At the Festival of Tabernacles, Jesus heard and saw the Israelites displaying their soul’s thirst for the unconditional love of God.  The prayers, ceremonies and scriptures used during the feast demonstrate an understanding of the soul’s thirst for God.  We are all afflicted with a chronic restlessness that can only be satisfied by God.  Despite a volatile environment, where the Jewish leaders were looking to kill Jesus, he is overwhelmed by a message that he must cry out.  John 7:37 Anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.

Am I thirsty?  Are we thirsty?  That is the one condition that Jesus gives us.  We don’t have to be smart, good looking, put together, successful, or worthy in any way.   The only qualification is thirst.  I think there are often times in our lives where we either deny or medicate our thirst.  The Pharisees denied their thirst as well, often trying to earn their salvation.  Do you ever feel yourself trying to earn your salvation?  The Israelites often rebelled in the old testament, forgetting the many times God delivered and blessed them.  Do we have spiritual amnesia as well?  In times of rebellion, we often go to other wells for our soul’s thirst.  We fashion gods from our own hands.  Those gods take the form of idols in our lives like money, sex, alcohol, drugs, family, entertainment, sports, fame, etc.  Where do you go in times of thirst?  In the end, all of these things wither away…they numb our thirst, but do not satisfy it.

Jesus teaches us that he is the rock that is struck in the Exodus passage.  Instead of God justly striking the rebellious lot, he puts his presence by the rock before the elders.  He tells Moses to strike that very rock.  This was a foreshadowing of the soul quenching water that Jesus would bring.  On the cross, Jesus took the place of us all, to pay for our foolishness.  In Him, we can be cleansed, renewed, restored by his living water.