Search
Scripture Reading: John 7:2, 14, 37-39
John 7:2, 14, and 37 through 39 say, “The Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was near...When it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach...Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
The fourth kind of people whom the Lord Jesus contacted on the earth was the hungry. Now we will consider the fifth kind of people whom the Lord Jesus contacted, the thirsty. In John 7 the thirsty people indicate that human life is a life of thirst.
Both thirst and hunger speak of man’s need. Thirst, however, is more unbearable than hunger. People can bear hunger for a period of time, but it is difficult to bear thirst. Hence, after telling us how the Lord Jesus met the need of the hungry, the Bible tells us how He met the need of the thirsty. The Lord Jesus is the Lord of life, and He is able to meet the needs of all kinds of people.
In order to portray the thirst of human life, in this portion of the Scriptures a group of people are selected to represent all those who thirst. This group of people was religious, and they were celebrating a religious feast. They were Jews; they believed in the unique true God. They were not atheists, nor were they without a religion. These people were in Judaism and were celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. The children of Israel held seven feasts every year, the last of which was the Feast of Tabernacles (cf. Lev. 23). In most nations a feast typically lasts two to three days, but the Feast of Tabernacles lasted eight days. It was a long feast. It was the greatest feast, and it was the final feast of the year. Therefore, the people in this feast should have been the most joyful people. However, the Lord Jesus cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37). This means that the people were still thirsty. They were still dissatisfied in their human life. If those who should have been full of joy were still thirsty, who is not thirsty? If they were dissatisfied in their human life, can anyone be satisfied in his human life? Everyone is thirsty and dissatisfied in his human life. Even the most noble and joyful people are thirsty and dissatisfied.
The Lord Jesus cried out on the last and great day of the feast. The last day of the greatest and final feast of the year was the greatest day of the feast; hence, this day was the most joyful day of the feast. This greatest and most joyful day, however, was the last day of the feast; it also was the last day of all the feasts. When this day was over, all the feasts of the year were over. When the joy of this day was over, the joy of the year was over.
A feast is a time of joy, and it signifies a joyful moment in human life. Therefore, the last day of the feast signifies the end of the joy of human life. There is a limit and an end to the joy of human life. No matter how much joy there may be, every kind of joy in human life comes to an end. There is a common Chinese saying: “A good scene does not last.” When someone reaches a peak in his human life, he has reached the last day.
Everything has a last day. Some people study diligently in college for many years and are joyful on the day of their graduation. But they eventually find that there is a last day to the joy of graduation. At the beginning of a wonderful marriage both the husband and the wife are full of joy, but this joy has a last day. The joy in a wonderful family reaches a last day when there is a death. The joy of possessing a prosperous business reaches a last day when the business fails. The joy of living a long life comes to an end when we die. A beautiful garment also has a last day. The last day is related to thirst. People are thirsty because everything in human life has a last day. When the last day comes, people’s joy ends. When the last day comes, the thirst in human life begins. When the joy of human life comes to an end, people immediately feel thirsty.
The joy of human life, the enjoyment of human life, and the blessing of human life all have a last day. The greater the joy, the stronger the sense of thirst will be on the last day. For this reason the Lord Jesus did not speak of being thirsty until the last day of the feast. The feast lasted eight days. The first two days were the beginning of the feast when everyone was excited; no one felt thirsty. The third and fourth days were in the middle of the feast when still no one felt thirsty. By the fifth and sixth days, however, people began to realize that the feast would soon be over. On the seventh day of the feast their taste changed. The eighth day was the most joyful time, but it was also the hardest moment. The last day of the feast had finally come. Their joy and excitement were over, and a deep and strong sense of thirst emerged within them. At this moment the Lord Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (v. 37).
When I was young, I enjoyed watching Chinese opera and ball games. I was very excited when I went to a Chinese opera. If the opera was in the evening, I was too excited to eat dinner. While I waited for the opera to begin, I felt like I was flying in the clouds. When the opera began, my whole heart was set on the opera, and I was very happy. Halfway through the opera, however, I would begin to worry that the show would soon be over. When the last scene was over, I felt very bad. The same thing happened when I went to a ball game. At the beginning of a basketball game people are excited. However, when the game is in the fourth quarter, the excitement ends. This is the last day of the feast. It is the time when people feel thirsty.
The Lord Jesus knew that people would feel thirsty. Therefore, He did not say anything during the first few days of the feast, but on the last day of the feast, He stood and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” This also applies to preaching the gospel. A couple who are about to get married will not be open to the gospel, because their enjoyment of the marriage is at its peak. Their marriage, however, will gradually come to a last day. Then the couple will be thirsty, and they will also be willing to receive the gospel.
