John 7:37–39 Sermon
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 19 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Sermon Text
Sermon Text
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.
1. The cry of Jesus Christ (v.37)
1. The cry of Jesus Christ (v.37)
Verse 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.
Verse 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.
The last day of the feast of booths would have been the 8th day.
It was called the great day.
There were two possible reasons for this.
There were two possible reasons for this.
First, Jewish tradition held that on the final day of the feast there would be additional rituals to celebrate the last day.
First, Jewish tradition held that on the final day of the feast there would be additional rituals to celebrate the last day.
The additional rituals were added to emphasize what they had already celebrated.
For them, the emphasis was a good way to close out the feast. Being that it was the last one of the feast.
Second, this was the last feast of the three major feasts they celebrated every year.
Second, this was the last feast of the three major feasts they celebrated every year.
So the last day of the last feast of the year they would celebrate even more.
This being done so that they could look back at the prior feasts of the year.
Either way, we do know that calling the last day of the feast of booths the final day was intentional in that the emphasis of it made that day different than the rest. Most likely because of the reasons I gave.
Jesus at the feast on the last day did what He had done already before.
He cried out. But He would cry out something that the people there needed to hear.
He said in verse 37,
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”
Question: Why did Jesus cry out this statement here on the last day of the feast?
Question: Why did Jesus cry out this statement here on the last day of the feast?
There was a ritual of carrying water from the pool of Siloam and pouring it at the base of the altar during the feast of booths.
The Second possible reason, there was a ritual of carrying water from the pool of Siloam and pouring it at the base of the altar.
The Second possible reason, there was a ritual of carrying water from the pool of Siloam and pouring it at the base of the altar.
The pool of Siloam was located in Jerusalem and it was the place where in the man born blind was told to go to wash.
The MacArthur Study Bible Chapter 7
a golden container filled with water from the pool of Siloam was carried in procession by the High-Priest back to the temple.
The High Priest filled a golden container from the pool and carried it to the temple in a procession.
This pool was also where Jesus instructed the blind man the pool the man was healed from his blindness.
Instructed by Jesus to go to the pool the man was healed from his blindness.
The ritual of carrying water from the pool was done daily to remember the miracle of water from the rock in the wilderness () and became a symbol of hope for when the Messiah would come and deliver His people ().
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
The Feast of Booths was also associated with God providing rain ().
16 Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. 17 And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18 And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the Lord afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.
Zechariah 14:
It was customary for the Jews to read on the first day of the feast (according to the rabbinic text Babylonian Talmud Megillah 31a).
As Jesus had done with Bread in , and with water in , He points to Himself as what people needed most.
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church Siloam, Pool Of
Siloam, Pool of. A pool or reservoir at *Jerusalem, mentioned several times in the OT, and almost certainly the modern Birket Silwān. In the NT it is referred to only twice, namely in the incident of the man born blind (Jn. 9:1 ff.), whom Christ told to go and wash in this pool, and in Christ’s mention of the fall of a tower ‘in Siloam’ (Lk. 13:4). In the latter reference, part of the city wall, which ran near the pool, may be intended.
Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
A ritual of bringing water from the pool of Siloam and pouring it at the base of the altar was part of the daily festival celebration. This ritual memorialized the miracle of water from the rock in the wilderness () and became symbolic of hope for messianic deliverance (). The Festival of Tabernacles was associated with God providing rain (), and was to be read on the first day of the feast (according to the rabbinic text Babylonian Talmud Megillah 31a). The seventh day of the festival, the last official day (, ), had a special water-pouring ritual and lights ceremony (according to the rabbinic text Mishnah Sukkah 4.9–10; 5.2–4). The festival came to be a celebration of God’s future restoration of Israel and the extension of salvation to the nations. Jesus’ invitation draws on those expectations of future ideal reality under the rule of the Messiah.
was part of the daily festival celebration. This ritual memorialized the miracle of water from the rock in the wilderness () and became symbolic of hope for messianic deliverance (). The Festival of Tabernacles was associated with God providing rain (), and was to be read on the first day of the feast (according to the rabbinic text Babylonian Talmud Megillah 31a). The seventh day of the festival, the last official day (, ), had a special water-pouring ritual and lights ceremony (according to the rabbinic text Mishnah Sukkah 4.9–10; 5.2–4). The festival came to be a celebration of God’s future restoration of Israel and the extension of salvation to the nations. Jesus’ invitation draws on those expectations of future ideal reality under the rule of the Messiah.
