Living Water

Memory Verse:
“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”  John 4: 13 and 14

Do you remember a time when you were so thirsty your tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth?  I read of people being in the desert for a long time without water, looking for an oasis, who have had this problem.

 I have never been that thirsty but I do remember being so thirsty that my mouth was dry. There have been a few times that I have had to fast for a day or so, not only from food but also from water, because of lab tests or surgery. At those times I really wanted a drink of water. 

When Jesus walked this earth He was fully God but He became thirsty at times, because He was also fully man. One day He was in Samaria, alone without His disciples. They had gone to buy food.  He sat down beside one of the wells Jacob had dug years ago. 

While He sat there a Samaritan woman came to draw water.  Jesus asked her for a drink.  She was very surprised because Jesus was a Jew, and Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans.  So she asked Him why He was asking her for water. She had no idea who He was.

Jesus told her that if she knew who He was she would ask Him for living water and He would give it to her.  She didn’t understand.  She just said, “How could you?  The well is very deep and you have nothing to draw the water with.”

Jesus replied, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

The Samaritan woman then asked Jesus to give her this water so she would never thirst again and never have to come to this well again. She still didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about.  Living water springs from an unfailing source and is never ending.  Jesus was talking about eternal life that only He can give.

Jesus was so kind and good to her just like He is to us.  He wanted her to have the living water.  He wanted to give her eternal life.  So He revealed Himself to her.

“Go get your husband,” He said to her.

“But I don’t have a husband,” she replied.

“I know you don’t have a husband,” Jesus said. “I know you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not even your husband.”

Then the Samaritan woman knew that this was not just an ordinary man.  She thought he must be a prophet. 

Finally Jesus told her plainly that He was the Messiah that she had heard was coming some day.  She believed Him because she knew that no one but God could know all about her past without someone telling Him.

She quickly went to tell her friends that she had met a man who told her all that she ever did. So she and many of the Samaritans believed in Jesus that day; they believed that He was the Christ. They received that living water, eternal life.

In the same way we too can believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross for our sins. And in the same way we also receive living water, eternal life.

Going Deeper for Parents:

The Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans.  During the Exile, Samaria, the area between Judea and Galilee was populated with captives from other lands. The Jews in this area then intermarried with the foreigners so the Jews no longer accepted them as pure Jews. The Samaritans stopped worshipping at the temple in Jerusalem and began worshipping in Samaria on Mount Gerizim.

The Samaritan woman refers to this, telling Jesus that the Jews expect them to worship in Jerusalem.  Jesus then enlightens her telling her that someday it won’t matter where you are; you will be able to worship God anywhere.  He was referring to the time after His ascension to heaven when the Holy Spirit would come and dwell in each believer. 

Jesus added, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Christ is saying that worship is a matter of the heart.  We don’t need to go to a temple; we can worship God anywhere.  Our heart needs to be right with God; aligned with the truth in His Word, the Bible.

 The issue is not where we worship but how and whom.  The Bible says that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; no one can come to God except through Jesus. Jesus is the only way to God.