“Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” John 4:10-15
It’s what he does. It’s what he gives. Jesus, the Messiah, Christ, Son of God, came to restore life. In this passage and interaction with the Samaritan woman, he offer this in the form of “living water.”
The Samaritan woman was drawing still water from a well. It wasn’t running water but still water from a hole in the ground. It was indicative of her life and sin. Shame buried deep within a hole. Water coming from somewhere hidden deep below in darkness, stillness, death. But Jesus was offering living water, the woman must of thought of running water from a river, fresh, clean and alive.
But Jesus offers even more than this. He offers water that will quench all of her thirsts. It’s not a simple satisfying drink from a well that one day will go dry. Jesus presents the water of eternal life without shame but with hope found in a God who never gives up on his people be they Jew or Samaritan, male or female.
The conversation finally resides in less talk and more action when the woman is convinced and says to Jesus, “Give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again.” But before she could drink from the well of eternal life she first had to acknowledge her sin, turn from her shame and repent of a life lived a part from God. Before the woman could embrace life she had to face death, turn from it and toward the light of life. (This is why Jesus says to her in the next verse — “Go and get your husband.”)
The good news is this — Jesus offers all people living water. It’s not only for the Jews, the perfect, the holy or the right. It’s for the broken, the bent and the bedraggled. It’s for the saint and sinner, the wayward and the weary. The water that Jesus gives will satisfy our thirst for all of eternity because in it we discover who we are and whose we are.
Will you drink of this living water? Will you turn from sin and shame to the Savior? Discover Jesus’ living water today and after you drink, share this with the world.
“O Lord God, you are good. When my love fails, your love remains steadfast. When I am broken, you mend my soul. Come now, Holy Spirit, infuse my body with your love. Contain the sin that so readily seeks to destroy my life, and turn me toward holiness and hope. For you are good and your love endures forever.” Amen