Saturday 7 June 2025
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, and let the one who believes in me drink." (vs 37-38)
Background
In this passage we find Jesus at the festival of Tabernacles. It was a festival that was instituted by Moses (Leviticus 23:33-44) to commemorate God’s goodness to Israel during their journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai. It also celebrated the completion of the harvest.
Tabernacles, in this context, were portable temporary shelters for God. They would have been made from tree branches to symbolise the temporary nature of the shelter. The festival of Tabernacles lasted seven days. Each day, food was brought to the Temple to be included in the daily sacrifice, and a procession of priests would walk to the Pool of Siloam and draw some water. This was then processed around the altar in the Temple and during the sacrifice it was poured out as an offering to God (a libation).
On the seventh, and greatest, day the priests would walk around the altar seven times, by which time the crowd would have worked themselves up into a religious frenzy. But they would fall silent as the water was poured. It was probably at this moment that Jesus called out.
So much is made about the experience of going to church, but this passage reminds us that no matter how good your praise band or organist is, human longing cannot be satisfied by religious rituals alone. Thirst, here, is not physical, but spiritual. It is a deep yearning for meaning, hope and renewal. Jesus invites all who are thirsty to come. His call is fully inclusive and grace-filled, perhaps one of the few places where ‘all are welcome’ is actually true: God’s love reaches out to everyone.
As Christ’s Church, we are called not only to receive the Holy Spirit but to be 'channels of living water', allowing God’s love and justice to flow through us into a thirsty world. In a society where many feel spiritually dry or disillusioned, Jesus’ invitation remains urgent and relevant.
To Ponder:
- In what ways do you experience spiritual thirst today?
- How might you respond anew to Jesus’ invitation to “come and drink”?
- How can we, as the Methodist Church, be conduits of living water in our communities?
Prayer
Living God, we come thirsty for your Spirit. Pour your living water into our hearts, that we may be renewed, refreshed and empowered to share your love. Flow through us, Lord, and bring life to a dry and weary world. Amen.
Bible notes author: The Revd Stuart Reed
Stuart is a presbyter in the South East Cornwall Circuit and lives in Looe with his wife and their labrador. He is currently on a mission to find the best pasty and icecream in Cornwall.