Readings:
Sermon:
In our reflection over the next few minutes we will explore the passage from the Gospel of John chapter 4, where Jesus offers the water of life to the Samaritan Woman at the well.
There are lots of things that could be explored around this passage but for the next few minutes, I would like to focus on verse 10 and 14 – the offer of living water, a spring of water that leads to eternal life.
Many of us will know what it feels like to be thirsty, to be worn out and empty. I am somebody who enjoys sports, and there is very little more satisfying than a nice cold drink at the end of the session.
That thirst is quenched and you feel restored.
Now, this imagery will have likely been as old as the planet – but biblically, Jesus isn’t saying anything new or unique but he is actually joining in with the narrative of the scripture as a whole.
It is a rather profound statement – more than just about quenching thirst, but it is a statement of who he is and provision of life that comes through him.
Right at the beginning of the Bible, in Genesis 2, we come across our first river, that flowed out from the garden of Eden into the world, providing life to what was once a barren land.
Then you jump a bit later into the bible, and you see a miracle performed in Exodus 17 of water gushing out of a rock, providing water for the hordes of parched Israelites who had fled Egypt.
Jump even further and you get this great prophetic picture in Ezekiel 47 of this river that flows out from the Temple of God. It is a river that gets bigger and bigger and wherever it flows it brings life to the whole of creation.
And then, if you jump right to the end of the Bible, to the book of Revelation in chapter 22 – sometimes titled “Eden Restored”, you get the picture of the new creation, life eternal with evil being no more – and right there at the end in this glorious picture is a river that flows out from the throne of God and the lamb = it is the river of the water of life – and either side of it grows the tree of life.
It is into this story of the Bible, of God’s life flowing out like a river, that Jesus is speaking in this passage.
Jesus declaring that he gives this living water, firstly places him in the position of God, as we are to understand this water flows from the throne of God.
Secondly, it declares that he is the one who brings life and sustains it. What is more, that this life he gives is eternal life. The barren land will never be barren again.
Thirdly, it shows that Jesus is the fulfilment of the full arc of scripture. By that, I mean the whole story that Scripture is telling, from the beginning of creation, to the time of the new creation – the answer is Jesus.
In books, you often will have a narrative that binds the whole story and series together. For example, in Harry Potter you could argue the narrative that the story is telling – is that love wins.
For the Bible, whilst you can say love wins – the narrative that the story is telling is Jesus. That Jesus wins, that Jesus is the life-giver, that Jesus is the saviour, that if you want to escape the barren wilderness of your life, if you want to be restored and refreshed, if you want to see an end to the chaos of this world – the answer is Jesus.
The living water that Jesus gives, we are told in chapter 7 of John is the Holy Spirit.
So let me encourage you to come to Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit, who flows out from the throne of the Father and Jesus – let Him minister to your hearts, and He will restore you and give you new life.
Questions:
- Have you come to Jesus? Have you given your life to him?
- And have you received the Living Waters that is the Holy Spirit in your life?