I recently received the following email from a friend:
Here's the text of John 4 that the email refers to:
The part that leaves me with the most questions is in verse 14 where Jesus says "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst;" I've got a few thoughts on what this "living water" could be, but I'd like to hear some of your thoughts on it first. As you think about it, remember that Christ said, "
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."
I recently received the following email from a friend:Here's the text of John 4 that the email refers to:The part that leaves me with the most questions is in verse 14 where Jesus says "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst;" I've got a few thoughts on what this "living water" could be, but I'd like to hear some of your thoughts on it first. As you think about it, remember that Christ said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."
6 comments:
Here's are some entry thoughts.
1. John 7:37-39 is probably the first place I'd go for interpretation (ie living water as Spirit). This can be understood within the context of John 3:5 connecting the living water with the gift of the Spirit [in baptism].
2. Next, I'd look to some OT referents (Moses hitting the rock in Ex 17:6 and Jesus as the new temple in Ez 47:1), including the garden theology of Isaiah and the rivers that come forth (obviously referring back to the garden in Eden). You could also look at the wells of the patriarchs (each one creating their own little garden, if you will).
3. Go from here into a discussion of New Creation theology with Jesus' own baptism and the sustaining bread/wine of communion (this section of John is fraught with sacramental implications). One could also connect the Spirit here with commissioning.
I'm leaning toward the "living water" being the Holy Spirit. Once you have the Holy Spirit living within you, then you don't need to continue to "thirst" for it. The Spirit will create a thirst for other things, but not for itself.
Luke,
You have me thinking on this one.:) I looked up the greek word for water and it is the literal word for water as we know it. However, in looking at that whole context of this passage and the character of our Lord, I think that the "water" Christ speaks of here to the Samaratian women is her salvation. Once Christ calls us out we then are filled with the Holy Spirit. What do we need to do to "drink of this living water?" Cry out the the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance.
Thanks for the great question! Have a great night.
Kevin: It's good to "hear" from you! When I saw "The Sauders" I was wondering which one's might have commented. :-)
I agree, salvation seems to make sense in this context also. The hardest part to reconcile is that Christ says that once you drink of this water you'll never thirst again. There's nothing there that implies what we'll never thirst for again. It almost seems as though Christ is telling her she'll never thirst for anything again...which isn't really the case since salvation and the Spirit will work in us to bring a thirst for holiness, righteousness, and a closer walk with Christ.
I feel like I'm rambling. Does any of that make sense?
Luke,
It doesn't seem as though you need to go into such detail as to how the Spirit works. But considering the sacramental context of those earlier chapters in John (all the references to water as baptism/Spirit) and the old Testament references to new Creation and water (the same Spirit that hovered over the waters in Gen 1 also hovers over the waters in Mark 1), and that the closest other reference to living water clarifies it to be the Spirit, I don't think there's any reason to say it's anything other than the Spirit.
Then again, we could try to make the argument that the Spirit is in itself salvation, but that would be a different conversation.
(Note: just to clarify, I meant for the three thoughts I wrote in my first post to be smashed together into one big picture)
Nick: You make a good point about all the other references to water as baptism/Spirit. Thanks for your help on this.
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