Live A Longer Healthier Life!
What is it that we ALL consume on a daily basis that is essential in keeping us alive? The most important thing that all humans and animals must have is water! Without it we will eventually go into a state of unconsciousness and die. That is exactly what Jesus was going to do when we start into todays passage. Jesus was at the town of Sychar, a city of Samaria, that was given to Joseph by his father Jacob. We'll start in verse six of John four where it says that Jesus was weary from His journey and he sat down on the wall of the well. According to the Jews it was about lunch time and based on Roman time it would have been between five and six in the afternoon. Your guess is as good as mine! The disciples had gone to get some food and Jesus was waiting for them to return when a woman of Samaria came up to the well to get some water and Jesus asked her for a drink.
This woman was shocked that He had asked her for a drink because he was a Jew and the Jews didn't normally have dealings with the Samaritans, but this wasn't a normal encounter at all!
This was an encounter with Jesus, the one who came to give life to all who would receive it!
That's where we need to stop and read,
John 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
It was clear to see that Jesus had much more to offer her than what He had asked from her that day, but what he said to her next was quite revealing! Jesus reveals that not only does she have no knowledge of the GIFT of God but she also does not have any idea of who this man was that asked her for a drink.
Jesus could say with confidence that she would have asked Him for the Gift if she had known about it and He would have given her living water!
Remember what I said about the one thing we all need to survive is water? I was referring to keeping our bodies functioning normal and alive. Jesus is talking to this woman about a water that is just as critical; water that renews the life of anyone that receives it and takes it into their body and soul. Let's look at her responce to this statement that Jesus made,
John 4:11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
John 4:12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
The wells back then were about thirty-five yards deep and they would need to have carried quite a long rope with them to drop a container called a lethern into the well to draw water. She first off acknowledges that He had nothing to draw the water with so perhaps she thought He was referring to the water flowing at the bottom of the well that was alive and moving. She really had no idea what Jesus had meant when he said that she would have asked him for the living water. The next thing she did was she asked Him if He was greater than their father Jacob who gave them the well and drank from this well along with his family and cattle. She really knew of Jacob and his family but she obviously hadn't heard of Jesus. I had to ask myself, "How could this be; when so many people had been aware of the miracles and teachings of Jesus?"
What I found in the Adams Clark Commentary was very interesting and explains why she referred to Jacob as being her father. The ancient Samaritans were undoubtedly the descendants of Jacob; as they were the ten tribes that revolted in the reign of Rehoboam: but those in our Lord’s time were not genuine Israelites, but a corrupted race, sprung from a mixture of different nations, sent there by Salmanezer, king of the Assyrians. (See 2Kings 17:24). It was their corruption that had kept them in a state of ignorance in things pertaining to the Gift of God that Jesus spoke of in verse ten.
Let's look at what Jesus said next,
John 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
I feel that it is important for me to stop here and give you some details that I have found. It brings even more meaning to life of what Jesus said than the way it is worded in the KJV! Let's take a few moments to look at the word "whosoever" in verse thirteen in the "Strongs Hebrew and Greek Dictionary". In verse thirteen the word "whosoever" is described the way we usually hear people describe the word. It's definition includes - all; anyone or everyone. In this verse Jesus is referring to "all who drink of the water in the well".
Now, let's look at the same word in verse fourteen. In verse fourteen the word "whosoever" has a totally different meaning. This word is derived from several different Greek words and when put together they would become "the one who possibly". So we can put this definition safely into the text and it would read in verse fourteen as " but the one who possibly drinks from the rain that I grant that person, for eternity to not at all be thirsty; but the rain that I give this person will come to be in him a source or supply of water gushing up to the point of perpetual life."
The Gift was all about life and the woman had not experienced this life before, but she understood that the water of life was free for her taking because Jesus had just told her that anyone could receive it.
John 4:15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
She had realized that the water of life that Jesus had to give was not water that she would come to draw from the well. She realized where the water of life came from!
We will look at the life of this woman and how Jesus dealt with her in the next chapter.
Let's take time to realize the Gift that we have been given and the life that is gushing forth within us that we will need never to thirst again For Life!
There are many other sources out there that claim to give us the water that we need but they eventually run dry! Why not reach inside your soul and tap into the source of water gushing up from our Infinite Source of life, Jesus!
Let's pray,
Our Father Jehovah El Shaddai, I come to you today thanking you for your gushing well of living water that never ends. I thank you for your Gift of life and the price you paid so that we could have this gift. Amen.
Names of God
EL SHADDAI: God Almighty or "God All Sufficient." 48 times in the OT, 31 times in Job. First used in Gen. 17:1, 2. (Gen. 31:29, 49:24, 25; Prov. 3:27; Micah 2:1; Isa. 60:15, 16, 66:10-13; Ruth 1:20, 21) In Rev. 16:7, "Lord God the Almighty." The Septuagint uses Greek "ikanos" meaning "all-sufficient" or "self-sufficient." The idols of the heathen are called "sheddim."
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