Episode 32 - Living water that gives eternal life

John 4:1   Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

John 4:7   A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

Chapter four is yet another story of Jesus having a one-on-one dialogue with another person as he did with Nicodemus. But, you should see some significant differences between their identity and status in society as well as their response to Jesus’ teaching. 

The first six verses give us the scene and set up this story for us. A few observations are:

1. Jesus makes a decision to return to Galilee where he had turned the water into wine and John mentions that he “had to go through Samaria. There were other routes from where he was. So, it’s not like it was the only way to get there. As we’ll see in this story and the rest of the book, the Father has a mission for Jesus and Jesus always obeys the Father.

2. John has clearly attested to Jesus’ divinty. But, he also told us in the prologue that the Word became flesh; meaning human. The fact that John mentions in this story that Jesus was weary from his journey is evidence that Jesus got tired. It’s evidence of his humanity.

3. Finally, the time of day is “the sixth hour.” In the accounting of time of that culture, the sixth hour was noon. Isn’t it interesting that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night? But, this lady will meet Jesus when the sun is highest in the sky and there is light. She will encounter the “true light” that came into the world.

Women going to get water out of a well was not unusual. But, going at noon? It’s more likely that they would come to the well early in the morning or later in the day; at times when it might be cooler. So, maybe she’s coming at a time when she believes no one else will be there. 

But, someone is there.  It is a man and it’s evident to her that he is a Jew. At her surprise, Jesus asks her for a drink of water.  In her response, we learn something about an existing prejudice Jews had toward Samaritans. She asks how it is that he would ask her for a drink. Perhaps she suspects that he wants something more than a drink of water.

My paraphrase of his response to her is, “If you understood what God wants to give you and knew who I am, you would have asked me and I would have given you living water.”  At this point, we can already recognize that Jesus has created the opportunity for dialogue by making a simple request for water. She could have given him some water to drink and continued on her way. But, she couldn’t leave it alone. She had to know why he would talk to her when most Jews would not. He uses the opportunity to turn the discussion to a spiritual direction. He’s talking about the Holy Spirit and eternal life.

She does not understand what he is talking about yet as is evidenced by her pointing out that he does have any means by which to draw water from the well. Furthermore, she challenges him by asking him whether he is greater than their common ancestor Jacob. 

Jesus then explains that the water he can give her is a different kind of water that will spring up from within her providing eternal life and will truly satisfy her “thirst.” 

It seems to me that Nicodemus would have walked away shaking his head in disbelief. The woman did not know anything about Jesus.  There were no signs, as there had been for the Jews, to cause her to want to listen to Jesus more. But, without any of that evidence and still not clear of what he’s offering, she does ask him for the water he is offering. She is saying, “I don’t really get what you’re offering. But, it sounds good and I want it.” 

I am in awe of the simplicity and the passion of her faith, as limited as it may be at this moment. Jesus isn’t finished yet. He will satisfy her parched thirst by the end of this story. 

Before we continue to the next episode, give some thought to the backgrounds and circumstances of both Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman . Maybe think about what our own prejudices might be and whether God has a mission for us in our own virtual Samaria. Ask God to lead us there and to give us the words to speak to those who are thirsty for spiritual truth and hope.