Question on John 4:13-14 - How do we drink of the water from Jesus?
score:4
John Calvin's commentary on this passage affirms that "water" means the Spirit:
Though the name Water is borrowed from the present occurrence, and applied to the Spirit, yet this metaphor is very frequent in Scripture, and rests on the best grounds. For we are like a dry and barren soil; there is no sap and no rigour in us, until the Lord water us by his Spirit. In another passage, the Spirit is likewise called clean water, (Heb 10:22,) but in a different sense; namely, because he washes and cleanses us from the pollutions with which we are entirely covered. But in this and similar passages, the subject treated of is the secret energy by which he restores life in us, and maintains and brings it to perfection.
There are some who explain this as referring to the doctrine of the Gospel, to which I own that this appellation is fully applicable; but I think that Christ includes here the whole grace of our renewal; for we know that he was sent for the purpose of bringing to us a new life. In my opinion, therefore, he intended to contrast water with that destitution of all blessings under which mankind groan and labor. Again, living water is not so called from its effect, as life-giving, but the allusion is to different kinds of waters. It is called living, because it flows from a living fountain.
He finds that the reference to the spring or fountain has a particular significance:
For he does not say that, from the very first day, we drink so as to be fully satisfied, but only means that the Holy Spirit is a continually flowing fountain; and that, therefore, there is no danger that they who have been renewed by spiritual grace shall be dried up. And, therefore, although we thirst throughout our whole life, yet it is certain that we have not received the Holy Spirit for a single day, or for any short period, but as a perennial fountain, which will never fail us. Thus believers thirst, and keenly thirst, throughout their whole life; and yet they have abundance of quickening moisture; for however small may have been the measure of grace which they have received, it gives them perpetual vigor, so that they are never entirely dry. When, therefore, he says that they shall be satisfied, he contrasts not with Desire but only with Drought.
Shall be a fountain of water springing up into eternal life. These words express still more clearly the preceding statement; for they denote a continual watering, which maintains in them a heavenly eternity during this mortal and perishing life. The grace of Christ, therefore, does not flow to us for a short time, but overflows into a blessed immortality; for it does not cease to flow until the incorruptible life which it commences be brought to perfection.
The final paragraph shows the relevance of this passage to Calvinist ideas of irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints.
To me, this text brings to mind Matthew 20:20-23 and Mark 10:35-40, where Jesus asks his disciples "Can you drink the cup that I am to drink?". This question has been variously interpreted as referring to:
- Martyrdom
- General troubles and pains of life, not necessarily martyrdom
- Baptism
- The Eucharist
- Receiving the Holy Spirit
- Living a Christ-like life
It may not be possible or desirable to separate these meanings. Calvin's commentary is happy to assign multiple interpretations to the cup, since they are all bound up in the same idea.
Upvote:2
John records many stories where Jesus is talking about something physical with spiritual undertones. Jesus calls Himself the Bread of Life, the Good Shepherd, and the Gate for the sheep.
This really speaks to the fact that mankind is not purely physical, but are also spiritual beings.
We can identify with physical hunger for physical bread. Jesus indicates that there is a spiritual hunger and that He Himself is the only thing that can satisfy that as the Bread of Life.
In this passage, Jesus identifies that there is a physical thirst with which all of us can identify. He uses that to show the woman at the well that her own needs were not merely physical. She had a spiritual thirst that could only be satisfied by spiritual water, and Jesus was the only source of such water.
There is a hunger that food cannot satisfy. There is a thirst that water cannot quench. There is a longing that nothing in this world can satisfy. The hunger, the thirst, and the longing are not for physical things, but are for spiritual fulfillment which is found in God alone.
More post
- 📝 What is this (presumably Catholic) uniform?
- 📝 Why was Jesus able to silence his critics simply by pointing out that the Messiah was both Lord *and* son?
- 📝 What are the teachings of Catholic Church on the implications of gender-change by individuals, in their life-after-life?
- 📝 What O.T passages do premillenialists believe to be about the Millennial Kingdom?
- 📝 Did Martin Luther think John Calvin is a "son of the devil"?
- 📝 Have any married couples been canonized at the same time?
- 📝 Is "Rapture" or "Caught up alive" in contradiction to God's words "Dust to dust"?
- 📝 Is "A mighty fortress is our God" anti-Catholic?
