2017.01.15                        John 7: 25-39

                  If anyone thirsts

I am glad that you are here today… I have good news for you…. His name is Jesus… As most of you know we study the Word of God verse by verse… We want to know and understand our great God and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ… We are studying the Gospel of John and will pick up where we left off… Jesus is attending the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem… He has just finished rebuking the Leaders and Pharisees for their Hypocrisy…. They were accusing Him of sin and had decided to try kill him… This plan had become known to the common people attending the Temple… They were concerned and confused by the behavior of their leaders… Jesus was becoming more and more famous… The division between those who believed in him and those who hated Him was greater and greater… The news of His miracles and His Words of Life had spread all through the land… look with me now as we continue… John ch 7… v25…

John 7: 25-36                        NKJV   slt 2000

25 Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill? 26 But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? 27 However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.”

28 Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 29 But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.”30 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 And many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done? 32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. 33 Then Jesus said to them, “I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.” 35 Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”

25 Da sprachen etliche von Jerusalem: Ist das nicht der, den sie zu töten suchen? 26 Und siehe, er redet öffentlich, und sie sagen ihm nichts. Haben etwa die Obersten wirklich erkannt, dass dieser in Wahrheit der Christus ist? 27 Doch von diesem wissen wir, woher er ist; wenn aber der Christus kommt, so wird niemand wissen, woher er ist. 28 Da rief Jesus, während er im Tempel lehrte, und sprach: Ja, ihr kennt mich und wisst, woher ich bin! Und doch bin ich nicht von mir selbst gekommen, sondern der ist wahrhaftig, der mich gesandt hat, den ihr nicht kennt. 29 Ich aber kenne ihn, weil ich von ihm bin, und er hat mich gesandt. 30 Da suchten sie ihn zu ergreifen; aber niemand legte Hand an ihn, denn seine Stunde war noch nicht gekommen. 31 Viele aber aus der Volksmenge glaubten an ihn und sprachen: Wenn der Christus kommt, wird er wohl mehr Zeichen tun als die, welche dieser getan hat? 32 Die Pharisäer hörten, dass die Menge diese Dinge über ihn murmelte; darum sandten die Pharisäer und die obersten Priester Diener ab, um ihn zu ergreifen. 33 Da sprach Jesus zu ihnen: Noch eine kleine Zeit bin ich bei euch, und dann gehe ich hin zu dem, der mich gesandt hat. 34 Ihr werdet mich suchen und nicht finden; und wo ich bin, dorthin könnt ihr nicht kommen. 35 Da sprachen die Juden untereinander: Wohin will er denn gehen, dass wir ihn nicht finden sollen? Will er etwa zu den unter den Griechen Zerstreuten gehen und die Griechen lehren? 36 Was ist das für ein Wort, das er sprach: Ihr werdet mich suchen und nicht finden, und wo ich bin, dorthin könnt ihr nicht kommen?

Knowing about Jesus… Hearing His Words of Life… Forces people to decide… Either we Decide to repent and believe the Gospel…  Or we refuse to repent… And stay in our sin and pride and rebellion… Most of the Religious leaders and Pharisees refused to repent… They became His enemies because he exposed their hypocrisy… They hated Him and became determined to Kill Him… Even though it was The great Feast…. They had had enough and even though they could not hide it from the people…. They decided to arrest him on the spot… Jesus spoke directly to them…

v33,34…  I shall be with you a little while longer…  I go to Him who sent Me… 34 You will seek Me and not find Me… and where I am you cannot come…

Jesus was following the Divine timetable that was given to Him by His heavenly Father… It is now only about 6 months before the Cross and resurrection of Jesus… He was telling them that when the time did come… He would go to His Father in heaven… And they would not be able to come… We will talk more about this another time… I want to focus on the next few verses this morning… v37-39…

John 7: 37-39                           NKJV   slt 2000

37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

37 Aber am letzten, dem großen Tag des Festes stand Jesus auf, rief und sprach: Wenn jemand dürstet, der komme zu mir und trinke! 38 Wer an mich glaubt, wie die Schrift gesagt hat, aus seinem Leib werden Ströme lebendigen Wassers fließen. 39 Das sagte er aber von dem Geist, den die empfangen sollten, welche an ihn glauben; denn der Heilige Geist war noch nicht da, weil Jesus noch nicht verherrlicht war.

Here in this passage Jesus gives the Invitation… He invites all who are willing…. To find salvation, forgiveness and  eternal life… 

Jesus invites anyone who is thirsty to come and drink of the water of life…  Jesus calls on everyone to choose… He says… Choose life…

This is the necessary choice that every human being must make...  What will you do with Jesus Christ?  What will you do with his invitation?

