The Gospel of John-21 – A Spring of Water Welling Up to Eternal Life

John 4:7–15:

 

"There came a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw." Amen.

 

A Time for Drinking, Not Analyzing

The passage from John chapter 4 that we read together today is the story of the "Samaritan woman," which you are very familiar with. If you look closely at the flow of this passage, there is a very interesting point. Jesus approached a woman who had a burning thirst and spiritual longing to give her an essential gift called "living water." But surprisingly, this woman keeps asking strange questions while standing right in front of Jesus. She is caught up in methods and circumstances, unable to see the Source of life right before her eyes, saying, "Why are you, a Jew, talking to me?" and "You have no bucket, so where would you get this water?"

 

We are the same. God has already come into our lives and is extending the gift of grace, but instead of receiving that gift, we waste precious time analyzing and questioning, "How can such a thing happen?" When I see this woman's attitude, I am reminded of a scene I experienced at a military training camp a long time ago. For trainees receiving training while swallowing dust under the scorching sun, the only thing they desperately need is a single sip of water. Just then, a truck entered the parade ground and began handing out cold water bottles filled with ice water. For about a minute after receiving the water bottle, there is truly a heavy silence. And after that minute, everyone drinks the water in complete silence, to the point where the sound covers the entire parade ground. It is so refreshing that there is only a "gulping" sound; it is a moment where words are not needed.

 

But suppose someone among them said this: "How did this truck enter this training ground, this sacred training ground?" And if they were asking, "What kind of car is this anyway, whose car is it?" or complaining, "Do you know how hard it is to enter this training ground; what kind of pull did you use to get in?" what do you think the others would say? They would likely be completely ostracized by their peers. There is water right in front of them and they are thirsty, but who would say, "This water is H2O, and hydrogen and oxygen bonded in such and such ratio to become water," while looking at the water? Who would be analyzing, "How did it become water?" while the water is right in front of their eyes? Jesus Christ is right there with the woman, but the woman is instead asking, "How did you come here?"

 

This is the same as when the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts to help us feel spiritual conflict and know who God is, yet we ask, "What exactly is God made of? How did you come here? Why did you come to me?" This is no different from modern intellectuals asking, "How does that happen?" even though they clearly see things happening in reality.

 

Modern Anti-Intellectualism and Spiritual Thirst

You go to the hospital, and the doctor says, "Let's check it out." They did an MRI, an X-ray, and a CT scan. But nothing comes out. The doctor says, "There is nothing wrong," but the patient appeals that their stomach hurts so much they feel like they are dying. If the doctor then says, "No, look at the machine. Look at these numbers. You are definitely not in pain," what would you do? I came because I was in so much pain, but if the doctor insists, "You are definitely not in pain," while only holding out results and figures, shouldn't you look for another doctor?

 

Modern times have a tendency to consider something as not factual if it is not objectively proven and if we cannot be convinced, no matter how much it has happened as a fact. Just because you don't know the complex process of how carbohydrates turn into energy and are digested when you eat, it doesn't mean you can't eat. Nevertheless, we think that it is reality only when we can explain everything perfectly. That is not the case. Asking only "how" in front of a phenomenon that is happening as a fact right now is not intellect, but rather anti-intellectualism. Even if you analyze what that water is while it is right in front of your eyes, your burning thirst will not be quenched.

 

Do you think I am taking a leap by using the word "how"? Look at Jesus' answer. Look at verse 10: "Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." He says it is "the gift of God." What is a gift? It is something that is simply given, and you just have to receive it. "I have come to you as a gift, to give you that great gift of God, the living water, and I am that living water. But you are asking, 'How did you come here?'"

 

"How can you, a Jew, come and talk to a Samaritan? Aren't you afraid of the punishment you might receive? Aren't you afraid of being an outcast? Aren't you afraid of being ostracized by the Jews if you do something wrong? How did you manage to come to me?" Why ask that? What is important is not how I came to you, but that I am in front of you now, that I am the living water, and that if you drink of me, you will live. That is the reality and the truth of what you see with your eyes, know, and feel right now.

 

The Grace of Realizing You Are Thirsty

When you come before God, God has come to you, fervently hoping that His power, glory, and holiness will work in your life and existence together with you. But what you say is, "Why did you come?" You are forgetting one fact. This Samaritan woman, and you and I, are all unable to think of one fact at all. What is it? That we don't know we are thirsty people. Because we are not thirsty, we ask, "How did you come?" because we don't know that we are thirsty.

 

So, when Jesus points this out to the woman, how does He point it out? While talking about water, He says in verse 16, which follows today's passage: "Go, call thy husband." As soon as she hears the words, "Call thy husband," the woman sees her entire life laid bare before God. She finally realizes how miserable she is and how thirsty her life is. Before that, when Jesus asked, she didn't think for a second that her life was thirsty. She just thought she only needed to drink water. She just thought she only needed to quench this physical thirst she was experiencing, but Jesus points it out very sharply: "Go, call thy husband." Then her life is just completely exposed. At that moment, the woman realizes, "I am a truly thirsty person."

