Streams of living water

I have had the privilege to visit Israel twice. While it is referred to as the land "flowing with milk and honey" much of it is very desert like. Then for a brief time each year, the rainy season comes, and the desert is transformed into a green and fertile garden spot. Finding water, collecting water and protecting water become everpresent activities. Even in modern Israel, the Sea of Galilee supplies 70% of the fresh water for the entire country. Over the last decade or so the level has been slowly dropping and is of concern to them. In fact one of the issues in the 6 day war back in 1967, was for Israel to regain control over the Golan Heights to provide a buffer between Syria and the Sea of Galilee, the country's primary source of water.

In our experience, few of us have ever known truly restricted water. It is in this culture that values and appreciates water that Jesus ministered. In this week's text, Jesus said: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7:37b-38) Pastor Scott pointed out that it is the the drinking in of Jesus does not result only in the satisfaction of our own heart, but results in our heart being a source of living water flowing out. An amazing idea.

I began to realize how many times we had talked of water in the Gospel of John, and when I looked it was even more dramatic than I thought. The word water is used 25 times in the Gospel of John, and only 19 times in the other three gospels combined. The list of every time water is used in John is below. Read these verses. Observe whether there are any common themes in these references to water. Observe the different uses water has (e.g., cleansing or purifying, satisfaction or source of life, etc).

John 3:5, 23; 4:7-28, 46; 5:7; 7:38; 13:5; 19:34.