The Festival of Tabernacles was associated with God providing rain (), and was to be read on the first day of the feast (according to the rabbinic text Babylonian Talmud Megillah 31a). The seventh day of the festival, the last official day (, ), had a special water-pouring ritual and lights ceremony (according to the rabbinic text Mishnah Sukkah 4.9–10; 5.2–4). The festival came to be a celebration of God’s future restoration of Israel and the extension of salvation to the nations. Jesus’ invitation draws on those expectations of future ideal reality under the rule of the Messiah.
Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 7
A ritual of bringing water from the pool of Siloam and pouring it at the base of the altar was part of the daily festival celebration. This ritual memorialized the miracle of water from the rock in the wilderness (Num 20:2–13) and became symbolic of hope for messianic deliverance (Isa 12:3). The Festival of Tabernacles was associated with God providing rain (Zech 14:16–18), and Zech 14 was to be read on the first day of the feast (according to the rabbinic text Babylonian Talmud Megillah 31a). The seventh day of the festival, the last official day (Lev 23:34, 41–42), had a special water-pouring ritual and lights ceremony (according to the rabbinic text Mishnah Sukkah 4.9–10; 5.2–4). The festival came to be a celebration of God’s future restoration of Israel and the extension of salvation to the nations. Jesus’ invitation draws on those expectations of future ideal reality under the rule of the Messiah.
Jesus stood up which meant He was sitting as He was teaching (customary for Rabbi’s to be seated when they taught)
and [He] cried out, which again was done with a passionate plea. He loudly proclaimed,
and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”
Jesus cried this out because it was speaking of who He was and what they needed.
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Once one has done this they would know and worship the King!
But for those who do not drink of Christ, they will be left with the plaque of sin and wrath which resides in everyone apart from saving faith.
since it would be the close of the yearly festivals.
since it would be the close of the yearly festivals.
A heart devoid of this water is plagued. It is because a rejection of this invitation proves that there is no life in them.
Then as He stood up He cried out which was the same Greek word used for proclaimed in verse 28 used only four times in the gospel of John.
The result of belief in Jesus is that the heart that was stone and calloused to God would have life!
It was the last day of the feast of booths which was called the great day and Jesus stood up and He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.”
Question: What did Jesus mean “If anyone thirsts?”
Question: What did Jesus mean “If anyone thirsts?”
Prior to our chapter Jesus makes mention of thirst in .
35 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.
Jesus and His interaction with the woman at the well in .
Where He says in verses 13 and 14 of ,
13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 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.”
Later in , Jesus speaks of God being spirit and that those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.
This woman, along with anyone who isn’t drinking from what Christ is offering, is left thirsty. Meaning that they do not have the Spirit of God.
Meaning that they do not have the Spirit of God.
Being thirsty means to be without the Spirit of God and Jesus is telling His listeners that anyone who is thirsty, let them come to Him.
Jesus said, “let him come to me and drink”
Jesus said, “let him come to me and drink”
From the Greek it can be read, “come to me and drink.” There is no let him in the original.
Jesus is simply saying come. Come to me and drink if you are thirsty.
English Standard Version Chapter 7
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
come to me and drink.
John Jesus’ Teaching and Response (John 7:14–52)
As part of the celebration of Tabernacles, the priest poured freshly drawn water on the altar as a libation to God. When Jesus cries out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me” (v. 37), he positions himself as the life-giving water of Tabernacles (see 4:10–14; similarly, Jesus declared himself the manna in 6:35). The “rivers of living water” are a metaphor for the new life that Jesus gives to those who believe (see 3:5).
