The Gospel of John – Written ‘So that You May believe’ – Quenching the Thirst of My Soul

The purpose of the gospel of John is twofold: first, as to salvation, directing the ones seeking a relationship with God; and secondly, as to discipleship, instructing the true followers of Jesus in how to enjoy life in the truest sense.   Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe^[a] that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31.  Our study will look at seven signs in this book that direct our attention to Jesus.  This is the message of a second birth – being born again – how to become children of God.   These seven signs are:
1. Water Turned to Wine (John 2:1-11)
2. Healing of the (Nobleman’s) Son Near Death (John 4:46-54)
3. Healing of the Lame Man at the Pool (John 5:1-17)
4. Feeding of the Five Thousand (John 6:1-15)
5. Walking on the Water (John 6:16-21)
6. Healing of the Man Born Blind (John 9:1-41)
7. Raising of Lazarus from the Dead (John 11:1-47)
In the middle of these signs, and begins to distinguish spiritual from physical – living water that springs up to eternal life.
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
¹¹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water 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.”

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”¹¹ “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?¹² Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”¹³ Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water 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 4:10-14.

1. The Gift of God – Available for the Asking.  This remarkable narrative, between Jesus a Jew and a ‘half-breed’ Samaritan, and a woman at that, is telling.  Jesu directs the conversation away from the physical quenching to the spiritual need and availability.  In simple terms this is the illustration of being born again.  It is moving one who seeks from asks to believing.
2. The Gift of God – Quenching the Thirst of the Soul.  Again, moving the narrative from the physical to the spiritual, Jesus directs the woman to the results of believing, a faith that addresses the eternity that God has set in the heart of every man and woman.
3. The Gift of God – Receiving the Message and Believing.  Again, moving the woman from the physical to the spiritual, he offers His message and the gospel as water that quenches forever – the promise of eternal life – never thirsting again. 
4. The Gift of God – Addressing Spiritual Needs and Conversion.  One deeper level needs to happen here.  Jesus moves the conversation to the woman’s marital and relational history – again demonstrates not just that she is spiritual thirsty in the deepest sense – but that moves the woman from the physical, from political or spiritual disputes (disputes over proper worship) to her core need. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. John 4:23-24.

Again, moving from the physical to the spiritual, the issue is not a dispute over where and how God is properly worshipped –but the greater reality that any worship of God must be from a person’s heart and soul, and must match truth as revealed by God.  Nothing less – hollow chants, traditions, religious acts – that does not match up to the truth of God as revealed in Jesus, will reach to God and provide redemption that satisfies the core being and soul of the religious seeker. 
The Samaritan woman got it!  The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”  John 4:25-26.  
No better way to start off this new year than to both live in an attitude of gratitude for the free gift of salvation given and received, and reminds those around us of the selfsame offer.  Stay well.