Afterlivesნიმუში

Living Water

They weren’t given names in the Bible. Maybe that was by design, maybe an oversight on the writers’ parts, or maybe their names were not significant, but they were people who encountered Jesus and left His presence with full hearts and stories to tell.

The first one that comes to mind is the Samaritan woman at the well. You remember her. She lived in Sychar which was in Samaria. It’s hard to keep track of the Samarian saga, and I believe that doesn’t matter here, except that Jews during Jesus’ time avoided the region because of the Samaritans’ aversion to keeping the traditions of “God’s People.” But Jesus led His disciples there on their way to Galilee. He stopped near a well (Jacob’s Well) that was a major water supply for the area. While He sent His followers into town to buy food, Jesus just sat by the well. Waiting.

Enter the “Samaritan woman,” unnamed but a major player in the evangelist efforts of the day. Here is the account written down by the disciple named John (adaptation from The Voice):

Jesus: Would you draw water, and give Me a drink?

Woman: I cannot believe that You, a Jew, would associate with me, a Samaritan woman; much less ask me to give You a drink.

Jesus: You don’t know the gift of God or who is asking you for a drink of this water from Jacob’s well. Because if you did, you would have asked Him for something greater; and He would have given you the living water.

Woman: Sir, You sit by this deep well a thirsty man without a bucket in sight. Where does this living water come from? Are You claiming superiority to our father Jacob who labored long and hard to dig and maintain this well so that he could share clean water with his sons, grandchildren, and cattle?

Jesus: Drink this water, and your thirst is quenched only for a moment. You must return to this well again and again. I offer water that will become a wellspring within you that gives life throughout eternity. You will never be thirsty again.

Woman: Please, Sir, give me some of this water, so I’ll never be thirsty and never again have to make the trip to this well.

Jesus: Then bring your husband to Me.

Woman: I do not have a husband.

Jesus: Technically you are telling the truth. But you have had five husbands and are currently living with a man you are not married to.

Woman: Sir, it is obvious to me that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped here on this mountain, but Your people say that Jerusalem is the only place for all to worship. Which is it?

Jesus: Woman, I tell you that neither is so. Believe this: a new day is coming—in fact, it’s already here—when the importance will not be placed on the time and place of worship but on the truthful hearts of worshipers. You worship what you don’t know while we worship what we do know, for God’s salvation is coming through the Jews. The Father is spirit, and He is seeking followers whose worship is sourced in truth and deeply spiritual as well. Regardless of whether you are in Jerusalem or on this mountain, if you do not seek the Father, then you do not worship.

Woman: These mysteries will be made clear by He who is promised, the Anointed One.

Jesus: The Anointed is speaking to you. I am the One you have been looking for.

The rest of the story says that she went back to her home and told anyone who would listen to “come and see.”