Jesus the Rushing River of Life: Isaiah Devotional Journal 69

Devotional on Isaiah 32:2 Septuagint

Septuagint 32:2 And a man shall hide his words, and be hidden, as from rushing water, and shall appear in Zion as a rushing river, glorious in a thirsty land. (CAB, LXE Brenton)

The man …will appear in Sion, like a rushing river, glorious in a thirsty land. (NETS)

Jesus is “the man” (See previous post Isaiah Devotional Journal 68). Jesus came that we might have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). What is more essential to life except water? Water is even more essential than food. Jesus is the water of life.

John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (ESV)

The Septuagint teaches that Messiah the King would come to Sion “like a rushing river, glorious in a thirsty land.”

Jesus Is the Water of Life

Jesus freely gives the water of life, himself, to every thirsty person who comes to him and asks.

John 7:37-38 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'” (ESV)

And, Scripture of course teaches that Jesus offers his rushing river of life freely, without cost.

Isaiah 55:1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (ESV)

Isaiah contains many, many verses about water in the desert. My life was a desert before I knew Jesus Christ. When I first turned to him, I felt a spring welling up from my stomach inside of me.

But, There Was a Cost for the Water of Life

Although we receive the water of life freely, without cost, there is in fact a cost. Jesus himself paid it. Read this verse carefully, thinking about Christ as the Water of Life.

John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” (ESV) (Psalm 69:21)

Jesus himself was cut off from life, thirsty. The Spirit is the life, the Spirit is of God, and the Spirit is of Christ. God is Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

Remember when Jesus was baptized? The Holy Spirit descended upon him as a dove (Luke 3:22). And then, the Holy Spirit led him into the desert to be tempted (Luke 4:1). Wherever Jesus went and preached, the Spirit of God accompanied him. And then  at Calvary, Jesus thirsted.

What Does This Mean?

Psalm 51 is the psalm of the repentant sinner. When Jesus died on the cross, he became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). This psalm teaches that Christ repented for us. When he died, he took our sin with him. Our sin died with Christ. (Hallelujia! Because Christ rose again, but our sin didn’t. We who believe in Him rose with him, but not our sin.) Yet the cost for Christ was great. What does the psalm say?

Psalm 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and remove not thy holy Spirit from me. (LXE)

Then there is Psalm 22–

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Psalm 22:1 ESV)

Jesus is the water of life. He gives us the water of eternal life springing up from our hearts. Yet, there on the cross, the giver of the water of life himself was thirsty.

Very God of Very God

Jesus is the Christ, Messiah. He is very God of very God. My finite mind cannot grasp what it was like for Jesus, Messiah, God, to die and be buried. Yet I do know that when he contemplated that painful death, he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). Was it just the thought of great physical pain that caused him such agony? Or was it the knowledge that in his dying, he would be cut off from God?

Please understand. Jesus incarnate was always God. He never ceased being God, God eternal, without end. Yet he was also a man. His death remains a mystery, like the Trinity itself. Nevertheless, I know that Jesus thirsted. And I know that his experience on the cross was very dark. And I’m thankful that he did this for me. For me and for you and for everyone who brings their thirst to him.

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