The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring about him to this effect, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent guards to arrest him. 33 So Jesus said, “I will be with you only a little while longer, and then I will go to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me but not find [me], and where I am you cannot come.” 35 So the Jews said to one another, “Where is he going that we will not find him? Surely he is not going to the dispersion among the Greeks to teach the Greeks, is he? 36 What is the meaning of his saying, ‘You will look for me and not find [me], and where I am you cannot come’?”
37 On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’” 39 He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
People’s opinions were divided about Jesus as a result of his teachings and the debates and discussions about whether he might be the Messiah. Some believed in him, but others, including the religious authorities (Pharisees and chief priests), viewed him as a threat. The religious authorities sent guards to arrest him. Jesus responded to their plot by speaking about his upcoming departure, his Passion, Death and Resurrection, and his return to the Father after his Ascension. Practically, the Pharisees and other religious authorities will not be able to follow or apprehend Jesus once he ascends to the Father. On a spiritual level, they were unable to understand who Jesus was and follow him because of their hardness of heart. The Jews took Jesus’ statement literally and speculated that he might leave Judea and go to the "dispersion" (Diaspora), the Jewish communities scattered among Gentile nations, to teach non-Jews. The religious leaders were puzzled by Jesus’ perplexing statement.
On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), which involved rituals with water symbolizing God's provision of rain and His gift of the Spirit, Jesus offered himself as the fulfillment of this symbolism. Jesus presented himself as the source of life-giving water, the means through which one’s spiritual thirst is quenched (cf. Is. 55:1). Whoever believes in Jesus will be transformed into a conduit of God’s life-giving presence. John the Evangelist explains that Jesus’ reference to living water points to the Holy Spirit, who will come to believers after Jesus’ glorification—his death, resurrection, and ascension.
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of Your Son, Jesus, the source of living water. Open our hearts to believe in him fully, so that we may receive the life-giving Spirit he promised. Quench our spiritual thirst and guide us to eternal life with You. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
References
- McSorley, Joseph. An Outline History of the Church by Centuries (From St. Peter to Pius XII). 2nd ed., B. Herder Book Co., 1944.
- Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
- Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
- Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, 1990.
- Charpentier, Etienne. How to Read the Old Testament. Translated by John Bowden, 1981.
- Komonchak, Joseph, et al., editors. The New Dictionary of Theology.
- McKenzie, John. Dictionary of the Bible. Collier Books, 1965.
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