Chapter VII · The Upper Room — J. C. Ryle
— John 7:37-381
“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”—John 7:37-38.
THE text which heads this paper contains one of those mighty sayings of Christ which deserve to be printed in letters of gold. All the stars in heaven are bright and beautiful; yet even a child can see that “one star differeth from another in glory” (1 Cor. 15:41). All Scripture is given by inspiration of God; but that heart must indeed be cold and dull which does not feel that some verses are peculiarly rich and full. Of such verses this text is one.
In order to see the whole force and beauty of the text, we must remember the place, the time, and occasion when it comes in.
The place, then, was Jerusalem, the metropolis of Judaism, and the stronghold of priests and scribes, of Pharisees and Sadducees.—The occasion was the feast of tabernacles, one of those great annual feasts when every Jew, if he could, went up to the temple, according to the law.—The time was “the last day of the feast,” when all the ceremonies were drawing to a close, when the water drawn from the fountain of Siloam had been solemnly poured on the altar, and nothing remained for worshippers but to return home.
At this critical moment our Lord Jesus Christ “stood” forward on a prominent place, and spoke to the assembled crowds. I doubt not He read their hearts. He saw them going away with aching consciences and unsatisfied minds, having got nothing from their blind teachers the Pharisees and Sadducees, and carrying away nothing but a barren recollection of pompous forms. He saw and pitied them, and cried aloud, like a herald, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.”—That this was all our Lord said on this memorable occasion I take leave to doubt. I suspect it is only the keynote of His address. But this, I believe, was the first sentence that fell from His lips: “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me.” If any one wants living, satisfying water, let him come unto ME.
Let me remind my readers, in passing, that no prophet or Apostle ever took on himself to use such language as this. “Come with us,” said Moses to Hobab (Num. 10:29); “Come to the waters,” says Isaiah (Isa. 45:1); “Behold the Lamb,” says John the Baptist (John 1:29); “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,” says St. Paul (Acts 16:31). But no one except Jesus of Nazareth ever said, “Come to ME.” That fact is very significant. He that said, “Come to Me,” knew and felt, when He said it, that He was the Eternal Son of God, the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world.
There are three points in this great saying of our Lord’s to which I now propose to direct your attention.
I. You have a case supposed: “If any man thirst.”
II. You have a remedy proposed: “Let him come unto Me, and drink.”
III. You have a promise held out: “He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
Each of these points concerns all into whose hands this paper may fall. On each of them I have somewhat to say.
I. In the first place, then, you have a case supposed. Our Lord says, “If any man thirst.”
Bodily thirst is notoriously the most painful sensation to which the frame of mortal man is liable. Read the story of the miserable sufferers in the Black Hole at Calcutta.—Ask any one who has travelled over desert plains under a tropical sum—Hear what any old soldier will tell you is the chief want of the wounded on a battlefield.—Remember what the survivors of the crews of ships lost in mid-ocean, like The Cospatrick, go through. Mark the awful words of the rich man n the parable: “Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue: for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:24). The testimony is unvarying. There is nothing so terrible and hard to bear as thirst.
But if bodily thirst is so painful, how much more painful is thirst of soul! Physical suffering is not the worst part of eternal punishment. It is a light thing, even in this world, compared to the suffering of the mind and inward man. To see the value of our souls, and find out they are in danger of eternal ruin,—to feel the burden of unforgiven sin, and not to know where to turn for relief, —to have a conscience sick and ill at ease, and to be ignorant of the remedy,—to discover that we are dying, dying daily, and yet unprepared to meet God,—to have some clear view of our own guilt and wickedness, and yet to be in utter darkness about absolution,—this is the highest degree of pain,—the pain which drinks up soul and spirit, and pierces joints and marrow! And this, no doubt, is the thirst of which our Lord is speaking. It is thirst after pardon, forgiveness, absolution, and peace with God. It is the craving of a really awakened conscience, wanting satisfaction and not knowing where to find it, walking through dry places, and unable to get rest.