 

Therefore, just as the woman comes to know what her life is through the question Jesus asked and the conversation with her, we also come to know who we are at the same time. Jesus says to the woman, "I am the gift of God. And if you had known who I was, you would have asked me. Because I had living water and could give it to you." What was the word that struck the woman most after hearing that answer? Was it the "gift of God"? Or was it when He said to her, "If you had known who I was, you would have asked me; do you know who I am?" When I listen to the woman's answer, the word she was most interested in was "living water." It was water.

 

The Prosperity-Based Faith and Flattering Lips

You and I grew up in a good country and live in a good country. This is because we live in a place where we don't have to worry about water. However, in the Near East and desert regions, water is life itself. Since there is no life without water, water is simply life. It is so precious that if you can secure water, you immediately become rich. That is why Isaac also fought many times over that water, over the well, was driven out, and gave up. Jacob also bought this well with a large sum of money. To them, the well was a symbol of wealth and a symbol of life. As soon as the woman hears Jesus' words that He "can give living water," she tries to solve her own problems. 'If I meet this person, I can gain some benefit. If there is such a person in the church, as we would say, it is worth coming to church. If I can fulfill my needs by coming to church, and if I can soothe my loneliness when I am lonely and struggling, if there is some benefit for me, then this church is a truly decent place.'

 

If you were in the Samaritan woman's shoes, you would have said exactly the same thing. "Where is that well, anyway?" "The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?" She immediately expresses her interest in living water. But isn't the way she expresses this very interesting? The tone changed completely from when she first started. She says, "The woman saith unto him, Sir." The woman who had been saying, "Why are you, a Jew, bothering me like this?" until now, suddenly calls Him "Sir." You see, "Sir" is not a word you use just anytime, is it? This is saying, 'This person is a teacher, a greater person than I am, and I surrender to this person and have something to learn and gain from this person.' She called Him "Sir."

 

How similar is it today? How many people who come to church praise the Lord? When in history have there been more praise rallies, more large-scale gatherings, and more testimonies like today, where people appear to come to the Lord and say that all their illnesses were healed or such and such happened after praying? However, when has the church ever departed from God like it has now? When in Christian history has the church relied on its own power and its own righteousness, not on God and not on His living presence, as it does now? You see, how serious a problem is this?

 

Today, we come to the Lord too easily. When the Lord says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden," we come swarming like a beehive. And we immediately come and sing, "The Lord is my rock, my love, my power, and my Saviour," shed tears, and confess our faith before God as if we have given Him everything we have. What an amazing confession of faith! "The Lord is my Saviour, He is my rock." However, you see, there is one important thing we are missing.

 

Look at Psalm 78:34. The Israelites in the wilderness did not listen to God's word properly and did what they wanted, and after being scolded by God, they still did not listen. When they did not listen even after God had done everything they wanted for them, it says this. "When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and inquired early after God." You see, in this word "early" (diligently), it means to the point that their livers would break. They sought God so desperately. "And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer." What a great confession of faith! "God is our rock, God is our redeemer." They said this. But the key point of this Psalm 78 is not there. Look at verse 36: "Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant."

 

You see, isn't this amazing confession of faith something we hear every day? When we hold a praise rally, everyone raises their hands and sheds tears while saying, "Lord, I have sinned. Lord, You are truly my everything. I love You. You are my rock, You are my redeemer." How many times have we heard that sound until our ears were calloused? How often do you shout it every time you pray? But here the Bible says, "Their mouths are flattery." "Pastor, it's unfair, I spoke from my heart... No, how can you treat me the same as other people? I spoke to the Lord with a sincere heart and I didn't do it with a bad heart..."

 

What bad heart are you talking about? Are all the people around you who confess to the Lord like that doing it with a bad heart? No, it's true. Those people truly came to God like that. But the Bible says, "You flatter with your mouths." You know why they say it's flattery, right? Why do you give bribes and flatter? You do it because you get something in return. Why do you fawn? You do it because there is a counter-benefit. Why do you follow the Lord so much? Why do you say you give everything you have to the Lord? Why do you talk about "the Lord is my rock and redeemer" and confess your faith so coolly that "the Lord is the one who should receive the most glory"? It is because they have eaten and are full. The Lord knew that too well. And this woman also had all her interest in the living water.

 

Abandoning Broken Cisterns and Going to the Source of Living Water

What exactly is your purpose for coming to church? What are you seeing by coming here? What did you see when you went to the wilderness? Did you really hear the voice of one crying out there, or did you see those who wear good clothes and fancy crowns and use God as an excuse to enjoy only their own happiness? Perhaps we are living in the most serious age right now. There are so many people around us who bring up the Lord's glory, and there are countless missionaries, pastors, elders, and deacons who call the Lord Saviour and Rock and say they live only for the Lord. When they go to church, they make a literal ruckus during every rally. Unimaginable things happen, but in all that busyness, aren't we losing sight of the "true God" too often?

