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Have you ever thought that Jesus said, “I am the living water”? Well, this is not one of the 7 “I AM” statements in the book of John. But we’re going to talk about it anyway.
Twice in the book of John, Jesus says that he is the source of living water: Once in John 4, when he’s talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, and once in John 7 during the Festival of Tabernacles. Why didn’t he say “I am the living water”? Let’s take a look at these two stories and find out.
1. What is the story surrounding Jesus’ statements about living water?
In John 4, Jesus was going through Samaria in order to travel from Judea to Galilee. As he went through the Samaritan town of Sychar, he found a well and sat there because he was tired from his journey. A Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well, and Jesus asked her for a drink. The Samaritan woman was surprised. Let’s take a look at their conversation.
John 4:9-14: 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The story goes on, and eventually the woman and many in her town believed in Jesus. They were convinced that Jesus was the Savior of the world.
Now let’s look at John 7. Jesus is at the Festival of Tabernacles, as we talked about in the lesson on “I AM the Light of the World.” If you want more context on the festival itself, go back and re-read that lesson. On the last day of the festival, the eighth day and a special Sabbath, Jesus made this statement:
John 7:37-38: 37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
Once again, we see this idea of living water, but not the claim that Jesus is the living water.
2. What would these statements have meant to the original audience?
Again, let’s look at John 4 first. In this story, Jesus is sitting at Jacob’s well, which has been providing water to the people living in the area since Jacob first dug it over 1,500 years earlier. That’s a long time for one well to be providing water without drying up! What a great picture of a spring of living water. But Jesus says that as great as this well is, it does not provide living water. Everyone who drinks from this well will have to keep coming back for more water. Only Jesus can give the living water that leads to eternal life.
Then in John 7, Jesus is at the Festival of Tabernacles, which has a light ceremony and a water ceremony. We talked about the light ceremony previously in the “I AM the Light of the World” lesson, so let’s look at the water ceremony now.
Each day of the Festival of Tabernacles, a priest would exit the Water Gate of the temple and lead a procession to the Pool of Siloam. This pool and the Gihon Spring that feeds it was Jerusalem’s only water supply. The priest would then plunge a golden pitcher into the pool, fill it with water, and recite Isaiah 12:3:
With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
Once the priest and all the people returned to the temple, that priest and another priest carrying wine as a drink offering would go up to the Great Altar and pour out their offerings on the altar. The people would gather in the Court of Women and sing praises together.
Because of the importance of this source of water to the people in Jerusalem, the water was seen as a source of life and refreshment. When mixed with the wine on the altar, it symbolized the life and joy associated with the Holy Spirit.
It was along with this water ceremony that Jesus made his statement, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (John 7:37-38). But we see some additional context in verse 39, firmly tying living water to the Holy Spirit.
John 7:39: 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.
So why didn’t Jesus say that he was the living water? Because the Holy Spirit is the living water.
3. What do we learn about Living Water from this statement?
Based on the explanation we are given in John 7:39, living water is referring to the Holy Spirit. If we go with that understanding, does that make sense when we see living water mentioned in the Bible?
Living water is mentioned a few times in the Old Testament. One of these places is in Jeremiah 2:13:
“My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
This connects to the only unforgivable sin mentioned in the Bible: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 12:31-32: 31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
People who forsake the living water, who reject the Holy Spirit, and who instead seek other sources of water will not receive the eternal life that the Holy Spirit brings. They will not be able to drink of the living water.
Then when Jesus talks about the living water with the Samaritan woman in John 4, Jesus says that if she would have asked, Jesus would have given her living water. What gift did Jesus promise to leave his disciples after his death? The Holy Spirit.
John 14:26: But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
John 16:7: But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
Acts 1:4-8: 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to the disciples after his ascension, and they do indeed receive the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. This is what John 7:39 was referring to when it says that those who believed in him were later to receive the Holy Spirit.
4. How should we respond?
Do you want living water? If the living water is the Holy Spirit, how do we receive the Holy Spirit? We are told in Acts 2:38:
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
If we believe in Jesus, if we repent of our sins and receive forgiveness through Jesus Christ, if we are baptized into his name, we will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Note that some people received the Holy Spirit before they were baptized, such as Cornelius and those with him in Acts 10, so baptism is not necessarily required to receive the Holy Spirit. But this is a discussion for another day.)
Read the New Testament (or even limited places in the Old Testament), and notice what happens when people receive the Holy Spirit. It totally changes their lives. They receive power to witness about the gospel of Jesus Christ to those around them. They receive power to endure persecution. They receive power to keep their faith until the end. They have joy and hope of eternal life.
This is the living water that Jesus promises to those who believe in him. That living water flows into us through the Holy Spirit and then flows out from us to reach those around us for his kingdom. But first, you must believe in Jesus. That is the choice you have to make.
Sources:
https://jewsforjesus.org/learn/jesus-and-sukkot-feast-of-booths
https://israelmyglory.org/article/the-feast-of-tabernacles-in-the-days-of-jesus/
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