Living Water July 28th, 2024
Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you today, hearts open and ready to receive your Word. We ask that you guide us as we seek to understand the depth of your love and the power of your salvation. May the Scriptures we study today quench our spiritual thirst and draw us closer to you. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
This morning we’re going to start another series of messages, this one on the promises of Jesus. The last few months we’ve been working our way through the book of Ephesians and as important as it is to study all parts of the Bible, I thought it would be good to change it up, after all a change is as good as a rest. This new topic on the promises of Jesus is strengthening and encouraging as we remind ourselves of all that Jesus does and will continue to do in our lives.
The promises of Jesus are a cornerstone of Christian faith, offering hope and guidance to all believers. These promises, as recorded in the Bible, cover a wide range of assurances from eternal life and spiritual rest to strength in times of weakness, and a peace that surpasses all understanding. Jesus' words offer a steadfast anchor, assuring believers of God's presence, support, and love.
His promises are not just historical statements; they are living assurances that continue to encourage people today all over the world who are seeking comfort and direction in their lives. These promises of Jesus show us the unchanging character of God and his unwavering commitment to us as his people. Each promise is a testament to the hope and redemption offered through faith in Jesus Christ.
The promise we’ll look at today is found in our gospel reading this morning from the Gospel of John where we find a woman, a Samaritan, standing by a well. She's come to draw water, a daily task, a necessity of life. But on this day, she encounters a man who offers her something more than the water she's come for. He offers her living water, water that will quench her deepest thirst. Like the Samaritan woman, so many today have a thirst for something more in their lives that they don’t realize can’t be replaced by earthy things such as fame or fortune.
Think about that Samaritan woman at the well. On the surface, her task was mundane, a daily chore of drawing water. Yet, in this ordinary act, she encountered the extraordinary. She met Jesus, the living water, who turned her daily task into a divine encounter. And this encounter was not by chance, it was part of God's divine design.
In our own lives, we too face daily chores. We may not meet Jesus at the well, but we encounter him in our daily tasks, in our interactions with others, and in the quiet moments of reflection. These encounters, as ordinary as they may seem, are part of God’s design for our lives. They are opportunities for us to experience his grace, to learn his ways, and to grow in our faith
So, let’s see how the story unfolds. It opens with these words, “A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. … The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)” Here we have Jesus, after travelling in the heat of the day, coming to a village in Samaria and sitting down on a rock wall which surrounded a well. As he sat down on the lip of the well, he thought: “If only I could have a drink of water.” And at precisely that moment, a woman came along. It wasn’t the normal time, and it was unusual for a woman to come to a well alone. Normally the women would come as a group to draw water and in the cooler temperatures of morning or evening. But that was part of God’s plan to offer salvation to both her and the people of her village and eventually the whole world.
The conversation between them begins with a simple question from Jesus: “Will you give me a drink?” He was thirsty and knew it. She was thirsty and didn’t know it. The woman replied, “‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’” As Jesus was sitting on that rock wall, there were four invisible walls standing between himself and the woman. There was a religious wall, he was Jewish, she was a Samaritan, there was a gender wall, he was male, she was female, there was a racial wall, he was from Israel, she from Samaria, and a moral wall, he was without sin, she had had five husbands and many sins. But Jesus was able to break down all those walls and find a way through them. He first found her, then she found him.
And that is important for us today to remember. At one point in his ministry Jesus had said to a man by the name of Zacchaeus, who was the chief tax-collector, “‘For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’” (Luke 19:10) This story of the woman at the well tells us what that means. He found her. She didn’t find him. And the same is true for all of us. You will never come to Christ until Christ first comes to you. What happens in this meeting looks like a chance encounter, but it was nothing of the kind. The time and place and all the circumstances had been arranged by God before the world began. That’s why it is so important for us to be watching and waiting for God’s encounter with us even in the ordinary tasks of our lives.
Jesus then replied to her, saying, “‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’” This “living water”, as Jesus calls it, is not physical, but spiritual, it is the gift of a spiritual life. And it is a gift, it cannot be earned or won, it is a gift, not a reward. As Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
When we say “The Gospel of Jesus Christ” what we mean is the good news of Jesus Christ and the Gospel is not good news if it means that you must do some kind of penance, do an unspecified number of good deeds, and hope that someday God might let you into heaven on that basis. But it is wonderfully good news if God offers it to you as a free gift, which he does for each and everyone of us.
