The 3rd Sunday after Epiphany

SERMON - Do You Thirst for Living Water?

INI

Text: John 4:5-14

So He (Jesus) came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and 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.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” 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.”

In Christ Jesus, whose gospel message brings us living water, dear fellow redeemed:

When you are tired, hot, and really thirsty, what is it that you like best of all to quench your thirst? Is it a cold Diet Coke, or perhaps one of the new flavored green teas, or is it simply a tall glass of ice-cold water? Irrespective of your answer, there is one thing that you know for sure—whatever it is that quenches your thirst will only do so for a certain amount of time. You are going to get thirsty again. That is just part of life. You know that; I know that; and so did the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at Jacob’s well so many centuries ago. That is why Jesus’ use of “living water” as a metaphor for the blessings of the gospel was so effective. Jesus used a concept and experience that was totally familiar to the woman, in order by extension to teach her a spiritual truth that she absolutely needed to know, both for her temporal and eternal welfare. It is a truth that we, too, need to know for our temporal and eternal welfare. Therefore, I would ask you this simple question: DO YOU THIRST FOR LIVING WATER? On the basis of this account from Jesus’ ministry I would point out three things about the living water Jesus offers you and me—its source is Jesus, its need is universal, and its results are eternal!

I.

The incident recorded in our text is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting of Jesus’ ministry. The verses immediately preceding our text reveal that Jesus’ meeting with this Samaritan woman was not a mere chance meeting. It was a meeting that God in His providential care had arranged. Jesus purposely traveled through Samaria—not around it as was the custom of most Jews. Our text informs us that He came to a specific city, Sychar, and arrived at a specific location outside that city, Jacob’s well, at a specific time, noon—shortly before “a (specific) woman of Samaria” arrived to draw water.

Jesus engaged the woman in a conversation—something highly unusual for that day, because Jews seldom had any contact with Samaritans whom they despised, and men seldom talked in public to women they did not know. Jesus asked the woman for a drink of water, but after making the request suggested to her that if she “knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a dink,’” she would have asked Him for a drink of “living water.”

Jesus, of course, was not talking about physical water, such as the water being drawn from Jacob’s well, nor did He have in mind quenching her physical thirst. Rather, Jesus had in mind the spiritual waters of the gospel, which alone could quench that woman’s thirsty soul! Just as Jesus earlier had called out to His own Jewish people, who were burdened by the Pharisees’ system of work-righteousness, and implored them: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28), so Jesus wanted to give this woman something that only He could give—the spiritual freedom of knowing that your sins have indeed been forgiven, that you possess new spiritual life, and that you have been assured of the gift of eternal salvation.

There is no one else who is or can be the source of such living water. John writes earlier in his Gospel, “The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (1:17). Later in his Gospel he writes that everything he included was intended to lead people to “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,” for by believing that, John says, you and I “may have life in His name” (20:31). Jesus is not like any other figure in all of history. He is not a mere man but is God’s Son who became man in order to be the “Christ”—the anointed Savior of the world! Consequently, while there are multitudes of religious figures in this world’s history, all of whom claim to be able to show us how to gain favor with God, Jesus alone offers the “living water,” which does not simply implement another “self-help” program, but which actually provides a new spiritual birth and entrance into the family of God. DO YOU THIRST FOR LIVING WATER? I would hope you do, and I would furthermore direct you to Jesus, for its source is Jesus!

II.

Even as its need is universal! There may well be a time when we are working together on a project, and I might ask you, “Would you like something to drink?” and you might respond, “No, thanks, I am not thirsty yet!” But it is inevitable that at some point you will become physically thirsty and need something to drink, for that physical need is universal. Even so, every human being needs the “living water” Jesus has to offer. They may not all know it, even as the Samaritan woman did not know it, until Jesus awakened within her an awareness of her deep need and desire. But what exactly do I mean?