About nine years ago there was a young woman in Nanking who got married after she graduated from college. She and her husband were very happy as newlyweds in a new family. A few days after their wedding they went to visit Xuanwu Lake. The husband went up to the city wall by the lake, and when he was looking down from the wall, he fell into the lake and drowned. The joy of the wife in her marriage had come to a last day. Then some believers told her the words of the Lord Jesus: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”
About twenty years ago I went to Honan Province to preach the gospel, and I stayed with a Christian couple. The husband and the wife were very capable; they had studied overseas in the United States. When they returned from the United States, they got married. At that time they sought only prosperity and pleasure in the world, and they indulged themselves in material enjoyments. They had no desire for Jesus. Later, they had a child whom they loved very much; their whole heart was in this child. One day as they were crossing a bridge, the child fell into the river and died. It is hard to imagine their grief and sorrow; they wept continually and could neither eat nor sleep. After a period of time they could no longer live in their house, so they moved to a faraway place. There they met a Christian whose son had also drowned. When his son drowned, he repented and believed in the Lord. After hearing his testimony, the couple repented and received the Lord Jesus.
Many people believe in the Lord on “the last day” because it is not easy for them to receive the gospel when they are full of joy and enjoyment. The word of the gospel seems to be ineffective. However, when their joy and enjoyment come to an end on the last day, they begin to feel thirsty and remember the gospel that they heard. At this point it is easier for them to believe and receive the gospel.
There is an end to the joy and enjoyment in human life. One day your joy and enjoyment will come to the last day. Then you will feel thirsty and understand that you should receive the Lord Jesus. Many prominent figures do not feel a need for the gospel while they hold high positions and enjoy their prosperity. It is not until they are on their sick bed and about to die that they realize the joy of human life has come to the last day, and they begin to seek Christ.
You do not need to wait for the joy of your human life to come to an end before you believe in the Lord Jesus. Without exception every person who has believed in the Lord Jesus wishes that he had not waited. The longer you wait, the more you will regret. You should believe today. Your human life is a life of thirst. You should be prudent and anticipate the last day. You should not wait until the last day to seek the Lord. It is good to seek the Lord at that time, but it is far better to seek the Lord before the last day.
Many people know that they are thirsty, but they will not come to the Lord Jesus. They still want to find ways and things in the world to quench their thirst. Everyone who has such a hope will eventually be utterly disappointed because nothing in the world is able to quench the thirst within man. Instead of quenching man’s thirst, the things in the world increase man’s thirst. The pleasure and enjoyment of the world can only create thirst in man. The more wealth and enjoyment someone has, the more he wants. The more beautiful and fashionable someone is, the more he wants. A person who has never watched a movie may not have a longing to watch a movie, but if he watches a movie, it will increase his thirst to watch more. If he did not watch a movie last Saturday, he may not want to watch one on the coming Saturday, but if he watched a movie last Saturday, he will be very hungry and thirsty to watch a movie on the coming Saturday. The more he watches, the more he wants to watch; and the more he wants to watch, the more he will watch. No matter how much he watches, however, the thirst within him will not be quenched; it will only increase.
This is the case with watching movies, and it also applies to other things. The more someone gambles, the more he wants to gamble. The more someone dances, the more he wants to dance. The more someone smokes, the more he wants to smoke. The more someone drinks, the more he wants to drink. This is the case not only with sinful and addictive things but also with normal things in human life. Someone with a position wants a higher position. Someone with a business wants a bigger business. Someone with money wants more money. Everything in this world strengthens man’s need and deepens his thirst. As a result, man is all the more dissatisfied. Nothing is able to quench man’s thirst. The experiences of human life are sufficient to prove this point.
Because people are thirsty and unable to quench their thirst, the Lord Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me...out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38). The Lord Jesus cried out on the last day of the feast because He wanted people to know their real need. He wanted them to know that they were thirsty and that He had living water to quench their thirst. The joy of the feast was unable to stop or quench their thirst. Only His living water that flows eternally is able to quench man’s thirst forever.
There is a historical background to what the Lord Jesus said. The Jews who heard this word knew their history. When their forefathers were thirsty in the wilderness, God performed a miracle. He split the rock, and living water flowed out to quench their thirst. God performed this miracle to solve the problem of their thirst. However, the split rock typifies Christ, whose body would be split on the cross so that living water would flow out to quench the thirst in the spirit of man.
After the Jews entered into Canaan, they held the Feast of Tabernacles each year to remind them that their forefathers lived in tents in the wilderness. Hence, the Lord seemed to be saying, “Your forefathers wandered in the wilderness, and they drank water that flowed out from the rock. Today you are wandering in the wilderness of this world, but one day you will realize that there is no water, because your joy will come to an end. Then you will feel the thirst of human life, just as you are thirsty on the last day of this feast. If you feel thirsty, come to Me and drink.”
The Lord Jesus cried out that day to the Jews, and He is still crying out today. You have sensed the thirst of the human life, so you should come to Him. He is the Savior of life who is able to quench your thirst. His body was broken on the cross, just as the rock was split in the wilderness, and the living water flowed out from Him. After He died on the cross, He rose from the dead and was glorified. Then the Spirit of life descended, and the living water flowed out. If anyone receives the Lord Jesus, the living water will become rivers flowing forth. These rivers will quench his thirst so that he lives a watered and full human life. These rivers will also overflow from within him to reach others and quench their thirst. This is the real need of thirsty humanity. This is the salvation that the thirsty need.
