John 2:19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel provides the background for this promise of Jesus. In ezekiel 47, the prophet envisions a rebuilt temple with water trickling out from under the altar.

He then sees these drops of water become a river that flows to the Dead Sea - a body of water 1,400 feet below sea level with a saline content of 35 percent. The prophet's vision concludes with the Dead Sea coming to life. "Wherever the river goes...everything will live" (Ezekiel 47:9).

Jesus fulfills this vision - and then some! Living water flows from Christ to us. It begins with just a trickle. Jesus tells Nicodemus that we are born again through water and the Spirit. The river picks up momentum when Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that He gives living water. Then the surge. "Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water'" (John 7:38).

Then, in one ironic twist for the ages, this raging river of life is reduced to just a trickle, until it completely dries up. "I thirst" (John 19:28). Here is Jesus, crushed and cursed by the sin of your life and mine.

"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19). Jesus is alive. His river, when coupled with God's mighty Word, is a baptismal river of life. It forgives our sin, quenches our thirst, and defeats our death.
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