The Third Sunday in Lent
John 4:5-26 - The Samaritan Woman at the Well
Fr. Oliver Robinson
John 4:5-26 - The Samaritan Woman at the Well
Fr. Oliver Robinson
Genesis Water of Life
In the beginning of the world, when God first created the Garden of Eden, we are given a wonderful image.
Genesis 2 tell us this:
5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.
…
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.
In the barren earth, dry and desolate, God plants a garden. But, as anyone who gardens or farms knows, for things to grow, you need water. Lots of Water.
So God causes water to come up from the ground into a Spring. The waters rise up from the ground at Eden, and plants, flowers, shrubs and trees begin to grow. A river flows out of Eden and brings life to the garden and, through its four branches, to the world beyond. Eden is the place from where all life on earth springs forth.
But when Adam and Eve rebel, they are cut off from this source of the water of life, and become subject to death and toil.
Old Testament Water of Life
Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets point to a time when these streams of living water will flow again…
God speaks through Joel: “When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem // “In that day the mountains will drip new wine and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias.” JOEL 3:1,18
God speaks through Isaiah: “Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.” (Isaiah 35: 6, 7 NIV).
God speaks through Zechariah: “On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, … The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.” ZECHARIAH 14:8-9
The Old Testament hints and points toward the fact that God is not going to let people stay in the wilderness…
He is not going to let Adam’s sin be the final word for humanity.
One day God will restore us and grant us access again to this “water of life” that the prophets long for.
Gospel of John – water of life
And then, as we read today in the Gospel of John, something astonishing happens. Standing beside a well, Jesus tells a Samaritan woman — a woman marked by shame and brokenness — that
13 “Everyone who drinks this water [the water from the well] will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)
The water which flowed from Eden and gave life to the world.
The water which Adam was cut off from and condemned us all to live with fallen human natures
Is now beginning to “rise up from the earth” again.
In the person of Jesus, Eternal life, truth, goodness, beauty, peace, mercy, kindness, graciousness, justice are starting to flow in human hearts again. All the things we lost in Eden, we are being granted access to again.
Important connections
Now there are a few important connections to make with this passage:
The first is later in John’s Gospel where the text say this:
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”[a] 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7)
So we know that the water of Life means the Spirit of God within us
Again, we read today the story from Exodus. The people begin to grumble and accuse Moses and Aaron because they are in the wilderness with nothing to drink,
“Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” (Numbers 20)
Do you remember what happens?
As we read today from Exodus, when the Lord tells Moses and Aaron to strike the rock with Moses staff. When they do, a spring of water gushes up from the ground and the people are saved.
John’s Gospel, at the crucifixion, Christ is pierced with a spear to make sure he is really dead. Do you remember what happens?
33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. (John 19)
This is one of the reasons why the wine at the communion table is mixed with water.
The Water of life literally pours out of Jesus’ body, just like Moses and the rock, at His crucifixion. Giving us life as it once gave life to the Israelites in the desert.
And when we turn to Revelation, we hear that at the end of all things God will do this:
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. (Rev 21:6)
And we are also told that Eden will be restored:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse (Rev 22:2-3)
The journey of the Water of Life begins as God uses it to water and bring life to the Garden of Eden
Adam is banished from the Garden, and is prohibited from accessing the Water of Life.
But the prophets hint at its return
And Christ proclaims the return of the Water of Life, through Him, through the Holy Spirit, and now through us into the world.
And at the end of all things, everyone who believes in Jesus as Lord and Saviour will have full access to the Water of life, which pours forth from the heavenly throne in the New Jerusalem.
Application
So, we have this beautiful imagery, this journey of the water of life flowing through History, and now accessible, in part, to us. As believers filled with the Holy Spirit.
We know how precious this was what we lost in Eden,
We long for how precious it will be when He comes again and the Water pours from the throne.
But what does it mean for us now, today, here in the North West Suburbs, to come to Christ and drink the Water of Life?
