John 4:5-26
A Right(eous) Thirst
About sixteen years ago, I was at the National Youth Gathering in New Orleans. The entire week was filled with fun events and wonderful speakers that helped us grow in faith. My only problem… we had to walk everywhere around town… and it was July. Now being New Orleans in the middle of July, it was consistently 95-99 degrees outside and 99% humidity as well. On top of all the walking, we also had projects that we would do outside in the very sunny-no-cloud-in-sight afternoons. Never in my life did I think I could be that thirsty after drinking a gallon of water. If we had one motto that week, it was “drink more water.” If you’re thirsty, take a drink. If you stopped walking, take a drink. If you finally got to your destination, take a drink. If you were starting a work project, take a drink. If you just took a drink… it didn’t matter, shove that water bottle back in your face and drink it all! Unfortunately, I apparently didn’t learn this quick enough. It was the middle of the week and we had just finished our work project for the day. We had gathered to say a closing prayer, standing in a circle. I remember closing my eyes to pray… and not much else… that is, until I woke up on the ground with three adults beside me. Especially after fainting because of dehydration, being thirsty seemed so burdensome. No sooner would I finish off a water bottle, I would refill it and drink another. In the oppressive heat of New Orleans, it seemed there was little I could do to actually quench my thirst.
Now, I can only imagine the Samaritan woman in our Gospel reading today felt much the same as I did. Every day, she would need to come to the well and get more water to drink. It must have seemed so burdensome. But then, one day, she met Jesus who offered her a different kind of water. For Jesus says:
DRINK OF THIS WATER AND NEVER THIRST AGAIN!
I.
A drink when you’re thirsty does wonders to alleviate thirst. But it doesn’t last forever. This Samaritan woman would have to come to the well every day to get more water for herself and her family. And she came this time at about the “sixth hour”, which is noon, at the hottest part of the day because she doesn’t want to see anyone else. But on this day, she meets Jesus at the well. As Jesus says to her, “Give me a drink” (John 4:7). Jesus was thirsty too after a long day. He and his disciples were walking from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north (approx. 70 mi). This woman is surprised by Jesus’ request, not for the request, but who Jesus is. As John reminds us that Jews and Samaritans had no dealings with one another (John 4:9). For so Jesus responds, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water,” (John 4:10). The woman knows this must be good… but she doesn’t understand its source. The woman’s response shows that she has a thirst deeper than any mere water can quench.
This water, even Jacob’s well, can’t alleviate her thirst or ours. This isn’t a thirst of the body, but a thirst of the soul. She’s been trying to quench this thirst… this thirst of love, the thirst of acceptance, the thirst of our sinful flesh. But no matter what she does, the thirst only gets stronger. So too with you and me. Our bodies thirst for the desires of this world. Money, fame, health, power, love, and so on. It’s a thirst that we can never quench. Even so, we still try. We try to drink to the full the desires of the world and our flesh to try to satiate our thirst. Just like the well, we so often come back again and again to the same sins. We keep thinking that one more time will be enough, only to grow thirsty again. This is original sin. It’s our ingrained desire, or inclination, towards sin, towards all that is evil in God’s eyes. For we were conceived sinful. So, we drink the water of sin, of the world and our flesh. But no matter how much we drink, our thirst is never satisfied.
II.
Just as the Samaritan woman would learn, Jesus came to the well not just to receive but also to give. He would make known to her a water that would quench her thirst of body and soul. As Jesus says, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14). Anyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again. The water of the world, the water of sin. For so we must understand the source of this living water. It comes from only one place… Jesus. As Luther reminds us with baptism, “how can water do such great things?” That’s the thing… it’s not just water. It’s the water with the Word. Baptism instills this “water welling up to eternal life.” A faith that clings to nothing but Jesus, who is Spirit and Truth.
This wouldn’t be the last time that Jesus asks for a drink. Jesus would drink to the full God’s wrath against the world. He would drain the cup that we never could. Under the torment of his torture, his agony, under the weight of our sins, Jesus would say, “I thirst.” (John 19:28). On the cross, Jesus would consume all our sin, our thirst, our death. But he came not just to drink, but also to give! From the cross, Jesus would give us a new thirst… one that wouldn’t be burdensome like our last. By Jesus’ death on the cross, he makes us to hunger and thirst for righteousness, the redemption of our souls (Matthew 5:6). In this thirst, we shall be satisfied. Consider Jesus’ reply to the Samaritan woman concerning worship, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him,” John 4:23. The Father has sought out such people… he’s sought out you by the work of the Holy Spirit. For we worship the Father in Spirit and Truth… that is in the one who is both Spirit and Truth, Jesus Christ our Savior. Through Jesus, we receive the living water… water that wells up unto eternal life!
In our worship, we find Christ giving and instilling in us this living water. He has given us faith to believe in his death and resurrection even as he nourishes us by his own body and blood. For we come here to drink of his righteousness that we may be satisfied. In Jesus’ name. Amen!