She could not believe her ears when the man sitting next to the well spoke to her. Did he really just ask me for a drink? Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Yet, that’s exactly what happened in John 4.
When next He offered her “living water” so that she would “never be thirsty again”, He had her attention. It was around noon, the heat of the day. Decent people were inside, not lugging a water jar back and forth from the well. I am so thirsty. And alone. If only I didn’t have to come out to this well….
Then the other sandal dropped: as it always did. “Go, call your husband and come here.” There it was. Just like always. She knew what came next. The judgmental looks. The critical words. The sudden end to the conversation. Another painful rejection. This was why she came to the well at noon in the first place. I should have known it was too good to be true. I’ve messed up too much to get anything nice.
No need to get into all of that with this Jewish stranger. “I have no husband,” she replied.
“You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
Her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest. What did he just say? How did he know? How could he know? If she could have crawled into her empty water jar to avoid looking at Him, she would have.
Then it hit her. Wait: he already knew this, and he still spoke to me. He knew what I’ve done, and he’s still being kind to me. Who is this?
This is Jesus. He is the Christ, the one who tells us all things. His words are spirit and life. If we come to Him, we will not hunger. If we believe in Him, we shall never thirst. He alone has the words of eternal life. If we learn Him, we will speak these words, too.
Ready to consider how you compare and start speaking more words of life? Listen to our sermon series “Selfie: What Our Words Say About Us.”