John 4:13-14

Main Thought: Here we find a conversation in John’s Gospel that many of us are familiar with; the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. To the apostles of Christ, I’m sure it seemed very unusual that their Master would choose for them to go through Samaria, for Jews hated the Samaritans, considering them a defiled race and when traveling would do all they could to not go through that area. Also, for Jesus to speak to a Samaritan woman in particular was shocking to the apostles (John 4:27), and as we know from previous verses she was a woman of low reputation, having had five husbands and living with a man who was not her husband. She came to the well alone, initially because of her thirst physically and to avoid contact with the other women who came to the well, but Jesus came here by divine appointment because He knew the great need of her soul was not for physical water, but for the spiritual water that only He could give. When Jesus begins to speak to her, which was to her amazement, and begins to engage her in conversation it is very soon that He identifies the need of her soul. She tries to avoid Jesus’ inquiries by talking about Jacob and the proper place of worship, but it is clear that Jesus will not be deterred. He goes beyond her desire for physical water and speaks to her of water that He will give which will eternally satisfy the great need, the eternal need of her soul. This is a great truth that applies to everyone who is born into this world, searching for something to satisfy their souls but finding really nothing that gives lasting and eternal satisfaction. We were created by God to glorify Him, and until or unless Christ gives us this eternal water, this spring of eternal life welling up within us, we will wander through life separated from God and unsatisfied in our souls. Perhaps Augustine said it best when he said “Thou hast made us for thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.” The Samaritan woman sought satisfaction in human relationships with many men, but those relationships did not satisfy the longing or the emptiness of her soul. Others have sought that satisfaction in money, power, sex, alcohol, drugs, knowledge, and many other pleasures, but have come to find out, like her, that these things do not satisfy. When Christ says here that when He gives this water men will never thirst again, he means that His life, the life that He gives will eternally satisfy. This water that He gives is no mere trickle, it is no small cup or taste of water that temporarily satisfies, but it is an eternal spring of life that will never end; these are the “waters from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3) of which God is the source and supply. What a wondrous comfort and joy it is as a Christian to know that our souls, once wandering in the deserts of sin and darkness, are no longer searching but have found our rest and satisfaction in Christ. May we praise our Lord for finding us one day, as He did the Samaritan woman, and giving us the water of eternal life.