If Anyone Is Thirsty

At the climax of the greatest feast in Israel, Jesus makes the most urgent invitation in human history. Today we'll explore what it means to be thirsty and why Jesus's offer of Living Water changes everything.

John 7:37-38 "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"

Picture the scene with me. It's the final day of the Feast of Tabernacles—the greatest day of the greatest feast. Hundreds of thousands of people are gathered. The priest has just completed the water ceremony, marching around the golden altar seven times, raising his pitcher high while the crowd chants, "Higher! Higher!" At the pinnacle of the ceremony, with trumpets blaring and the crowd in euphoric celebration, the priest pours out water as a symbol of their dependence on God.

Then, piercing the silence, a voice cries out: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!"

Jesus cried out—and for the first time in history, a prophet begins an address without saying "Thus says the Lord," because for the first time, God's person, God's work, and God's promises coalesce into a single person standing there and shouting.

And by the way, if you don't have a shouting Jesus, you don't have the Jesus of the New Testament. The word is "krazo" in Greek—it means to cry with all your might. This isn't Jesus leaning against a pillar whispering, "If anyone thirsts..." This is urgent, passionate proclamation.

Why is Jesus shouting? Because He's passionate about lost sinners. He's not indifferent to the plight of parched souls. He cares about the spiritually thirsty, and there's only one prescription for a parched soul—Him.

But He's also shouting because there's urgency. Tomorrow they'll all go home, and in six months He'll be bloodied and naked on a cross. The doors of mercy won't stay open forever.

What does it mean to thirst? You likely don't know what thirsty means as it would have been understood by a Middle Eastern Jewish individual crossing deserts. It's parched, desperate, absolutely prerequisite to coming to the Fountain of Living Water.

To thirst means you have a sense of your emptiness. There's a level of consciousness about your sin and corruption. You have an awareness of your inability to earn your way to God, and there's desperation. No one comes to the Living Water unless they are thirsty.

That's why when we preach the gospel, we don't start with the solution—we start with the problem. The reason so few people are thirsty for the Living Water Jesus offers today is because there's so little preaching on the righteousness of God and the sinfulness of sin. There's no crying out for a remedy if there's no recognition of the disease.

But notice something beautiful in verse 38: "From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water." You're not just a bucket that Jesus fills—you're a spring that channels Living Water to others. Sometimes we talk about the gospel in such self-centered ways: "Jesus saved me, Jesus satisfies me." But we forget that God saves us so we can be a blessing to others.

If you're a Christian, your life truly matters because you're not just a recipient—you're a channel of God's grace. The life of one seemingly obscure Christian living faithfully is far more significant than emperors and kings who don't know God, because their life matters on the scales of eternity.

How? Because of the Spirit. Jesus says this Living Water flows through the Spirit who takes residence in your life and equips you with His power and courage to bless others around you.

Stay dialed in.