The Woman at the Well
Open Your Bible
John 4:1-42, Jeremiah 17:9-13, Revelation 21:6, Revelation 22:1-5
BY Ellen L. Taylor
I start every day with either a cup of coffee, a glass of orange juice, or a cup of tea. The variation depends on a few factors—weather, season, and hour—but the principle is the same: a quick beverage before I get my day started. But when I’m really, truly thirsty, the only thing that will satisfy that craving is plain old water. I prefer mine chilled, while others prefer room temperature. And some people will tell you that bubbly water hydrates you all the same, but I’m not convinced. I just want water.
The woman at the well might have thought the same thing when Jesus came to her as she was drawing water; she just wanted to get some water to drink. Jesus, exhausted from His travels, wanted the same thing. But the water that Jesus offers the woman is different from just normal water. He tells her that if she drinks this water, she will never be thirsty again (John 4:14).
It’s hard to comprehend a water that quenches thirst even more so than what we’re used to. But the woman, tired of coming to draw water from this physical well, is eager to hear what Jesus has to say about His water. According to societal norms, as a Jewish man, Jesus should not have even been associating with this woman, a Samaritan—and one who has had five husbands at that. But Jesus, in keeping with His way of reaching out to those who are cultural outcasts, sees her and offers her eternal life. Jesus, the Messiah, offers her living water.
Have you ever seen a child come in from playing outside, grab a plastic cup of water, and gulp it down ferociously, with deep breaths after every sip? There’s nothing quite like that quenching of thirst. It provides almost instantaneous relief, and gives the child enough energy to run back out the door and keep playing. That’s how I imagine the promise of living water to be: instantaneous relief, courage to keep going, and knowledge that the thirst will not creep back up on you.
The living water of eternal life is offered to us now because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He has extended this grace to us, promising to never again leave us thirsty again. There will be a “well of water springing up” within us (John 4:14). When we drink from it, we experience the joy found in life with Christ. Come and drink, friends. Let us share in the goodness of living water.
47 thoughts on "The Woman at the Well"
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LIZ A: I pray for Mario, too. May he receive the Living Water which quenches the thirst of his soul!
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MELISSA GRAVES: Thank you for your prayers! I’m slowly recovering. Though the pain and pressure in my head continue, I know through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Christ I am being sustained.
Today’s study reminds me of the “already, but not yet” of our hope in Christ. Like the woman at the well, we can at first mistake the offer of never thirsting again to mean we will not suffer thirst again in this age. Isn’t that a kind of “property gospel”? The gift of Living Water is a promise to satisfy our thirst for what we truly need, to know the Living God and his salvation. And even in that because we still battle sin, the complete fulfillment of spiritual thirst will only be satisfied in the age to come. Oh but what a gift it is to “taste and see” the Living Water in this age!
I’m thirsty for Him today, to be filled with the Living Water more and more. And I cling to the promise that is so wonderfully expressed in Revelation 21 that our thirst (and all our suffering) will be wiped away in the age to come. “Come, Lord Jesus!”
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I love all we see here with Jesus loving a downtrodden woman, her shame being set free, and her telling others who He is.
Today I really grabbed onto John 4:42. They no longer believed because of what she said, once they heard it from the Savior Himself. This reminds me that it is my job to tell, but the objective is that others will see Him for themselves. That they will take what I say and turn it into an intimate relationship with the Lord, where they read and learn and grow in love for Him. I fade into the background because it is rightly all about Him.
(I think this also applies when I am tempted to follow the Bible study teacher more than the Teacher.) -
Kenzie, Amen to everything that you’re saying. I relate to your comment so much!
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I want the “instantaneous relief, courage to keep going, and knowledge that the thirst will not creep back up on you.” of Jesus’ living water. I love how Ellen phrased it and compared it to the thirst of a child who has been playing hard. Lord help me to pass on the living water You have given to me. Amen.
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Liz A, I am praying for Mario to come to Jesus to find salvation, and freedom for his soul. Living water how miraculous that He speaks to us with such love and reveals Himself to the outcast, the down trodden, the broken because He sees us, everyone of us with love. Lord give me your eyes and heart for others, loosen my tongue and fill it with praise that brings you glory and draws others to the living water Jesus. Press on Sisters, Jesus is with you. Drink up of the light of the world and thirst no more.
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I admit it, I am a water-girl. I use water to cook. I use water to clean. I use water to play. I love the feel of jumping into a pool on a hot summer’s day and feeling immediately refreshed. I love the feel of it across my arms and legs as I swim laps. I love taking the hose and making it spray with my finger as the droplets hit my skin and clothes with a tantalizing tingle. I like a simple glass of water to drink. When it is iced I savor the chill. When it is room temperature, I relax in the ease in which it goes down and quenches my thirst. I love the feel of a shower after a hard days work as it washes the dirt and sweat off and away and/or the comfort of sinking my sore, aching body into the warm depths of a bath and feeling the tension release. Yep…do I hear an amen or even an, “aaah.”
My understanding is that the woman at the well came when she did, in the heat of the day, because other women came early in morning. She had a reputation, and whether the other woman were cruel, or she just carried the burden of her past mistakes on her shoulders and ostracized herself…she needed water, but chose to come when she wouldn’t have to meet or face anyone. But on this day she did meet someone. Someone who would change her life. Someone who knew everything about her. This Someone treated her respectfully, with dignity, and yet honestly. He didn’t leave her as she was, but offered her the clean, pure water of life.
All the wonderful ways I love water, are nothing compared to the Living Water of Jesus Christ. When we use His water to cook – the poor are fed. When we use His water to clean…things or ourselves, are made new. We are refreshed. We live with tantalizing tingles throughout our days as we see Him work. He washes us clean, quenches our thirst, and as we submerge deeper into Him all the tension washes away and we find rest.
Praise God that like the woman at the well, Jesus knows everything, and loves us. Praise God that like the woman at the well, we are drenched in Living Water. Fill us more and more each day Lord…and one day before the throne of God, at the river of the water of life, we will worship You, face to face, marked with Your name upon our foreheads. Amen!
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❤️. Love this Angie.
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