And life would be impossible without water. Not the water we think of in the natural. But the water Jesus was offering here.
When one comes to Jesus because they are thirsty, they will drink. And in verse 38 we see the result.
2. The result of belief in Jesus Christ (v.38)
2. The result of belief in Jesus Christ (v.38)
Read Verse 38 “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Read Verse 38 “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Jesus continues to show what happens to those who come and drink.
Question: What does it mean to drink of Jesus?
Question: What does it mean to drink of Jesus?
The answer to this is in the very first part of verse 38.
“Whoever believes in me.”
Believing is drinking. Let’s look at verses 37 and 38.
Verse 37 Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts.”
Verse 38 Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me.”
Verse 37 Jesus said “let him come to me and drink.”
Verse 38 Jesus said “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
So those who thirst are those who believe which is proven when they come to Christ. And those who come to Him and drink, out of their hearts will flow rivers of living water.
let him come to me and drink.
Notice also in verse 38 where He said “as the Scripture has said.”
Question: What has the Scripture said about those who’d believe?
Question: What has the Scripture said about those who’d believe?
It is possible that Jesus is referring to these passages.
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.
1 “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. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
On that day (Speaking of the day when God will pour out on those in Jerusalem a spirit of of grace according to ) says,
1 “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.
The Scripture is clear. That when one drinks (believes) they will be cleansed from their sins. They will thirst no more.
From their hearts they will have living waters flowing out of them.
This is the result of believing in Jesus.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
When one comes to Christ and has taken from the fountain who is Christ, they are thirsty no more!
That is why Jesus said in ,
35 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.
Question: So what does it look like to be thirsty?
Question: So what does it look like to be thirsty?
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 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.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 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.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
Observations from John 4:7-18 about what thirst looks like.
Observations from John 4:7-18 about what thirst looks like.
First, someone who is thirsty, meaning someone who does not believe, are those who do not know the gift of God.
First, someone who is thirsty, meaning someone who does not believe, are those who do not know the gift of God.
10 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.”
The gift of God is,
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So someone who is thirsty is someone who does not have eternal life in Christ.
And they are seeking to satisfy what only God can.
Second, someone who is thirsty, meaning someone who does not believe, are those who only have a carnal (natural) mind.
Second, someone who is thirsty, meaning someone who does not believe, are those who only have a carnal (natural) mind.
Second, someone who is thirsty, meaning someone who does not believe, are those who only have a carnal (natural) mind.
Second, someone who is thirsty, meaning someone who does not believe, are those who only have a carnal (natural) mind.
11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?
The woman here had no clue as to what Jesus meant when speaking of living water.
Which meant that she did not have the Spirit of God.
Which meant that she did not have the Spirit of God.
So someone who is thirsty is left with a carnal mind. Proving that they do not have the Spirit of God.
They can only think in an earthly way. They are what says,
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthians 2:14
Third, someone who is thirsty, meaning someone who does not believe, are those who will continue to thirst.
Third, someone who is thirsty, meaning someone who does not believe, are those who will continue to thirst.
Which means that they will continue with an unbelieving heart.
This produces a continual desire for things that will not satisfy.
13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,
Speaking of course natural water. But Jesus is pointing to the core problem. Namely, that when one is without living water they can only turn to things that are temporal.
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.
Things that will leave them thirsty and with a pursuit only for what is vain and temporal.
An example of this can be found in
Evidence of this thirst is found in
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
Someone who is thirsty is left with an unbelieving heart that produces a desire that seeks to be satisfied by things other than God.
shows us what happens to someone who drinks from Christ.
38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
Question: What exactly is the living water Jesus is speaking of here?
Question: What exactly is the living water Jesus is speaking of here?
We see the answer in verse 39.