Let’s look at the invitation…    Verse 37…

v37… “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink….

On The last day… that great day of the feast… that’s very important… 

Tabernacles is a week-long celebration and now it’s the last day… 

Every day of the festival… The high priest would go to the Pool of Siloam… That is where Jesus healed the lame man on the Sabbath… John 5… And he had a golden pitcher in his hand… he would dip it into the Pool of Siloam….  And he would carry the water back to the Temple… He would enter through the water gate and pour the water out on the altar… They did this every day of the feast…  It was to remind them of God´s provision of Life giving water for 40 years in the wilderness… It pointed to the Word of God and the Salvation that Jesus offers…

And when the High Priest poured the water out…   the people would recite Isaiah 12… Look at it with me… v3-6… 

Isaiah 12: 3-6                     NKJV   slt 2000

3 Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And in that day you will say: “Praise the Lord, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, Make mention that His name is exalted. 5 Sing to the Lord, For He has done excellent things; This is known in all the earth. 6 Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”

3 Und ihr werdet mit Freuden Wasser schöpfen aus den Quellen des Heils, 4 und werdet sagen zu jener Zeit: Dankt dem Herrn, ruft seinen Namen an, verkündigt unter den Völkern seine Taten, erinnert daran, dass sein Name hoch erhaben ist! 5 Singt dem Herrn, denn er hat Herrliches getan; das soll bekannt werden auf der ganzen Erde! 6 Jauchze und rühme, die du in Zion wohnst; denn der Heilige Israels ist groß in deiner Mitte!

This was truly a great celebration… It was filled with joy and hope… Remember that “The Feast” is symbolic of God’s salvation… It points to God´s wonderful plan of redemption…. Redemption that was available to anyone who cries out to Him… To anyone who is willing to come to Jesus the Messiah…

After quoting Isaiah 12… The people would sing the Hallel… It was the Great Hallel Psalms 113-118...  That is where we get the word…  we get “Hallelujah,” hymns of praise to God…  It was a very joyful time…     

It is a powerful time of Thanksgiving to God for His grace and mercy… they were rejoicing in His freely offered gift of salvation…

It is on that day… And at that moment… when they are all celebrating the salvation of God… That Jesus cries out“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink... 

Jesus captures the powerful moment… The Greek word… “Ekrazen” tells us that He cried out with a very loud voice… It was used of the very loud cry of the Raven… He points to Himself as The source of life…. The source of Living water…  That is Jesus… He cries out and says… Come to Me for living water… And drink from the Water of Life… So that you can truly live… He is offering forgiveness and mercy…. He is freely offering Salvation…

Steps to genuine  Salvation

1 thirst

2 come

3 drink

These three action verbs in Jesus Invitation… “thirst,” “come,” “drink…  Represent the three elements necessary for saving faith…  “Thirst… that is seeing the problem… Understanding the separation caused by my sin and pride and rebellion…  knowledge of our condition without Christ to save us…

Thirst…  Notice the open invitation “If anyone is thirsty… The invitations of Jesus were always unlimited...   “‘If anyone is thirsty come to me… Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest… Matthew 11: 28…   God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that “whosoever believes shall not perish but have everlasting life… John 3: 16-19…

Open invitations… Here again is another open invitation… scroll down John ch7…37…

If anyone thirsts… Thirst is a conscious craving… We feel it, and the more thirst increases… the more anxious a person becomes…    

What’s he talking about?  He’s talking about a thirsty soul…  A deep need for hope… A longing for forgiveness and salvation…  A longing for deliverance…

People come to Christ because they’re thirsty…    They come because their hearts and lives are empty...  That’s why when we do Evangelism… We start with the recognition of the desperate situation the sinner is in… and then we try to help him understand that… 

After someone knows their deep need …. They are very thirsty for help… Here is the second verb… come and drink…   It is only 6 months before the cross… Jesus will soon repeat His invitation to come  “‘If any man will come after me…. Let Him deny Himself… Luke 9:23…  As we come we must see Jesus for who He is… He is our only hope and our only source… Jesus says… Come to me…  Spiritually speaking… It means to Come to Jesus as our only hope… To see that He is what… Who we really need… As we turn away from the world...  We abandon our sin and our self-confidence… We throw ourselves at the feet of Jesus…  That’s “come.”  There is no one else…. There is nothing else… Soon as we study the Gospel Of John We will hear Jesus say…. I am the way, the truth, and the life… John 14:6…  And when you come to him…  You come to him alone… No one can do that for you…  Let me remind you that the only qualification for coming to Jesus is thirst… There is no other qualification…

