Rivers of Living Water (John 7:37-39)

The following passage in John 7 has baffled me for a long time.

³⁷ 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. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”^[c] 39 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. (vv. 37-39 NIV)

This is a dramatic scene for three reasons:

1. Jesus is speaking “in a loud voice” or “crying out.”
2. The location is the most important building in Israel—he was “teaching in the temple courts” (v. 28).
3. The timing is also dramatic—on the final day of a major pilgrimage festival when crowds of people were present. This particular “festival” was the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths, a one-week celebration of God’s provision for Israel during their wilderness wandering. In this festive setting Jesus raises his voice, inviting people to come to him and drink.

All of this is straightforward.

The Problem

What is not clear is the following:

• The flow of the passage. How do these three claims fit together?

1. 1. Thirsty people going to Jesus to drink.
   2. “Rivers of living water” flowing from believers.
   3. The explanation: “By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.”

The second claim seems out of place. In the first claim Jesus says that he is the thirst quencher. He is the source of the drink. The third claim explains that the drink or “rivers of living water” is the Spirit “whom those who believed in him were later to receive” (v. 39). In both claims believers are recipients. The second claim, however, says that believers are distributors. How does living water flowing from believers connect with the Spirit being received by believers?

• The theology of the passage. Later in John’s Gospel Jesus says the Father will send the Holy Spirit in his name to his followers (Jn 14:26) and “I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father” (15:26) and “if I go, I will send him to you” (16:7). The source or the giver of the Spirit is not believers; it is the Father and/or Jesus. This is confirmed after Jesus’ resurrection when he breathes on his disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (20:22). It is also supported by Old Testament statements, such as Isaiah 44:3:

For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring,
and my blessing on your descendants.

• The Old Testament reference. Scholars have proposed several OT passages as the reference behind the phrase “as Scripture has said,” but none say that rivers of living water flow from believers.

A Solution

Fortunately, the NIV translators indicate another possible reading. Notice the superscript letter at the end of verse 38. The NIV text says:

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”^[c]

The footnote indicates that a change in punctuation produces this reading:

Let anyone who is thirsty come to me. And let anyone drink who believes in me. As Scripture has said, “Out of him will flow rivers of living water.”

Did you catch the difference?

Instead of “flow from within them” we have “Out of him will flow . . . ” The plural pronoun has become a singular pronoun. Who is the “him”? Jesus has just invited people to come to him and drink so the “him” must be Jesus. Rivers of living water, meaning the Spirit, flow from Jesus. He is the source of the life-giving drink.

The New English Translation (NET) incorporates this reading into its primary text:

³⁷ On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and ³⁸ let the one who believes in me drink. Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’” ³⁹ (Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.)

This solves the flow of the passage and the theology. It also fits with what Jesus has already said in John’s Gospel: “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (Jn 4:10).

The source of living water is God. As John says in the last chapter of the Bible: “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev 22:1). And Jeremiah declares:

Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust
    because they have forsaken the Lord,
    the spring of living water. (Jer 17:13)

What about the Old Testament reference?

This remains difficult to pinpoint, but the shift in pronouns opens up more possibilities. Some think it refers to the rock in the wilderness (Ex 17) or Ezekiel’s vision of the new temple (Ezek 47).

Conclusion

All scholars do not agree with this solution for the conundrum in John 7, but the theology is too powerful for me to avoid. Living water, God’s own Spirit, flows from God/Jesus to us. Where should we go to meet with God? Where can we find living water? According to the Old Testament, go to the temple. According to John, go to Jesus.