In this passage, Jesus has a conversation with the woman at the well. She’s a Samaritan woman from nowhere – overlooked, shamed, insignificant, on the margins of society. Most would assume in her time that she’s on the margins of God’s blessings. But as He so often does, Jesus is about to turn those assumptions on their heads. And in a tender and personalized way, He brings the Gospel to this irreligious woman.
Through this story, we find three glimpses fo Jesus as the one who ultimately satisfies:
1) Jesus is the seeker of the lost, and we’re never beyond His reach. No matter what we’ve done. No matter who we’ve become. No matter what’s been done to us. Jesus loves us and is pursuing us. There’s no barrier he won’t break through, no chasm he won’t cross over, no distance he won’t reach; there’s no place we can wander where Jesus will not pursue us in His love.
2) Jesus is the satisfier of the soul, and we’re never beyond his redemption. There’s a connection between satisfaction and worship. Satisfaction is the long drink at the fountain; worship is the “ahh, that’s good” that follows. We see in this Samaritan woman a glimpse of ourselves. All have a soul-thirst that only God can satisfy, but we seek to quench it in all the wrong ways. But like the woman at the well, we’ve forsaken the fountain of living waters, and we find ourselves with messy stories and shameful pasts. But Jesus tells us that we’re never beyond redemption.
3) Jesus is the savior of the world, and He brings the hope of salvation to all nations. We’re never beyond reconciliation with God through what Jesus has done for us. This is the gospel message, and it’s available to all people, everywhere.
Won’t you come to the waters, so that your soul may live?
John 4:1-42
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