Humble Hero

Weariness of the Worshipers Recognized

On the morning of the last day of the feast, the people were tired from the long festivity. Suddenly Jesus lifted up His voice: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” The people had participated in a continued scene of pomp and festivity, their eyes dazzled with light and color and their ears filled with the richest music, but there had been nothing to meet the wants of the spirit, nothing to satisfy the thirst of the soul. HH 209.8

That morning the priest had performed the ceremony commemorating the time that Moses struck the rock in the wilderness. That rock symbolized Him who by His death would cause living streams of salvation to flow. There in the presence of the multitude Christ set Himself apart to be struck, so that the Water of Life could flow to the world. As Jesus spoke, their hearts thrilled with a strange awe. Many were ready to exclaim, with the woman of Samaria, “Give me this water, that I may not thirst.” John 4:15. HH 210.1

Many who heard Jesus were mourning over disappointed hopes, nourishing a secret grief, or seeking to satisfy their restless longing with the things of the world, but among the glitter of the joyful scene they stood dissatisfied and sad. That sudden cry, “If anyone thirsts,” startled them, and as they listened to the words that followed, their minds lit up with a new hope. In the symbol before them they saw the offer of the priceless gift of salvation. HH 210.2

The cry of Christ to the thirsty ones is still going out, and it appeals to us with even greater power than to those who heard it in the temple on the last day of the feast. “Let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17. HH 210.3