Living Water

John 4:10:  Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.'"

As one reads through the fourth chapter of John, one is taken back by the powerful exchange that Jesus would have with a Samaritan woman.  Previously, at the beginning of the chapter, one finds that the Pharisees received news that Jesus' disciples were baptizing more people than John's disciples.  To be sure this would have been news that would have caught the attention of the religious leaders, for John already had seen a tremendous response of people in the region to his baptizing and calling to repentance.

The Pharisees knew that Jesus was a great teacher who had come from God, for they knew that "no one could perform the miraculous signs . . . if God were not with him" (John 3:2).   Jesus then left the area and returned to Galilee.  Although there is no explanation of why Jesus quickly left Judea, I believe that Jesus did not want His ministry to bring exaltation to Himself, outside the calling and will of the Father who sent Him.  In fact, Jesus later shared with His disciples that His "food" was "to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work" (4:34). 

On His way to Galilee, the Scripture says that Jesus "had to go to Samaria" (4:4).  Even though Jews did not associate the Samaritans on account of their centuries of intermarrying with non-Jewish people (even refusing to traverse the ground on which the Samaritans lived), Jesus determined to go right through the region.  It was important for Jesus to demonstrate to His disciples that His salvation was not restricted to the Jewish people alone; it was for all people.  During the trip, He became tired and stopped to rest at the watering hole known to be the great patriarch's (Jacob's) well in the land near Shechem.  It was here that Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman with quite a checkered past.  She had been married on five previous occasions and the man with whom she now lived was not her husband.   The woman was quite taken back at the initiative of Jesus in talking with her, for she knew of the disdain that the Jewish people had for the Samaritans.   But Jesus was determined to share with her the hope of salvation through the Living Water (Jesus Himself).

The woman did not see the significance of Jesus' statement about His providing Water to her, for she lapsed into the pragmatism of how He would get the water drawn from the well.  Apparently, she expected Jesus to have His own jar or pot to draw the water and questioned Jesus' petition given His lack of supplies.  She too questioned Jesus' boldness to offer Living Water, which appeared to be a statement of superiority even to the patriarch in whose name the well had been known well over a thousand years.

Jesus was not deterred in His Word to the Samaritan woman.  He exclaimed that the water from Jacob's well would not bring lasting relief; however, the Water that He was able to give her would satisfy her forever.  This Water was from a "spring, welling up to eternal life."   The woman was intrigued.  In a rather blunt exchange, she said, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."  Knowing that the woman was responsive to His initiatory calling to receive His Water, Jesus then addressed her sin problem.  He knew that she had lived a wayward life, having been in and out of a number of relationships and most recently living with a man who was not her husband.  So, when she denied that she had a husband, Jesus challenged her denial by sharing her past with her.   The woman perceived Jesus to be a prophet, but He told her that salvation was coming through the Jews, and the promised Messiah was in fact He!  Jesus would be the one that true worshippers would worship in spirit and in truth.  He was the One in whom people would find the Water that would bring eternal life

The woman went back to the town in haste and shared with the people that Jesus had recounted her past, and she asked "Could this be the Christ?"  Many of the townspeople returned to the place where Jesus was and a number of them put their faith in Him.  The woman's testimony sparked an interest to the point that the people responded by seeking out this proclaimed Messiah, and when the people heard for themselves the gospel (good news) of Jesus, they believed that Jesus was indeed the Savior of the world.

This is a good word for us today.  In the midst of "living water substitutes" (i.e. false religions and philosophies) that are not the way to salvation, Jesus Christ Himself has come into the world to bring the true Living Water of God's grace to those who yearn to be quenched by it.   He is the source of eternal life, for it is His death and resurrection that provides the atonement for our sins.  What we must do is respond like the Samaritan woman and those within her community.  We must believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world.  We must confess our sins against Him, and we must receive His gift of mercy offered through His own death and resurrection.  We too must surrender our lives to His rightful reign over us.  By this, we receive the gift of God's pardon and adoption, and we are granted eternal life.  It is then that the thirst of our souls is quenched forever.  Thanks be to God for His Living Water!