“Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, give
Me a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water’“ (John 4:10)
A couple of weeks ago, I spoke about the loss of electricity in our home. We
were without power, as it turned out, for a total of four days. It was an
interesting experience to learn about life without power. And now we have had
another interesting time – our water was cut off. A workman accidentally cut the
main water line to our home. This time the outage didn’t last so long – only one
day. But it was fascinating to feel anew the effect of something lost that we
have taken for granted most of our lives.
I thought about people in places like the Sudan, many of whom have no
electricity at all and also undoubtedly struggle for water on a continuing
basis. It was on a Wednesday afternoon that our water was lost and it wasn’t
restored until slightly earlier on the following day. On Thursday mornings I
teach in a convalescent home in another city and the lack of water made a
difference. I always take a shower in the morning. All of a sudden, I couldn’t
do it. How would I be awake sufficiently to teach that study? With the lack of
water, I now had to choose between rinsing a plate after eating or having a
drink of water. In a place like the Sudan, the choices would be infinitely more
severe. The options could include a small amount of water on your sick child’s
forehead or having a sip of that water yourself.
We’re going to talk about another kind of “water,”
more precious and necessary than anything this world has ever conceived or
thought about. In today’s Scripture, we find that Jesus of Nazareth had returned
to the Roman Province of Galilee, a hilly place which, at the time, was an area
of oak trees and fertile plains. It had been a long walk to the place and even
though Jesus was fully God, He was also completely a man. He was hot, tired, and
very thirsty.
It was at that point He came to a city called “Sychar”
and met “a woman of Samaria” who had come to the
well to “draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink,” which would not have been an unusual
request, except they had different ethnic backgrounds (John 4:7). She was
surprised by His request, asking Him, “How is it that You,
being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” And the
Scripture continues at that point: “For Jews have no
dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:9). Isn’t it amazing when you think
about it? In that verse we are looking into the face of cross-cultural prejudice
so profound that the one group would not even SPEAK to the other, let alone ask
for help if they needed something.
The Lord God has no prejudice against anyone. Quite the contrary, as
indicated in many places in Scripture, He loves every one of us without limit,
whatever labels may surround us, and He loves you and your outward appearance,
no matter what you are like.
Jesus heard what she then said, but He would not be drawn into some kind of
debate about injustices of the past, for she, like the rest of us, was facing a
deeper need that had to be met. He said, “If you knew the
gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have
asked Him and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10). You have
to wonder as she did, what IS this “living water”
all about?
Whatever this “living water” may be, it
certainly contains physical characteristics that are very different from the
water we partake of on this earth. Jesus pointed at “Jacob’s
well” (Verse 6) which was right next to the two of them at the moment,
and said, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst
again.” And then He began to describe this “living
water.” He said, “Whoever drinks of the
(living) water that I shall give him shall never thirst;
but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water
springing up to eternal life” (John 4:14). What God gives to us does not
wear out like the things of this world. When you receive this “living water” from Him, it will satisfy you forever.
She then tried again to engage Him in a theological debate, but He dodged it
once more, giving her and us a glimpse of how we can receive this “living water.” He said, “… true
worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the
Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must
worship in spirit and truth” (Verses 23 and 24). Two things are apparent
here that are important for us right now: 1) we find this “living water” through worshiping God, and 2) it is
something of the Spirit of God, rather than being merely a substance of this
world.
Mrs. Charles E. Cowman, in her famous book, “Springs in
the Valley,” quoted someone she only referred to as “Farrar,” with these words: “My
mother’s habit was every day, immediately after breakfast, to withdraw for an
hour to her own room, and to spend that hour in reading the Bible, in meditation
and prayer. From that hour, as from a pure fountain, she drew the strength and
sweetness which enabled her to fulfill all her duties, and to remain unruffled
by the worries and pettinesses which are so often the trial of narrow
neighborhoods. As I think of her life, and all it had to bear, I see the
absolute triumph of Christian grace in the lovely ideal of a Christian lady. I
never saw her temper disturbed; I never heard her speak one word of anger, of
calumny, or of idle gossip; I never observed in her any sign of a single
sentiment unbecoming to a soul which had drunk of the river of the water of
life.”
The mother of this “Farrar” found the “living water” Jesus spoke about and she did it on a
continuing basis. As described, she “had drunk of the
river of the water of life.” The young Farrar saw what she did and
recognized clearly that she obtained this continuing wonder through her daily
encounters with the Lord. And that is where we must look as well.
You NEED water. All of us do. And we all KNOW we need it. We can stop taking
some form of water into our bodies for a short time and probably we’ll get away
with it, but in just a few days, if we persist in refusing water, we will begin
to suffer. You might say, “Well, I’ll drink tea or coffee
instead,” but as we all know, those drinks contain the water that is
necessary for life. We NEED that water. And we need “living
water” as well. Much like the physical water that helps our bodies in a
variety of ways, the “water” Jesus gives is
essential as well.
When we trust in the Lord, something of God Himself is given to those who
believe, which is expressed in a variety of ways in Scripture, including this
reference to “living water.” Like the water of this
world, if we receive we will live, and if we don’t, we won’t. The Scripture
itself reveals both the need and the availability of this water: “Let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the
water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).
Lord, we trust in You. Give us “living water”
that we may truly LIVE. In Jesus Name. Amen.
