The Well | John 4
From “The Chosen” S1:E8
John 4
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Chapter Notables:
Jesus and the Samaritan woman - verses 1-26
Jesus tells His disciples that His food is to do the will of the Father - verses 27-38
The Samaria believes the message because of the woman - verses 39-42
Jesus heals the son of a nobleman in Cana by His word alone - verses 43-54
Hungry and Thirsty | Lemuel Ayudtud
You don’t want to be in the way of a man or a woman who is hungry or thirsty. Nothing drives people more insane or irrational than when they are hungry or thirsty. They will snap at you or push you out of the way or say and do things they normally would not say or do. Have you ever been there? We’re just not the same when hunger or thirst is motivating us.
Jesus once said, “They that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled.” There is something about being hungry and thirsty after God that motivates God to do something. I know it’s kind of weird to have God act on our hunger and thirst, but that’s just what it is. When we are hungry or thirsty for God, it stirs God to action for our benefit. Often when we are hungry and thirsty we act on it, but not so when it comes to spiritual things. Hunger and thirst for Him activates God.
Let’s look at this woman in Samaria. She went to The well of Jacob to draw some water for herself and maybe for her family. Jesus, a Jew, engages her in conversation. And if you know the backstory, Jesus actually traveled to Samaria for this woman.
Samaria was not a usual traveling spot for Jews and it was not part of Jesus’ traveling itinerary, at least to the minds of His disciples. Samaria was an out-of-the-way situation for them, yet Jesus rerouted His whole entire travel to speak to this woman. The whole entire scenario should not have happened. Jews were not on speaking terms with Samaritans, and knowing the lifestyle of this woman, Jesus should not have engaged in conversation with her. So why did Jesus do all of that just to speak to this woman? I believe it’s because this woman was thirsty and hungry for change.
But the interaction was not just for this woman. When the disciples came back from getting food from the market place wherever that was, they presented Jesus with food. Jesus told them that He had “meat” they had no awareness of. What was that “meat”? The disciples thought that somebody must’ve fed him while they were out getting food. They did not realize that the meat Jesus was speaking of was to do His Father’s will.
Most people speak only about the woman at the well that was thirsty for change, but we also should speak about Jesus’ hunger to do His Father’s Will. In Christ Jesus, God quenched the thirst of the woman’s desires for change and at the same time show to us what those of us who are followers of Jesus should be hungry for.
You and I should be both the woman and Jesus at the well. We should be both thirsty for more of God and at the same time hungry to do the will of God. In fact when we look at the entire story, Samaria turning to Jesus because of the woman’s testimony about Him, thirsting for God is only truly quenched when we are hungry for God’s will.
If we want more of God, we’ve got to do more of what He desires for us to do. To have the overflowing water of God’s Spirit bursting inside of you, refreshing you like only His living water can, then the will of God must be your driving force—the hunger that feeds you.
What is the will of God, at least in this scenario?
Engage people who are in need of God.
Jesus went out of His way just to talk to the Samaritan woman. We must learn to embrace getting out of our own way to meet the needs of thirsty people.Meet people where they’re at.
The disciples of Jesus wondered why Jesus was speaking to the woman. All the nuances of a Jew speaking to a Samaritan made them judge the situation according to their prejudices or maybe even racism or classism. Yet Jesus only saw the woman’s desire for life change. The need for God of people must be our motivating factor and nothing else.
Be motivated by the prospect of people repenting, leading to lives lived for God.
I believe Jesus understood that speaking to this woman was going to lead to the change of whole city. He understood that one life can change many lives. So for us, we must see that every point of connection with peoplebcan lead to dramatic changes in their families and even in their city.
If you’re thirsty for God, don’t be surprised that His answer for your thirst is to give you hunger for His will. The woman of Samaria went from drawing water from a deep well, to becoming an evangelist in her city. She went from trying to meet her physical thirst to doing the will of God which quenched her spiritual thirst. She forgot her water pots at the well because she had met the Man who made her well. Her physical thirst went out the window when spiritual hunger filled her. She went to the well and ended up becoming a well for those who were thirsty for God in her city. She went to the Well of Jacob only to become the Well of Jesus.
Lord, give me a thirst for You. Give me a desire for Your Spirit and Your presence in my life. Give me a desire to have Your living water overflowing in me. I know when I drink of that water my life will never be the same again. Weights and issues of life will be replaced with joy and hope when I am filled with Your Spirit. And help me to understand that once that thirst is quenched a hunger will fill me to do Your will. Help me to yield to that. Help me to embrace the out-of-the-way moments that You will lead me to. Give me the grace to love the wounded, the hurting, the seeking like only You can. In Your Name Jesus, I pray, amen.
