Samaritan Woman at the Well – Part II

John 4:11-15
The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

Yesterday we had seen the Samaritan Woman at the Well – Part I. Jesus sat at the well in Samaria and a woman came there. Jesus asked her for some water and thus opened a conversation with her. Jesus has His own way of opening conversations with different people but the goal is one and the same; that is to bring them to the knowledge of sin and repentance. When we become aware that we are sinful and error prone, that is when we seek God’s forgiveness. He is ever ready to forgive us but without enlightening us of our sinful human nature, we would never seek His forgiveness with a broken spirit and a contrite heart.

Jesus instantly won the woman’s respect and we see she addressed Him as “Sir”. She is wondering how He can draw the water as He had nothing to draw water with from the well so deep. She has a valid question in that physically it is impossible to draw water from a well so deep without the proper equipment. He who is a well of water would not need anything to draw the water. He is the one out of whom the well of water flows to the entire human race. She continued to ask Him from where He can get the living water. She now was curious to know where and how He can get the so called living water. To me this Samaritan woman seems to be a curious woman and Jesus built up her curiosity by giving answers that provoked her to ask further. When we run to Him with a curious heart, He definitely provides us with answers. The answers can be found in the Word of God that is full of verve.

She is asking Jesus if He was greater than their father Jacob who gave them the well which provided for Jacob, his children and his cattle. Had she known whom she was talking to, she would not have asked Him the questions she was asking. Christ will not reveal Himself to us, as He did not reveal Himself to the Samaritan woman, until we come to Him with a contrite heart. Although this woman was curious, she did not trust the Master at this point and was questioning His greatness compared to Jacob. Jacob had to look up unto this Master while Jesus was with God, the Father. This woman was humble in that she was not ascribing any greatness to herself. She did not give up when He spoke of the living waters as it was incomprehensible to her limited mind. She wanted to know what these living waters was and hence tried to figure out with her intellectual capacity based on logical reasoning.

Jesus’ answer to her was: “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” His answer was something that will move her from her curiosity zone to a desiring zone. He will make us reach a point where we give up and simply yield to Him. She is now at the point of climax where she in her human ability tried her best to figure out what these living waters was and with no means of knowing what He is referring to simply gives up. He said that whoever drinks of the water from the well before them will thirst again but whoever drinks of the water that Jesus shall give shall never thirst. The water that Christ gives shall be a well of water in the person and springs up to eternal life. John 7:38 says, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” The key to this well of water is belief on Jesus Christ. This well of water can satisfy for a lifetime. Breath of God, Spirit of God and Word of God are in this well. The Breath of God will be breathed on us as long as we seek His breath in us. The Spirit of God will constantly fill us and overflow us as we keep absorbing and squeezing out the Spirit of God on others. The Word of God was in the beginning with God and is with us now and is what speaks to our hearts and addresses our every need. The Breath of God will keep us alive; the Spirit of God will overflow us like a river; the Word of God will feed us and fill our hungry souls.

The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. The woman’s response here is a classic example of a desiring heart. She desires these living waters so that she is never thirsty. Her desire is still physical because she is saying that she need not come to this well after she receives the living waters from Jesus. The desire is good but the desire still circles around the physical need. Jesus has to bring her to a state where she surrenders to Him with a repentant heart and seeks spiritual cleansing rather than dwelling in physical state. This woman is trying to satisfy her physical thirst so she could avoid visiting the well to draw water. This reflects that she was tired of hiding away from the other women who drew water from the well during the earlier hours. When we have a quest for God, it usually starts out of a physical need but God moves us to a state where we no longer concentrate on our physical need but move to a state where we just desire His forgiveness and simply seek Him and commune with Him. He sees the desires of our heart and the honesty in it and responds to it in a sweet way. He would either bring the right fellowship our way or puts the right Word in our ear or makes us read His Word that convicts us. His ways are mysterious and we cannot discern it with our human abilities. All we can do is surrender to Him completely! Are you ready to surrender to Him and accept what He is giving unto you?

Jeremiah 17:13 says, “O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.” May the loving and living Lord help us to seek the Lord God who is the fountain of living waters! These living waters have the power to quench the thirsting in our souls. Seek and ye shall find the living waters!

Tomorrow: Samaritan Woman at the Well – Part III