The Coming of the Holy Spirit to Dwell in Us

INTRO

Yesterday we began to dig into the seven “I am” statements. The first was, “I am the bread of life” (throughout the world, bread is the staple), so Jesus was pointing out that He is the staple we need. In John 7, we’ll take a little bit of a left turn to concentrate on the Holy Spirit. John 7:1–9 presents the family dynamics as His brothers tried to tell Jesus what He needed to do. In John 7:10–24, Jesus secretly left, and in John 7:25–36, people began to question Jesus’ identity as the Messiah. For the Festival of the Tabernacles, every Jewish family within 20 miles of Jerusalem was required to attend. Nelson’s Commentary states that the festival lasted seven days, and the people would make shelters from branches and leaves. “The feast commemorated the days when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness and lived in tents” (Leviticus 23:40–43).¹This was to remind the Jews of when God took care of the Israelites in the wilderness and that God would continue to take care of them.

TEACHING

John 7:37: In the context of verse 37, “on the last and most important day of the festival,” scholars disagree if that meant it was on day seven or day eight.²Jesus stood up (which was unusual for when He was going to teach) and proclaimed, “If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink!” Every day of the festival, the high priest and the people would come with palm branches and march around the altar and recognize what God had done. Another priest would fill a golden pitcher with water that came from the Pool of Siloam and poured it on top of the altar as an offering. It is probably at that moment that Jesus stood up to speak.³Constable states the pitcher of water was carried through the Water Gate. While the priest was pouring the water, another priest would pour an offering of wine on the altar as well. The water was symbolic of the water that God provided in the wilderness, and the wine reminded the people that God would send His Spirit in the last days.⁴The crowd chanted praises using Psalm 18:1 and 118:5.

In Exodus 17:1–7, God poured water out of the rock. At the Red Sea, God split the water with His presence. Nelson’s Commentary explains that on the last day of the feast, the people marched around the altar seven times to memorialize the Israelites’ march around Jericho.⁵A lot was going on . . . people chanting and waving branches, the priests pouring the water and the wine and walking at the same time. Maybe while the priest poured the water, Jesus called the thirsty to Him.

John 7:38: Jesus explained that the one who believed in Him, just as the Scripture has said, would have streams of living water flow from deep within him. Where does it say this in Scripture?

• Isaiah 55:1a: “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters.”
• Isaiah 12:3: “You will joyfully draw water from the springs of salvation.”
• Numbers 24:7: “Water will flow from his buckets, and his seed will be by abundant water.”
• Isaiah 58:11: “The LORD will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land, and strengthen your bones. You will be like a watered garden and like a spring whose waters never run dry.”

Jesus understood this image in Scripture—the water of the Lord will never run out.

Zechariah 14:8: “On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea, in summer and winter alike.”

This is the beginning of the fulfillment of all the feast anticipated. John 4:14 describes the water from Jesus as “a well of water,” water that will never run out.

John 7:39: In verse 39, John said the water is the Holy Spirit. God would be inside of them. But not yet, “because Jesus had not yet been glorified,” meaning Jesus had not yet been crucified or resurrected. Up to this point, the Holy Spirit came upon people for certain times and certain roles, but not to dwell within them. It was only for a season (Numbers 37:15; Ezekiel 2:2). However, once you believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit never leaves you! That’s a huge distinction. The pictures of the well that doesn’t go dry or the river of water always moving, signifies that the Holy Spirit never leaves once He dwells within us. The Spirit of God doesn’t leave believers. In 1 Corinthians 12:13, we are asked to drink of one Spirit. Ephesians 1:13–14 explains that believers are “sealed with the Holy Spirit” and the Spirit is at work within us.

This water image is so important. There is nothing more satisfying on a really hot day than a glass of water. Tapping into water is not only important but necessary. And that’s a good picture for us spiritually.

CLOSING

Kent Hughes explains how we should tap into this living water:

We must realize our thirstiness and our emptiness.

We need to admit that nothing we have within us will commit us to Christ.

We need to admit we are sinners.

We need to ask to be filled daily.⁶

Jesus said in John 7:37 that if anyone is thirsty, they should come to Him to drink. This verse is the pivotal verse in the book of John that turns the table away from us and totally onto Christ. The Word of God should radically change your life!