Throughout this series in the Gospel of John we have been reminded time and time again of who Jesus is and why He came into this world.
“He was God in the flesh, 100% God and 100% human being.”
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact representation of God’s nature (Hebrews 1:3) and lived as a perfect human being on this earth, without a single sin or blemish.
He came to fulfill every one of God’s commands and walked in perfect obedience to His Father for our sake, died in our place as our perfect Sacrifice so that everyone who believes in Him may have life, that is eternal life in His name.
“He came to save us and then to transform our lives from the inside out.”
In the first three chapters of John (1:12, 3:15-16, 36) John is teaching us about the universal, comprehensive promise of eternal life that is given to those who place their faith in Christ - faith in all He accomplished on our behalf. He did not come to condemn the world but that the world might be saved and experience eternal life through Him.
1 So then, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that He was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing; rather, His disciples were), 3 He left Judea and went away again to Galilee. 4 And He had to pass through Samaria.
5 So He *came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6 and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, tired from His journey, was just sitting by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria *came to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away to the city to buy food. 9 So the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, though You are a Jew, are asking me for a drink, though I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 She *said to Him, “Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do You get this living water?
12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and 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 shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.” 15 The woman *said to Him, “ Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw water.” (John 4:1-15)
In John 4, we see Jesus:
Breaking down barriers
Opening up opportunities
Revealing the Source
Breaking down barriers
In this passage, Jesus is traveling with His disciples to Samaria and stops at Jacob’s well for a break. While the disciples head into town to buy some food, along comes a woman from Samaria. The timing she came was telling as women would normally come in groups to draw water, either earlier or later in the day when the heat of the sun wasn’t so fierce. Most likely the woman came at this time alone, and far from her home to avoid any public shame (John 4:16).
Let’s look at verse 7 - as this woman comes to the well, Jesus, who is tired by the day's journey, is waiting there and asks her for a drink. She is shocked that He is even speaking to her.”
Jews and Samaritans would rarely have any contact with each other because the Jews did not want to be defiled by a Samaritan, let alone a Samaritan woman.
In her shock, she asks Him, “how could You a Jew even think of asking me, a Samaritan, for a drink as “Jews do not even touch the dishes Samaritans have used.”
But Jesus converses frankly with her, and happily breaks social and religious barriers to do so. Jesus could care less about her gender, ethnicity, behavior, beliefs, her standing in life or moral reputation - He didn’t take an “us vs. them” mentality.
“He treated her like a valuable human being made in the image of God. ”
Opening up opportunities
In verse 10 He said,
If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water (John 4:10).
This woman has no idea what He means by the “Gift of God.” What would God want to give her? And who is the one giving it? All she knows is that this well was a gift from their forefather Jacob. It had been there for over 18 centuries and, interestingly, is still in use today. It was estimated to be about 80 meters deep.
Jesus said to her that there is a far greater gift that comes from God which will do far more than just satisfy your natural thirst.
Water is one of the most common symbols for life, for the Holy Spirit in the Bible. Since water is indispensable for human life, the phrase “living water” is a fitting and relevant metaphor for the deeper life, the spiritual life. The life that the Spirit imparts to the human heart.
Reveal the Source
Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life (John 4:13-14).
Jesus was saying: You can drink from this well, but no matter how many times you come to this well or how much you draw from it, you will be thirsty again.
This woman was tired of coming to the well day after day, tired of all the work and lack of satisfaction, the emptiness of broken promises and unrealized dreams. The well was too deep and on several occasions it had run dry. She saw this in her life and…
The woman *said to Him, “ Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw water.” (John 4:11)
She wanted the life that Jesus was telling her about. He revealed the source of life to her - pointed to Himself as the only Source of eternal life, the only One who supplies this fresh, abundant, fulfilling life.
Only when we are diving deeply into the Word and firmly planted and rooted by the streams of living water will we be refreshed in our spirit. It’s only drawing from that Source that will we be able to meet our own life’s demands and out of that overflow be able to minister to others.
We cannot change our past, and we may not be able to change our present circumstances, but we have the choice each day whether we will draw from natural wells or from Jesus’ streams of living water.
Psalm 1 speaks about the blessing of taking time to meditate on the Scriptures. It is not an emptying of yourself like eastern religions suggest, it is taking time to fill yourself with the living Word and asking the Holy Spirit to fill you. Psalm 1: 1- 3 gives us a clue and the solution.
Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do (Psalm 1:1-3).
When Jesus is your Source of life, He will satisfy your deepest longings. Your longings for a place to call ‘home’, a place of settlement and security - which is our final home in heaven.
He satisfies your longing for significance and purpose. He satisfies your longing for intimacy and the sense of connection with another - with the transcendent, with the almighty God of the universe who loves with a perfect, intimate, and everlasting love.
“When the Lord satisfies your longing then there is freedom to enjoy this life, even when life’s well runs dry,”
even in times of overwhelming heat, your soul can be refreshed with living waters.
When Christ is your Source of life, when you are planted by the streams of living water, it is there that Christ calms your heart and mind so you have stability, peace, and courage especially in times of great difficulty, adversity, and upheaval.
Spending time with the Lord by meditating on His Word will develop your character - you will become a person of faithfulness and integrity.
As you grow in your relationship to Christ, as you abide in the Vine, your life will produce fruit.
Remember that Jesus met you at your well, as the Spirit of God spoke to you He broke down your barriers and opened the opportunity for you to see the true source of life so that your longing for life would be fulfilled.
