Is there anything in human utterances more majestic and wonderful than
this saying of my text, 'If any man thirst, let him come to Me'? There
He claims to be separate altogether from those whose thirst He would
satisfy. There He claims to be able to meet every aspiration, every
spiritual want, every true desire in this complex nature of ours. There
He claims to be able to do this for one, and therefore for all. There
He claims to be able to do it for all the generations of mankind, right
away down to the end. Who is He who thus plants Himself in the front of
the race, knows their deep thirsts, takes account of the impotence of
anything created to satisfy them, assumes the divine prerogative, and
says, 'I come to satisfy every desire in every soul, to the end of
time'? Yes, and from that day when He stood in the Temple and cried
these words, down to this day, there have been, and there are, millions
who can say, 'We have drawn water from this fountain of salvation, and
it has never failed us.' Christ's audacious presentation of Himself to
the world as adequate to fill all its needs, and slake all its thirst,
has been verified by nineteen centuries of experience, and there are
many men and women all over the world to-day who would be ready to set
to their seals that Christ is true, and that He, indeed, is
all-sufficient for the soul.
Brethren, I do not wish to dwell upon this aspect of our Lord's
character in more than a sentence, but I beseech you to ask yourselves
what is the impression that is left of the character of a man who says
such things, unless He was something more than one of our race? Jesus
Christ, it is as clear as day, in these words makes a claim which only
divinity can warrant Him in making, or can fulfil when it is made. And
I would urge you to consider what the alternative is, if you do not
believe that Jesus Christ here sets Himself forth as the Incarnate Word
of God, sufficient for all humanity. 'I am meek and lowly in heart'—and
His lowliness of heart is proved in a strange fashion, if He stands up
before the race and says, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and
drink.'