Mensa Otabil - Where is the Living Water

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So, in verses 11 and 12, the woman said to him, «Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do you get that living water? Are you better than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?»

That’s an interesting conversation. I’m beginning to like this woman more and more. She’s very confident, very assertive, and she is having a very lively conversation with Jesus Christ. But there are things to note about what is going on now. Like Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman misunderstood the terms that Jesus was using. When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, he said, «A man must be born again.»

Nicodemus thought a person had to re-enter the mother’s womb to be born. So, he misunderstood the terms, the language, and the terminologies of Jesus. This woman also misunderstood the terminologies of Jesus. When Jesus talked about living water, she was still thinking about water in the literal sense — the water from the well. So, she says to Jesus, «You have nothing to get water from this well.» And, are you better than Jacob who gave us this well?

So, instead of the woman concerning herself with what Jesus is offering, she’s thinking about Jesus’s method: How are you going to get water out? Because she' s still thinking literally. Many times people don’t understand spiritual terminologies. This is a very important thing we must learn when we are presenting the gospel to people: the words and terms we use in the church, which we are familiar with, may be very unfamiliar to others, and their understanding of them may be very different.

If we use terms like «accept Christ,» «born again,» «the sinner’s prayer,» or «altar call,» these may be terms you are familiar with, depending on the church you attend, but other people may not know them. You may be at cross purposes in communication, and that’s what we see here: Jesus is talking about living water, which is God’s life, and she’s thinking about literal water from the well.

So, the first thing to note is how to simplify your communication so that people don’t misunderstand your terms and to explain your terms well. The second thing to note here is that not only did the woman misunderstand Jesus, but she also challenged him. She actually challenged Jesus. She said to him, «Are you telling me that you are greater than Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it?»

Of course, Jesus is greater than Jacob. The interesting thing is that she speaks back at Jesus. Even more interesting is that Jesus did not take offense. Remember, she’s a Samaritan. She’s a woman. Jesus also knows she’s a woman with a very dubious background. But knowing all of that, her confidence in answering back to Jesus did not offend him.

You know, many times when we share the gospel, we get offended because people ask us questions, or sometimes people say very nasty things. They may say nasty things about the Bible, about God, about Jesus, about Christians, about your church, or maybe your pastor. If we are not careful, we leave the sharing of the gospel and start trading insults with the people who are responding to us. But Jesus is our example. He didn’t take offense. He was patient with her. He understood that this woman had a deeper heart cry for God than what she was saying. Her seeming resistance was simply curiosity to have her questions answered.

So, when we share the gospel, we must be careful and mindful that we are dealing with the eternal destiny of a person. Because we are mindful of a person’s eternal destiny and their life, we cannot be bogged down by little questions, rudeness, misunderstandings, and challenges. We must stay focused on sharing the love of God. That’s what we learn from Jesus Christ. First, the terminologies have to be explained. Secondly, don’t get offended when people challenge you as you present the gospel to them.

Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, give me supernatural love for people. Help me not to be offended when they resist your word in Jesus' name.» Amen. And amen.