According to the the Gospel story of this coming Sunday (John 7:37-39), in the middle of the temple Jesus cries out: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.'"
Water is that without which man cannot live; and Christ is the one without whom man cannot live and dare not die. When you come to Jesus to drink, you don’t just get a single drink, but you get a spring, a fountain, as well. Rivers of water will flow because a River-Maker is in you. You will never have to search again for a source of satisfaction for your soul. Every river that needs to flow for the joy of your soul will flow from Jesus and only Jesus can give you the refreshment of the Holy Spirit.
English translations of the Bible tone this passage down, but in the Armenian translation and in the best Greek manuscript, there is the strange statement in John 7:39 : "For as yet there was no Spirit." What is the meaning of that? Think of it this way. A great power can exist for years and even centuries without men being able to tap it. To take a very relevant example, there has always been atomic power in this world; men did not invent it. But only in our own time have men tapped and used it. The Holy Spirit has always existed; but men never really enjoyed his full power until after Pentecost.
As it has been finely said, "There could be no Pentecost without Calvary." It was only when men had known Jesus, that they really knew the Spirit. Before that the Spirit had been a power, but now he is a person, for he has become to us nothing other than the presence of the Risen Christ always with us.
John 7:37-39
37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
