Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Good morning!
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.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?” John 4:10-11 (NIV84)
We read this story on Sunday. It’s a familiar story to many, unfamiliar to some. It’s a meeting between two cultures – the Samaritans and the Jews. Their cultures didn’t associate with one another. In modern terms, their enmity was akin to Catholics and Protestants in Ireland – or Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims in the Middle East.
Yet here is Jesus, strangely alone at the well with this Samaritan woman, and he asks for a simple favor – a drink of water. Most modern women would start reaching into their purse for a can of mace.
As I listened to this passage on Sunday, verse eleven really stood out to me – “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep.” This is a woman with a shameful past. We discover later that she’s had five husbands and she’s living with man #6. This is the woman to whom Jesus offers living water.
She’s confused, overwhelmed and simply in disbelief at the notion - but are we really any different? Are there sins in your life about which you’ve thought – “Lord, you’re powerful, but you just don’t have enough forgiveness for that.” There are in mine.
Don’t doubt Him – Jesus follows through. He descends into the well for us, draws for us living water with his very life. Because of Him, we stand on His promise:
Indeed, the water I give [you] will become in [you] a spring of water welling up to eternal life. John 4:14
In Christ,
Joe
