A River of Living Water

Homily for Saturday of the Fourth Week in Lent

The Gospel passage for today features Jesus still in Jerusalem celebrating the feast of Tabernacles, a feast that was held at the time of the ingathering of the harvest. It featured small wooden shelters or tabernacles for the harvesters, water – a symbol for the rain – poured on the altar, and torches or lights in the court of the women. The children of Israel would gather in this courtyard after sundown where they would dance and sing and praise God for the bountiful harvest.

The passage for today begins by telling us that the crowd is reacting to something that Jesus has said. In verses that precede today’s passage, Jesus announces: ““Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’” Jesus is referring here to the gift of the Holy Spirit and is also identifying himself with Moses who brought forth water from the rock in the desert.

While some people react to these words in a posture of trying to understand who Jesus is and whether he could be the long-promised Messiah, several in the crowd respond to Jesus’s invitation with conflict and resistance. Some in the crowd are persuaded by his words; others think Jesus cannot be the Messiah because he comes from Nazareth. People are divided in their response to Jesus, and even the Pharisees cannot reach a consensus. Thus, at the end of the passage we hear, “then each went to his own house,” away from Jesus and away from each other.

Jesus, the source of living water, invited these people so beautifully and so intimately, and they went away confused. Teaching them was not enough, but Jesus perseveres in his mission and continues to preach and teach until the resulting conflict led to his death. There, on the cross, the source of living water poured himself out entirely to make his living water available to all.

We too benefit from Jesus’ continuing efforts to teach us through his word and his church. Just as it did in his day, these teachings can bring conflict or resistance in us or in others. The rivers of living water which he promises us are still available to us through prayer and the sacraments of the church. Through this sacred communion of spirit, the Lord shows us who he is and gives us what we most deeply desire and for which we thirst. At this table, may we heed our Lord’s invitation and find in him all that we need.