Never Be Thirsty

Never Be Thirsty

Having lived in both Las Vegas and Dubai, I have experienced extremely hot temperatures. Regardless of dry heat or humid heat, both were still hot. I grew accustomed to taking a water bottle with me everywhere. I kept my water bottle at my desk as I constantly drank throughout the day. I even had a glass of water by the bed to drink during the night when I woke up. The first thing I still do when I wake up is drink about 16 oz of water. My husband has often teased me that I drink beyond the recommended amounts of water (he exaggerates), but one thing I know for certain is that no matter how much I drink on a given day, I will be thirsty again.

Can you imagine never being thirsty again? No filling your glass up. No buying bottled water (Dubai’s tap water could have bits of sand in it, so we bought bottled water). No trying to remember if you drank your eight 8 oz/day. No growing tired of drinking glass after glass of water. Physically, this side of heaven, we need water, but the woman in today’s account learned that spiritually she need never be thirsty again.

This may be a familiar passage, but I encourage you to pause for a minute and read for yourself John 4:3-26, 39-42 as it is a lengthy passage to include here. As we study today, we will reference these verses, but if you read the entirety, you have the full picture before we begin.

Before we dig in, let me say that there is too much in this passage to cover everything. In my study, there were a few things that jumped out at me, so those highlights are what we will consider today.

3 He [Jesus] 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.[1]

Luke 4:3-6

These opening verses provide context. Jesus is traveling from the Judean region in the south of Israel to the region of Galilee in the north. The direct route was through Samaria, but most Jews travelled across the Jordan River to the area of Perea (modern day Jordan) to skirt Samaria because “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (vs 9). Then they crossed back over the Jordan in the upper east corner of Samaria and on to Galilee. Verse 4 tells us that “He had to pass through Samaria.” Jesus had a purpose beyond reaching Galilee, and that purpose meant He chose to go to Samaria. He was seeking to save an outcast people.

It is worth noting that John describes Jesus as “wearied as He was from His journey.” It is good for us to be reminded of Jesus’ humanity. He had been walking for roughly 30 miles (my best guess off of Google maps, depending on His route). Even if that guess is off some, that is still a lot of walking, so Jesus sits by Jacob’s well.

A Samaritan woman came to the well with her water jar. She was seeking water. Jesus does something unthinkable. He talked to the woman. “The normal prejudices of the day prohibited public conversation between men and women, between Jews and Samaritans, and especially between strangers. A Jewish Rabbi would rather go thirsty than violate these proprieties.”[2] It is interesting in light of that statement Jesus would rather go against these proprieties and even go thirsty than miss the opportunity to seek this woman. Although thirsty Himself, Jesus’ purpose was to reveal to this Samaritan woman her deepest need.[3]

Jesus piques her interest by His reply to her question of a Jewish man speaking to a Samaritan woman. She came to draw water. Jesus came to draw her to Himself.

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.”[4]

Look at the three things Jesus replied with: the gift of God, Who it is that was talking to her, and the offering of living water. I don’t know what was running through this woman’s mind, but she again questions Jesus. She focuses on the physical water when Jesus is offering her something infinitely better – life-changing, living water (used figuratively in the Old Testament to describe divine activity). The Samaritan woman came with an empty bucket, but Jesus saw and addressed her empty heart.

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.”[5]

“Never be thirsty again. . . eternal life.” Jesus is offering lasting satisfaction. His living water automatically wellsup to eternal life (compare this to the difficult labor of drawing physical water up from the well), and the woman is still focused on her empty bucket. So, Jesus directly addresses her heart.

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”[6]

Jesus not only demonstrated His omniscience, but He revealed the Samaritan woman’s sin and need for a Savior. The Samaritan woman doesn’t deny the truth of what Jesus says, but she also doesn’t repent. She again questions Jesus, bringing up an ancient debate about where to worship (vs 19).

Jesus is not diverted from His purpose of seeking this woman, of drawing her to Himself. He tells her that “the hour is coming…” (vs 21). Jesus is referring to His death which will change everything. He also tells her that “salvation is from the Jews” (vs 22). This was probably not something the woman wanted to hear, but Jesus was a Jew, and salvation is through Him alone. Jesus continues, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (vs 24).

“God is not one Spirit among many. This is a declaration of His invisible nature. He is not confined to one location. Worship of God can be done only through the One (Jesus) who expresses God’s invisible nature (1:18) and by virtue of the Holy Spirit who opens to a believer the new realm of the kingdom.”[7]

The Samaritan woman is beginning to understand, and Jesus makes the truth abundantly clear.

25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”[8]

This revelation sends the Samaritan woman back to town without her bucket to tell the town and invite them to come and see. “Can this be the Christ?” (vs 29)

39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”[9]

Jesus sought these Samaritans when He deviated from the acceptable travel route. He sought the Samaritan woman when He spoke to her. Jesus sought to fill empty hearts with living water, and many ended up believing in Him as the Savior of the world.

Reflection

1. Where have you been focusing solely on a physical or temporal need or want and missing what God is trying to do with your heart? Be specific. This does not mean that the physical need might not be important like the Samaritan woman who needed water from the well, but is it your focus or is being conformed to the image of Jesus?

2. The Samaritan woman wanted to debate a physical place of worship (vs 20). The place was what mattered to her not Who she was worshipping. True worshippers know that Jesus is the Truth and the Way, yet we often worship other things – family, jobs, sports, security, reputation, etc. The Bible calls these idols of the heart. They are often good things that we over desire (desire more than God). Ask God to search your heart. What might you be worshipping other than Jesus?

3. What is your testimony when you talk with others? Are your words words that will cause others to believe in Jesus or draw them to Jesus’ words that they might believe?

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 4:3–6. [2] Edwin A. Blum, “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 285. [3] Even though Jesus asks for a drink (vs 7), we never read in this account that He actually got a drink. [4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 4:10. [5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 4:13–14. [6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 4:16–18. [7] Edwin A. Blum, “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 286. [8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 4:25–26. [9] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 4:39–42.