‘As the deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants for you, O God’. (Psalm 42:1)A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (John 4:7 ESV)
A normal daily trip to collect water turned into a rather unexpected encounter. Jesus strikes up a conversation with this woman and very quickly she realises that he knows all about her. He knows of her complex past, and about her current situation and yet he is more than comfortable to ask her for a drink and to have a chat about faith.
This was a most unusual situation. In that culture a man talking to a woman at the well, and a Jew talking to a Samaritan was not the done thing – it would have been frowned upon and deemed most inappropriate. Nevertheless, Jesus still talks to her, and despite knowing all about her, wants to affirm her and tell her that he is the one who can heal all her hurts and satisfy all her deepest longings. Although she was physically thirsty and needed water, this is what she really needed and what her heart craved for.
Jesus also knows our stories. He knows our complex past and all about our current circumstances. He understands all that has happened and is happening. He knows all the reasons; he knows our backgrounds and our weaknesses. We have no secrets from Jesus in the same way this woman had none, and yet Jesus didn’t marginalise her because of who she was, and he doesn’t marginalise us either. He knows all the parts of our lives that we would want to forget and those we would to celebrate, he knows the sad moments and the good times, and he knows all about our mixed motives. In fact, he knows more about our life story and sees it more clearly than we do ourselves, and yet incredibly he still wants to engage with us.
Jesus said to this woman, all who come to him, no matter their past or their current circumstances will be fully satisfied and will never thirst again (John 4:14)
. This is what she needed to hear and in response, she said, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty’ (John 4:15)
. This is what we need to hear from Jesus too, and as he engages with us may we have the same response as this Samaritan woman at the well.
Prayer
Father, we are thirsty for your grace, and we thank you that your grace is freely available to everyone, no matter what our past or current situation. May we come to Jesus to drink of that grace and to be satisfied.
Amen
Pastor Barry
