Jesus Came to Quench Your Thirst

Early football practice in August along the Mississippi River in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin in high school was amazing!  Coach Lemke blew his whistle and we would do our stretches, sprints and burpees!  You know what that is, right?  Run in place.  Drop down. Legs out. Push up. Jump back up and run in place. Back in 1980 the coaches didn’t think much of water breaks. That was for whimps!  We had a dozen 1-gallon milk jugs filled with water that we passed around.  By the end of practice I remember how thirsty I was!

Religion can make people thirsty, too.  It makes people thirsty because of so much confusion.  People look to the stars for guidance, consult the dead or spiritual gurus of the far east, New Age meditation, worship at the altar of money, and even read books they claim are holy.  How spiritual thirst is quenched is vital.  Remember what happened to the rich man who worshiped material wealth instead of God?  He ended up in hell screaming,

“‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in misery in this flame”

Luke 16:21

That is the real torture of hell!  Being separated from God’s love and constantly thirsting for what you can never have!  Yet today only 30% of Americans go to church almost weekly, 40% only once a month, and 60% say they don’t go to church.  Yes, there are many spiritually thirsty people in our neighborhoods.

People know what it’s like to be thirsty.  We meet two of these people in today’s sermon.  The difference was that Jesus was thirsty and knew it, but the woman was thirsty and didn’t know it.  What about you?  Let’s close our distracting thoughts and open up our hearts to God’s Word as the Holy Spirit leads you to confess:

Jesus Came to Quench Thirst

For Eternal Life

I just said Jesus was thirsty and knew it.  Jesus knew there was a woman who needed to hear the message of law and gospel and he was eager (or thirsty) to talk to her.  So John told us,

“⁸ (His disciples had gone into town to buy food.)”

then

“Jesus, being tired from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.”

Jesus had what she was missing.  Her soul was dying from spiritual thirst but she just didn’t know it yet.

So often this is the piece that is missing in the lives of people.  It’s the thing that keeps people from engaging God’s fountain of relief.  It’s even what tempts church members who consider public worship with fellow Christians in God’s house optional. What is this missing piece? It is the fact that souls are dying from spiritual thirst. And I am going to die of spiritual thirst just like the rich man in hell, if I’m not constantly aware of it and get a constant spiritual water supply.

Back to the account.  There are two people here.  The woman walking to the well was coming to get water for drinking, cooking, washing at home.

“It was about the sixth hour (12noon). ⁷ A woman from Samaria came to draw water.”

The time is mentioned because she was coming at an odd time.  Why?  Embarrassed about her past?  Anger from other women? What we know for sure is that she didn’t realize how thirsty she was!  Jesus was there.  Intending to go from Jerusalem to Galilee he walks through Samaria.  In Jesus’ day this was bad. The haughty Jews considered Samaritans as unclean people.  And to talk to a Samaritan Woman would make you ceremonially unclean!  However, John records this statement:

“⁴ He had to go through Samaria”

John 4

Jesus had to go through Samaria to save this woman!

Let’s learn from Jesus’ technique to quench this woman’s thirst.  He didn’t yell, “Hey! Lady! You’re damned unless your stop sleeping with men you’re not married to and believe in me for forgiveness!” Jesus did what? “Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” I know.  Those words didn’t shock you.  But, they shocked her! 

“⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)”

When she expressed surprise that Jesus would talk with her, he pointed the conversation in a new direction to offer her something special.

“¹⁰ Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

We know this woman thought Jesus was talking about H2O and said,

“¹¹ “Sir,” she said, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this living water? ¹² You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his animals.”

She didn’t expect this answer.

“¹³ Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty ever again. Rather, the water I will give him will become in him a spring of water, bubbling up to eternal life.” 

Now he has her attention!  Of course she wants this water! 

“¹⁵ “Sir, give me this water,” the woman said to him, “so I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Can you see these two looking into each other’s eyes to see who would flinch first?  Her heart was plowed open and Jesus skillfully plants the seeds of God’s law.

“¹⁶ Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband, and come back here.”  

That statement caused her to see her real issue in the mirror of God’s law and tries to escape judgment.

¹⁷ “I have no husband,” the woman answered.”

That’s true, but the sin still remained that she was having sex with men who were not her husband. Jesus knows this.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say, ‘I have no husband.’ ¹⁸ In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

Her statement was true and it was also an admission of her sinful life.  It’s kinda like an alcoholic who says, “I don’t drink all day!” which is true, but not absolving.  She was committing the sin of adultery and her sin separated her thirsty heart from God. She was nervous about it and tries to bring up an old argument between Samaritans and Jews to deflect the issue.

“¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet. ²⁰ Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews insist that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”  

Do you know what her statement sounds like today?  Someone who says, “You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.”  Let’s see how Jesus answers.

“²¹ Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. ²² You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. ²³ But a time is coming and now is here when the real worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for those are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

The woman was catching on,

“²⁵ The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (the one called Christ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

If you told Jesus you don’t have to come to church to be a Christian, I’m sure he would answer, “That’s true!”  But, wouldn’t his next statement be, “But, why aren’t you coming to church if this place is where God is worshiped “in spirit and in truth.”  And if you’re in disagreement, then ask yourself, “Why?” I sure wish John was inspired to tell us what she was thinking about Jesus’ words.  Her answer hints that the word was working on her heart.  Perhaps she was thinking, “I’m not sure about this, but maybe, just maybe this man can get me out of this mess.”  That’s when Jesus plants the seeds of the gospel into her heart.

