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Saturday, 6 June 2015

John 7:37,38 - Living Waters

7:37
There is some debate about whether this is the seventh or eighth day of the festival. It will be helpful to look a little at what happened at the festival (Kruse) as it will add poignancy to Jesus’ words. For the first six days a flagon was filled with water from the Pool of Soloam and carried back to the temple and the water poured over the altar. On the seventh day they processed around the altar seven times and the people believed that when the Messiah came he would provide water. Then there was one extra day but there was no water related activities involved in that day. That is why some people think John must have been referring to the seventh day. However, I don’t think it really matters, and think that Jesus’ words would have been just as poignant on the eighth day, and in fact was more likely to have said them on that day.
So Jesus’ talking about providing living water is highly significant. People were looking for fulfilment in the wrong place, Jesus is the fulfilment of all things. Jesus invites all to come to Him and drink. In fact He invites all who are thirsty. If we have a need we should go to Jesus. If we realise that we cannot cope with life on our own, that there is something vital missing we need to go to Jesus.

7:38
It is not absolutely clear which part  of Scripture this is a quote from. Moreover, the comma can be placed in different places. The standard text implies that if we believe in Jesus then living waters will flow out from us. However, it is also possible for it to mean that if we are to believe in Jesus and living waters will flow out to us from Jesus. In one sense it isn’t that important as both are essentially true. If we believe in Christ that He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and if we are filled with the Spirit then we will have a godly influence on those around us.

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