What would you do if you met Jesus in the flesh? How would you react, and what would you say to Him? I want to talk about a Scripture that speaks about an encounter with the Lord.
Now he 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?”
John 4:4-7
This translation puts Jesus’ words into the form of a question, but it was actually a statement – “give me a drink.” The woman had an interesting response.
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.)
John 4:9
The first question I have is; how did she know he was a Jew? I believe that there was an inner witness. She feels the guilt – I’m not worthy to give you a drink.
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.”
John 4:10
What’s Jesus talking about? What does He mean by the term living water? I believe that He’s referring back to an Old Testament passage.
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
Jeremiah 2:13
In this encounter with the woman at the well, we see the first record of Jesus talking about living water. It’s important that we understand what the Lord’s getting at.
According to Jeremiah, Israel had left God, the spring of living water. Therefore, If Jesus can give living water, then He’s God.
This is the foundation of our walk in the Spirit as believers. I’ve said it before, that the unsaved cannot fully understand the book of John. This Gospel was written so that the church would have a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and how He operated.
I believe that this is one of the reasons why the church has so little power in our generation. So often we simply use the Gospel of John to get sinners saved. Then, we don’t read it with understanding that it’s to teach us how to live like Jesus.
I want to take a couple of posts to look at this encounter from our perspective. I want us to see what John is trying to convey to us as believers. In my next post I’ll look at this concept of living water.
Question: Were there times when someone sensed that there was something different about you because you’re a believer?
© Nick Zaccardi 2016
The Spirit and the Word 