JOHN 4:7-14 PODCAST
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. 10 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.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ~ John 4:7-14
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. 10 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.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” ~ John 4:7-14
The Lord Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi who was not to ever talk to a woman in public. In that culture women were regarded as totally unable to understand complicated subjects like theology and religion. Yet, this did not prevent the Lord Jesus from talking with this lady. In like manner, my sinfulness has never prevented Him from interacting with me. The Lord Jesus knows us better than we do ourselves, and He still likes us.
Now, 450 years before the events of our text took place, the Samaritans, who were a mix of Jewish and Assyrian, came back to Israel to populate the land now known as Samaria. The Samaritans believed in only the first five books of Moses as the word of God. And, they had mixed with the Law of Moses, practices that were not of the God of the Bible. In fact, they built a temple on Mt. Gerizim. This temple was not ordered by the God of the Bible.
As He interacts with this Samaritan woman, the Lord Jesus reads her heart. Here was a woman coming to draw water, and he said to 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." The "gift of God" here is the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus speaks figuratively, using water to illustrate the Holy Spirit, but the Samaritan woman, like Nicodemus in the previous chapter, takes him literally and does not understand.
In v.11, she responds, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?" The well was at least 60 feet down to the water. Since the Lord Jesus did not have a long rope and a bucket, He could not access the water. It appears the Lord Jesus is the one lacking, yet as we will see throughout this Gospel, mankind are the ones lacking. His fullness is always poised to address our emptiness.
Notice her second question in v.12, "Are you greater than our father Jacob?" Here, recognizing the Lord Jesus as more than just any man, the Samaritan woman gets religious. When we do not truly know what life is really about, we make it about the things that are not that important. The Samaritans, who had the five books of Moses, looked to Jacob as their religious father. Her question indicates that she doesn't understand what the Lord Jesus means when she said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?"
In v.13-14, the Lord Jesus answers, "I am not talking about the water in the well. Drink of that water and you will thirst again. But I will give you living water, and the one who drinks of the water I give will never thirst." The Lord Jesus is talking about something far more significant than literal water, He is addressing the yearnings of the soul. Many never seem to learn this truth. They never realize that there is an experience with God that addresses the deepest longings in our souls that the Lord Jesus is the only one who can address meaningfully.
In v.13-14, the Lord Jesus answers, "I am not talking about the water in the well. Drink of that water and you will thirst again. But I will give you living water, and the one who drinks of the water I give will never thirst." The Lord Jesus is talking about something far more significant than literal water, He is addressing the yearnings of the soul. Many never seem to learn this truth. They never realize that there is an experience with God that addresses the deepest longings in our souls that the Lord Jesus is the only one who can address meaningfully.
The Lord Jesus is describing the transformation the Apostle Paul mentions in Romans 12:1-2. In that text, the Apostle Paul issues three commands. The first two are present middle imperatives meaning we are responsible for the outcomes (present our bodies and do not be conformed to this world's way of thinking). But the third command is written in the passive voice which means the Lord is responsible for the outcome or the transformation. The reason we struggle to understand the Lord Jesus often is He speaks of experiences with Him that only He can produce. And, given we have never experienced it, we are ignorant of it. Such is the life of faith that He has called us to experience.
In v.14, we read, "but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." He means the Spirit, which He gives, is a life-giving Spirit, that as one drinks of the Spirit, one experiences the quality of life which is called, eternal life. This eternal life is an experience with God Himself. You see, God's answer to all of mankind's needs has always been to give Himself to those who would receive. His presence has always been the remedy, be it breathing into man's nostrils His Spirit, or be it giving His Spirit to awaken our spirit to Him. His presence in our lives is the answer.
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In v.14, we read, "but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." He means the Spirit, which He gives, is a life-giving Spirit, that as one drinks of the Spirit, one experiences the quality of life which is called, eternal life. This eternal life is an experience with God Himself. You see, God's answer to all of mankind's needs has always been to give Himself to those who would receive. His presence has always been the remedy, be it breathing into man's nostrils His Spirit, or be it giving His Spirit to awaken our spirit to Him. His presence in our lives is the answer.
To help BYM, click here
