John 4:1-26
4:1Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John—2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” [1]
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What is striking in this passage is the abundant grace that Jesus shows and offers the woman at the well. Jesus broke through three barriers in order to do this.
- He spoke to a Samaritan, something most Jews sought to avoid doing.
- He discussed theology with a woman, something a rabbi would not normally do. Rabbis only took male disciples. Note that Jesus brings up the subject.
- He offered grace to a woman of questionable reputation. As we know from elsewhere in the gospels, Jesus was frequently opposed for consorting with known sinners.
If Jesus’ intent was to bring news of the kingdom to this Samaritan village, He certainly chose the most unlikely person with which to begin. But that is exactly what He does. He invites her to receive the living water He offers, water which would become a spring of water within her.
This is fascinating wording. He offers not only a spiritual drink to satisfy her thirst. He offers her a spring within, a water source within. Taking this metaphor a step further, he offers her not only water that will never run out, but that can in turn be offered to others. And that is exactly what she does. (But that will be tomorrow’s passage.)
So today in my prayer today I am offering God praise for His abundant grace to me, giving to me not only the living water, but a spring within that will never go dry.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 4:1–26). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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