John 4:10-14

John 4:10-14 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.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 6:53-59 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

In our current story, Jesus arrives at a well to offer a woman living water that she might never thirst again. Such crazy talk made her question the one offering this gift: Why did he not have a container to draw from the well? Where could she find this magical water that satisfied so fully and unendingly? Did He think himself greater than Jacob? Reasonable questions given her lack of knowledge and experience with this man and her belief in the impossibility of such foolish, even crazy, ideas. We know that Jesus did not speak of earthly realities but of spiritual truths. As God in the flesh, Jesus was Messiah: the giver of hope and everlasting life. If the woman standing at his side would take a step of faith and trust, Jesus would free her from sin and death, satisfy her inner being, and offer her a peaceful existence without end. She would not thirst again!

Jesus Christ offered a SPRING OF LIFE welling up inside of the woman: if she would seek and accept this water, a fountain would flow out of her innermost being. She would believe in him as Lord and know him as Savior as she received the Spirit of God, the giver of all life. Believers in the cross and the resurrection possess this wonderful rushing river of life, the blessed Holy Spirit. As sure as we are IN Christ as his body, the Spirit dwells within to satisfy our souls and lead us in the paths of righteousness and away from all that distracts, defeats, and eventually destroys us if we refuse his guidance, comfort, and strength. God anoints his servants with the motivation, the strength, and the power to love, care, and serve as Jesus did. As we follow Messiah, we begin to wholeheartedly and unreservedly love and serve others as He did. To stand for him in the midst of a parched and thirsty land, we must accept and consume the water of life before we can give water to the thirsty souls around us.

Recognizing Christ's divinity, the Samaritan woman returned to her village with hope for the redemption of her people. If they followed Jesus after his death, burial, and resurrection, rivers of living water would rise up within them and overflow. Jesus said, Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. As with New Testament believers, we who accept Christ's finished work at the cross, those who partake of his broken body and shed blood, must forsake our old watering places and the empty sustenance of this world. Jesus paid the price: his resurrection ensured our freedom from sin and eternal life with him. The Samaritan woman accepted the possibility of a new reality when she saw Jesus as Messiah, giver of all good things. Recognizing she lacked a full revelation of his calling and purpose, Jesus knew she would need to embrace God's salvation plan. Yet Messiah came to her that day, just as He comes daily to the emptiness of our lives, saying: Drink deeply from the spring of life. I will hold you, heal you, protect you and take you home with me to the Father's house. Let me satisfy your soul: you will never thirst again!

Perhaps you are at an empty well today: thirsty, dry as bones, knowing that the muddy pools you now frequent offer no fresh water, no lasting satisfaction. You worry about not having Christmas gifts or you rush around to catch the final big sales, knowing in your heart things will not satisfy the longings of your soul or meet the needs of others. Yet Jesus comes to you and waits by your side to fill you with resurrection life that transcends the emptiness and limitations of the best this world offers. As Savior and Lord of all, only Christ offers this marvelous GIFT: unending love, lasting peace, unspeakable joy, and resurrection power to arise with him into heavenly places. No amount of good works, no self-emulation or striving for contentment and greatness, no amount of seeking truth and meaning in all the wrong places will ever provide the inheritance Jesus freely offers to you this day. Jesus Messiah says: Come!