Christ as Living Water
Living water symbolizes the inner experience of the Lord as the flowing Spirit. To gain a deeper understanding of its aspects, we can follow the repeated use of this symbol from Genesis to Revelation.
In Eden, there is a river that waters the garden. The river flows into areas where gold and precious stones are found. Gold symbolizes the incorruptible divine nature, while precious stones result from the transformation of earthly elements. The holy nature and the transformed human nature coexist where the river flows.
In the vision of the New Jerusalem at the end of the Bible, gold, precious stones, and a river in a flowing state are also featured. In the place where God and man dwell together, there is a flowing river, both in the garden and in the holy city.
The divine presence in our consciousness offers an experience like flowing water. Through this experience, the symbolic representations become clearer as they align with our current inner reality.
At Marah, the Israelites faced bitter waters. They couldn't drink it and complained to God. The divine solution was to cast the tree into the water to fix the problem. However, God's deeper diagnosis was more revealing. He indicated that the people needed healing and that He would be Jehovah Rapha, the one who heals. The bitterness of the water was a sign of their underlying illness. That was God's assessment. The bitterness resulted from an inner condition that required healing.
In our lives, some bitter experiences that seem unbearable are often caused by inner sickness. We think the problem lies with the bitterness of the water, but there is a deeper underlying cause. As the inner sickness resolves, the bitterness goes away. Our own need to experience Jehovah Rapha must be considered when life brings us to Marah.
The tree cast into bitter waters symbolizes the cross of Christ. To navigate Marah, self-emptying is needed. Bitter experiences teach us about the cross. Self-emptying includes letting go of criticisms, judgments, and opinions. Christ becomes our Physician during such times to heal inner sickness.
After passing Marah, they reach Elim with twelve springs. Experiencing the significance of the cross helps us move on from Marah. From bitter waters to life-giving springs. After a period of struggle, there is rest and enjoyment. All sojourners experience Marah and Elim on the journey towards dwelling in the Promised Land.
At Horeb, Moses strikes the rock for water to come out of it. Apostle Paul interprets this rock as a symbol of Christ. Out of the smitten rock, water flows. The blessing of the Spirit flowed out to humanity from Christ, being the smitten rock.
The writers of the Psalms experience the river. Having known the inner gladdening, the psalmist says: There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. River, gladness, and God’s presence are combined into a single expression.
In another Psalm: He leads me beside still waters. There is an element of rest with these waters. Also: You cause them to drink of the river of your pleasures…for with you is the fountain of life.
We see the experience of a source that gives enjoyment. The inner experience of the river is present among the psalm writers.
The prophets also speak about the life-giving water. God’s key complaint, delivered by Jeremiah: They have forsaken me, the fountain of water. We are aware of our need for water, but we don’t avail ourselves of the fountain. There is divine disappointment on this point.
Isaiah writes that God will pour streams on the dry ground and pour His Spirit. He speaks about drawing water out of the wells of salvation with joy. He echoes the invitation to freely receive the Spirit by saying, “Everyone that thirsts comes to the waters, and he that has no money.” The motif of water, Spirit, and receiving is present together.
Drinking from the fountain in response to our thirst is an aspect of experiencing and enjoying God. There is a need to receive from a source that is deep, endless, and ever flowing.
Christ invites people to drink of the living water. If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Christ speaks about rivers of living water that would flow out of their innermost being. The gospel writer’s explanatory comment is that this refers to the Spirit that the believers were to receive. The experience of the Spirit within the human spirit is likened to living water flowing out.
Elsewhere, Christ says: The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The water fills with life (zoe: eternal, divine, uncreated life) and eventually flows out of our being. The water is not only for us to drink but also to participate in its further flow. The water is available; it can flow in and out.
The believers experience the one Spirit. Paul wants the believers to recognize that they have been given to drink of the one Spirit. To Titus, he speaks of the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. To the Ephesians about having cleansed her (church-bride) by washing of water.
Inner experience is represented as drinking, regeneration, and washing with water. This water supports the new life.
The holy city has a river of water of life. Revelation, a book full of symbols, returns to the river metaphor. There is a vision of a river of water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God. The invitation to come to the waters, first seen in Isaiah, is also in Revelation: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him who thirsts freely from the spring of the water of life.
The Bible ends with a stronger repeat of the invitation, where the Spirit and the Bride say: And let him who is thirsty come, let him who wills take the water of life freely. That invitation is the final word in the divine revelation, underscoring the importance of the living water.
The mystics also bore poetic witness to inward reality.
The soul is like a fountain, and from the fountain flow rivers of living water when it is united with God.
– St. John of the Cross
The Lord leads the soul to a delicious garden, where there is a stream of water so clear and pure that it reflects his face.
– Saint Teresa of Avila
Our Lord is a river of mercy flowing without end, and all may drink of it.
– Julian of Norwich
God is a fountain flowing itself, and the soul that rests in Him becomes a stream of His own being.
– Meister Eckhart
They use the language and symbols of the Bible to attest to its alignment with the content of their consciousness. This is a palpable reality to them.
The river can be inwardly experienced. The flowing water spans the entirety of scripture. But its fulfillment is only found through the personal experience of every believer. This water flows in a place where God is present with man. This place is both our innermost being and the city of God. It brings pleasure, gladness, rest, and renewal. It is something to drink, that is, to receive into our being. It is freely available to anyone with an undefinable thirst for something beyond oneself.
Man is to make conscious contact with God in this way. God, the Spirit, transmits Himself into man as the water of life. In divine communion, we will sense a flow, as promised by Christ Himself.
Bitter experiences and sufferings also need to be understood in this context. All things are for us to be watered and to water others.
The supply of this stream will renew us, refresh us, and direct us on The Way. The divine stream brings a person into a spiritual union with God. In this union, one can live and walk by the Spirit, lead a normal human life, and meet every demand that the day presents with this inner flow.
