When Jesus met the Samaritan woman, He talked about living water, but what does that mean? While Jesus was traveling through Samaria on the way to Galilee, He stopped and rested by a well. While Jesus was resting, a woman approached the well in the heat of the day to fill her bucket. Then Jesus asked her for a drink. She was surprised a Jew would ask her for one because Jews refused to have anything to do with Samaritans.
John 4:10 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.” [1] In the Old Testament, many verses talk about thirsting after God. Psalm 42:1As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. 2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him? [2]
Living Water Allows Us to Face Life’s Challenges
The Samaritan woman was coming to the well in the middle of the day because she wanted to avoid other women who came in the cool of the day. In our story, she reveals she had five husbands and was now living with a man, not her husband. The shame she experienced must have seemed overwhelming as she tried to avoid people.
In this situation, Jesus entered her life to show her a different way. John 4:13 Jesus replied to the woman, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 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.”[3] As Jesus promised to give her living water, He claimed to be the Messiah. Only Jesus the Messiah could give a gift that satisfies the soul’s desire.
Living Water Changes Us
John 4:15 “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.” [4] As Jesus spoke to the woman, she thought she would never have to return to the well if she drank this water. She was interested in what Jesus was saying because she thought that would make her life easier.
If this happened, people who make Jesus their Savior would do so for the wrong reason. Jesus did not come to take away every life challenge but to transform us from the inside. When transformed from the inside, we can better handle the issues of life. After her encounter with Jesus, the woman who had gone to the well in the middle of the day to avoid others was now busy telling others about Jesus. Jesus’ living water changed the Samaritan woman. Jesus wants to transform us as we place our faith in Jesus. He gives us the ability to face life’s challenges, not escape them.
To learn about living water, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-woman-at-the-well
[1-4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Tyndale House Publishers.