The Savior at the
well
The
fact that Jesus spoke to this immoral, Samaritan woman opened the
door for further communication between them. She is amazed that this
Jewish Rabbi is not only speaking to her but asking her to give Him a
drink! Most Samaritan women would have run from this Jewish Rabbi,
but this woman didn't. God had prepared her for this encounter. She
is ready to listen to Jesus. Her spiritual need was greater
than natural water. Her lifestyle was weighing her down. She had
much heartbreak in her life – five husbands who left her and the
one she was living with now was not her husband. Six is the number of
flesh/man. She has tried the way of the flesh and it has failed. Her seventh
husband – Jesus – counted her worthy of His time, His love, His
compassion and His revelation knowledge. Now she will come to know Jesus and His salvation. He will not fail her.
The Sinner at the
well
This
sinful woman came to the well at Sychar with a dry, empty water pot
(earthen
vessel).
The water pot was heavy when empty. It was extremely heavy when
full. Drawing water was hard work. We too come to Jesus as dry,
empty earthen vessels without spiritual life. When He fills us with
the water of His holy Word and Holy Spirit, we will be earthen vessels who
will pour out the Truth of Jesus and the Holy Spirit to those who
don't know Him. Being filled with His Truth takes hard work and
sacrifice.
Living Water
Jesus
answered the Samaritan woman, “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.”
John 4:10 Jesus
says this to get her interested in this “gift of God” and the new “living
water.” Jesus is God's greatest gift to humanity. This Samaritan
woman had been taught some truth – the five books of Moses. All
Truth
was sitting at Jacob's well ready to reveal Himself to this sinful
woman and save her from her sinful lifestyle. This woman was thirsty
in body, soul and spirit. All she had to do is ask for this “living
water” and it was hers. “You
have not because you ask not.” We
have to desire the “gift of God” and the “living water” of
God.
When
Jesus gives her the living, spiritual water of Truth anointed by the
Holy Spirit, her life will be turned around. “If
only you knew.”
First, she must “know” Jesus and trust in Him. John
7:38: “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of
his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
The water that Jesus will give her will show her the Father's love,
His grace and His truth. Instead of the false love that she had
received from the men in her life, Jesus wanted to show her pure love
and bring His love into her heart. This sinful woman had experienced
the tainted love of the world. Now she will experience the love and
Spirit of God through Jesus Christ! Her Deliverer from her sinful
lifestyle and her Savior was in front of her.
To
the Jew, living water was running, moving water. In the spiritual,
it is the eternal, deep and ever-flowing water of the Holy Spirit and
the Word – the river of life and the bread of life. Jesus is the
smitten Rock that gave the Israelites water to quench their physical
thirst in the wilderness. (see
Exodus 17:6; 1 Corinthians 10:4) Jesus was smitten on the cross so He could pour out the living water of the Word and Holy Spirit upon all flesh. Jesus
will pour out spiritual water in fulfillment of the water in the
wilderness.
The
woman responds, “Sir,
you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep.” v8 This
woman is still looking with natural eyes. She sees a problem. He has
no rope or water jar with which to draw the water so how is He going
to give her this “living water.“ What she doesn't see is that the
invisible Holy Spirit in Jesus and His words are drawing her to the
One who is a fountain of living water.
The
Word (Jesus)
and
the Holy Spirit are a wellspring of eternal life. When the Spirit and
Truth come together, transformation takes place. Jesus who is the
fullness of the Word and has the fullness of the Holy Spirit will
take this sinful woman from the carnal to the spiritual. Jesus does
the same for every person who knows and believes in Him. There is
fullness in Jesus. Anyone who is without Jesus will be spiritually
hungering and thirsting. Jesus will drink her cup of rejection and
shame for her! He drank the cup of this adulterous bride and made
her His bride. Jesus drank an even greater cup for all sinners –
the cup of suffering on the cross to take away the sin of the world
and make us His Bride prepared and ready for union with our Husband.
The Bride of Christ is made up of males and females, rich and poor,
Jews and Gentiles, young and old.
“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?” vv 11-12 The
answer is YES. He is greater than Jacob. This woman is claiming
Jacob as the father of the Samaritans because Sychar is in the
territory of Joseph – the land given to Jacob's son Joseph through
his two sons -- Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob is the father of the 12 sons who became the
twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob's sons, the 12 tribes of Israel, flocks and herds
drank from this earthly well that Jacob dug, but all who believe in Jesus
--whether Jew or Gentile – will drink from the well of Jesus'
eternal life-giving spiritual water. God is no respecter of persons.
The salvation and living water that Jesus gives is for everyone.
The Word and ways of God are deep. Daniel 2:22 says that God reveals deep and secret things. We must dig deep into His well of truth to draw out the pure Truth. This woman wants to know where Jesus would get this living water. She thought He had running water from another source. He did, but it was not from the earth. It was the spiritual spring of eternal water and life – God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. (see Revelation 22:1) 1 Corinthians 2:10: But God revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
The Word and ways of God are deep. Daniel 2:22 says that God reveals deep and secret things. We must dig deep into His well of truth to draw out the pure Truth. This woman wants to know where Jesus would get this living water. She thought He had running water from another source. He did, but it was not from the earth. It was the spiritual spring of eternal water and life – God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. (see Revelation 22:1) 1 Corinthians 2:10: But God revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
In
Genesis
1:2,
it says that “the
earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the
deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the
waters.” The
Spirit of God was hovering over the darkness at the beginning of
Genesis as if in a birthing position. Something new was about to be
created by the Word of God. This is happening with this Samaritan
woman also. She was in deep darkness because of her lifestyle and
her not knowing Jesus. Proverbs
22:14: The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit.
