John 7:37-39
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.” 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.
THINK ABOUT IT
The Dead Sea Scrolls directly connect God’s Spirit with water: God “will cleanse him [the righteous] of all wicked deeds . . . like purifying waters He will shed upon him the spirit of truth.” In rabbinic literature, water is a symbol for wisdom, an aspect of God’s Spirit. Rabbi Akiva said, “The disciple who is beginning can give only water it has received; the more advanced disciple is a spring giving living water.” Believers who drink from Jesus’ well will have the Spirit of God flowing out from them. The Greek is somewhat ambiguous as to whether Jesus is the source of this water or if the believer is the source (having drunk from the well). The Gospel of Thomas reads, “Jesus said to them: ‘I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended.’” In this view, Jesus was saying believers have the same access to the Spirit—to God as the source of all life—as he does.
TALK ABOUT IT
Who in your life has been a source of wisdom?
In Jesus,
Cap'n Kenny
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relationship with Jesus Christ.
New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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