Jesus. the source of living water (John 4a)*

John 4:1-26

Key verse: “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." (John 4:14).

Introduction:

John focuses on two characters at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. As Jesus helped these two people, he also laid down the biblical truth about life and salvation. The one we learned about from Ch. 3 was Nicodemus, a well-educated man, who was learned in the scriptures, morally astute, powerful, and wealthy; he was the best man of any who had lived.

In this post, we will be learning about a Samaritan woman. She was not educated, had little knowledge of the scriptures, was not morally upright, and was living a down-trodden life. So we might say that she was on the other end of the human spectrum, being among the most helpless, powerless, and most morally degraded. Jesus met this lady at a well in Samaria and offered her living water. Through this offer, she began a conversation with Jesus and was led to find the Messiah through him, the source of living water. It became evident that, even to such a totally bankrupt woman, Jesus came as Savior and the source of living water.

A.      Jesus had to go through Samaria

In the end of Ch. 3, we were told that a conflict arose between the Jews and John’s disciples, regarding the issue of purification. Within this argument, it was told that Jesus baptized more than John. In order to diffuse their discontent, John spoke about his role and Jesus’ role;

“He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30).

At this time, the Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining more power over people by baptizing more people than John had, moving the red flag of warning from John to Jesus in their minds. This was a concern for Jesus, because he wanted to avoid a direct confrontation with the Pharisees and other authorities in Jerusalem until the time was right. So he decided to move away from Judea and go to Galilee. Here, the primary goal was to avoid meeting directly with either the Pharisees or with John and his baptizing ministry along the Jordan River near Aeon. There were two ways to get to Galilee from Judea (Jerusalem). One was by going through the Transjordan road, bypassing Samaria. If Jesus took this road, then he and his disciples would pass through the area where John and his disciples were baptizing. So John’s Gospel says,

“Now he had to go through Samaria.” (John 4:4).

These circumstances dictated Jesus’ choice to go to Galilee and also to travel through Samaria, instead of the Transjordan road. It was about ninety miles from Jerusalem to Galilee. If we look at the map, this road had more hills and mountains than the coastal or Transjordan road. Jesus’ company traveled about forty miles, reaching Sychar at noon. This was near Shechem, where more than two thousand years before this, their ancestor, Jacob, had bought a piece of land to settle as he returned from Paddan Aram. Also, Shechem was the capital city of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, before they were destroyed by Assyria in 722 BC. Therefore, this place was at the heart of Samaria with rich historical significance. When Jesus and his disciples arrived at about noon, he was so exhausted with thirst and hunger that he sat down beside a well for a rest, while his disciples went to the village to find something to eat.

B.      Will you give me a drink?

While Jesus was alone beside the well, a woman came to draw water. He opened a conversation with her by asking:

"Will you give me a drink?" (John 4:7b).

He looked tired and thirsty after a long journey; this woman could tell that he was in great need for a cup of water to refresh his body. However, when this lady heard Jesus’ request, she felt there was something different about him and asked this question:

"You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (John 4:9b).

To understand this interaction better, John made a note, saying that the Jews did not associate with Samaritans. The Assyrian Kingdom invaded the Northern Kingdom of Israel and destroyed it completely in 722 BC. At that time, about 30,000 Israelites were taken captive, and the land’s population was replaced with many non-Jews. So, over a time, Samaria became inhabited by mixed races, Jews and Gentiles, and mixed religions, mixing Jewish beliefs with other pagan ones. Because of this, the Jews did not consider Samaritans as members of their own people and treated them as pagan or apostate. To them, the Samaritans were not a part of Israel, did not have genuine faith in God, and therefore could not share in all the promises and blessings that God promised to Israel. Now, a well-dressed Jewish Rabbi was asking for a cup of water from a Samaritan woman. To her, this was all too strange, because Jesus was disregarding not only the ethnic barrier between Jews and Samaritans, but also the social barrier, a Rabbi speaking to a downtrodden woman, and the gender barrier between men and women. Far more intriguing for her was that he was asking her for help. If any engagement was possible between a powerful and authoritative Rabbi and the lowliest Samaritan woman, it must be some order, command, or rebuke of some sort. Instead, Jesus was expressing his need for help, putting aside all of his dignity and authority as a Jewish rabbi, while looking up at this most lowly and downtrodden Samaritan woman.

