Out of Proportion - Rivers of living water. will flow from you

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Jesus uses the metaphor of water in association with the Spirit in the context of salvation. It is no coincidence that these words of Jesus were uttered during the seven-day-long Feast of Tabernacles (7:2). 

It was popularly referred to as the Feast of Tents due to the fact that the participants camped in homemade shelters, erected on rooftops or in the fields (Lev. 23:34–36). It functioned as a thanksgiving for the harvests and an opportunity to remember how God had guided their forefathers during the forty years in the wilderness. Implicit was an anticipation of the arrival of the kingdom of God, when their ‘exile’ would finally be over and life-giving water would be available in abundance. Little wonder that Josephus described it as the most popular festival held in the temple.

It was at this feast that the ritual of drawing water took place on each of the seven days, reflecting the provision of water from the rock by God (Exod. 17:1–6). Water was drawn from the Pool of Siloam and carried in a musical and formal procession through the streets of Jerusalem to the temple, where it was poured from a golden flagon onto the altar to cleanse it, prior to the offering of sacrifices. 

The procession was carefully timed so that it arrived at the temple just as the priests brought the first sacrifice to the altar during the singing of the Hallel (as recorded in Pss 113–118) by the temple choir. The memory of salvation in the past and salvation to come provided the ideal opportunity for Jesus to prophesy the fulfilment of this long-awaited hope. 

However, he stated that it would only be realised by those who believed in him. This was now no longer a prophecy only realisable by Jews—Jesus had radically altered the conditions whilst widening the constituency of those eligible to take advantage of this life-giving refreshment. Most importantly, the Spirit was to be the life-giving source for all people, regardless of their nationality or background.

The association of the Spirit with water is infrequently mentioned in the OT (Isa. 44:3; Ezek. 36:25–27)9though Jeremiah 17:13 identifies the Lord with ‘the spring of living water’. However, the symbolism of the Spirit being poured out (Joel 2:28–29; Acts 2:17) may indicate a more common association between water and the Spirit than is explicit in the biblical text. 

Central to the account, and to John 7:37–39, is the fact that the provision of the Spirit would not occur until after Jesus had been glorified. However, when the Spirit would be provided, it was stated that he would flow as living water ‘from the heart’. The Spirit is probably anticipated as flowing from the heart of Jesus, to be received by believers (John 7:38; 20:22).12 

Although the initial flow of the Spirit commences with Jesus, it is valid to deduce that, thereafter, believers are to take responsibility for the Spirit flowing through them to others within the Christian community and outside it (John 4:13–14). 




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