John 4 This Well IS Deep If you were to ask my lovely wife what Bible story her preacher of a husband loves to speak on, she’d have a list of a few to choose from, but my guess is, she’d tell you that this account from John 4 is at the very top. I don’t know if that’s really the case, but it is sure seems be in the top ten – maybe even in the top three. This is a story that I keep coming back to time and time again. It may seem a little strange in that I am not a woman, or of any race that faces prejudice on a daily level, nor has my marital status gone from married, to divorced, to married, to divorced, and so on. But this account from John 4 is one I find myself thirsty for time and time again. In fact, anytime that this story comes up, I make sure I am scheduled to preach that weekend (a clear violation of the worship pastor sermon scheduling protocol, but I don’t care – lol). As I walked down this familiar shoreline once again, I wondered what thought would float to the surface. Here it is. It’s right there in verse eleven. Once Jesus has asked for a drink of water, and this woman’s shown her surprise at this request, and Jesus countered with her own need for living water, she replied: “Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?” The thought of “living water” had intrigued her, but she is a realist after all. The whole situation is both ridiculous and unsettling. Here is this Jewish man breaking the rules of social convention and the accepted animosity between Jews and Samaritans of that day, and on top of that, he’s offering her something that he has no practical way of providing. The well is deep. In her own way, she’s countering by implying: “How in the world do you propose to provide me with this living water?” Yes, the well is deep, but Jesus wasn’t talking about Jacob’s well beside them. He was speaking of the far deeper well of God’s grace, mercy and love. This fractured life that had been her past and present had left her with a heart that seemed impervious. Even gallons of water falling from the sky would simply run off the concrete like substance that had become of her soul. Nothing seemed able to sink in. She was dying of thirst even as she made her daily trips out to the deep well Jacob had left them. And that’s exactly why I love this text so much, and why I can relate to it so well (pardon the pun). I’ve had periods in my life where I’ve turned to wells around me instead of The Well who gives drink to this dry and cracked soul of mine. And when I’ve sensed Christ asking me about my false pursuits, I’m pretty quick with the responses that really are nothing more than trying to divert Jesus to different topic. Of course, it doesn’t work for me, any more than it did for her. Jesus loves us too much to fall for that game. So how about you? Are you thirsty? Have you been settling for what beverage is handy at the moment, or are you asking Jesus for the “living water” that only He can provide? The Well is deep. But the love of Jesus runs deep and wide, high and low – to wherever He finds us.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 15:49:15 +0000
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