As she heard this, the woman felt something that she had never felt before; she felt worthy before this Rabbi. All along, she had needed help and mercy from others to quench her needs or her thirst for anything; her life was always at the bottom of the food chain of authority, respect, and honor. Actually, she had been living so long in such a mindset that she no longer counted herself as worthy at all. So, for the first time in a long time, she felt some worthiness as she heard this Jewish Rabbi’s request. Why was this Rabbi treating her so radically different from the way everyone usually did?

It is worth noting the difference between Jesus’ dealing with Nicodemus and his conversation with this woman. For Nicodemus, at the first word, Jesus blasted his idea, saying “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” (John 3:3). However, Jesus’ first words to this woman were humble, even lowering himself below her position; she had all that was needed to draw water, but he did not have anything and needed her help. Her mind was shut because she had been treated as a woman of no importance; she did not want to be associated with anyone, for it was almost certain that she would receive the same mistreatment she had been getting.

Jesus had compassion for this woman, and would not break the brokenhearted, no matter how much she was already broken and straying away from the Lord. Jesus literally came down from heaven to the earth and descended even further to the bottom of humanity, which was so broken that there was nothing left to salvage. This is a picture of humanity’s hopelessly broken state. Can a man or woman in such a totally downtrodden situation be restored to God?

C.      He would have given you living water

While the woman’s mind was puzzled, and yet still engaged, Jesus offered something unusual, a gift.

“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." (John 4:10).

Jesus did not say that he would give her a great gift; instead, he proposed three prerequisites.. In order for her to receive the gift, she had to be willing to accommodate or accept three things; she must know the gift of God, she must recognize who Jesus was, and she must be willing to ask him to give her that gift of living water. Actually, it is highly unlikely that she knew of this gift from God; she certainly did not know who Jesus was. Yet, in this way, Jesus introduced her to the fact that there was a gift from God for her and that he was able to give that gift to her. Simply, Jesus was asking her to believe in God and His gift. Was she trusting and then willing enough? A few minutes’ discussion could hardly create such trust in her. She raised this question:

"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 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?"” (John 4:11-12).

She was saying, “The gift of God is good; I am willing to receive that gift, but are you able to give it to me?” This offer hung on one question; who was this Rabbi? He did not give any claims at all about his identity or abilities. He spoke more about the living water, and he wanted to be believed as the one who was able to do as he promised. By his demeanor and appearance, she could discern that Jesus was a Rabbi; she could not go any further than that in her understanding. Yet, this Rabbi expected her to know him and also to believe in him. Can you believe that, after meeting him for a few minutes, you could figure out who he was? But, because of her need for this living water, and because of his favorable demeanor, the woman’s interest in Jesus deepened.

“Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 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."” (John 4:13-14).

Living water from God is an abstract concept, which makes it hard to guess what it is. Here, Jesus explained further about the living water. It is a particular kind of water, is good for quenching one’s thirst for good, and even wells up to eternal life. Throughout her life, this woman had been thirty - for comfort, for love, for respect, for honor, for joy, and for peace; however, so far, all the waters she had drunk from the well never quenched her thirst for these things. The living water she was being offered sounded like magic water! She felt that this living water was the exact thing for which she had wished for so long; therefore, she came out with courage. Jesus was a total stranger to her, but, after speaking with him for only a few minutes, she sensed that this Rabbi might be the man that could help her out; the living water might be the thing that she needed to quench her many thirsts in life. With faith in this man, she courageously answered;

“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."” (John 4:15).

She had lived a life filled with all kinds of desires, but none of them had ever been met or satisfied. Her life was one of dissatisfaction, pain, sorrow, uncertainty, fear, and hopelessness, yet could this be the best answer for her life?  She was hopeless, powerless, and helpless, walled in by many racial, social, and sexual societal norms. But, now for the first time in her life, she saw a glimpse of hope and willingly pursued it.

D.      Go and call your husband

Jesus wanted her to come out of her compartment; as he hoped, she wholeheartedly accepted his offer. Next, Jesus said something shocking to her:

“He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."” (John 4:16).

She was fully committed to receiving this living water because it was so good and believable; however, as she came to collect this free gift, Jesus asked her to bring her husband and come back. He was not asking a question concerning her husband; instead, he was looking for a specific fact in her life. Facts speak far more truth than one can express in words; also, a fact cannot be manipulated, disguised, or altered.