Let us turn to the woman Christ speaks with:
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
She has the King of Glory, the Prince of peace, the lord of Lords and King of Kings in front of here, who watered the Garden of Eden and reigns on a heavenly throne, and she can't see past her physical, earthly, needs.
But we forgive her. Because WE ARE HER.
When Adam sinned, he cut off our access to the water of life. Our access to close union with God and all of His goodness. And we began, in our fallen selves, to look to other gods, and other sources of water. And we still do this today.
We look for financial security, the success of our children, exercising authority over others, failing to let go of control, pride, power, prestige, and emotional safety.
We look to poisoned earthly wells, instead of turning to the Water of Life in Christ.
But what happens when we do turn to Him for the Water of Life?
Spiritual fulfillment
Judy and I often reflect on how we could have chosen a life of disengaged comfort. The Lord has blessed us materially, and we live a relatively comfortable life. When God called our family into this leadership role at Grace, we knew that we were signing up for battles and hardships. That there would be days when we wished we hadn’t taken on this role, because the emotional toll was going to be high.
We knew that our children would be at risk of becoming “pastor's kids” and going off the rails. That from now on this church would be their spiritual family but would now also represent the main thing that took their Father’s attention away from them.
But we also knew this: That it was far better to be following God’s voice, who leads us “beside still waters,” and that for every battle, no matter how ugly or demoralizing it became, that He would pair it with His blessings. And we see that so clearly in you – in your fellowship, the love and support you have shown us, and the high trust and responsibility that Bishop Alan has entrusted to me in this role. Pray for me that I would be worthy of it.
In 12 step addiction recovery groups there is a phrase HALT
Hungry - Angry - Lonely - Tired
This is the time when you are most vulnerable to falling back into your addiction.
The solution is, instead of turning to the substance you are addicted to, instead address the root need underneath.
If you are Hungry – eat something
If you are Angry – process your anger
If you are Lonely – go and connect with someone you love
If you are Tired – go and rest
For us, as Christians, we can be more vulnerable to temptation when we are Hungry, Angry, lonely or Tired. And it is worth watching out for what we crave in those moments.
What are the earthly wells in life that you keep turning to, instead of the Water of Life?
Where do you go to when you need to be comforted?
When you are Hungry, Angry, lonely or tired where do you turn?
What is it that activates the dopamine centers of your brain?
Our nature is fallen and broken, and we are constantly pulled toward sweet earthly wells that never truly satisfy. They never reach the root of our needs, our fears, or our desires. They can only be filled by Him.
How do we do this? How do we drink the Water of Life instead of poisoned wells when our hearts are so bent towards sin.
I remember saying to my sister once, many years ago, that I thought I would be okay if I ended up in Heaven as a street sweeper. Just, if all I am able to manage as treasure in heaven is a small hut on the side of the road, where my job is to keep the streets clean, then that’s good enough for me. If there is one portion of the “streets paved with Gold” that I can dust with a broom every now and again, I will be happy.
She turned to me and said: “But Oliver, there won't be any dust or dirt in Heaven.”
So I had to rethink that one.
What she was really doing was reminding me that what awaits us there is os glorious and wonderful that I couldn’t even imagine. That my expectations for myself were so far beyond the glory God has promised us all.
Some of you are in a stage of life where your eternal life might be weighing quite heavily on you. You might have more years on this earth behind you than in front. You might be taking in that deep breath before you have to face the final hurdle of your Christian walk, the last shadow.
As the Anglican poet George Herbert put it,
Death used to be an executioner,
But the Gospel hath made him a gardener.
(George Herbert, The Flower)
When our bodies are placed in the ground, it is no longer the end of our stories,
Because of the cross our bodies are placed in the ground like a seed being planted in good soil, as we look to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. We have nothing to fear as we face the last shadow. Knowing what awaits us beyond.
Death used to be an executioner, but the Gospel hath made him a gardener.