The fullness of the Holy Spirit in Jesus was hovering over her to
reveal Jesus – the Truth – to her and set her free from the
darkness that consumed her. Jesus will make her a “new”
creation. He will take her from the deep pit of sin and lift her
higher into a holier lifestyle and the spiritual realm with Him.
Jesus
tells this woman that “Everyone
who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks 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.”
vv13-14 Jesus
saw this woman's need. Jesus reveals what He means even further.
Jesus' eternal, spiritual water never runs dry and satisfies our
spiritual thirst forever. Jesus is basically saying that He has
better water than Jacob's well that He can give her. In order to
drink from His well of living water, we must thirst for it. If we
don't continue to hunger and thirst for His living water and living
bread, our soul will sink back into the mire and spirit of the world.
The
sinful woman said to Jesus, “Sir,
give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep
coming here to draw water.” v15 This
woman is still looking with “natural” eyes and doesn't understand
this “living water,” but she is tired of having to work so hard
drawing and carrying this water from Jacob's well to her home. She
is also tired of avoiding others who condemn and judge her because of
her sinful life in order to draw this natural water. So, even though
she doesn't understand what He is saying, she tells Jesus to give her
that water.
Confession
Time!
Before
Jesus can give her this “living water,” He must get her to
confess her sinful life. She must see her true condition and need of
salvation and cleansing. He doesn't point out her sin to her.
Instead, He makes a statement, “Go
call your husband.” He
is testing her to see if she will be honest with Him. She is. Jesus
commends her for her honesty. Jesus, who is all-knowing, knew that
the man she is living with now is not her husband. Because Jesus
knew that she had five husbands and that the man she was with now was
not her husband, this woman perceived that Jesus was a prophet. He
was not only a prophet, He is the Supreme Prophet of God – the very
Word of God through whom all things were created. In her mind, she
is also starting to believe that He is the Messiah who was to come to
save Israel.
This
sinful woman is beginning to get a little nervous that Jesus knows
all about her, so she tries to change the subject. She wants to talk
about the true place of worship. I will continue with this in next
week's teaching.
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” John 7:37-38
For reference:
Living water in the Older Testament that points to what Jesus is saying are:
Second
Mention of Living Water
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” John 7:37-38
The
feast spoken of is the Feast of Tabernacles which is also known as
the Feast of Ingathering and the Feast of Rest. It is the seventh
and final feast of God given to Israel. At this Feast, there is a
water-pouring ceremony which takes place at dawn of each of the seven
days of this feast. Every day a procession of priests would go to
the pool of Siloam. The high priest would take a golden pitcher and
fill it with water from the pool. Siloam means “sent”
or “one who has been sent.” Gold
is symbolic of the Divine. The high priest carrying a gold pitcher
represents our Divine High Priest Jesus who is the Sent One of God who has the Divine healing water and
the Divine water of life.
The
high priest and the priests would return to the brazen altar of
sacrifice in the Outer Court of the Temple. Each day they would walk
around the altar once. Then the high priest would ascend up the
stairs on the right side to the altar. At the top of the altar were
two silver basins – one for water and the other for wine. The high
priest would raise the golden pitcher high for all to see and pour
the water into one of the silver basins. At the same time, another
priest would pour the wine into the other silver basin. Silver is
the metal of atonement. Every Jewish male had to pay a ½ shekel of
silver to the temple on the Day of Atonement. The gold and silver together represent Divine Atonement.
Our
spiritual eyes will help us see that this water pouring ceremony is a
picture of Jesus. He is our Divine High Priest (gold)
who poured out the water
and blood from the wound in His side at the cross for the atonement of the world (silver). Jesus was high and
lifted up. He is seated at the right hand of the Father in power and authority. The two silver basins represent the atonement of Jesus
once-for-all which is revealed in the two testaments. The wine of
this ceremony represents the blood of Jesus and the water the
Anointed Word. The same price was paid by all. Jesus paid the price
of atonement for all on the cross.
On
the last and great day of this feast, the high priest and the
procession of priests walk around the altar 7 times indicating
completion – It is finished! The final and finished atonement of
the world was through the water and blood that flowed from the wound
in Jesus' side on the cross. Jesus said after this, “It
is finished.” Going
around the altar represents the circle of the Word that reveals God's
redemption plan through His Son Jesus. Jesus is the pure and perfect altar of God. After the high priest and
priests have walked around the brazen altar of sacrifice seven times,
the high priest would ascend up the ramp on the right side and pour
out the “living” water while another priest poured out the wine.
Siloam was a fountain of water indicating living, moving water.
Jesus poured out His blood on the cross so the Living Water of the
Holy Spirit could be poured out on all who believe in Christ's
redeeming, finished work on the cross. The water and blood that poured out of His side represent the blood of atonement and the water of the Word and Holy Spirit that cleanses and breathes spiritual life into all who receive it.
Jesus
was showing those around Him that He is this water-pouring ceremony
and the Source of Living Water. He is the fulfillment of the Feast
of Tabernacles and the water-pouring ceremony. The last book of the
Bible says that all who are thirsty can come to the river of life
that flows from the throne of the Father and the Lamb and drink
freely. Revelation 21:6:
To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the
spring of the water of life.
For reference:
- Isaiah 12:2
- Isaiah 44:3
- Isaiah 55:1
- Zechariah 13:1
- Zechariah 14:8
- Psalm 36:9
- Psalm 42:1
- Jeremiah 17:13
- Revelation 7:17
- Revelation 21:6
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