In this next chapter of John, we find Jesus again meeting individually with someone – knowing where they were coming from, what they were searching for and how to help them find it. Just as he did with Nicodemus, Jesus used a simple everyday concept the Samaritan woman could understand to help her discover a much deeper truth. Just as Jesus knew what Nicodemus was searching for and what he needed, Jesus knew the situation this woman was coming from and how thirsty she was for something different in her life.

Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?” – John 4:5-12

An everyday concept – “dead” water is the term they used to describe stagnant or standing water, such as a cisterns that caught and stored the winter rains and wells that tapped into underground water tables. “Living” water described sources such as a river or spring or rainfall – water that was fresh and considered to be coming straight from God. So when Jesus said, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water,” he had the woman’s attention. She knew there were no rivers nearby. How could Jesus offer her such a thing?

“If you only knew the gift God has for you” – this must have also gotten the woman’s attention. Because she was a Samaritan, she was considered a lower class citizen. Because she was a woman, she was considered more of a possession than an individual. Because of her past experiences with men, she was considered an outcast and unwanted, which is probably why she was coming to the well alone at that time of day. Yet here Jesus was saying that God had a gift for her – something as valued as “living water.”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water!” Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come her to get water.” – John 4:13-15

Can you hear the desperation in her voice? Can you sense how deep her need is for salvation? My heart goes out to this woman who had been used by men and shunned by women. But God had a gift for this lonely child of His – an encounter with Jesus that would forever change her life.

“Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.

Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband – for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” – John 4:16-18

Jesus knew her situation and he knew her need. Out of love for this woman, he offered her “living water” – the same thing he offers us today. We don’t have to remain stagnant. Life does not have to be the way it has always been. We can walk away from the place our decisions have left us and choose a new, fresh way of life. If we drink of the living water that Jesus offers us, we will never be thirsty again – we will never be left desiring more. God’s gift to us will become a fresh and bubbling spring within us, giving us eternal life.