John 4:5-26
Now Jesus had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
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.)
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.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drink this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drink the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
“I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”
“Parched”
She’s thirsty. It seems like she’s always thirsty. The dry and arid air of this region has a way of just sucking all the moisture out of you. She looks forward to dipping her cup into the cool, clean water of Jacob’s well. It will bring relief… if only for a moment. But man… is she ever sick of making this long trip. How many trips had she made to this well? Hundreds? Thousands? Well… once a day now for…. what has it been? 20 years since she moved here with her first husband? 20 years. How time flies.
She remembers how exited they were when they first got here. As they approached from the south, they gasped at how picturesque the little town was. Nestled gently between two small mountains… just a half mile from Jacob’s well… they wondered if there was anything prettier on this earth. Her husband was going to be a sheepherder here.
Was. Oh… the plans they had. He died shortly after they got here. (Sigh) That was a tough time. All those hopes… all those dreams… gone… in an instant. The dread she felt that day was still palpable today. She still wonders how she got through it. She can remember it all like it was yesterday. She can still remember the day he was buried… still remembers the emptiness of being alone in a new city… still remembers the difficult decision she made to stay here, and try to find her niche.
After all, it was such a nice little town. And it was in a prime location. The road just south of Sychar became the Ridge Road, the "Patriarch’s Highway." Many travelers came through this area on their way between Judea and Galilee. That’s how she met her second husband. What a handsome one he was… with sticky fingers nonetheless. He got caught with a sack full of the governor’s finest jewelry. Husband number two was hung the next morning.
Husband number three was a load of fun, until he was caught having fun in somebody else’s house. Husband four was an artist… she remembers eating like an artists wife. Mmm mmm bread and water. Yet with all of her sacrifices for his art… he still left her because she was tying him down. Husband five was supposed to be the mature… responsible one. The one that would go the distance… the one that would take care of her. But he was addicted to the drink… and drank their wealth… and his health right down the tubes.
Life was always so disappointing. She tried not to think too much about it… every time she did the tears began to well up. Not today… she pushed them back. After all… it wasn’t so bad. She was living with someone new now… definitely not husband number six… but he meant a small measure of security at least. How empty she felt. No… she told herself she was not going to do this. But she couldn’t push back that feeling… her soul was as parched as thy dry arid ground around her.
At last! The well. Water. She needed water… that’s all. The well would bring the relief she needed. She began to lower the bucket down into the well.
“Will you give me a drink?”
She was startled half to death. She was so busy in her head she hadn’t even noticed the man sitting at the base of the well. A traveler, by the looks of him a Jew. Out here in this hot afternoon sun. Normally a Jew wouldn’t be caught dead talking to a Samaritan such as herself. But one quick look gave her the answer why… this moron didn’t even have a bucket to draw with, so he needed hers. The hard years had given her a bit of a hard edge… she was just brave enough to give him some sass.
“You, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan, for a drink?”
“Jesus replied, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”
His talk was strange, she felt this odd sensation listening to him. What was it? Hope? Hope! Is that what it is? It has been so long… she barely recognized the feeling.
No, this is just some guy who has been out in the sun too long… that is all it is. She couldn’t allow herself to get her hopes up. “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to produce this ‘living water?’ Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”
Jesus replied, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirst again and again.” She bit her lip… she wanted to burst out, “Well DUH!” If this man only knew how thirsty she has been… even after drinking from this well. Thirsty again… and again… and again.
Jesus continued, “Whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst – not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring from within, gushing fountains of endless life.”
There it is again… that feeling… hope. Dare she hope? Her life has been so hard. She has been thirsty for so long. Her soul was dry and parched… and every time she hoped… she was disappointed. Every hope she had clung to, had left her wanting. She had long since discovered that there wasn’t a thing on this earth that could hydrate her scorched soul. Dare she hope?
Parched beyond belief. Have you been there? Where there is just something screaming inside you. The emptiness you feel is palpable. Its like there is a big hole inside of you… and you keep trying over and over to find whatever it is that will fill up that gaping hole in your soul.
Perhaps my career can fill it! And you find yourself thirsty again… the business simply masks the real pain. Perhaps family can fill it! And you find yourself thirsty again. A new haircut! New clothes! A new car! Thirsty again. A new friend! A new job! A fresh start! Thirsty. And you find yourself… during your more honest moments… examining your life and asking, “What else is there?” There has to be something more! But for the life of you… you can’t find anything on this earth to fill that gaping hole.
And then those words, “Whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst – not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring from within, gushing fountains of endless life.” Dare we hope? Dare we?
“Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty.” She dared.
Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and then come back.”
Oh no… no, no no. He can’t know… this is her one shot and she can’t blow it… he can’t know the truth about her or he’ll know she doesn’t deserve this gift. “I know…,” she thinks, “I’ll give him the truth… a version of the truth at least.”
“Uhm… I have no husband.”
“That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.”
I could tell you what she was thinking at this moment… but there aren’t any censorship bleeps on the pulpit here. Her entire past… laid out to see. Every gory detail… every despicable act.
Could we do it? Could we open ourselves up? I mean… really open ourselves up? Could we be honest with the man who offers us living water… its too scary a thought. If he knew what we were really like on the inside… he would know we don’t deserve any gift.
The woman’s mind began to jump to conclusions… trying to understand what has just happened. Surely he knew all along that I was unworthy, and just toyed with me… dangling hope on a string in front of me to see me pitifully leap for it. I knew it. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. This always happens. Never let them in. Never get your hopes up. You soul is dry… and that’s that.
She pushed the tears back again. No… don’t cry. Anger… now that’s an easier emotion. Lash out! “Sir, I can see that you are a ‘prophet.’ But answer me this, oh wise one, Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the only place to worship is in Jerusalem!” She bobbles her head for effect.
Jesus half smiles… she has spunk. “The truth of the matter is that the time is upon us where you will need neither this mountain… nor Jerusalem to truly worship God. All you need is the spirit.”
She didn’t understand what he meant. “I know that the Messiah is coming. When he does come all these things will be explained to us.”
Then Jesus drops the bomb, “Who do you think you’ve been talking to all this time.”
Can it be? Yes… it is. I know it is. That hope… that comes when he speaks… that is the spirit he speaks of. He is the messiah. The one who really does have living water. And then it dawned on her… the one who has given me living water. It was a sensation as good as parched lips bathing in ice cold liquid. Only better. That hole… that emptiness… it was gone! Instead… there is a spring inside of her bubbling up an ever flowing stream of life.
She didn’t deserve it… they both knew that… but that was the great part! It didn’t matter who she was… it matters who he is. She runs to town, bubbling over with joy to tell anyone who will listen the good news that happened to her. This man… he is the messiah. He’s done for me what no other could do. I am thirsty… no more!
Jesus declares to us all, “Whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst – not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring from within, gushing fountains of endless life.” Are you parched today? Are you dry inside and out. Do you come to this place with a gaping hole inside of you? Jesus is the answer you’ve been looking for. He invites you to come, drink of a fountain that never runs dry. Drink the living waters of eternal life. Come… drink… and be thirsty… no more!
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
