John 4:1-19
1 Now 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 are now with 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.”
A Life-Transforming Conversation at the Well
On a scorching afternoon, Jesus found Himself sitting by Jacob’s well in Samaria, weary from His long journey. As He rested, a Samaritan woman approached, coming to draw water. Little did she know that this simple act would mark a life-changing moment. Jesus, thirsty from the heat, asked her, “Will you give me a drink?”
The woman was surprised. “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” Jews and Samaritans did not associate with each other, and this woman wondered why Jesus, a Jew, would approach her, a Samaritan woman.
But Jesus, with compassion in His eyes, replied, “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.”
Living water? The woman, puzzled, asked, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?” She couldn’t understand, for she was accustomed to drawing water from the well. Jesus smiled and answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.”
Jesus wasn’t offering just any water; He was offering a water that quenches the soul’s deepest thirst—a water that never runs out, a water that leads to eternal life. This living water would not only satisfy her now but fill her with an unquenchable source of life, forever.
As the conversation continued, the woman began to realize that her thirst was not only physical but spiritual. She had spent much of her life looking for fulfillment in places that couldn’t satisfy, in relationships that left her longing for more. Yet here stood Jesus, offering her something that could truly fill her heart.
Then, Jesus asked her to bring her husband. This question stopped her in her tracks. “I have no husband,” she replied. But Jesus, in His love and understanding, gently spoke the truth about her life. “You have had five husbands, and the man you are now with is not your husband.” His words were not meant to condemn her but to offer her healing and redemption.
In that moment, the woman recognized Jesus for who He truly was: “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.”
What followed was a moment of profound revelation. Jesus, the Son of God, did not come to judge or condemn her for her past mistakes but to offer her the gift of living water that would change her life forever. Her heart, once empty and longing, now brimmed with hope. She ran back to her town to share her experience, saying, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
Her encounter with Jesus, a simple conversation at a well, transformed her from a woman living in shame and isolation to a bold witness of Christ’s love and grace.
Just as Jesus offered this woman the living water that satisfies forever, He offers us the same. No matter where we are in life, whether we are thirsty for love, purpose, or forgiveness, Jesus stands ready to quench that thirst. The living water He offers is not just for the future but for the here and now. It fills us with peace, joy, and eternal life.
Let us come to Him, just as we are, thirsty and longing, and receive the living water that will refresh our souls forever. Like the Samaritan woman, we can be transformed by an encounter with the Savior, and our lives can become a testimony of His love, grace, and truth.
Comments