Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst." -John 4:13-14
One of my favorite narratives in the Bible is in the Gospel of John chapter 4. It is more commonly known as the "Woman at the Well." As this chapter opens, we find Jesus leaving Judea (southern Israel) and heading north to the area of Galilee. In verse 4, we have an interesting choice of words: "Now he had to go through Samaria" (emphasis added). This is key for a couple of reasons. First, it is important to know that Jews and Samaritans were not particularly fond of each other, going back centuries before the time of Christ. Secondly, because of this animosity, it was quite common for Jews to travel a day or two out of the way just to avoid going through Samaria. So it is interesting that it mentions Jesus had to go through Samaria because geographically, he actually didn't. But as we find out later on in the chapter, He did in fact have to go through Samaria because there was a divine appointment to keep.
When we reach verse 6, a fatigued Jesus sits by the well and it is noon (some Bible translations say "sixth hour"). As He is sitting by the well during the hottest part of the day, a woman comes to draw water from the well. Most women of that day would draw their water either in the early morning or the evening when the weather was cooler but for some reason this woman is drawing water in the middle of day. As we find out later, this woman had quite a past: married and divorced five times and was currently living with a man who was not her husband. I'm sure she was the topic of most gossip in the town and wanted to draw water when the others wouldn't be there to criticize her lifestyle in front of her. Many times we are like that as well. We are ashamed of our past and the things that we have done or are currently involved with. I'm sure when the woman was getting married the first time, she had no intention of getting divorced but we live in a world where things rarely go as planned. Flash forward four more marriages and four more divorces and you have a woman would had probably given up on love. She probably didn't want to get married again so settled for just living with the guy. Similarly, we all hit a point in our lives where we want to give up. We don't believe that our life can get any better and we settle for things that we shouldn't settle for. Until one day God gets our attention...
As the woman approaches the well, Jesus asks her for a drink (remember Jews and Samaritans don't get along). After a bit of dialogue, Jesus tells the woman, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst." Let me clear up that Jesus had no intention of giving her literal water that would eliminate all thirst forever. I believe Christ is referring to eternal life and the salvation He alone can provide.
The well can serve as perfect picture of this woman's life. So many times, this woman had come to the same well of love and marriage over and over again. So many times she had carried the same burdensome water jug to that well hoping that this time the thirst would be satisfied. So many times she found herself having to come back to the well hoping this time would be different. Then one day, carrying the same burdensome water jug, she met her Savior. He didn't offer to carry her jug. He didn't offer to fill her jug for her. Instead He offered her something even better: she never has to come back to that well again. Jesus is able to meet all of her needs. No longer would she have to depend on the love of another. Too many times, human love is fickle and changes depending on how someone is feeling. But God's love doesn't change. It doesn't matter what you have done in the past, what you are doing now, or what you will do, God loves you just the same. And that never changes.
My favorite part of this chapter are verses 28-29, "Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said, 'Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?'" What happened after the woman met Jesus? She left her water jar with Him. The burden that had caused her so much grief and heartbreak was behind her and left in the presence of the One who has the strength to carry it for us. Jesus didn't have to ask to carry the burden, she willingly left it behind.
If we are willing to meet God with whatever troubles we are going through, whatever burdens we have to carry, whatever past we have lived, He is willing to take that all from us and give us new life. Notice how Jesus didn't force her into conversation but simply made Himself available to meet her needs. God is available to you right now and is ready to meet your needs. You just have to be willing to leave your water jar behind.
No comments:
Post a Comment