3. The One given by Jesus Christ (v.39)
3. The One given by Jesus Christ (v.39)
Read Verse 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.
Read Verse 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.
When Jesus was speaking about living waters He was speaking of the Holy Spirit.
Again, the woman at the well didn’t have living water. Which was the Holy Spirit.
That is why Jesus continued to say in
23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
She thought geographically about how to worship God. She could only think in terms of the natural.
But Jesus was speaking about the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit and how those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
It is the same in our text.
Jesus was crying out a truth that His listeners did not understand because they were those who were thirsty. Meaning that they did not have living water.
To those who would drink (meaning those who believed) they would receive the Holy Spirit of God.
The writer continues to explain how the Spirit had not been given yet.
He tells us why at the end of verse 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.
Jesus does speak of the Spirit being given later in the gospel of John.
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.
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
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.
17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”
17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”
At the end of verse 39 it spoke of Jesus being glorified.
Question: When was Jesus glorified?
Question: When was Jesus glorified?
Used 23 times in the gospel of John this term is meant to say that one is recognized, or esteemed for one’s character, nature, or attributes.
to be glorified (state) v. — to be or become positively acknowledged, recognized, or esteemed for one’s character, nature, or attributes.
In context here, I believe it was when the Son went to the Father since the Holy Spirit would not come until Jesus had gone away.
Jesus prayed in ,
5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
It is important to note that Jesus spoke in present terms in His prayer that had not taken place yet. Most likely because God’s plan was already in the mind and purpose of God He spoke presently of things that had not happened yet.
Most likely because God’s plan was already in the mind and purpose of God.
Which I would argue
When Jesus would die, be buried, resurrected, and ascending to be exalted, the Holy Spirit would be given and sent after His ascension.
Which is a fulfillment from the prophet Joel.
28 “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. 29 Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
This being fulfilled in Acts chapter 2. Which happened after Jesus ascended.
English Standard Version Chapter 2
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
There we see that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
In our passage we see Jesus crying out to those who are thirsty (unbelieving). He told them that they need to come to Him and drink.
The woman at the well had five husbands. She needed the water that Christ gives!
The crowds
The crowds that followed Him wanted bread. But they needed Christ who was the living bread that came down from heaven.
People wanted signs. But Jesus was going to give them the greatest sign which was His death and resurrection. Which He called the sign of Jonah.
Jesus when highly exalted before the Father and given a name that is above every name, would then send the Holy Spirit of God to seal the redemptive work finished at the cross.
Jesus breathed on the Apostles the Holy Spirit which they recieved. Which speaks of the uniqueness of their apostleship and in Acts chapter two He would send the Holy Spirit to fulfill what the prophet Joel spoke of.
English Standard Version Chapter 20
John 20:22
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
The redemptive work of Jesus Christ was finished! The Holy Spirit was given and all who come to Him that are thirsty receive it by grace.
The world is full of people who are thirsty. They are trying to satisfy what God can only fulfill.
In an article called “Redemption Applied” written by Cornelis Venema
by Cornelis Venema
In bringing the elect to the Father through the Son, the Holy Spirit exhibits a readiness to work anonymously, with a kind of self-effacing modesty, in serving the Father’s purpose of election and the Son’s mediation of redemption. What the Father purposed and the Son accomplished for the redemption of the elect, the Holy Spirit is pleased to apply and communicate to them.
The application of redemption is this. That God the Holy Spirit has provided Himself as the living water for the believer whereby we are eternally satisfied and being prepared for the coming of Christ!
But drinking has nothing to do with what we want when we are thirsty in our unbelief.
Coming to Jesus means that we have been given the gift of believing and by believing we would have life in His name!
And when we believe, we come to the truth that in Christ Jesus we are no longer thirsty.
We come to the truth that in Christ we have been satisfied!
Are you thirsty today? Come to Jesus!
We are those who are no longer thirsty. We are those who are blessed and granted eternal life!