Are You Thirsty?

Pastor Joe Fuiten, September 10, 2006

“There is an inner thirst because there is an inner man.”

Scripture Reading: John 7:33-46 “Jesus said, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come." 35 The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, 'You will look for me, but you will not find me,' and 'Where I am, you cannot come'?" 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. 40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet." 41 Others said, "He is the Christ." Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?" 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him. 45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?" 46 "No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared.” NIV

I want to make a couple of brief comments about the earlier part of John 7 before I come to the main text. Jesus was having a conversation with his brothers where they urged him to go to Jerusalem. His answer explains a lot about human nature. John 7:6-7 “Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.”

We are on the eve of the anniversary of 9-11 and the terrible attacks by Moslems upon America. That attack is fully described in John 7:7. We testify that Jesus is the Son of God and the only way of salvation. These radicals, who are faithful to the Koran, must eliminate us because of what we believe.

Everyone, particularly those who are not doing right, love to quote Jesus when he said, in Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” Jesus gives a different emphasis in John 7:21-24 He calls upon them to judge but to do some with right judgment. “Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."

In previous chapters Jesus has referred to living water, as he did with the woman at the well. In the last chapter he referred to himself as the bread that came down from heaven and as the bread of life. In this chapter we have something similar, "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."

What Jesus says in these chapters about bread and water is similar to other passages of the Bible. For example, Isaiah 55:1-3 "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.”

What is clear from the Isaiah passage, and what Jesus says in our text, is that the thirst is one of the soul not the body. It is an inner thirst, and an inner spring because we have an inner man. The context of the Feast however, also sets this inner thirst within the family and its concerns.

In ancient Israel, there was a special water ceremony for the Feast of Tabernacles. In fact, the water gate, one of the city gates, got its name from this ceremony. The priests paraded to the Pool of Siloam to fill a golden pitcher with water. Amidst great fanfare and the blowing of the silver trumpets, they returned to the altar in the Temple. Then two drink offerings were simultaneously poured out. The Siloam water was poured into one silver funnel that drained to the bottom of the altar. At the same time, wine was poured into an identical funnel that also drained to the bottom. Wine and water poured out at the base of the altar, just as at Calvary, the blood and water would mix at the base of the cross.

As a feature of the water ceremony, the people would fall silent and pray the words of Isaiah 44:3. "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams. etc."

At the moment of silence, "Jesus stood up 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 the Holy Spirit comes, he blesses the family and satisfies the thirsty soul. How many of the troubled young people that you see are simply thirsty souls whose thirst for love or acceptance is not being met. What about the alcoholic who stumbles and falls with regularity? Is it chemical issues or a thirst of the soul?

We all want our kids to do well. That was the prayer of the moment when Jesus spoke. When is a kid doing well? When they have their own car or their own cell phone? Rather than a prayer for a physical blessing, as good as that is, the prayer really should be Jesus fill me with your Spirit. When the Spirit comes to your life, it satisfies you at a deeper level than anyone or anything else can do.

Are you thirsty? Is there a deep longing in your soul? We believe in blessing the businesses, as we do every January. Is it a house that you want? We believe in that. Do you want to do well in school? That is very important. Beyond all that, maybe even to facilitate all that, Jesus wants us to desire him. Drink of him, and see your children prosper. Drink of Jesus and work will find its proper level.