Run this race well, and think about what you want your legacy to be. Let it be shaped and grown by the Water of Life rather than any poisoned well.
A way to orient myself towards Christ, which I have found quite powerful in my life, is to read, watch, or listen to stories. Stories that show the truth and wake up the parts of my soul that fall asleep.
Things like The Chosen, or Pendragon, or Narnia, or Elizabeth Goudge, or the Lord of the Rings, or even scripture itself. Whatever it is that wakes you up to the real story.
As a family, we have Friday movie nights where we all watch something together. And this week we watched an animated version of Pilgrim's Progress for children. It’s a beautiful story written by John Bunyan describing an allegorical journey of a man named Christian leaving the city of destruction and journeying towards the celestial City where the True King lives. And it was beautiful, and I had to quietly weep at parts while the children watched.
Christian is told to keep on the straight path towards the city, but of course he gets distracted and lured away from the path again and again. Each time, leading to great trouble and danger. Every time he walked off the path Victoria jumped into my arms saying, “Oh no! Oh no!” because she knew things were about to get a bit scary when he left the path.
I look at the decisions Christian makes in the movie and scoff at how stupid it is to follow a character called “worldly pleasures” away from the path. Yet I walk away from the path myself again and again. When I can think of my sin, as a Christian Pilgrim straying from the path in that story, it helps me to stay straight.
And of course, the ultimate way to drink the Water of Life here in the North West Suburbs is later in our service. Where we will literally drink His blood, mixed with water, just as it flowed from His body on the Cross.
We are spiritually fed by being here today, confessing our sins, receiving absolution, praying together, reading scripture, preparing ourselves to approach the Altar and partaking in part of the Heavenly life here on earth.
The Samaritan woman had been searching for water in many wells.
Five husbands. Many disappointments.
But here, finally, she meets the one who can actually satisfy her thirst.
And here we are too, today, before His table. About to drink the Water of life again.
In the silence ahead of us think upon the earthly wells that draw you away from the Water of Life. And ask God to change your heart for them.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the beginning of the world, when God first created the Garden of Eden, we are given a wonderful image.
Genesis 2 tell us this:
5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.
…
10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.
In the barren earth, dry and desolate, God plants a garden. But, as anyone who gardens or farms knows, for things to grow, you need water. Lots of Water.
So God causes water to come up from the ground into a Spring. The waters rise up from the ground at Eden, and plants, flowers, shrubs and trees begin to grow. A river flows out of Eden and brings life to the garden and, through its four branches, to the world beyond. Eden is the place from where all life on earth springs forth.
But when Adam and Eve rebel, they are cut off from this source of the water of life, and become subject to death and toil.
Old Testament Water of Life
Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets point to a time when these streams of living water will flow again…
God speaks through Joel: “When I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem // “In that day the mountains will drip new wine and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias.” JOEL 3:1,18
God speaks through Isaiah: “Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.” (Isaiah 35: 6, 7 NIV).
God speaks through Zechariah: “On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, … The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.” ZECHARIAH 14:8-9
The Old Testament hints and points toward the fact that God is not going to let people stay in the wilderness…
He is not going to let Adam’s sin be the final word for humanity.
One day God will restore us and grant us access again to this “water of life” that the prophets long for.
Gospel of John – water of life
And then, as we read today in the Gospel of John, something astonishing happens. Standing beside a well, Jesus tells a Samaritan woman — a woman marked by shame and brokenness — that
13 “Everyone who drinks this water [the water from the well] will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)
The water which flowed from Eden and gave life to the world.
The water which Adam was cut off from and condemned us all to live with fallen human natures
Is now beginning to “rise up from the earth” again.
In the person of Jesus, Eternal life, truth, goodness, beauty, peace, mercy, kindness, graciousness, justice are starting to flow in human hearts again. All the things we lost in Eden, we are being granted access to again.
