John 7:37-42: A Well That Quenches Another's Thirst

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.” Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” - John 7:37-42

The author of the psalms wrote, "I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water." (Ps.63:1) And here Jesus stands up during the festival and proclaims, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink." In the psalm, God is the one who quenches our thirst. Here, Jesus is saying, I am he for whom your soul thirsts. He is God. 

But the great mystery is that the quenching of the thirst comes not in drinking in the goodness of God (though he is good and the satisfier of our souls) but rather in the outflowing of the Spirit's work in us to refresh and satisfy those who are near us. Satisfying the desire of the thirsty was never designed to stop with us. In fact, that is a stagnant pond, not a river of living water. Rivers are always looking for an outlet and so should the Spirit's work in me.

Psalm 63:1-8: When Life Does Not Seem Like Living

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me - Psalm 63:1-8

 

There are thirsts which cannot be quenched in any water, there are questions which cannot be answered by any diligent search, there is love which cannot be earned or fathomed, there is protection and safety that has no antecedent. Only God.  As Solomon wrote, He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Eccl. 3:11)  There are questions for which only God is the answer. My only response is to glorify and praise God and say that there are longings that can only satisfied by God.