This is the glory of the Gospel, many religions say, “do this, do that, and God will give you something.” But Christianity says that we are given salvation by the grace of God, through our faith. It is the gift of God. It is a gift of grace. It is a gift of mercy. Now that doesn’t mean Christians never do good things or never have to go to church or worship God. It means that when we have quenched our thirst and found God, we feel called to do his work in the world. We feel called to continue building our faith and our relationship with him.
God has given the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who have come to faith in Christ. It was Jesus himself who promised this amazing gift, when he said to his disciples, “‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.’” (John 14:15-16) And later on, after Jesus had ascended to heaven to be with the Father, the Apostle Peter said to a crowd of more than three thousand people in that square in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, “‘Repent and be baptized and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,’" (Acts 2:38). Our God is a God of great gifts, and this is one of the extraordinary gifts he offers to all mankind when they develop a relationship with him.
The Samaritan woman at the well has yet to understand the real meaning behind Jesus’ words, “living water’, she says to him, “‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?’” She thinks Jesus is telling her that he can give her better water than that which this well provides. By “living water,” she understands Jesus to be speaking of spring water. She thought he was referring to running water, as opposed to the collected rainwater of the cistern. If Jesus has “better water” than she can draw from Jacob’s well, how is he going to get it? This well is deep, and Jesus has no bucket with which to draw water. How, then, can he claim to have better water to give her?
Jesus replies, “‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’” Jesus tells her that his water is better water than that provided by Jacob’s well. Jesus uses the term "living water" as one and the same as a spirit filled life. Jacob’s well water temporarily quenches thirst, but only for a time, and then more water is required. The water which Jesus speaks of is vastly better. His water permanently quenches one’s thirst. The one who drinks that water will never thirst again—and this living water produces eternal life. What a promise and what a gift!
However, the Samaritan woman still thought he meant physical water which we need for life here on earth, not the spiritual water which only Jesus could offer which would give her eternal life. Jesus described this water as "gushing up" within the individual to eternity. Clearly, he was referring to the Holy Spirit who provides eternal life with God. Further on in the Gospel of John, Jesus confirms this when he said this to the crowds in Jerusalem, “‘…Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-38) This living water is clearly the work of the Holy Spirit offering eternal life to all who put their faith in God.
What Jesus is showing us is that that he is God’s gift to the world, one offering “living water” to all who thirst for God. In the Psalms we read, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs for God” (42:1), and “With the Lord is the fountain of life” (36:9). This water Jesus is speaking of refers to the new life he brings. All who thirst for God will be satisfied by their faith.
The Samaritan woman, at first, didn't understand. She didn't understand the living water that Jesus was offering. She didn't understand how it could quench her deepest thirst, how it could satisfy her soul. But Jesus, in his patience and his love, explained it to her. He revealed to her the truth, the truth about the living water, the truth about the source of true satisfaction.
We too, like the Samaritan woman, are offered this living water. We too are pointed towards the source of true satisfaction. We are invited to drink, to quench our deepest thirst, to satisfy our soul.
So, what is this living water that Jesus offers? How does it quench our deepest thirst? How does it satisfy our soul? The living water that Jesus offers is his Spirit. It's his love, his grace, his mercy. It's his presence in our daily lives, his guidance, his comfort. It's his forgiveness, his redemption, his salvation. This living water, this Spirit, is what truly satisfies. It's what quenches our deepest thirst. It's what fills us, sustains us, empowers us. It's what gives us hope, gives us peace, gives us joy.
There are three things we need to remember about the living water which Jesus gives and promises to us today.
First, it’s the gift of God, secondly, if we drink it by putting our faith in God, we’ll never thirst in the spirit again, and thirdly, the living water offers eternal life, Jesus promises, “‘The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’”
Let us Pray:
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, who offers us the gift of living water that quenches our deepest thirst. Help us to continually draw from this life changing promise as we grow in our walk with you. Let us always remember God’s presence, support and love. Amen