Important connections
Now there are a few important connections to make with this passage:
The first is later in John’s Gospel where the text say this:
37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”[a] 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7)
So we know that the water of Life means the Spirit of God within us
Again, we read today the story from Exodus. The people begin to grumble and accuse Moses and Aaron because they are in the wilderness with nothing to drink,
“Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” (Numbers 20)
Do you remember what happens?
As we read today from Exodus, when the Lord tells Moses and Aaron to strike the rock with Moses staff. When they do, a spring of water gushes up from the ground and the people are saved.
John’s Gospel, at the crucifixion, Christ is pierced with a spear to make sure he is really dead. Do you remember what happens?
33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. (John 19)
This is one of the reasons why the wine at the communion table is mixed with water.
The Water of life literally pours out of Jesus’ body, just like Moses and the rock, at His crucifixion. Giving us life as it once gave life to the Israelites in the desert.
And when we turn to Revelation, we hear that at the end of all things God will do this:
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. (Rev 21:6)
And we are also told that Eden will be restored:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse (Rev 22:2-3)
The journey of the Water of Life begins as God uses it to water and bring life to the Garden of Eden
Adam is banished from the Garden, and is prohibited from accessing the Water of Life.
But the prophets hint at its return
And Christ proclaims the return of the Water of Life, through Him, through the Holy Spirit, and now through us into the world.
And at the end of all things, everyone who believes in Jesus as Lord and Saviour will have full access to the Water of life, which pours forth from the heavenly throne in the New Jerusalem.
Application
So, we have this beautiful imagery, this journey of the water of life flowing through History, and now accessible, in part, to us. As believers filled with the Holy Spirit.
We know how precious this was what we lost in Eden,
We long for how precious it will be when He comes again and the Water pours from the throne.
But what does it mean for us now, today, here in the North West Suburbs, to come to Christ and drink the Water of Life?
Let us turn to the woman Christ speaks with:
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
She has the King of Glory, the Prince of peace, the lord of Lords and King of Kings in front of here, who watered the Garden of Eden and reigns on a heavenly throne, and she can't see past her physical, earthly, needs.
But we forgive her. Because WE ARE HER.
When Adam sinned, he cut off our access to the water of life. Our access to close union with God and all of His goodness. And we began, in our fallen selves, to look to other gods, and other sources of water. And we still do this today.
We look for financial security, the success of our children, exercising authority over others, failing to let go of control, pride, power, prestige, and emotional safety.
We look to poisoned earthly wells, instead of turning to the Water of Life in Christ.
But what happens when we do turn to Him for the Water of Life?
Spiritual fulfillment
Judy and I often reflect on how we could have chosen a life of disengaged comfort. The Lord has blessed us materially, and we live a relatively comfortable life. When God called our family into this leadership role at Grace, we knew that we were signing up for battles and hardships. That there would be days when we wished we hadn’t taken on this role, because the emotional toll was going to be high.
We knew that our children would be at risk of becoming “pastor's kids” and going off the rails. That from now on this church would be their spiritual family but would now also represent the main thing that took their Father’s attention away from them.
But we also knew this: That it was far better to be following God’s voice, who leads us “beside still waters,” and that for every battle, no matter how ugly or demoralizing it became, that He would pair it with His blessings. And we see that so clearly in you – in your fellowship, the love and support you have shown us, and the high trust and responsibility that Bishop Alan has entrusted to me in this role. Pray for me that I would be worthy of it.
In 12 step addiction recovery groups there is a phrase HALT
Hungry - Angry - Lonely - Tired
This is the time when you are most vulnerable to falling back into your addiction.
The solution is, instead of turning to the substance you are addicted to, instead address the root need underneath.
If you are Hungry – eat something
If you are Angry – process your anger
If you are Lonely – go and connect with someone you love
If you are Tired – go and rest
For us, as Christians, we can be more vulnerable to temptation when we are Hungry, Angry, lonely or Tired. And it is worth watching out for what we crave in those moments.