How can man receive such a salvation? How can man receive the Lord Jesus as the living water to quench his thirst? The Lord Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me...out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water” (vv. 37-38). According to the Lord Jesus’ word, man must take three steps in order to receive the living water that quenches his thirst.
In order to receive the living water of life, man must first sense his thirst. This inward thirst compels man to come to the Lord Jesus. If you do not feel the thirst of human life, you will not come to the Lord Jesus and drink. If you do not feel thirsty after drinking worldly things, if the feast of your human life has not come to the last day, and if the joy of your human life has not come to an end, you will not come to the Lord Jesus and drink. Some people are prudent; while they are still enjoying human life, they foresee the end in the future and sense their coming thirst. Therefore, they receive the Lord Jesus. It is a sense of thirst that brings them to the Lord Jesus.
When you feel thirsty, you need to come to the Lord Jesus in a simple way. You should come without hesitation or reservation. Where is the Lord Jesus? How can you draw near to Him? According to the Bible, after the Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross, He was placed in the tomb. Three days later, however, He resurrected from the dead and became the life-giving Spirit. Now He transcends all the limitations of space and time. He is now the Spirit, and He is everywhere. Just as you can contact radio waves everywhere, you can contact the Lord Jesus everywhere. Whether you are in the office or at home, walking on the street or lying in bed, you can contact the Lord Jesus. Even while you are reading this gospel message, you can contact the resurrected Savior with your spirit.
After coming to the Lord Jesus, you need to drink. To drink is to believe. After the Lord Jesus said, “Come to Me and drink,” He said, “He who believes into Me.” This shows that drinking refers to believing. Furthermore, to believe is to receive. To come to the Lord Jesus and drink means to believe into Him and to receive Him. To believe into the Lord Jesus is to believe that He died and resurrected and that the living water flowed out of Him. He is the living Savior with living water. This living water is in the Spirit and is the Spirit. The life-giving Spirit is flowing everywhere. If He touches you, His living water will flow into you. If you are willing to receive Him, the living water will flow into you. It is very easy to receive Him. We do not receive Him with our eyes or with our mouth but with our spirit. We cannot use our hands to breathe; we must breathe with our nostrils. Similarly, we cannot use our physical body to receive the Spirit of life; we must use our spirit in our innermost being. When we receive the Lord Jesus with our spirit, we are drinking Him and believing into Him.
To believe into the Lord Jesus is simply to open to breathe in the Lord Jesus, just as one breathes in air. You simply need to pray to the Lord Jesus from your heart. Then you will receive the Lord Jesus with your spirit. Although you cannot see Him with your eyes, touch Him with your hands, or feel Him in an outward way, you can receive Him with your spirit. All you need to do is to pray and tell Him what you feel. There is no need to pretend or to compose something in your mind. As long as you draw near to Him and receive Him, you will drink Him, that is, believe into Him. Therefore, drinking is believing, and believing is drinking. Drinking and believing both mean to receive.
You may have contacted Christianity many years ago and heard many doctrines; you may even praise Christ for being great, but you do not have a relationship with Him if you have not received Him. He is separate from you and cannot enter into you to quench your thirst. Merely hearing messages cannot save you. Receiving the Lord Jesus is the only thing that can save you. You may hear thousands of messages, but they are all useless if you are not willing to receive the Lord Jesus. If you are willing to receive the Lord Jesus, it is sufficient to hear a few sentences. It is sufficient to know that you are a desolate sinner and a thirsty person and that the Lord Jesus is the living Savior with the living water. Just come to the Lord Jesus and open up your heart, saying, “O Lord Jesus! I am thirsty. I need You.” If you feel that you have sins, you need to confess your sins to Him. Tell Him what you feel. This is the way to contact Him and receive Him into you. This is the way to drink the living water into you. This is the way to believe into the Lord Jesus.
It is wonderful that simply by believing in the Lord Jesus, He will enter into you. He is the Spirit of life. As soon as He enters into you, He will quench your thirst, and you will feel joy and satisfaction. Furthermore, the living water will flow out from you as rivers of living water to quench the thirst of many. The key to salvation is to drink the Lord Jesus. You may have heard the gospel in the past but did not receive salvation, because you did not receive the Lord into your being by drinking Him.
If someone gives you a cup of water, you may receive the cup with your hands and appreciate it with praise. However, the cup of water is useless if you do not drink it. Likewise, your need today is to receive the Lord Jesus in a simple way. He is the omnipresent Spirit. If you open your heart to pray and contact Him, you will receive Him, and the living water will flow into you. This is simple, easy, and wonderful. May now be the time that you drink Him and receive Him. Let us sing a short hymn:
