John 7:37-38 “Jesus’ cry in the
Introduction: We have in this text a verse which has been
misunderstood. We can not deal with this
text without dealing with the work of the Holy Spirit of God. In this text we will see that Jesus calls men
to be saved and appeals to them based upon the occasion of the feast of the
Tabernacles and all that it represented.
I. The cry of Jesus for men to be saved.
(John 7:37) 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.
The feast lasted seven days. On the eighth day there was a special sabbath observance. I
believe that the seventh day of the feast is the day of this event and not the
eighth day. The feast itself was over after
the seventh day and was a great day of celebration which they could not do on
the eighth day do to the restrictions placed upon them by the law of the
Sabbath.
According to Dr. Harold Davis, there
was a ceremony preformed each day of the feast of Tabernacles which was not
commanded by the scriptures but was one which was done solely because of
tradition. The ceremony involved the
drawing of water from the pool of Siloam, the pouring of the water before the
altar at the
(Isaiah 12:1) And
in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry
with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst
me. 2) Behold, God [is] my salvation; I
will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH [is] my strength and [my]
song; he also is become my salvation. 3)
Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
4) And in that day shall ye say, Praise
the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention
that his name is exalted. 5) Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done
excellent things: this [is] known in all the earth. 6) Cry
out and shout, thou inhabitant of
The pouring out of the water was reminiscent
of the water which was twice provided for the people from the rock in the
wilderness. That rock represented Jesus
and the water that came from it represented the salvation which Jesus provides
to man so freely. The rock was first
smitten showing that salvation would come from the suffering Messiah. The second time Moses was to speak to the
rock showing that by calling upon the name of the Lord salvation would be
received. As we know, Moses struck the
rock the second time ruining the beautiful picture of salvation by grace and
for this Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land.
It was during this moment of silence
that Jesus cried out. He makes the same
offer to the crowd at the temple as He had made to the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus provides a quenching of the thirst of
the soul of man. Those who drank of the
water in the wilderness were saved from physical death. Those who will come to Jesus believing in Him
as their savior will be saved from the consequences of spiritual death. They will be made alive spiritually and saved
from the torments of Hell.
II. The cry of Jesus about
the living water.
(John
7:38) He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
My translation
of verse 38: The one who believes in me
as the scripture has said (according to that which is required and taught by
the scriptures); rivers of living water shall flow out of his belly.
Let us
diagram this sentence to gain an understanding of its meaning.
Rivers / shall flow
/ /
Of living
water out of belly
/
his
/
He
that believeth
/
on me
/
as the scriptures / hath said
The purpose of this Gospel written
by John is stated in
(John 20:31) But these are
written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and
that believing ye might have life through his name.
One who
will be saved must believe on Jesus. He
must believe that Jesus is the savior of men.
He must believe that Jesus can save and will save all those who come to
him. Hebrews 11:6 teaches that those who
will come to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him. One must be serious
about his sin and serious about his need for a savior and must seek the
forgiveness and pardon, which only Jesus can give, sincerely if he is to be
saved.
Jesus does not mean that literally
rivers will come flowing out of the abdomen of the saved. He is talking about the work of the Holy
Spirit of God in the life of the believer.
The believer becomes a vessel of the Holy Spirit of God and the Holy
Spirit uses us as a base of operation to do His work and to reach others
through us with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This event would be seen most dramatically on the day of Pentecost after
Jesus’ ascension back to Heaven.
III. John’s explanation
of Jesus’ words.
(John
7:39) (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.)
This is the verse which is often
misunderstood. Some have taken this
verse to teach that the Holy Spirit did not work on earth until the day of
Pentecost after the return of our Lord to Heaven. Genesis 1:2 states that the Holy Spirit was
moving over the face of the waters so the Holy Spirit was active even in the
oldest of times. Some teach that in Old
Testament times there was no Holy Spirit working in the lives of men. The Spirit of God came upon many in the Old
Testament. (Genesis 41:38, Exodus 31:3,
Numbers 24:2) Some teach that the Holy Spirit only indwells the church and not
the individual believer. Romans 8:9-11
teaches that the believer does have the Spirit of God dwelling within.
There is no need for confusion about
this verse. If we keep this verse in
context and read it with the understanding that John was writing to gentiles
well after the time of Jesus we can achieve a proper understanding of this
text. Follow with me the steps to
understanding this text.
1. Jesus said that out of the belly of those who
believe SHALL flow rivers of living water.
Jesus was not quoting scripture here.
The use of the word “shall” by Jesus here is not only used in the since
of occurring in the future but also in the since of certainty. I encourage you
to look up this word in Webster’s dictionary for there he tells of its proper
use. If one falls into the lake he shall
get wet. Shall is not a word often used
today. Jesus tells of the certainty of
the indwelling of the believer by the Holy Spirit of God and that event will be
dramatically displayed very soon.
2. In this verse John is explaining to his
readers that Jesus is talking about the work of the Holy Spirit of God in the
believers.
(John 7:39) (But(de) this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on
him should(emellon) receive(lambanein): for(gar) the Holy
Ghost was not yet [given]; because(oti) that
Jesus was not yet glorified.)
My translation
of verse 39:
But this
He spoke concerning the Spirit which those believing on Him were going to
receive: because the Holy Spirit was not yet sent; because Jesus was not yet
glorified.
John in
the second half of this verse is explaining to his readers his use of the term
“should receive” or “were about to receive.”
He explains that this event occurred before the day of Pentecost when
Joel’s prophecy would be fulfilled. Thus
Jesus was prophesying the events of Pentecost and beyond. Those who believed in Jesus would soon be
very apparent to all the Jews.
All those who are saved have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God. When one is saved their lives should bear the fruit of the Spirit. The word fruit is singular in Gal 5:22.
(Galatians
5:22) But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23) Meekness, temperance: against such there is
no law.
It is used in the since of evidence. The evidence that the Holy Spirit is dwelling within you is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. Those who are saved will exhibit these qualities because of their regenerated, Spirit indwelt, inner man.
The
Spiritual gifts which arrived on the day of Pentecost have ceased to
exist. 1 Corinthians
Your body
is the