“Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” John 4:29
She trudged up the hill to the community well, her face glowing from the heat of the day. No other woman would be fetching water at noon. An ideal time to avoid the stares, the scandal, the sting of their cruelty. By herself, encumbered by an immoral life-style, the Samaritan woman began to do the hard work of drawing water.
“Please give me a drink,” he said. Surprised, she looked up and saw a man, a Jew, talking to her. How could it be?
“Why do you ask me for a drink?” she said.
“If you only understood the gift of God, you would be asking me for water, living water,” he answered. “The water you draw from the well quenches thirst temporarily, but I give water that takes away thirst entirely, becoming an endless spring within you.”
While leaning over and pulling up the bucket from far below, she thought about the depth of her disgrace. The daily drudgery of fetching water in the middle of the day. The despair of detachment from society.
“Oh sir, please give me the water you speak of. I’ll never be thirsty again. I won’t have to come here at midday to haul water.”
“Then go get your husband,” He instructed.
“I have no husband,” she said.
“That’s right. You have no husband because you’ve had five husbands. And now you are living with one you are not even married to.”
Ashamed and astonished, she began to wonder who this man was. How does he know this about me? Could he be a prophet?
She tried to throw him off by asking why Jews worship in Jerusalem and Samaritans worship at Mount Gerizim. He told her that one day it will not matter where one worships as long as the Father is worshipped through the spirit and in truth. The soul will recognize God’s worth and delight in the true worship of God.
She responded, “I know Messiah will eventually come and explain these things to us.”
“I am the Messiah,” Jesus said.
Could this be true, she wondered, is the wait over? He certainly knows everything about me. She meditated on the possibility that the Messiah stood before her.
Shaking with amazement, she left her water jar and ran back to her village. Forgetting the hard work of fetching water. Living water refreshing her soul. Hurrying to tell the good news of the Christ, the Messiah, who knew her without having ever met her. (John 4:1-30)
Jesus Christ, the Messiah, knows each one of us just as He knew the Samaritan woman. He longs for us to know Him, to know of His truth and grace. Too many times we try to bury our sin, avoid the fallout, and pretend everything is okay. What a deep dry well we dig, working hard to make things better when in reality they only get worse. Before we know it, we’re constrained by a heavy burden and captive to our own disgrace. Not until we confess our sins to Jesus will we be set free from the pain it causes. Once forgiven, we too will drop what we’re doing and run to tell everyone the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Oh the joy of being known and yet pardoned of sin. Jesus had confronted this woman’s past, present, and future with truth and grace. He had met her where she was. Suddenly she faced her sin and delighted in receiving His favor. Shame and humiliation forgotten, she ran to tell others about the Messiah who knew her fully. He had called her to truth, and when she received Him, He granted grace. She stood refreshed from a spring of living water welling up inside of her, never to thirst again.
Are you pursuing a trove of earthly treasures? Or are you avoiding the result of those choices? Maybe you are fetching water that only temporarily quenches your thirst.
Look to the Messiah who yearns to quench your thirst permanently. Tell Him your troubles and receive His gracious mercy. The living water He offers will forever refresh your soul.
