The story. John 4
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’.
(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him,
‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’
(Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her,
‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”,
you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’
The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep.
Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob,
who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’
Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,
but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty.
The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up
to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that
I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’
(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him,
‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’
(Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her,
‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink”,
you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’
The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep.
Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob,
who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’
Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,
but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty.
The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up
to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that
I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ The woman
answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying,
“I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now
is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ The woman said to him,
‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain,
but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will
worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know,
for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here,
when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,
for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those
who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him,
‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes,
he will proclaim all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is
speaking to you.’
answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying,
“I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now
is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ The woman said to him,
‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain,
but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will
worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know,
for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here,
when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,
for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those
who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him,
‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes,
he will proclaim all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is
speaking to you.’
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking
with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking
with her?’ Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city.
She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything
I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’They left the city
and were on their way to him.
with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you want?’ or, ‘Why are you speaking
with her?’ Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city.
She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything
I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’They left the city
and were on their way to him.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’
But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’
So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him
something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him
who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, “Four months more,
then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields
are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and
is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.
For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.”I sent you to reap
that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered
into their labour.’
But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’
So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him
something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him
who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, “Four months more,
then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields
are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and
is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.
For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.”I sent you to reap
that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered
into their labour.’
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony,
‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ So when the Samaritans came to him,
they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days.
And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman,
‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’
‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ So when the Samaritans came to him,
they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days.
And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman,
‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’
Thoughts
On the surface this gospel is about water. Since March 22 was world water day, it ought to be about water. 1.2. billion people do not have access to clean water. The amount of water you use to take a five minute shower is more water than half the people in the world have for the whole day. It is hard for us to imagine what it is like in the developing world for women and girls who spend hours of their day fetching water from a well miles from their village. African households spend 26% of their time fetching water. 5000 children die every day from water-borne disease. Often girls cannot go to school because they must fetch water for their households. Our access to clean water in the U.S. is a gift that we can so easily take for granted. Waiting at a well for a drink of water is not something with which we can easily identify. The average American uses 400 litres of water daily; the average European uses 200 litres; in the developing world 10 litres. We can reduce our use and waste of water, remembering how so many suffer for lack of the most important substance on earth. No water, no life. Its as simple as that.
