“Jesus replied, ‘If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.’ ‘But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,’ she said, ‘and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water?’” (John 4:10-11 NLT)
The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 is one of the signature passages in John’s gospel. Jesus has an extended conversation with a woman about living water. This woman has a number of problems.
To start with, she’s from “the wrong side of the tracks.” A good Jew like Jesus wasn’t supposed to talk to a Samaritan woman.
The woman is also unlucky in love – she’s been with a number of men and is currently sleeping with someone else’s husband.
We know the woman is a social outcast because she has come to the village well alone and at midday to draw water. Typically the town’s women would come to the well together, usually in the cool of the morning, to draw water and to visit and socialize.
Finally, there’s the practical problem of drawing water from a deep, deep well. It’s hard work. She has to draw and carry enough water for the day to drink, to cook, to wash with, and to care for the animals and other people in her household.
She’s got problems. So she is understandably confused when Jesus first asks her for a drink of water, and then offers her a drink of “living water.” Who is this weirdo by the well, she wonders? What could he know about her problems? How could he help? The woman is skeptical: “But sir, you don’t have a bucket, and the well is deep.”
I can sympathize with the Samaritan woman. I bet you can too. Life is full of real problems, real struggles. We need help, but sometimes it is hard to see how Jesus could possibly help us: We are broke, but Jesus doesn’t have any money. We are hurting, but Jesus doesn’t have any band-aids. We are confused, but Jesus doesn’t have any advice. We are hungry, but Jesus has no food. We are thirsty, but Jesus doesn’t have a bucket.
We have serious problems. The well is very deep. We need practical help. Jesus has no bucket. How can Jesus possibly help us?
This is what skeptics and opponents of Christ say about our faith – that it isn’t practical. They deride Christianity as “pie in the sky by-and-by.” Christians are “so heavenly minded we are no earthly good.”
But we know better, don’t we? Jesus promises that God knows and cares about our basic needs – food and clothing and shelter (Matthew 6:25ff). We might not have riches and abundant feasts… but somehow we have “enough” for the day, each day.
Sometimes God provides through our community. Christians care and share – whether it is a casserole delivered to someone who is sick, or food provided through the food pantry, or a special gift through the church community. The well might be deep, but God surrounds us with folks who have buckets.
Other times God provides through a little miracle: we find $10 in our coat pocket, or get an unexpected bonus at work, or a gift from a friend. Healing comes despite the prediction of the doctors. We get a call from a forgotten friend just when we need a boost.
Our spiritual needs are just as profound as our physical needs. Prayer connects us with God and each other. Christ fills that hungry gap deep in our souls, providing the bread of life and living water.
Perhaps our greatest thirst is knowing what comes after death. We all have a “bucket list” of things we want to accomplish before we die. But the greatest accomplishment of our life and faith is what happens after we die – eternal life, the great heavenly feast, rejoicing with Christ and with those we’ve loved forever. Living water indeed, no buckets required.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Park