The Water of Life

The Water of Life

John chapter 7

37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, ³⁸and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.” ’ ³⁹Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified. NRSV

Reflection:

It is the great Hoshanna (Hosanna) or the Great salvation, the seventh day of Sukkot or festival of the booths. I am one of many celebrating in Jerusalem at the Holy temple. We all follow the high priest as he carries a golden pitcher out of the temple down to the pool of Siloam.

He fills the pitcher with water and leads us back to the temple. We walk around the altar seven times and then wave our palm fronds and sing Psalm 118 while our high priest pours water on the altar as an offering to God.

♫“ Save us we pray O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, let us thrive!
Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord” ♫

I hear the water splash from the pitcher onto the stone altar, then cascade to the floor.

In that instant I am in the scorching desert believing I will die of thirst… watching the Great prophet Moses strike the rock. Then I see and hear the blessed water flow. The water that saves my life.

As we finish singing a great voice cries out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me… let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.”’ I look around temple, and see a man teaching the crowd gathered around him.

His words resonate in my heart. They intertwine with thoughts of the water offering to God; the vision of the Prophet Moses, and the stone with the blessed water that saved me.

Like a moth to a lamp, this man, Yeshua, draws my soul nearer.

I thirst for his teachings.

I thirst for the blessed water that saves me.

I thirst for the great salvation.