“On the last day of the feast… 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink'”
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: 'Streams of living water will flow from within him.' (John 7:37–39 BSB)
What it sounds like today
A dramatic saying; the stage directions mean nothing to us.
The cultural key
The feast is Sukkot (Booths), and its signature ceremony was the water-drawing: each morning priests processed to the pool of Siloam, drew water in a golden pitcher, and poured it out at the altar amid trumpet blasts, praying for the year's rain; the nightly celebrations were so exuberant the Mishnah says whoever has not seen the rejoicing of the water-drawing has never seen rejoicing. The rite also carried prophecy: living waters flowing from Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:8, read at the feast) and water from the rock in the wilderness. Into the last and greatest day of a week of water liturgy, Jesus stands and shouts that the thirsty should come to him.
Recovered meaning
Timing is the sermon: while the city celebrates water poured at the altar, Jesus claims to be what the ceremony asks for. The rock, the rain, and Zechariah's river all get a forwarding address.