“"I have no husband," she replied.” (John 4:17).

Behind this fact that she had no husband lay many different possible stories; she may have been widowed, divorced, never married, and so on, yet all of these possibilities about her past were hidden from Jesus unless she revealed them of her own accord. She was practically hiding her life and was unwilling to expose her past life of sin and failures. We all want to hide our sins and failures in life; it is human nature because we know that convicted sin will surely bear judgment. We are fearful of judgment and are very afraid to admit that we are wrong, which calls for accusation and judgment. Therefore, we want to live our lives secret. One of the most important rights we have as a US citizen is the right to privacy; no one has the right to invade others’ privacy. This is true for all civilized human relationships; however, Jesus spoke out against such ethics:

“Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 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."” (John 4:17b-18).

First, he revealed that she had lived quite a life of sin. It is possible that Samaritans did not apply the Law of Moses as stringently as the Jews; however, even under a loose application of the Law, marrying five times was beyond the acceptable norm of Jewish society. In addition, she was now living with a man that was not her husband. She had lived and was still living an ungodly and immoral life. For a woman, finding a good and righteous husband was the way to have a successful life. This was understood then, and it is still true in some cases today.

How can we better picture her life? She married a macho man, one like a football star. After a year, she found that she could not share her delicate thoughts and ideas with this man, so she left him and married another man, a lawyer. He was powerful and rich, but she had little time with him to enjoy that life, since he was always working. So she left him also and married a college professor. He was very knowledgeable and kind, but, after a year, she realized that he was a nerd, and that they could not have an exciting life together. She found a nice gentleman, a well-known musician; she thought that she had finally found the right one. But, after less than a year of marriage, he left her, because he didn’t like her way of thinking. For her last and final effort, she lowered her expectations for a future husband and found a farmer. He liked her and she liked him, but she couldn’t bear working hard on a farm from morning until late in the evening. Simply, this woman was completely unable to cope with life on a farm. So one early morning, she left her house, leaving a letter of apology for her husband. Now she was living with a bum from the city of Shechem. This might be a plausible story for her life.  

She thought that, if she found a good husband, her life would be good, or at least ok. However, after these experiences, life’s futility sank into the depths of her heart. She did not know what to look or live for, because she had tried everything and failed. She felt that her life was empty and hopeless; she was always thirsty for something, but she could not fill the void. Even that morning, she had argued with her boyfriend, which had left her bitter, and decided to go out to draw water and escape such hopeless thinking.

What does her life teach us? Many of us actually have experienced similar pasts to hers. I don’t mean that we have changed marriage partners as many times as she had. Rather, I mean that what went through her mind and her life of trouble and hardships are more or less similar to what many of us have faced. If finding a good husband is the fulcrum of a woman’s life, then success in life (i.e. education, abilities, business, etc.) are the focal point of life for men. When a woman cannot arrange her life around having a good husband, this is trouble; a man’s life is troubling if he cannot structure his life around a being good provider, having a good education, or possessing desirable abilities or assets, then his life is troubling. However, does what a man or woman’s life revolves around determines their life’s success or fail?

This woman’s life had hit rock bottom, according to the Samaritans’ standards. She was rejected and downtrodden; humanly speaking, there was no one who lived worse than her. Apart from all of her past failures, Jesus offered her living water. This had nothing to do with her having a good husband or not, or with her ability or inability to do better; rather, it had to do with her willingness to believe and receive God’s gift of living water.

She had done everything she could to make her life better, but, in the end, she failed; there was no man that could satisfy her needs.

Why did Jesus expose her past? The story of her marriage was actually about her entire life, her beliefs, her way of thinking, her needs, her hopes, and her dreams. Without God, she had sought happiness in men. She was eager to get the living water, but God’s grace could not be imparted amid such falsehood. Sin must be recognized and resolved. Even though she lived such a wild and sinful life and had told Jesus a partial truth, he still accepted her answer as truth in his grace. This was a sign of his willingness to accept her as a child of God and to give her living water. Jesus, the Son of God, came down to earth to be one of us. Now, he was tired and thirsty from his long journey. Now Jesus came down further to this woman’s level, which had been totally messed up by sin and ungodliness, and was now offering her living water. This is the epitome of his grace.

