As today’s title indicates, this is the third installment in our current series, “The ‘If’ that Changes Everything”. As we saw in our previous editions, our story began with Jesus sitting on the capstone of Jacob’s well in Sychar when a lone Samaritan woman approached. In violation of every established social and cultural norm, He actually addressed her directly. Then He made the culturally unthinkable situation worse by asking her for a drink of water. She reminded Him that personal interactions like that don’t happen between Jews and Samaritans. That’s when Jesus delivered that incredibly provocative proposition that began with “if you knew …” and the drama began to unfold. He said to her:  

If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. (John 4:10 NKJV)

A Subtle Challenge ~
Her reasonable reaction began by pointing out that Jesus didn’t even have a rope and bucket with which to retrieve this mysterious water, much less a well to draw it from. Then she continued by asking a question that was a thinly veiled challenge to His credentials and/or authority to be making such an outlandish proclamation. She was sort of asking, “Who do you think you are?” but was doing it in a much less confrontational way than it might have been done in our day. John reported her response like this: 

Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself…? (John 4:12 NKJV)

In referring to Jacob as ‘our’ father, and the one who gave ‘us’ the well, she was highlighting the Samaritan claim that the well and their relationship to the patriarch, Jacob, belonged more to the Samaritans than the Jews. It was an open door for Jesus to be drawn into a familiar, endless debate between Jews and Samaritans, but He ignored that potential distraction and proceeded to basically repeat and reinforce the offer He had just made: 

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:13–14 NKJV)

Looking for a Way to Disengage ~
It’s hard to imagine what she actually thought when this strange Jewish traveler who had just asked her for a drink declared that He could provide some kind of water that could quench her thirst forever. Perhaps at that point she thought she could bring the matter to a close and disengage with this rather strange Jew by just taking him up on his offer. 

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” (John 4:15 NKJV)

 Whatever the woman thought Jesus might do next, I’m confident that it wasn’t what He actually did. Jesus delivered another unanticipated jolt to her system when He unloaded this: 

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” (John 4:16 NKJV)

Reaching a New Level ~
As mind-numbing as her encounter with Him had been up until this moment, this directive took it to a whole new level. This was different from casually ignoring social and cultural restrictions. Without warning, and with a mere handful of words, Jesus blew past the one personal boundary she wanted to yield to no one. He entered forbidden territory and knocked on the door of that room in her life where her most intense and irreconcilable pain was stored. He stood at the repository that held all the unvarnished truth that she didn’t even want to admit to herself, much less reveal to anyone else. It isn’t surprising that when she heard Jesus’ simple directive, her instinctive reaction was to escape. 

She desperately needed to find a “safe place” to retreat into, a place where she could hide from the world and feel protected. And as so many of us might recognize and understand, her safe place was a fortress founded on fear and protected by lies. If Jesus’ directive sounded abrupt and simple, her response was even more so, and it was designed to lay the whole issue to rest. 

The woman answered and said,“I have no husband.” (John 4:17 NKJV)

She may have thought that she had slammed the door on the issue and safely bolted it shut with her response. Little did she know that this bizarre little Middle Eastern drama was far from over, and Jesus was just getting started. What He had done so far might have seemed like cultural earthquakes to her, but He was about to prove that they were just  preliminary tremors. 

First, He affirmed that her statement was true, but then He unveiled the painful truth she fought so hard to hide: 

Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” (John 4:17b-18 NKJV)

Getting to the Core ~
In this response, Jesus brings His primary objective into focus. While the encounter clearly involved a wide range of cultural, racial, social, gender, and theological issues, at its core this entire incident was about living water. And receiving living water begins by acknowledging our thirst. By unveiling the truth the woman desperately wanted to hide, Jesus exposed that aching thirst in her heart for the real love and forgiveness she thought could never be found. 

Jesus’ exposition of her personal history made it undeniably clear to her that He was not just a radically different kind of Jew, but one with divine, prophetic authority. In light of that, she began to ask what to do about worshiping God. She was basically asking whether she would have to go to Jerusalem instead of Mount Gerizim where the Samaritans worshiped to find access to Him. Jesus told her that no longer would broken, rejected, abused, and hopeless people like her need to travel to temples, sacrifice animals, and perform rituals in an effort to find forgiveness, redemption, and acceptance. To which she responded that she knew that when the Messiah came, He would tell them everything they needed to know. At that point, Jesus chose to reveal Himself with unprecedented simplicity and clarity.

Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He. (John 4:26 NKJV)

The One who defied all racial and cultural boundaries to reach out to her was the very fountain of living water that the prophets foresaw. The promised water of life was flowing, but she would soon discover that its potential impact was just beginning.  

Another Perspective ~
While there is much, much more that could be explored about this profoundly significant meeting at Jacob’s well, I’ll wrap up this journey by mentioning one of the major concepts I think Jesus wanted to demonstrate about living water … 

In His day, a reference to living water wasn’t necessarily a metaphorical term with spiritual meaning. It was also commonly used to distinguish water that was moving (as in a spring or a stream), from standing water in a cistern or some kind of holding tank. Water from a spring or a fountain or a stream has to go somewhere! It’s always moving, reaching out to new territory, offering itself to whatever thirsty soul awaits its refreshing, cleansing, and life-giving power. That living water was undeniably evident when that shamed and shunned Samaritan woman headed back to town. 

She went home with a heart transformed from a stagnant cistern of pain and regret into a fountain sending out life, hope, and love. She doubtlessly defied all kinds of cultural conventions by telling her story to everyone, including openly addressing the men. In telling them that Jesus knew every shameful thing she’d ever done, but had forgiven her, their own stash of secrets began to emerge. Crowds gathered to meet Him. They urged and convinced Him to remain two days with them – and many became believers. 

When she went back to town and began to tell her story, I can’t help but wonder if this woman’s invitation to the townspeople to go and meet Him had begun with, “If you knew …” We all live in towns and cities full of thirsty people, too – and that’s a pretty good place to begin our own stories, as well.

“TWEETABLES” ~ Click to Tweet & Share from the pull quotes below. Each quote links directly to this article through Twitter.

• • • “With a mere handful of words, Jesus blew past the one personal boundary she wanted to yield to no one. He entered forbidden territory and knocked on the door of that room in her life where her most intense and irreconcilable pain was stored.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 
    • “Jesus stood at the repository holding all the unvarnished truth she didn’t even want to admit to herself, much less reveal to anyone else. It isn’t surprising that when she heard Jesus’ simple directive, her instinctive reaction was to escape.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
    • “She desperately needed to find a ‘safe place’ to retreat into, a place where she could hide from the world and feel protected. As so many of us might recognize and understand, her safe place was a fortress founded on fear and protected by lies.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)  
    • “Little did she know that this bizarre Middle Eastern drama was far from over. Jesus was just getting started. What He did may have seemed like cultural earthquakes to her, but He was about to prove that they were just  preliminary tremors.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)  
    • “Living water begins by acknowledging our thirst. By unveiling the truth the woman desperately wanted to hide, Jesus exposed that aching thirst in her heart for the real love and forgiveness she thought could never be found.” @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)  
      

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