My heart rejoices that you’ve chosen to be with us today as we read John chapters 4 and 5.
There’s a story told in my family from when I was only four years old. We had an outdoor above-ground swimming pool—round and five feet deep. Living in Tucson, Arizona, a pool makes the hot summer months tolerable.
One day after swimming, my siblings went inside. A short time later, they realized I was missing. In a panic, they raced back to the pool. In Arizona, drowning is called the silent killer—when a child goes under, you don’t hear it.
My sisters searched frantically. My brother found me in the pool. I had been there for quite some time. I didn’t know how to swim, but somehow I was swimming in circles—porpoising—breaching the surface just long enough to catch a breath. Round and round the circumference of the pool.
God was watching over me that day.
Water as a Lifeline
Water has always been a vital element in my life. Not just for thirst—but for healing. I spent months at the lake. I always had access to a pool. And when I broke my spine, the swimming pool became the great equalizer. In the water, I could move. I could regain mobility. When my son was a child, we played in the pool. The water removed all the limitations I had on land.
Baptism and Living Water
In John 4:1–3, the Pharisees are bothered by Jesus’ baptizing people. Not because of baptism itself, but because it symbolized allegiance to Jesus. That they could not allow. Instead of confrontation, Jesus leaves and travels through Samaria.
The Samaritans and Jews did not associate. Samaritans resulted from intermarriage between Jews and Gentiles during the Assyrian exile (2 Kings 17:24–41), and were impure by Jewish standards.
Jesus arrives at Jacob’s well (John 4:5–6). He’s not there for water. He’s there for a woman—a Samaritan. Cultural norms forbade men from speaking to women alone. But Jesus breaks that barrier and offers her living water (John 4:10).
The Waters Above and Below
Just as light was present in Genesis 1, so was water. We often think of water as singular, but Genesis says: “The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) Then: “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” (Genesis 1:6, NIV) And: “God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it.” (Genesis 1:7)
There were two types of water—above and below.
John baptized in the water below. But Jesus offers the woman—and us—the water above. The spiritual water of life. The Living Water.
Clean on the Outside, Transformed Within
Jesus didn’t seek her out because she was blameless. He knew her sin (John 4:17–18). You can bathe in the water below and be clean on the outside. However, you must take the Living Water into yourself. “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.” (John 4:14)
Once you drink from that fountain, nothing will ever defile you again. It’s not ritual—it’s relationship.
Layered Waters and the Best Saved for Last
It’s remarkable how Scripture layers water:
- The waters of Genesis 1
- The well that Joseph gave to Jacob (Genesis 33:19; John 4:6)
- The water turned to wine in John 2
- The Living Water offered at that same well
Jesus saves the best for last. In Genesis, God gave us the Law—which identified our disease: sin. In the Gospels, Jesus gives us the cure.
Healing Without the Pool
In John 5:1–15, we meet a man at the Pool of Bethesda. His disability had afflicted him for thirty-eight years. Tradition stated that anyone who entered the stirred waters would be healed. But this man couldn’t get there in time.
Jesus sees him and asks: “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6)
He doesn’t need the pool. He needs the Word made flesh. Jesus heals him and says: “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” (John 5:14)
Drink and Obey
We must all drink this water. But we must also stop sinning—or it will be worse. Grace is not a license to return to what broke us.
Many people I know have drunk from this well. I pray they heed this warning.
Tomorrow, we will read John 6-7.
Footnotes
- Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1966), 105–106. — Provides historical background on Samaritan lineage and Jewish hostility.