  

As she heard Jesus’ words, she realized that he knew everything about her. How could he know these things unless he was from God? Actually, her life as a whole was laid bare before Jesus’ eyes, as if she was under God’s microscope; she could not hide anything from him, and she also felt God’s power through His Son.

E.       Where to worship?

Then this Samaritan woman asked:

“"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."” (John 4:19-20).

When Jesus offered her the living water, she commented that he did not have anything with which to draw water and raised her serious doubts about whether Jesus was indeed greater than her ancestor, Jacob. Jesus did not answer this question; instead, he led her to seek the living water that comes from God and then revealed what her past life had been. Over the course of this conversation, she obtained an answer to her question regarding his identity, and she confessed that Jesus was a prophet, a servant of God. Next, she brought up a question to which no one had been able to give her a satisfactory answer. Samaritans worshipped at Mount Gerizim (known in Hebrew Bible as Ebal). When the northern kingdom of Israel separated from the two southern tribes of Judah, the king of Israel set up a temple in Mt. Gerizim, in Shechem, in order to prevent his people from going to Jerusalem to worship. However, the Jews did not accept the worship performed on this mountain, because God had given only one place at which they were to worship, the temple in Jerusalem. The division between Israel and Judah became even more permanent when the Northern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed and about thirty thousand Israelites were taken captive by the Assyrian king in 722 BC. Their land was then repopulated by non-Jews, so Samaria became a mixed nation, losing their purity as Jews; this loss entailed not only ethnic purity but also their religious purity, since many nations brought their pagan religions when they came to repopulate the land. In other words, Samaria was a state of apostate, syncretic beliefs. Simply, as we noted in this woman’s case, the Samaritan people as a whole lived in great confusion regarding what to believe.

Now, as we can see in our nation of the United States of America,  maintaining core Christian beliefs has become more and more emphasized, as many foreign people have become part of the mainstream population. At the end of the Civil War, more than 90% of the American population identified themselves as Christian, and said their faith was firm and pure; today, the number of those who call themselves Christian hovers just above 70%, and, even among these people, many have syncretic or apostate forms of Christianity. If we call Protestantism the only biblical Christian faith, then this number falls to less than 50%. Believers today are just as confused as this woman or the other Samaritans of that day. Practically, the whole world is living in confusion because it is loaded with many religions, several of which conflict with each other. Recently, President Trump decided to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem for the purpose of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city. Politicians, world leaders, and international conglomerates are confused, not to mention many of today’s young people. The reason for this is because they do not know who or how to worship. Many remain cut off from God and live in confusion. This Samaritan woman is a visible example of such a life of confusion. Are you still unsure how to worship the Lord? Or how to make a real and meaningful connection with the Lord of heaven and earth? If so, then you are one of those who are confused.

How could she escape this life of confusion? Could Jesus lead her out of this confusion? Jesus gave her this answer: mankind’s most important and utmost purpose is to worship God.

God is the source of the true living water; up until this point, the Samaritan woman had had no clear understanding of how or where to worship. Now, for the first time in a long time, she raised a question because she was beginning to seek God.

"Woman," Jesus replied, "believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” (John 4:21).

The God of Israel made it unambiguously clear that Israel must have one place to worship - the temple in Jerusalem. God’s elaborate instructions regarding how to build this temple and how to conduct worship in it were detailed in the Law of the Covenant. If anyone did not participate in temple worship at least three times a year, they should be cut off from Israel and could not be counted as God’s people. The Samaritans had set up something similar to the Jerusalem temple; however, this was a man-made idea of what their purpose was. This Samaritan system was very similar to the Jerusalem temple, but it was not the genuine one that God had prescribed. It was a fake or syncretic formulation. The Muslim faith requires all of its followers to attend a few holy sites: Mecca, the holiest place, Medina, and the Dome of Rock in Jerusalem. Masjid al-Haram, the great mosque located in Mecca, accommodates more than 800,000 people, and during the annual worship time, more than two million people gather together to pray. All religions, more or less, have their temples or holy places. If God was going to do away with Jerusalem’s temple, the one He had prepared through and for His people, then what other worship places would stand? Furthermore, if He wanted to make worship open to all human races, wherever they are, then having only one place of worship would greatly hamper that vision.

