April 12 - Living Water

April 12 – Living Water

Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John—although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 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.)

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 4:1-10)

On Jesus way back to Galilee, he had to pass through Samaria.  Back in 2 Kings 17:24-41, we find that this group of Jews had been settled in Samaria by the King of Assyria.  Though they taught the locals about the Lord, there was intermarriage and worship of other gods.  It continued down through the centuries and there was such a break between the two groups of Jews, they never were able to blend again.  

For a true Jew to spend any time with a Samaritan was heinous and for a Jewish religious man such as Jesus to communicate with a Samaritan AND a woman was despicable behavior.  But, there it was – about noon.  Jesus would have been tired and thirsty.  Jacob’s well, a popular landmark was right there and down beneath the ground was cool water.

Did Jesus know that He was about to have an encounter with a woman who needed to meet Him?  I believe God ensured that this took place, just as I believe God sets Jesus in front of us when we most need to meet Him.

Jesus asked her for water, which startled the poor woman.  She couldn’t even imagine that He would speak with her, much less ask something of her. 

Then, He began to identify Himself for her.  This moment moves Jesus out of simply caring for those who believed they were the true children of Israel into caring for all of God’s children … even those who had been ostracized.

Jesus didn’t care about who He spoke with.  The poor, the Samaritans, the broken, the dirty, the heathens, the sick … He wanted to share His Father with everyone.  That’s a good model for us today – whether we like it or not.