Pentecost: Gospel, John 7:37-39

Have you ever thought about how much we need water? All of us could survive several weeks without food. But water? That’s altogether different. And water plays prominently throughout the Bible whether as a means of sustaining God’s people physically or as means of rescue, judgment, or help for the annual crop growth. Water is critical and God uses it for many lessons. Luther instructs the people of God to daily “remember your baptism,” so the Christian mind should ever be aware of water’s critical nature to life in Christ.

On Pentecost Sunday, the Gospel readings always come from the gospel of John and as could be surmised, they have much to do with God, the Holy Spirit. Our reading this week takes us to my favorite “Pentecost Gospel.” John chapter seven finds Jesus at the annual Feast of Booths in Jerusalem. A feast established by God to commemorate the wandering of God’s people in the wilderness following their divine deliverance from the clutches of Pharaoh. Booths denote the dwellings of the people during their long wandering. It was customary for the High Priest or other clergy to appear before the gathered people at the Temple in Jesus' day on the last day of feast. They would pour out water before the people as a reminder of God’s care and provision. This particular year THE High Priest came out in public, not for the reasons his brothers thought would attract Him to the temple (cf. Jn. 7:1-9), but to reveal again His identity before His thirsty people.

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (vv. 37-38). Funny, but most scholars agree that there is not a single verse in the OT that Jesus was citing here, but most likely truth inferred from several Messianic passages. Do you need water? Are you thirsty? Just what was Jesus saying? Well Jesus is always a present reality with His people and here it is no different. This wasn’t just a comment reminding them about a grand history of divine provision. This is about present sufficiency and it is promised to the followers of Messiah in the gift of the Holy Spirit soon to be poured out upon them. Luke had penned that Jesus pledged to His disciples “the promise of my Father” (Luke 24:49). It was nearer than they thought, but still on the other side of horrific suffering. Jesus knew it. They did not. But one can only imagine at the end of this feast, with such a promise from the lips of their Master, they knew something good was just around the corner.

In our day, it’s often at the end of a taxing day that you and I might hear someone exclaim, “I need a drink.” Jesus would like to hear those words from our lips as a prayer every single day. So here goes, “Lord Jesus, I need a drink.”  Amen!