God created human beings in His own image (cf. Genesis 1:26). It was God’s intent originally that human beings live in harmony with Him even as they represented Him in this world. He placed a natural knowledge of Himself and His will in their hearts and minds, which involved human beings in intimate fellowship with God. Unfortunately, when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they lost that perfect image. Their natural knowledge of God and His will became distorted, and instead of being in fellowship with God, they were at enmity with Him! Still human beings were created for fellowship with God.

This need is understood by those individuals in whose hearts the Holy Spirit has created faith. The Psalmist, for instance, writes: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (42:1-2) This need is also understood by those whose hearts have been convicted of sin by God’s law. King David wrote: “When I kept silence, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.” (Psalm 32:3-5)

It is a need that is hidden from and at times defiantly denied by the unbeliever. Think of someone like Richard Dawkins and others like him. Yet, even every unbeliever needs the “living waters” offered by Jesus Christ, for all people—believers and unbelievers alike—will one day stand before God and answer for their every thought, word, and action. Rant and rave as they may, no unbeliever is exempt from God’s authority. He is the Judge of all and is in control of all.

The Samaritan woman in our text was unaware of her need when she first met Jesus. In the verses that immediately follow our text, it becomes very evident that once aware, she knew that in view of her past sins, she needed the refreshment that the “living waters” offered by Jesus alone could give. My dear friends, DO YOU THIRST FOR LIVING WATER? Its need is universal!

III.

Its results are eternal! We human beings are a thirsty lot! We thirst for many things, and we often spend our lives seeking to quench those thirsts. That was certainly the case for the Samaritan woman. In the verse following our text we discover that she had divorced five men and was living with a sixth man who was not her husband. Evidently, she was thirsting for the right relationship, for love, for acceptance, for security—things that she had not found in spite of all of her efforts. Her many relationships with the various men in her life were not “living water,” but just plain water, that she had to drink over and over again without ever being satisfied.

That is exactly what will happen for anyone who tries to quench his spiritual thirst for God, for meaning and purpose in life, for hope in the present and for the future by drinking in the things of this world. Fame, fortune, sexual stimulus, food, alcohol and drugs, clothing, toys—whether for little boys or big boys, none of these will truly satisfy the spiritual need you and I and everyone else has. That need can only be filled by the gospel of Jesus Christ! Why is that the case?

Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman in our text when He said: “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.” The Samaritan woman, at first, was only thinking in outward terms. She did not want to have to walk out to the well each day to draw water. She wanted less work to do to meet her daily, physical needs, but once she understood who Jesus was and what He actually was offering her, she deeply desired to have what Jesus was indeed offering—spiritual wholeness with everything that involved!

What does it mean to have within our hearts “a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life”? It means that you know that by faith you are a redeemed child of God—a brother or sister of Christ. It means that you know God has forgiven you all of your sins, so that you need not walk in fear or doubt with regard to your standing before God. You have been declared His saint and an heir of everlasting life. It means that you know that God has created you to be you—with all of your individual talents and abilities, which He has given you to use to honor Him and to help others. It means that He has a plan for you, so that irrespective of the turns your life takes, God can and will use them all to enable you to accomplish everything He has in mind for you. It means that you can walk with confidence, knowing that God is walking beside you and during the particularly tough days—carrying you through to the end. It means that your prayers are heard and answers not always in accordance with your limiting desires, but in accordance with God’s gracious, good will, which had your ultimate good and that of others as well in mind! It means that every one of God’s promises to you will be kept—you will be preserved throughout this life and ultimately gifted with eternal life in heaven.

DO YOU THIRST FOR LIVING WATER? Satan is so very clever! Do not underestimate his ability to substitute for the “living water” of Christ the passing waters of this world. He can and will attempt to lead you and me to believe that the “Kool-Aid” mix of worldly pleasures will surely quench your thirst, but be aware that such things will only work for a short time—your thirst will always return. The “living water” of Christ’s gospel alone will provide you with results that are eternal. Therefore, drink! Drink up and drink often the precious gospel waters of life, offered by your Savior and mine—Jesus Christ! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting
To God alone be the glory!