Message summary: Have you received the living water Christ provides?

Listen to our message on your audio player.

"On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them'" (John 7:37,38).

This week observant Jews are commemorating the Sukkot, also known as  the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles, which was first commanded by Moses in Leviticus 23:42–43. After the Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites lived in temporary shelters or booths (sukkah) during their 40-year trek through the desert. Building and then dwelling in a temporary hut for seven days serves as an annual reminder of God’s protection, provision, and shelter during that wilderness journey.

This year of 2026 Sukkot started at sundown on Friday, September 25th and continues through nightfall on Friday, October 2, 2026. During this time families also travel and a favorite for orthodox Jews from New York and New Jersey is the Old Windmill Farm here in Lancaster County. I had planned to go over and help on Wednesday but we just received a call from Anna Ruth requesting help today as well so I will be going over this morning along with Ester. They expect huge crowds and are even offering camel rides so there will be plenty of excited tourists! My duty will be pulling a barrel train with a tractor.

Jesse made a Sukkah out of straw bales and it was even blessed by a Rabbi, I suppose something similar to food being “Kosher”, a term used to describe food that complies with the strict dietary standards of traditional Jewish law. Being a beautiful day I look forward to going over and will likely have some photos in a coming message. (The photo above is from three years ago. Click on it to enlarge.)

The festival in today's text is referring to the Sukkot and appears to be the only time in the NT it is referenced. Andreas J. Köstenberger, gives us an excellent background to help understand the impact of Jesus' words on the original hearers in this context. It's a long quote and has lots of references for the really diligent student but I will admit this is a topic I have never given much study to.*

This statement connects the festival’s water and harvest symbolism to Jesus’ role as the source of spiritual life and sustenance. "Come to Me and drink" is clearly Jesus' command to be saved from this crooked and perverse generation. That's a call not only to those on that day but for all of us.

In summary, the Feast of Booths in the New Testament serves as both a historical Jewish festival and a symbolic framework for understanding Jesus’ saving ministry, the provision of the Holy Spirit, and the eschatological hope of God dwelling with His people.

At a ministry center in West Africa a little girl climbed onto a truck that had a public address system. Smiling, she began to sing over the microphone:

Have you received the living water Christ provides?

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13.

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber