COME UNTO ME AND DRINK

John 7:37-43 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. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water. (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.) Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth This is the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among the people because of Him.

The feast of tabernacles lasted seven days, with an eighth day added as a day of holy rest (See Lev. 23:36). The last day, referred to in the lesson text, could have been either of these days. No doubt many Jews were preparing to depart, having observed these holy feast days gathered around the altar on the site of the temple of worship. Many Jewish historians tell us that on every day of the feast of tabernacles, water was taken from the pool of Siloam and poured upon the altar. If that was occurring at this very moment, what a great symbolic significance it would have been when Jesus uttered this wonderful call to eternal salvation: If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. On this last feast day the majority of Jews gathered around the temple would soon disburse and return to their respective homes. This seemed to be the last opportunity that Jesus could reach this multitude of Jews - those disbelieving Jews that continued to reject Him, with His message of hope for eternal salvation.

Continuing His message He gave them this assurance: He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water. It is worthy to note that coming to Jesus, as noted in verse 37 carries the same meaning as believing on Him. To believe on Jesus, Jews at that time, as well as all of us today, must believe that He is the promised Messiah, the Son of God, and the Savior of the world. Then Jesus quotes a scripture that foretells of "living water" that flows from the Savior that will be available to all that believe Him to be the Son of God. This scripture has given bible scholars reason for much debate, because these literal words cannot be found in God's Word. However there are many scriptures that relate the essence of its meaning. Zechariah speaks of living waters that shall go out from Jerusalem (14:8); Isaiah's prophecies tell us about drawing water out of the wells of salvation (12:3); the coming of one that will pour water upon him that is thirsty (44:3); the Lord that shall satisfy thy soul in drought ...like a spring of water, whose waters fail not (58:11).

Verse 39 is a parenthetical statement that explains verse 38. Those that were destined to preach and teach the rivers of living water, that is, Christ's gospel of resurrection and eternal salvation, would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that would enable them to do so. However, that gift had not been given at this time, and would not be given to Jesus' disciples until after He had been glorified - until after He had been crucified, buried, resurrected and ascended back into heaven. From this explanation, there is no doubt that the Day of Pentecost following Jesus' ascension marked the beginning of the church of Christ. It was formed when those that heard the preaching of the Holy Spirit-inspired apostles, believed Jesus to be the Son of God, were baptized for the remission of their sins, and were added, by God, to this New Testament church, which was the spiritual body of Christ (See Acts 2:14-47).

Jesus had just invited the multitude of Jews to satisfy their spiritual thirst of eternal life by coming to Him and drinking freely of His message of salvation. The result was that many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet. This fact was spoken by Moses when he said that one would come into their midst and would be like unto me, to which Moses added for emphesis: unto Him ye shall harken (Deut. 18:15). There was no doubt in the minds of others who said, This is the Christ. However there were some that questioned Jesus as being the Christ by asking, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? They realized that prophecies recorded in Isaiah 11:1 and Micah 5:2, as well as many others, told them that Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? However, what these doubters failed to understand was that, although Jesus came to Jerusalem out of Galilee, He was born in Bethlehem and was of the seed of David, which fulfilled all of these prophecies. So there was a division among the people because of Him.

Oh, that all on that day would have accepted Jesus as the Christ and the fulfillment of these prophecies. If only these Jews had not been misled by the selfish false religious leaders that relied on the earthly wisdom of mankind rather than the wisdom of God that could only be found in the living waters of His Son, Jesus Christ. If only they, as well as us today, would answer His invitation when Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink!