Dinner for Two.

The Man at the Well.

Jesus is fatigued from his journey from Judea to Samaria. He comes to a well and takes rest there. His disciples go to pick up some food in town (John 4:8). At about the sixth hour of the day (John 4:6), a Samaritan woman comes with her water pot to fetch water. Jesus asks her for a drink (John 4:7), but instead she gives him a sour attitude: "How does a Jew ask a Samaritan for a drink of water?" (John 4:9)

Receiving nothing but a sour attitude, Jesus offers her water. Living Water! If she knew who He was, she would ask Him, and He would give her living water (John 4:10). Jesus continues: "Those who drink of this water will thirst again, but those who drink the water I give will never thirst again -- because they will become a well themselves" (John 4:14). Listening, the woman does exactly what Jesus said she would:

John 4:15 NASB95

"Lord, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water."

Before Jesus grants her request, He breaks open her life and exposes her sin. Go get your husband (John 4:16). She tries to conceal her real life: I have no husband (John 4:17). Jesus doesn't let her hide. He reveals that she has had five husbands, and the one she is with now is not her husband (John 4:18). Despite her shame, she believes Jesus is a prophet (John 4:19) and asks him to settle the great debate about where to worship (John 4:20). Jesus answers: neither place matters -- the hour is now here when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth (John 4:23). The woman replies: that sounds like something the Messiah would say (John 4:25). And Jesus tells her: "I who speak to you am He" John 4:26.

The disciples arrive with their happy meals (John 4:27), and John cuts the scene. Of all the things he could have written about her reaction, he gives us one detail:

John 4:28 NASB95

So the woman left her waterpot.

The Woman Quenched.

She came thirsty, carrying a vessel that said: I have to come back here tomorrow. She met Jesus and left the jar behind. What she now carries doesn't fit in a jar. She runs back into the city -- the woman who had been avoiding it all morning -- and pours herself out on anyone who will listen: "Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?" (John 4:28-29). Her shame has become her sermon.

Jesus Filled.

When the disciples offered food to Jesus, He turned it down. He was famished when He arrived, received nothing from the woman, yet walked away full. How? The woman's faith became His nourishment. Paul helps us understand:

Ephesians 1:22-23 NASB95

And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

The Church -- His bride -- fills Jesus up. When we trust Him, worship Him, live by faith, we are feeding the Son of God. The well was a dinner table. She received His living water. He received her faith. Both left full. It was dinner for two.

Are you hungry and thirsty? Come to Jesus and be satisfied. Have you brought your faith and worship to the dinner table with Jesus so that He might delight and be filled with your faith and praise?

The Man at the Cross.

This story doesn't end here. There is one more scene -- and this one is between you and Jesus.

Jesus becomes fatigued again, not from a journey but from a trial. All night He had been beaten, falsely accused, crowned with thorns and whipped. Led to be crucified. John tells us the hour: the sixth hour (John 19:14). The same hour as the well. The same tired man. The same thirst. Jesus, hanging on the cross, asks for a drink: "I thirst" (John 19:28). This time He doesn't receive a sour attitude -- He is given sour wine. Still receiving nothing that satisfies, Jesus offers everything. He gives His life, His water, His blood. And He declares:

John 19:30 NASB95

"It is finished."

Not "It is over." Finished -- completed, accomplished, fully done. The soldier's spear opens His side and out flows water and blood (John 19:34) -- the living water and the intimate meal, flowing freely now for every thirsty soul who will come and drink. The well was the preview. The cross is the feast.

At the cross, the table is set. There is Jesus, and there is you. He says what He said to the woman: if you knew who I am, you would ask of me, and I would give you eternal life.

Jesus invites you to ask of Him, and He will make you His own. If you are His bride, how are you nourishing your Husband? Does Christ find nourishment from your life of faith? We bring joy to our Lord through our lives lived in faith. Leave your waterpot. Come and drink. Then go and tell.

 Peace be with you,

Pastor Bruce