Rock Strike

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John 7:37-39

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

 
 

In Exodus 17, the Israelites are in the wilderness; they are thirsty and begin to complain and grumble. But the Lord is merciful toward them and provides water:

6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel [Exodus 17:6].

When Jesus is crucified, a Roman soldier pierces His side with a spear:

34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water [John 19:34].

The life that Jesus offers is life in the Spirit, and those who believe in Him receive the life of God. But before that life is available, Jesus will have to be “struck,” like the rock in the wilderness.

QUESTION OF THE DAY
Why is the Spirit so often compared to water?

 

Insight Into The Trinity

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John 5:19-29

19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

 
 

Here, Jesus is explaining the life and love the Son shares with the Father, through the Spirit.

  • The result of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is that those who are in Jesus—i.e., those who trust and believe in Him—also share in His Sonship;

  • Jesus is the Son, who, through His loving obedience to the Father, carries out the Father’s will;

  • Through His death and resurrection, all who trust Him have been adopted into the family of God;

  • The love the Father has for the Son is now poured out on us through the Holy Spirit.

This is another way of thinking about salvation, with trinitarian language—the Son came to bring us back into the love of the Father, and the Father’s desire is to share the love He has for the Son, and the Spirit is the love They share.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:
How is our understanding of God changed by understanding that God is trinity?