The Parables And Teaching Of JesusSample

Rivers of Living Water

The Dead Sea Scrolls directly connect God’s Spirit with water: God “will cleanse him [the righteous] of all wicked deeds . . . like purifying waters He will shed upon him the spirit of truth.” In rabbinic literature, water is a symbol for wisdom, an aspect of God’s Spirit. Rabbi Akiva said, “The disciple who is beginning can give only water it has received; the more advanced disciple is a spring giving living water.” Believers who drink from Jesus’ well will have the Spirit of God flowing out from them.

The Greek is somewhat ambiguous as to whether Jesus is the source of this water or if the believer is the source (having drunk from the well). The Gospel of Thomas reads, “Jesus said to them: ‘I am not your teacher. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring that I have tended.’ ” In this view, Jesus was saying believers have the same access to the Spirit—to God as the source of all life—as he does.

Who in your life has been a source of wisdom?