Title: “What does Jesus ask of his disciples?”
Scripture: John 7:37-39 (Main); Jeremiah 2:13; Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:1-12; Psalm 78:15-16
Intro
The Pardoner’s Tale from the Canterbury Tales
Three lawless young men go on a search for Death. They think if they can find Death, they will be able to kill him. As they are searching, they meet an old man who tells them that Death can be found at the foot of an oak tree. Off they go to the tree. There instead of finding Death, they find eight bushels of gold. With Death now out of mind and greed in mind, they decide to sleep there that night and sneak away with the treasure in the morning.
Meanwhile, the youngest goes into town to buy some food and drink.
He also buys some rat poison and poisons the wine. He wants the gold all to himself. Ah, but the other two want the gold for themselves. So they plot to kill him when he returns. Sure enough that is what they do. When the man returns, they stab him to death. To celebrate, they lift their cups and drink the poisoned wine. They too die.
The old man was right. All three greedy men found Death under that tree.
Are you satisfied with your life?
Does Jesus truly satisfy?
If so, how?
Bottom line: Jesus truly satisfies when we come to him on his terms.
The Feast of Booths (Tabernacles) was a harvest feast which portrays the desert wanderings where they lived in tents for 40 years. Talk about a roving RV festival.
Exod 17:15-16
Numbers 20:8, 10-11 (1-12)
Ps 78:15-16
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.”
Jesus speaks at a moment when one of their daily festival rites was climaxing where the priest would pour water from the pool of Siloam (healing/saving water) back to the temple in through the water gate at the blast of the temple trumpets with a crowd in pursuit, and on the last day he’d circle the altar 7 times (on the final day of the festival, 7th) when the priest would be joined by another priest carrying the wine. They’d ascend the ramp to the altar together. A pause as he raised the pitcher of water. Everyone wanted to see the pouring of the water at least once in their lifetime. And then he’d pour it on the altar.
Wine. Altar. Water.
Cross of Christ—> Living water/salvation/healing/eternal life/satisfying life
It’s a this moment that Jesus cries out vs. 37-38.
Are we satisfied or thirsty?
Are we finding satisfaction in Christ?
Are we finding even more satisfaction in sharing Christ with others?
“My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13 ESV
Jesus encourages the thirsty to find true satisfaction for their thirst.
Unfortunately, most of us pursue other avenues to slake our thirst to no lasting satisfaction. We chase all kinds of things for satisfaction when the only thing that satisfies is life with Christ himself.
Jesus said blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. For they will be satisfied! (Matt 5:6)
How are we to drink this living water? On God’s terms. See this scene from CS Lewis’s the Silver Chair:
“How are we to drink this water? Although the offer is free and open to all, there are yet some terms to be met. C. S. Lewis in his children's novel The Silver Chair puts his finger on this in the clearest of terms. Jill, seeing a lion, is scared out of her wits and runs into the forest. She runs so hard that she wears herself out and is just about to die of thirst, or so she thinks, when she hears the gurgling of a brook in the distance. She approaches it and is almost ready to go to the brook when on the grass before her is the same lion.
"Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.
"I'm dying of thirst," said Jill.
"Then drink, " said the Lion.
"May I-could I- would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill.
The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.
"Will you promise not to -do anything to me, if I do come?" said Jill.
"I make no promise," said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step
nearer.
"Do you eat girls?" she said.
"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and em-perors, cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.
"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer.
"I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."
"There is no other stream," said the Lion.
It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion - no one who had seen his stern face could do that -and her mind suddenly made itself up. It was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand. It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted.
Do you see what Lewis is saying? When you come to the water, you are coming to a Lion, you must come on the Lion's terms, and you have to yield yourself by faith in order to get the water. Some of us need to realize that we are thirsty, that we need that water so badly that we are going to die without it. We need to step out on faith, yielding to the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and receive the water of eternal life.” —K Hughes, John, pp. 220-221
7:38-39
“Jesus is saying that the part of us that is never satisfied, the part of us that craves so much, becomes, when we receive this water, the part that is satisfied.” —Hughes, p. 221
“Furthermore, not only does such satisfaction come to us in Christ, but it overflows to others. Notice that Christ does not say ‘river’ but ‘rivers.’ Rivers of living water flow out of us by virtue of the in dwelling Spirit of Christ.” Ibid.
Billy Bray was a dynamic Christian and British miner in the 19th century who so overflowed with the living water of Christ that wherever he went men trusted Christ.
Each day as he went down into the mines—very dangerous in those days—he would pray with the miners as he went down. “Lord, if any of us must be killed or die today, let it be me. Let not one of these men die for they are not happy and I am, and if I die today I shall go to be in heaven.”
“Power and overflowing joy—these are the characteristics of great drinkers of the Spirit. But the sublime irony in this is that we never experience satisfaction as we are meant to until our lives give satisfaction o others.” —Ibid, p. 222
You’ve heard the expression, “He drinks like a fish” referring to his drinking of alcohol. Oh that we’d hear of Christians “drinking like a fish” out of the fountain of living water. Not drinking spirits but of THE SPIRIT of Christ! Power & joy abundant and shared.
“Are you satisfied? Is your satisfaction flowing out to others?” Ibid.
“During the desert wanderings that the Feast of Tabernacles portrayed, Moses smote a rock, and out of it came rivers of living (?) water for the people. That was a picture of Christ, and our Scripture refers to this in v. 39.” Ibid.
“Jesus had not yet been smitten on the cross and resurrected. Therefore the S;Iris had not yet come to indwell believers. In the wilderness, the first time the Lord instructed Moses to STRIKE the rock, Moses did, and God provided water. But the second time Moses made a grievous error. God told him to SPEAK to the rock, but in his anger against the people Moses smote the rock. Water nevertheless came out graciously from God, but Moses paid heavily for his action…Moses probably never suspected that he had ruined the type because Christ was not smitten twice but once. Again we see God’s provision and his grace.” Ibid.
“Our Lord is a Lion, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and we must come to him on his terms, thought he graciously invites us to communicate with him, to speak to him. Are you satisfied? Have you drunk long and deep of that water so that out of your innermost being are flowing rivers of living water? Is your life a beatitude to others? Whether or not that has happened, speak to him about it now.” Ibid, 222-223.
What do we need to do?
Recognize that you thirst for something that exists. Your thirst for more than this life offers. Abundant life forever!
Drink this living water. Drink deeply and often as if our lives depended on it. God gives us thirst so that we’ll know we need it satisfied and that there exists something that can truly satisfy. Drinking is believing.
Pour out (spray, hose down, power wash) what wants out from within. God fills us up so that we have something to give. Our job isn’t to fill someone else’s cup. Our job is to empty our cup.
Living water = Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
Immerses the person into this living water (baptism of the Holy Spirit)
Saturates the person with the Holy Spirit guaranteeing he will finish what he started in them.
Brings spiritual fruit in unlimited quantity. (Fruit of the Spirit)
Brings spiritual gifts (at least one; no one has all) for the purpose of building up the body of Christ (the Church).
He guides and provides all that we need to then go and saturate this world.
Saturate this world with living water. That is the love of God through Jesus Christ.
Big idea/Bottom line?
What do I want them to know?
That Jesus satisfies us like nothing else.
Why?
Because this satisfaction streams into our world and brings satisfaction there too.
What do I want them to do?
Drink deeply of this living water and share it with others.
Why?
For this leads to even more satisfaction.
How?
Come to God on his terms. He’s a lion and terrifying. Fear God. He’s also inviting you to come. Believe and receive this good invitation of good news that Jesus Christ truly satisfies.
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