You do not need to be good and kind… You do not need to be religious and perfect… The Pharisees were all that…. And they did not come to Jesus…. They were not thirsty because they could not see the truth about themselves… They were filled with sin and pride and rebellion… And they refused to repent…. That is exactly why they hated Him and that is why they tried to kill him…  They would not come to Him to save them…  come to him…

The only qualification is that you are thirsty…  Sadly…. Most religious people don’t feel the thirst…. They are good people…. They don´t need a Savior… That’s why when Jesus came… It was the sinners and tax collectors that saw their thirst…. And They came to Him…   look again at John 7… v37… scroll down…

Thirdly we see the last word in v 37… drink.”  Drink means to appropriate… to take in this new life that Jesus is offering…  A river flowing through the parched valley of your life… doesn’t do you any good unless you drink…  Do you remember what he said to the woman at the well in John 4:14… look at it with me…

John 4: 14                     NKJV  slt 2000

14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

14 Wer aber von dem Wasser trinkt, das ich ihm geben werde, den wird in Ewigkeit nicht dürsten, sondern das Wasser, das ich ihm geben werde, wird in ihm zu einer Quelle von Wasser werden, das bis ins ewige Leben quillt.

In this text… Jesus  uses water as a picture of the Awesome Miracle of the New Birth… Drink, and you’ll never thirst…  A fountain of new life will flow out of you…. You will have eternal life…

All of that is simply a way to think about what it means to believe…  Because in the next verse… v38… that’s what he says, “‘He who believes in me.’” 

What does it mean to believe in Christ?  To come to Jesus because of your thirst…  And drink of His Words of Life… confess him as Savior and Lord…  That’s what it means to believe… Drink and you will find life… Good News for someone who knows they are dying of thirst… Back to John7…v38… scroll down…

But there is more here… This may be the most remarkable part about this invitation...  Look at verse 38: “‘He who believes in me, as the Scripture said,’” and by the way, he collects from several verses in Isaiah and even makes a short hand reference to Ezekiel 36 and 37… I am very glad about the Jahreslosung verse for this year… Ezekiel 36:26… It contains the promise of the New birth in the OT… Both of these chapters use the symbolism of  water in Salvation as well… Let´s look at it in context…. Ezekiel 36… v25-27…

Ezekiel 36: 25-27                     NLT   Neues Leben

25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.

25 Dann gieße ich reines Wasser über euch aus, und ihr werdet rein sein. Von allen euren Unreinheiten und von allen euren Götzen werde ich euch reinigen.

26 Und ich werde euch ein neues Herz geben und euch einen neuen Geist schenken. Ich werde das Herz aus Stein aus eurem Körper nehmen und euch ein Herz aus Fleisch geben.

27 Und ich werde euch meinen Geist geben, damit ihr nach meinem Gesetz lebt und meine Gebote bewahrt und euch danach richtet.

Over and over we see the picture of water in the scriptures… Washing us… Cleansing us giving us life… In Ephesians…  It is used to point to Washing of the Word… look with me at Ephesians 5… v25-27…

Ephesians 5: 25-27    NLT   Neues Leben

25 For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her 26 to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. 27 He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault.

25 Und ihr Ehemänner, liebt eure Frauen mit derselben Liebe, mit der auch Christus die Gemeinde geliebt hat. Er gab sein Leben für sie, 26 damit sie befreit von Schuld ganz ihm gehört, rein gewaschen durch die Taufe und Gottes Wort. 27 Er tat dies, um sie als herrliche Gemeinde vor sich hinzustellen, ohne Flecken und Runzeln oder dergleichen, sondern heilig und makellos.

Here again we see the water representing the Word of God…. With cleansing power… The Water of life… the cleansing of God´s Word… Transforming us…   Jesus  transforms our hearts… He presents us to Himself… Holy and without fault… Back to John 7…v38… scroll down…

One more point…

Verses 38 and 39 talks about the impact of believers on the world… We are here for a reason… We who do not deserve it have received Mercy…  

We receive Jesus life giving water… We receive eternal life…   He Transforms our hearts… To use the words from Ezekiel… Our filth is washed away…He gives us a new heart… A tender and responsive heart to follow and obey Him… The Holy Spirit is poured out on us… This new life becomes a river flowing out from us… to offer life to a lost and dying generation…      

What an amazing invitation...  Rivers of living water are not reserved for super saints… They belong to all believers…  We are invited to share Jesus´Words of life with a lost and dying world… Let´s pray…