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JESUS THE WATER OF LIFE
MONDAY, APRIL 28
John 4:1-26

Psalm 42

 

“…he would have

given thee living water.”

 

JESUS THE WATER OF LIFE
 
The Jews and the Samaritans were mutual enemies. This can be seen in the woman’s response to Jesus when He asked for water, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” This animosity between Jew and Samaritan arose after the destruction of the northern kingdom of Ephraim by Assyria in 721 BC. The Assyrians re-populated the land with captives from other countries (2 Kings 17:24). Not all the Israelites were taken captive into Assyria. Some were left behind. Intermarriages between those Israelites and foreigners resulted in a mongrel Samarian race.
 
The Samaritan woman was reluctant to offer a drink to Jesus, a Jew. But Jesus told her that if she knew who He truly was, she would have asked for the living water only He could provide, and He would have given her that water willingly and freely. When she argued that the water from Jacob’s well was better than any water Jesus could give, the Lord replied, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” She superstitiously thought that Jesus had magical water. She asked for this water so that she could save herself the trouble of drawing water from the well again. She did not understand Jesus’ words and her real need. So the Lord told her to call her husband. She lied that she had none. Jesus then revealed His omniscience by telling her that she had not one but five husbands. After Jesus exposed her sin, she realised that He was Someone extraordinary, and said, “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet… I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.” Like the Jews, the Samaritans were expecting a Messiah to come based on Moses’ prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15. Jesus revealed His identity and told her, “I that speak unto thee am he.”
 
THOUGHT: Jesus is the true Jacob’s well that never dries up.

PRAYER: “For Thee, my God, the living God, My thirsty soul doth pine.”

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