Water is a very important symbol in this gospel. In this saying, Jesus promises not only that spiritual thirst will be satisfied in those who come to him but that from them there will flow out the power to help others. John wrote on behalf of the Church which had experienced the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and he identified the life-giving water, of which Jesus is the source, with the power of the Holy Spirit/ (compare 1 Corinthians 12: 13). The phrase, 'Jesus had not yet been raised to glory' (7:39), refers to his death and Resurrection; the word 'glory' will be used again in this way by the writer. In one sense the Spirit of God has always been working in the world, but in another sense the Church could only experience the unique outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the believers after the death and Resurrection of Jesus.