What's In Your Water?
In John 4:10, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that he can give her “living” water. “Living water” was not a new concept to anyone living in Israel.
It's important to note that Jesus speaks about "living" water at the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7. The Feast of Tabernacles is a seven day celebration of God’s provisions at the end of the harvest season. At the climax of the festival, which is held on the seventh day of the seven-day festival, there is an intense ceremony and prayer for rain. And it is at this heightened, climactic point of the festival that Jesus says to all those in the Temple,
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:37-38). Earlier in the same chapter of John, Jesus said, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.”(16-18).
In Jesus’ day, the teaching of a rabbi was known as “water” to his disciples. It was taught that if a rabbi’s waters or teachings were good, then his disciples would be drinking from the waters of God. If a rabbi’s water was bad, the rabbi is to be exiled to a place of evil waters and his disciples will drink and die.
"Living" water is constantly flowing water that is clean and life sustaining, such as rain or spring water. "Living" water is unlike the “dead” waters found in cisterns (manmade pits that were plastered and filled by water that ran off of roofs and streets), which were widely available in Israel. "Dead" waters were often stagnant and contaminated, but to a person who was desperate for a drink, "dead" water appears promising.
When Jesus approached the Samaritan woman who had trouble developing healthy relationships, he was offering to get rid of the “dead” water that she has been drinking (poor teaching that she has been practicing). Jesus was giving this woman the opportunity to stop sipping from the cisterns, and live her life drinking the rain of good teaching. He was inviting her to be his disciple.
We are all teachers. It has been estimated that every person will influence 10,000 people in his or her lifetime. Therefore, it’s important to know whether we are serving "living" or "dead" water. When those who learn from me do as I have taught them, will they experience a better life or will they experience failure and a continued thirst for how to live?
Living in accordance with the teachings of Jesus does not lead to thirst, but to a quenched thirst that brings vibrant, abundant life to the one who lives it. As imitators of Christ, we should all be serving "living" water.
Forever learning,
Johnny
15 comments:
That's awesome stuff.
Scary to think that I will influence anyone...Thank goodness God can work through us to accomplish His work.
I'm with Kathy. 10,000 people? That is a little frightening.
This study reminds me of the responsibility that we have as parents. As I stated in a comment on my Xanga, we all serve good and bad water throughout our lives. And bad water is not always removeable. Sometimes it stains the lives of those we have taught.
There is a lot of bad water that I have served my children throughout my years of raising them. I have also served lots of good water. Hopefully my children will not serve the same bad water that I served at times.
Grace and peace,
Johnny
Good post . . . certainly applicable . . . However, I have a question:
John 7:38-39 says, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.”
If “living water” was a “teaching” then why does John say that he was referring to the “Spirit?” Which is it?
Blessings,
Bret
Hey Bret,
That's a good question and one that I had to look into for myself.
A spirit could be understood as a behavior; therefore, someone with a spirit of depression like King Saul was suffering with depressing behavior and sadness. With that understanding, the Spirit of God can refer to godly behavior, imitating the teachings of God, or living as God would live.
Digging into the first century meaning of these words will draw us back to the Church of the 4th and 16th centuries when our theologies were being “de-Juduaized” and "Greekified,” and will often force us look at these words, phrases, and concepts according to their original context.
It is my understanding that John was saying inadvertently that people are driven by a human spirit, which led to sinful human behavior, but those who accept Christ (live by Christ's teachings) will be led by godly behavior which is received by imitating Christ.
Grace and peace,
Johnny
That IS a good question and I agree with the answer, but I may change the methodology. I have found that not all scripture agrees with a specific theology. To me, he may have meant a literal Spirit. BUT, knowing what we know now, knowing what they thought then, perhaps instead of forcing a meaning we could simply recognize their perception and modernize it.
In other words, they thought it was an actual spirit.
We know it makes sense and is true to original thought to be defined as a teaching or following the will of God.
Knowing that a "spirit" is simply a metaphor for our mind that describes our ability to be objective, self aware, and to become self actualized.
Therefore, they meant teaching or following the will of God.
I gotta admit...I look forward to this everyday!
John,
You make me laugh. I look forward to it as well.
I agree with what you are proposing.
We could even take this a step further and say that someone with an evil spirit was behaving in a way that was not godly or good in any way for the person or those who interact with the person.
I also think that communion is important because of its orginal usage, which was to join people together with a commitment to godly living.
When a person entered the Kingdom of Heaven (joined the rank and file of Jesus' followers) they were making a commitment to live and behave in a godly manner. Communion or sharing a cup of wine with others was the visual act of making that commitment with God's people to live according to the Spirit of God as opposed to living according to the spirit of man.
Grace and peace,
Johnny
I am interested, I wonder what the top 3 most influential books are for each person that replies on this blog?
1.
2.
3.
Make that top 5. Can't do it in 3.
1. Yeshua by Dr. Ron Moseley
2. Our Father Abraham by Dr. Marvin R. wilson
3. Paul the Jewish Theologian by Brad H. Young
4. New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus by David Bivin
5. Ray Vander Laan's teaching on www.followtherabbi.com
1. Dynamics of Faith, Tillich
2. The God Delusion, Dawkins
3. Jesus Christ & Mythology, Bultmann
4. A Theology of Liberation, Guiterrez
5. Openness Theology, Sanders
6. All "Star Wars" books
Johnny,
You’re answer is pretty good . . . However, I’m struggling with the idea that “the Spirit” whom those who believed in him were “later to receive” referring to “godly behavior, imitating the teachings of God, or living as God would live.” Were they not following God’s teaching at the time Jesus said this?
Why wouldn’t it actually refer to the Holy Spirit himself?
As far as my top five books? That’s kind of tough . . . here are a few, not necessarily in any order:
1. Radical Outreach – The Recovery of Apostolic Ministry & Evangelism by George G. Hunter III.
2. Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs & Ryan K. Bolger
3. Jesus the Jewish Theologian by Brad H. Young
I’m on chapter 13 of Heschel’s “God in search of Man” . . . It’s a heavy book. I’m not sure that my pea brain is ready for that one or not . . . However, I’m bound and determined to finish it.
Good blog!
Blessings,
Bret
Bret,
I am referring to the first century meaning of living water being the good teaching of a rabbi.
How the Holy Spirit fits into all that is up for discussion, even if the "great" minds who fed us our current theology believe they've got all the answers laid out.
It's difficult to part ways with hundreds of years of philosophy, especially considering people were strangled, drowned, or burned alive for disagreeing. There is great freedom in this day to reduscover the meanings of the text.
The only thing stopping us is our own fear.
Grace and peace,
Johnny
I tend to think of the spirit of Christ as the opportunity to become a New Creation. However fantastical the resurrection story is to some...it is a symbol of new creations. We can be ressurected today, right now in this moment. We can become something new and when that something new is Christ-like, we have received his spirit. I don't say that with triviality. When we actively live a life like Christ, surrendering to the whispering will of God, then we actually participate in the infinite, we abide in him. We become a new being and holy, seperated to our God. Perhaps the symbol of resurrection had not occured yet and the true spirit of Christ in its completeness was about to take place. Then, and only then could they have received his message in its fullness.
Interesting stuff . . . I’m not rejecting your ideas . . . they’re just new to me . . . I’ll consider it and study it further. . .
Blessings,
Bret
Post a Comment