- 📝 Did Polycarp, the alleged disciple of John, know of and endorse the 4th gospel, three letters or Revelation as authentic writings of the apostle John?
- 📝 Do Christadelphians believe Jesus is God?
- 📝 What is the origin of the Doctrine of Trinity?
- 📝 Why is Judges 20:46 so 'over the top'?
- 📝 The role of monks and their appellation in 18th century?
- 📝 Are our sins of the future forgiven? (John 20:23)
- 📝 Do orthodox Christians fast on Monday to exceed the righteousness of the pharisees and scribes?
- 📝 What evidence is there that Jewish weddings staged a mock kidnapping of the bride?
- 📝 Does R.C. Sproul elaborate on his position regarding images of Christ?
- 📝 Protestant denominations that reject solas?
- 📝 What constitutes consent to marriage?
- 📝 What is the biblical argument against the claim that Jesus is just "a god", but not "God Almighty"?
- 📝 What does mean the fact of washing the feet of the disciple by Jesus?
- 📝 What is the basis for King Melchizedek actually being Jesus? Where did this idea come from?
- 📝 How old is old earth creationism?
- 📝 How did Brigham Young become the most well-known Mormon leader (after Joseph Smith left the scene)?
- 📝 According to the Mormon doctrines, who created the universe?
- 📝 Spectrum of Interpretation on Great Flood
- 📝 In modern times, what would happen to a Roman Catholic monk if he were to violate his monastic vows?
- 📝 What significance do Catholics see in the fact that Adam and Eve 'knew each other' only after original sin?
- 📝 Interpretation of Genesis 15 - 17
- 📝 How do Lutherans who accept apostolic succession trace theirs?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Question on John 4:13-14 - How do we drink of the water from Jesus?
- 📝 How is the Christian Jesus different from the Muslim Jesus?
- 📝 How could Jesus be descended from the royal line of David if he was born of the Virgin Birth?
- 📝 How can John the Baptist be the greatest man born of woman, when Jesus was also born of woman?
- 📝 How does the view of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints about Jesus Christ differ from Protestant Trinitarian Christology?
- 📝 John 1:18 - "No one has ever seen God" - How do Trinitarians reconcile this scripture with the belief that the Lord Jesus Christ is God?
- 📝 How do Eastern Christians explain Jesus "sending" the Holy Spirit in John 15:26?
- 📝 How long had John the Baptist been preaching before Jesus started his public ministry?
- 📝 How does the Jehovah’s Witness view of who Jesus Christ is differ from Protestant Trinitarian Christology?
- 📝 How do those who interpret John 10:30 as a claim to full divine equality by Jesus also interpret John 10:29, which says the Father is greater?
- 📝 How do people become the sheep that Jesus speaks of in John 10?
- 📝 Why did John the Baptist preach repentance through water baptism and specifically how is that different than repentance through ashes and sackcloth?
- 📝 How was John the Baptist, as a child, protected from Herod's soldiers?
- 📝 How did John the Baptist or Jesus fulfill Malachi 3:3?
- 📝 How do Latter-day Saints answer the question of why human beings are not created with a perfect character from the outset?
- 📝 According to Trinitarians, in John 1 is Jesus both the Word and the Light, and if so how do we make sense of John 1's wording?
- 📝 How much of the text of the Gospel of John can be substantiated by early copies and quotes from early Church Fathers?
- 📝 How do deniers of Jesus preincarnate existence handle all the personal pronouns in John 1, particularly verse10?
- 📝 How do Christians that believe in creatio ex nihilo answer the question of why human beings are not created with a perfect character from the outset?
- 📝 How do Trinitarians explain that Jesus himself claims He is a man who has heard things from God at John 8:40?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church quote any saying of Jesus to which His question in John 14:2 can be attributed?
- 📝 How many people saw Christ Jesus rise from the dead?
- 📝 How long was Jesus in the tomb?
- 📝 How is Jesus not lying in John 7?
- 📝 How could Jesus be born during the reign of Herod, and when Quirinius was governor of Syria, if those periods were not contemporary?
- 📝 Where can I find out more about other people rising from the dead, when Jesus died on the Cross?
- 📝 Why did the apostle John call himself, "the disciple whom Jesus loved"?
- 📝 How do modalists understand the role of Jesus as mediator?
- 📝 When and how did the names Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John get attached to the gospels?
- 📝 What was the specific trap being set for Jesus by the Pharisees in John 8?