“²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”

Jesus is her Savior.  Jesus Came To Quench Her Thirst For Eternal Life.

Praise God!  You know what it means that Jesus is your Savior for Eternal Life!  Jesus came to this sinfully parched world to willingly put himself under God’s law, live a perfect life, be falsely accused, nailed to a cross, offer his holy blood to redeem us, and rescued us from the curse of sin and death and the power of the devil.  Jesus did this for the Samaritan woman.  He did it for people who don’t come to church.  He did it for people who come to church. And the people who come to church get to have this life-giving water of the gospel in Word and Sacrament refreshing their soul.  And if there isn’t a desire to partake of this refreshing water of life, then one needs to ask themselves if they are like the Samaritan woman who was dying of thirst, but didn’t know it yet.  Rather let us join the Psalmist to Praise God with his people!

“¹ As a deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. ² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and appear before God? ¹¹ Why are you so depressed, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I will again praise him for my salvation from the face of my God”

Psalm 42.1-2,11

We are so thankful that Jesus gives us exactly what we need as the Water of Life.  Let’s also be careful that we don’t muddy the waters.  For instance, when you’re at the airport and have hours to wait for your next flight you might venture into a bookstore.  You’ll see best-sellers of fiction and non-fiction and lots of self-help books.  Go ahead and read them, but I bet not one of them offers the real solution to a full life.  This solution we only discover in the Bible. Here in God’s Word the Holy Spirit Quenches Your Soul for our Eternal Life and

For A Truly Satisfying Life

Jesus revealed himself as the promised Messiah, the Christ, to this woman.  But, he didn’t stop there. He did even more for her and for us.  Jesus answered a question that often rolls around in one’s brain: “Now that I know I am a forgiven child of God, what’s next?”  Consider the Samaritan woman.  She had 5 husbands and currently living with a man that was not her husband.  That needed to change.  And Jesus changed it.  She believed her new status before God as a forgiven sinner would lead her to honor God and others with her life.  No matter what the sin is—adultery, idolatry, lying, hatred, filthy language, coveting—every sin was paid for my Jesus on the cross.  Repentance means sorrow over our sins, trusting in Jesus for his forgiveness, and looking to change our lives to be what God has made us for a truly satisfying and full life!  You are God’s dear child, co-heirs with Christ, and heading to heaven!  Believe it!  Live it!

Jesus helps us to grasp this idea of a Full Life.

“²⁴ God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” 

That doesn’t just mean on Sunday mornings.  St. Paul explains it to us.

“Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy and pleasing to God—which is your appropriate worship”

Romans 12:1

Offer your bodies as living sacrifices?  What’s that? This is recognizing that everything you have is God’s.  Your time (only by God’s grace). Your skills (only by God’s grace). Your wealth (only by God’s grace).  All comes from your gracious God for you to manage while you live on this earth.  So manage it well!  Use your time, skills, wealth and witness of Jesus’ love to God’s glory!  Just listen to the remarkable actions of this changed woman!

“²⁸ Then the woman left her water jar and went back into town. She said to the people, ²⁹ “Come, see the man who told me everything I ever did”

John 4

Pretty simple.  “Come and see!” She loved telling others about Jesus who Came To Quench their Thirst, for a truly Satisfying Life.

We have come a long way when it comes to giving water to athletes. That’s good.  Water is a good thing. Jesus is the Water of Life and He is Exactly What People Need for an eternal life and for a satisfying life while here on earth.  You have what people need.  Share it!  What if Bob’s Steak and Chop house called you and said, “You can come eat here whenever you want.  And bring a friend!”  Would you go, or just stay at home and watch online saying, “I’ll just watch them enjoying the spiritual meal of the Lord’s supper on my TV.”  Or the Rangers called you and said, “You can have all the free tickets you want to come watch a game.”  Would you go?  Would you take a friend?  What if your relative gets cancer and Jesus says, “I’ll give you a free seat at Divine Peace to learn how to cope with these problems from the promises of my Word and assurance of your baptism and celebration of the Lord’s Supper.” Would you come and worship here in spirit and in truth?  Divine Peace is eager to improve our outreach culture that we are hosting an Everyone Outreach Seminar the last weekend of April.  Let’s invite people to church to “Come and see!” What if your church says, “We can help the Seminary update their old buildings, we can share Jesus with thousands of people through Academia Cristo (on-line Spanish Bible Classes), through missionaries in over 46 countries, or help support 1,500 students at our Christian High Schools, MLC College and seminary, and the generous support you give right here at Divine Peace!”  This is Jesus Quenching Your Thirst through the hope of Eternal Life and by offering our lives as living sacrifices for a truly Satisfying Life right now.  Jesus is the Water of Life Who Came to Quench Your Thirst.  Drink deeply.  Drink often!  Amen!