Myke Walters, the church’s youth worker, takes John 7:37-52 and begins with a rapid tour of the series so far: the Word in chapter 1; the wedding, the temple, Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman in chapters 2 to 4; the Sabbath healing and the Passover in 5 and 6; and now the Feast of Tabernacles, where Jesus’ brothers press him to go up to Jerusalem and he goes secretly instead, before teaching in the temple courts.

He reads the passage in full. On the last and greatest day of the festival Jesus calls out that anyone who is thirsty should come to him and drink, promising rivers of living water to those who believe — water John explains as the Spirit, not yet given because Jesus had not yet been glorified. The crowd divides over him: some call him the prophet, some the Messiah, others object that the Christ comes from David’s line and from Bethlehem rather than Galilee. The temple guards return empty-handed and are accused of being deceived along with a cursed mob, and Nicodemus, who had come to Jesus earlier, asks whether their law condemns a man without first hearing him.

Walters’ through-line is the question: who do you say Jesus is, and who does your life say Jesus is? The competing answers in the passage show people holding the same words and still splitting over them, and he notes that the arguments hurled at Jesus then — deception, bias, a cursed crowd — are the sorts of voices that still speak over people’s lives. His weight falls on “anyone”: the invitation is not caveated, it was issued in front of people who wanted Jesus dead, and so the person next to you qualifies. Thirst, he says, is spiritual — the hole in a person that relationships, career, money and fame never fill — and drinking is obedience, receiving the Spirit who now lives inside believers. He closes with who God says we are: a new creation, free from condemnation, more than conquerors, and an invitation to look in the mirror and see what God sees.

Bible passages

• John 7:37-52 — the passage read, beginning at verse 37
• John 7:37-39 — the invitation to drink, and the Spirit not yet given
• John 7:40-44 — the crowd divided: prophet, Messiah, and the objection from Bethlehem
• John 7:45-52 — the guards, the Pharisees, and Nicodemus’ protest
• John 1:1 — “In the beginning was the Word”, from the series recap
• John 20:31 — written so that you may believe and have life in his name
• Deuteronomy 6:4-5 — the Shema, hearing and obeying, called God’s love language
• Matthew 16:15 — “who do you say that I am?”
• 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 8:1, Romans 8:37 and Ephesians 1:3 — the identity affirmations he closes with

Key points

• The recap places this passage at the Feast of Tabernacles
• Jesus invites anyone who is thirsty to come to him and drink
• The living water is the Spirit, given once Jesus is glorified
• The crowd splits over who he is, and the leaders want him arrested
• The guards come back empty-handed; Nicodemus objects on legal grounds
• Who do you say Jesus is, and who does your life say Jesus is?
• “Anyone” means the person next to you, and the invitation carries no caveat
• Thirst is spiritual, and nothing created can fill that hole
• Drinking is obedience — hearing and obeying, God’s own love language
• Messiah means the anointed one; John writes so that we may believe and live
• The voices that dismissed Jesus then still speak over people now
• Lewis’s trilemma: no merely great teacher option, only lunatic, devil or Lord
• Had Jesus not died and risen, the Pharisees would have been right
• Stay and drink, rather than a sip before going your own way
• The closing questions: are we thirsty, where are we drinking, and who is Jesus in my life?

Calls to action

• If you have never believed: come and drink — recognise the thirst and act on it
• Turn to the person next to you and tell them, “you are anyone”
• Ask yourself who your life says Jesus is
• If you have been drinking from other pools, repent and ask God to water your soul
• Open the closed rooms of your heart to God
• Look in the mirror and see what God sees
• Come out of your seat during worship and find a mirror

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/dNjWKgys8ag