What are the earthly wells in life that you keep turning to, instead of the Water of Life?
Where do you go to when you need to be comforted?
When you are Hungry, Angry, lonely or tired where do you turn?
What is it that activates the dopamine centers of your brain?
- Pornography?
- Social media?
- Gossip?
- Anger?
- Control?
- Lust?
Our nature is fallen and broken, and we are constantly pulled toward sweet earthly wells that never truly satisfy. They never reach the root of our needs, our fears, or our desires. They can only be filled by Him.
How do we do this? How do we drink the Water of Life instead of poisoned wells when our hearts are so bent towards sin.
- Orient yourselves towards Christ
I remember saying to my sister once, many years ago, that I thought I would be okay if I ended up in Heaven as a street sweeper. Just, if all I am able to manage as treasure in heaven is a small hut on the side of the road, where my job is to keep the streets clean, then that’s good enough for me. If there is one portion of the “streets paved with Gold” that I can dust with a broom every now and again, I will be happy.
She turned to me and said: “But Oliver, there won't be any dust or dirt in Heaven.”
So I had to rethink that one.
What she was really doing was reminding me that what awaits us there is os glorious and wonderful that I couldn’t even imagine. That my expectations for myself were so far beyond the glory God has promised us all.
Some of you are in a stage of life where your eternal life might be weighing quite heavily on you. You might have more years on this earth behind you than in front. You might be taking in that deep breath before you have to face the final hurdle of your Christian walk, the last shadow.
As the Anglican poet George Herbert put it,
Death used to be an executioner,
But the Gospel hath made him a gardener.
(George Herbert, The Flower)
When our bodies are placed in the ground, it is no longer the end of our stories,
Because of the cross our bodies are placed in the ground like a seed being planted in good soil, as we look to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. We have nothing to fear as we face the last shadow. Knowing what awaits us beyond.
Death used to be an executioner, but the Gospel hath made him a gardener.
Run this race well, and think about what you want your legacy to be. Let it be shaped and grown by the Water of Life rather than any poisoned well.
A way to orient myself towards Christ, which I have found quite powerful in my life, is to read, watch, or listen to stories. Stories that show the truth and wake up the parts of my soul that fall asleep.
Things like The Chosen, or Pendragon, or Narnia, or Elizabeth Goudge, or the Lord of the Rings, or even scripture itself. Whatever it is that wakes you up to the real story.
As a family, we have Friday movie nights where we all watch something together. And this week we watched an animated version of Pilgrim's Progress for children. It’s a beautiful story written by John Bunyan describing an allegorical journey of a man named Christian leaving the city of destruction and journeying towards the celestial City where the True King lives. And it was beautiful, and I had to quietly weep at parts while the children watched.
Christian is told to keep on the straight path towards the city, but of course he gets distracted and lured away from the path again and again. Each time, leading to great trouble and danger. Every time he walked off the path Victoria jumped into my arms saying, “Oh no! Oh no!” because she knew things were about to get a bit scary when he left the path.
I look at the decisions Christian makes in the movie and scoff at how stupid it is to follow a character called “worldly pleasures” away from the path. Yet I walk away from the path myself again and again. When I can think of my sin, as a Christian Pilgrim straying from the path in that story, it helps me to stay straight.
And of course, the ultimate way to drink the Water of Life here in the North West Suburbs is later in our service. Where we will literally drink His blood, mixed with water, just as it flowed from His body on the Cross.
We are spiritually fed by being here today, confessing our sins, receiving absolution, praying together, reading scripture, preparing ourselves to approach the Altar and partaking in part of the Heavenly life here on earth.
The Samaritan woman had been searching for water in many wells.
Five husbands. Many disappointments.
But here, finally, she meets the one who can actually satisfy her thirst.
And here we are too, today, before His table. About to drink the Water of life again.
In the silence ahead of us think upon the earthly wells that draw you away from the Water of Life. And ask God to change your heart for them.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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