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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - John 7:37 - 7:39
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Jesus the Living Water:
v. 37. In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.
v. 38. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
v. 39. (But this spake He of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified. ")
It on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the "day of the great Hosanna," on which the leaves of the willows and the other branches that had been used for the building of the booths were shaken off and the palm branches were waved against the altar, when the priests went around the altar seven times in a procession of thankfulness, and when a priest was commissioned to get a pitcher of water from the pool of Siloam and then pour it out at the side of the altar. All these ceremonies had been introduced in the course of time, and the Jewish teachers had explained some of them, especially the last, as a symbol which would find its fulfillment in the days of the Messiah. The proclamation of Jesus at this point was therefore very important and significant. He not only applied the words Isa_12:3 to Himself, but indicated that all other prophecies which were connected with this festival had found their fulfillment in Him. The water of the pool of Siloam was considered living water, since it was replenished from time to time by means of a natural siphon from a spring in the rock. But, after all, it was only earthly water, which could quench the thirst for only a short while. But those whose soul thirsts for God, as the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, Psa_42:1-2, must go to the Savior for their soul's refreshment. For in the salvation earned through Christ's Passion and death there is full satisfaction for the desire of all humble souls for mercy and forgiveness. Jesus is the fountain of living water, for in Him there is true, everlasting life. Every one that accepts Him and His salvation will never again be tortured with thirst, for he will possess the fullness of God's mercy. And that is not all. The believer will himself become a fountain of living water, Isa_58:11; Isa_44:3. The Spirit, who has entered into his heart in regeneration, has worked spiritual life in him. This life daily gains in strength and willingness. It must manifest itself in deeds of the Spirit, in good works. There will daily be a new and full supply of knowledge and love, through the work of the Holy Spirit, given to all believers. At that time indeed the great revelation of the Spirit, the Pentecostal miracle, had not yet taken place; Jesus had not yet finished His earthly work, to enter into the glory of His Father. But the work of the Spirit in the Word is efficient at all times; sanctification is His peculiar office and ministry. The Spirit has now been revealed as He that glorified Christ. We have a greater measure of His manifestations in our days than the believers of the Old Testament had, Joe_2:28. "At the time when Jesus preached, He promised the Holy Spirit, and therefore the Holy Spirit was not yet there; not that He was not in existence in His nature, in heaven, but that He was not manifested in His revelation and in His work. For that is the special work and office of the Holy Spirit that He reveal and glorify Christ, that He preach and give testimony concerning Him. This office was then not yet in active working; the office of glorifying Christ the Lord was not yet in use, that is, the preaching of the forgiveness of sins, and how one may be delivered from death, have comfort and joy in Christ, that it concerns us: all this was at that time unheard of and not mentioned; that deliverance, salvation, righteousness, joy, and life should be given us through that man, Christ, whom people did not know at that time."