Wednesday 27 February 2008
"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. 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". (v.37-39)
Background
Today's reading is made up of two sections from one chapter ofJohn's Gospel.
The first is part of the long controversy between Jesus and some ofhis contemporaries which focuses on who he is and what he is about.The second links more easily with the theme of this week'sreadings.
John describes this chapter of his Gospel as taking place duringthe festival of Booths. This festival, still observed by Jewishpeople, has two kinds of significance:
- it is a harvest festival,
- it commemorates the period when the people of Israel lived intemporary shelters during their travelling in the desert beforethey entered the 'promised land'.
On each day of the festival in Jerusalem, in the time ofJesus, there were ceremonies using water brought from the pool ofSiloam (a pool fed from a spring, mentioned in both the Old and NewTestaments and which partly survives to the presentday).
The life-giving water reminded people about God who giveslife and recalled how God sustained their ancestors during the timein the desert.
Perhaps, when Jesus speaks about thirsty people coming to himto drink, he and his hearers are watching this water being pouredout. John says that Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit, whichwas to be poured out to resource his followers after his death andresurrection.
To Ponder
Do we take for granted the gift of life? How canyou find a moment to pause each day to remember that gift?
In your travelling through the places and eventsof your life, what sustains you? What gives you the inner resourcesfor the challenges you face? Do you sometimes forget that you needsuch resources?