John 7:37-39
37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
When reading a portion of Scripture such as John 7:37-39, before we can ask ourselves questions and make a personal application of these verses to our lives, we need to understand three important points about the background of these verses; 1) the context when Jesus said it, 2) why did Jesus say what He said, and 3) to whom He said it to.
John starts out by telling us the context in which Jesus made these comments, verse 37 “On the last and greatest day of the Feast…” The Feast that John is referring to is the Feast of Tabernacles. The context of this event starts in verse one to verse thirty-six of this chapter, please take a few minutes to read this portion of Scripture, (John 7:1-36).
Deuteronomy 16:13-15 explains to us what the Feast of Tabernacles is. 13 Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. 14 Be joyful at your Feast — you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. 15 For seven days celebrate the Feast to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.
Jonathan Huntzinger in his commentary of the gospel of John helps us understand the important background in which the context of John 7:37-39 is said by telling us to whom Jesus was speaking to and why He said what He said.
The last day of the Feast of Tabernacles was a special Sabbath in which a sacred assembly occurred with the giving of animal, grain, and drink offerings. On this day Jesus makes the bold proclamation, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink:’ As the people and their priests give offerings in celebration of God’s provision for them, Jesus says that He is God’s provision who can satisfy their need for a relationship with Him.
There are two parts to what Jesus said on this particular occasion. The first part is an invitation based on a need that we all have thirst, and the which includes the solution to the basic need of thirst. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”
Jesus was not talking about a literal thirst but a spiritual thirst. His invitation was not to a particular group whofulfilled certain religious requirements or statutes. Jesus’ invitation was open to everybody who was thirsty for God, as were those at the Feast of Tabernacles. He used the condition of being “thirsty” as a simile and Himself as the answer to how the thirst can be satisfied.
Thirst is a felt or recognized need that our body tells us which needs to be satisfied. But with thirst, natural or spiritual, action must be taken by the thirsty person to do something to satisfy the thirst. With a thirst for water, one simply drinks until the thirst is quenched. But what does a person do about spiritual thirst? What can satisfy this need for God? Jesus answers this question by saying “let him come to me and drink.”
The last day of the Feast of Tabernacles the temple was full of people fulfilling their religious obligations, honoring and seeking to make some kind of connection with God by remembering His provision for their ancestors in the forty-year journey in the desert and for God’s faithfulness for that year’s harvest. These were the thirsty people that Jesus was directing His comments to.
The second part of this particular portion of Scripture (John 7:37-39), in verse thirty-eight John states very clearly to the reader what Jesus meant when He said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” Jesus is clearly referring to the Holy Spirit who would dwell or reside in those who would believe and receive Him as their Savor. “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.”
With this basic understanding of the context or background previously stated and to whom and why Jesus said what He said, we can now move forward and discover how these verses apply personally to the believer in Christ.
Have you ever read John 7:37-39 in your daily Bible reading while having your devotions? Or heard these verses in a sermon? Were you personally challenged by what these verses say? What were the thoughts and or questions that came to your mind?
The first question that we can ask is, what did Jesus mean by using this simile or metaphor, “streams of living water will flow from within him.”
When looking at the secular definition of the word “metaphor”, a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. However, as believers in Christ we know that “streams of living water will flow from within him.” is a spiritually literal application to the Holy Spirit in a person who has received Christ as their Savior and Lord of their life. Also, many believe Jesus was possibly referring to the baptism of the Holy Spirit which is an experience that happens in a believer’s life after salvation as we see in, Acts 2:1-12, Acts 10:44-48, Acts 19:1-7.
Since Jesus was referring to a believer in Him and the Holy Spirit that would flow out of this believer, thequestions we need to ask ourselves are, what examples are there in the New Testament of what this looks like in a believer? What does this look like in my life?
Looking at the New International Version Bible concordance we come up with the following references for four of the ways “streams of living water will flow from within him” is described. There is not enough space in this article to put the full verse of each reference on this list, so please use your Bible and prayerfully read the examples given below.Ask the Holy Spirit to show you how He can be present and manifest in your life as Jesus stated, “streams of living water will flow from within him”.
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Filled with the Holy Spirit |
Full of the Holy Spirit |
Filled with the Spirit |
Full of the Spirit |
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Luke 1:15 |
Luke 4:1 |
Ephesians 5:18 |
Acts 6:3 |
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Luke 1:41 |
Acts 7:55 |
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Luke 1:67 |
Acts 11:24 |
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Acts 2:4 |
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Acts 4:8 |
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Acts 4:31 |
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Acts 9:17 |
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Acts 13:9 |
Some other questions we must ask ourselves are, if “the streams of living water” is just a trickle, how will I recognize this? How can I not become complacent or considering a trickle flowing from me as my normal? Am reallydesiring the flow of “streams of living water” that Jesus said should be flowing out of me as exemplified in many of the references I read? And why did Jesus say “streams” plural and not stream
As we prayerfully ask the Holy Spirit the answers to these personal questions be open for the answers, He will give you and ready to act to begin to experience what Jesus said to all of us who are thirsty for the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Pastor John