“You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.” (John 4:22).

Doing away with places of worship does not mean doing away with the essence of worship, which God had revealed to Israel. He is the only God, and everyone must worship according to what He commanded through His people Israel. Jesus made it clear to the Samaritan woman that all that she knew and believed was incorrect, for God had revealed the truth through Israel. In this way, Jesus discredited all other religious establishments.

“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.” (John 4:23).

A time is coming and actually has now arrived, when the true worshippers of Christ will worship the Father in the Spirit and truth. The time had come to change how people were able to worship; up until now, people had had to go to Jerusalem and sacrifice a lamb. But that time was passing away and a new time was coming when all people would worship in the Spirit and truth. This worship would not be material or physical or involving rituals and formalities, but of our spirit in connection with God’s Spirit and His truth. Therefore, worship would be made possible anywhere and under any circumstances by anyone, as long as they were operating from within God’s Spirit and truth.

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." (John 4:24).

GOD IS SPIRIT. Our corrupted bodies and all of its being can never stand before His Spirit. Our bodies will die and decay in the ground, as God said (Genesis 3:19). We cannot honor the Lord with a mind that is captivated by the flesh, and we cannot carry it into the kingdom of God. However, the spirit that God imparts to us will carry us into His kingdom. This is of the truth, for it is from God. Even though Jesus loved this woman and wanted to give her living water, it could not be contained in a spirit fraught with falsehood, ungodliness, or sinfulness. Jesus unearthed what was in the depths of her heart in order to give her the living water. What is the truth? This seems like a very broad topic and too much to capture in a sentence, but Jesus said it most simply; he is the truth. What does this mean? How can Jesus the crucified be the truth? He was crucified; this is the truth, the truth that men sinned against God. This is the truth that God, in His grace, did not pay back man’s sin with His divine punishment. Instead, He gave us the hope of resurrection for those who believe in this truth. Therefore, all must worship in the Spirit, which Jesus embodied on the cross, and in the truth of which his cross speaks out against man’s sins and for God’s grace. Since Jesus revealed the Spirit and the truth upon his cross, God made all of the essentials of worship of the past non-essential, such as rituals, sacrifices, and clerical services, except for two, the Spirit and the truth. It is God’s love and desire to save the whole world; He opened the door wide for all human races, even for the ones like this lady.

Even if we have many right forms and rituals, and yet our spirits are not aligned with the Spirit of God’s son, Jesus, and our hearts are not in line with the truth that God revealed on the cross, then we are as far away from God as any pagans of this world.

F.       Jesus, the Messiah

To this Samaritan woman, Jesus’ answer was so good, full, and satisfactory. Every cloud hanging over her head was cleared up, and, for the first time, she could see clearly and crisply what to do. Who was this Rabbi? She came to have a strong sense who he might be and said this:

“The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." (John 4:25).

From the moment Jesus offered the living water, the woman raised the question of who he was. He did not answer her directly, but he led her to believe in the living water that he was going to give her. When Jesus revealed all of her past, the woman was firmly convinced that he was a prophet. As he provided the answer to the question she had held for so long, her mind was opened wide and she believed in him as the Messiah, the Christ. Who else can talk about worship so clearly and convincingly? No rabbi, Pharisee, or scholar would dare to say such things! Who else but the Christ!

“Then Jesus declared, "I, the one speaking to you-- I am he." (John 4:26).

Jesus simply confirmed what she had already believed in her heart. She was the most uneducated, ignorant, sinful, and ungodly person that society, as well as the most downtrodden and rejected. There was nothing worthy or salvageable in her life; however, in her virtually barren, wasted, and wild mind, Jesus planted faith and hope in God, the giver of living water. He is the savior, even for those like this lady. In a matter of a few minutes, she had found the answer for her life and was filled with joy, as John and Andrew were when they met Jesus at the beginning of his ministry; if you listen to him, you will surely come to know and believe him as the Savior of your life too. Anyone, no matter how of bad condition they might be in, can see the Savior if he or she will ‘talk’ with Jesus. Jesus, the Word of God, is the source of life and truth, and everyone can find living water in him. There is no warrior before Jesus, the living word, and the source of living water for all. The implication of this is enormous, not only for us but also for our service to others. Seek him, and talk with him in and through His word; then the living water will overflow in your life. Amen