Satisfying an Eternal Thirst
Our Lord had no wish to precipitate the conflict with the Pharisee party, until He had finished His ministry to the people. He was the last and greatest of the prophets, as well as the world's Redeemer. He therefore withdrew from the metropolis. Here is another must, John 4:4. There were three in the previous chapter and there are two in this. It was not necessary for Jesus to go through Samaria except for the purpose of mercy to one soul. Jacob's well is still visible, at the entrance of the green valley up which Sychar lay. Thus, that is, as a tired man would sit. It was noon. The time when women usually drew water was in the evening, but there were special reasons why this woman came by herself. The love of God overleaps narrow restrictions of sex, and sect, and nationality. Two conditions, John 4:10, precede our reception of God's best gifts: we must know, and we must ask.
The living water is not a stagnant pond or well, but leaps up from a hidden spring. The woman keeps referring to the well, Jesus to the spring in the well. That alone can satisfy. Not the word, but the spirit in the word. Not the rite, but the grace it symbolizes. John 4:13 might serve as the inscription on all places of worldly amusement. Ponder that word become, John 4:14. You first drink for your own need, then you help to meet the need of others.