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Jesus promises living water of eternal life.
The Hebrew people believe in the existence of this living water that is symbolic of
life. They certainly know water is essential for their physical survival. Yet water also has
spiritual, symbolic significance: when they have water, the Hebrew people believe God is
present and active in their lives, giving them life. In times of drought, the people feel
abandoned by God.
Water is symbolic of God’s covenental word to be a saving participant in their lives.
An absence of God’s word leaves them with an unquenchable thirst.
Now the Samaritan woman understands Jesus. Living water is what she needs, and so
she tells him, “Give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
The Samaritan woman is asking for two things. She first asks for the water Jesus has
to offer, the water of God which always will be present in her life, the water that forever
will sustain her from the moment she accepts it.
She needs the living water that insures she will never thirst.
And she also asks for the water so she will not have to return to Jacob’s well to draw.
She will not have to worry about timing her trips to the well to avoid the other women. She
will not have to plan her activities around feelings of shame about the circumstances of her
life. She is tired of being treated differently because of personal hardships that leave her
blemished in the eyes of others.
She needs the living water that will liberate her from humiliation.
The Samaritan woman needs living water. She wants that water. No wonder she says
to Jesus, “Give me this water.”
And just when it seems as if her life will be redeemed by this Jewish stranger – so
full of hope and promise – the woman is given one last challenge.
Jesus tells her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
Of course, the woman is unable to do so because the man with whom she lives is not
her husband. She tells Jesus about her living arrangement.
She hides nothing. If Jesus gives her living water he will know full well the one to whom he
gives it.
Finally, in the acceptance of her truth, Jesus honors her second request
-- that she may be given water that she will not have to come to the well to draw.
The woman’s life is being changed in two major ways: She is given water that
provides eternal life. And the eternal life she receives begins immediately. Her life is
transformed.
Moved by the compassion and acceptance of Jesus, the woman tells Jesus that she
perceives him to be a prophet. And as he continues to speak, the woman shares her faith.
She says to Jesus, “I know that Messiah is coming who will show us all things.”
Jesus said to her, “I am that very one.”
Can you imagine?
According to the gospels, the Samaritan woman with no husband is the first
person to whom Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah!
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