for people and my world. You have a river to release, and I give so little. Help me today to understand what You want to release and give me a boldness to do it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.