 

I am not saying this to boast that we are better or smarter than others. It is to share in order to discover who you and I truly are. The Samaritan woman was the same. She looked at the living water and shouted "Lord!" to the Lord, but all those confessions were lies and flattery. The woman came to Jesus out of curiosity, but she had only one concern: 'I'm thirsty, how can I solve this thirst? How can I stop having to come to draw water? How can I become rich and live a comfortable life?' The Bible does not treat this problem lightly. Even if we are all going while being deceived, God's correct voice is bound to fall upon your conscience in the world. Even in the midst of the pain of Israel's destruction and being taken captive as prisoners, the Lord never treated this word lightly.

 

Look at Jeremiah 2:13. "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." Israel committed these two evils. One is forsaking God, the fountain of living waters. You see, does this make sense? Where is there a tribe that offered sacrifices as diligently as them and gave everything before God? But the Bible sighs, "You have forsaken me."

 

You must receive this word as a warning. You can never be at ease just because you sit in church, attend worship, and hold a Bible. Israel was a nation that offered sacrifices every day without missing a single one. The whole world knew that they had been chosen by God. But the Bible says to them, "You have forsaken me." Why? Because they only pursued the living water. Because in the end, they sought God to enjoy the blessings of this earth. It is useless for you to make any excuses. If you are seeking God for any reason to protect your own happiness, health, and wealth in this world, you have forsaken God. That is not seeking God, but on the outside, it seems like serving God, but in reality, it is no different from serving Baal and bowing down and worshipping him. The Bible calls this, "You yourselves are hewing out cisterns."

 

Water is naturally a springing fountain and a fountain of living water. But the Israelites are trying to create their own cisterns. They are trying to hoard their happiness and protect their lives with it. You see, is the purpose of your prayer when you come to church perhaps to make this cistern?

 

The Fountain That Knows and Loves Us

Jesus says this. It is John 4:13 and 14. "Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." It is a well springing up into everlasting life. You see, we are people who are very accustomed to cisterns. That is because the cisterns you have made are not entirely useless. How many cisterns do you rely on? For some, it is money, for some, children, health, talent, or things possessed in this world. You are constantly digging that cistern. That cistern sometimes gives us water. Since it temporarily quenches thirst, even if it is a bit dirty, we consider that cistern as if it is something great. Even though it is a cistern that will dry up when the sun beats down, like a bottomless bucket that leaks and flows away, we dig and dig it again today and tomorrow.

 

But here is a springing fountain. When viewed through today's text, the most important difference between the cistern and this fountain is not just whether the water springs up or dries up. The fountain knows who the Samaritan woman who will drink that water is. A characteristic of the fountain is that it knows what our reality is. This fountain knows the fact that we are beings who cannot live by drinking water from a water cistern, and can only be filled by a springing fountain. And it is piercingly and accurately watching where we are truly thirsty. That is why Jesus is asking, "Go, call thy husband."

 

The Lord will ask you the same question. "Bring your bank account, bring your life, bring your husband and wife, your children, your talents." Only then do we experience our own lives being exposed in detail before God. You see, a cistern has no interest in your life. A cistern does not love you at all. You just like and love the cistern, but the cistern never loves you. A cistern only uses you. You think you are earning money, but there are too many times when you don't know the fact that that money is actually leading you to death. A cistern has not a bit of interest in your life. Only the fountain has an interest in you.

 

This woman also dug five cisterns. The fact that she had five husbands shows how much she wanted to become happy by digging five cisterns. But even though she dug and dug, she could not be satisfied at all. Why? Because those cisterns had no genuine interest in the woman. They only dug each other's cisterns. So what kind of happiness could have been there? A cistern only uses you, it does not love you. But the fountain not only knows you, it loves you. So, my beloved, which water will you drink now? The Lord says, "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall be a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

 

Drinking the Life That Is Jesus Christ

You see, what on earth is this water? What is it that makes it a well springing up into everlasting life? Remember in 1 Corinthians 10 how the Israelites drank water from the rock in the wilderness. The Bible testifies that that rock is Jesus Christ. This living water, the springing fountain spoken of in the text, is Jesus Christ Himself. Therefore, drinking this living water is the same as drinking the cross of Jesus Christ, and drinking His resurrection. It is drinking His holy life, and drinking death together with the Lord.

 

Also, it is drinking the love of Jesus Christ, who loved those who betrayed Him to the end and prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." It is drinking His obedience, which He perfectly obeyed, the law of God that we were inevitably in despair every day because we could not keep it. You see, drink His life itself. That fountain cannot be blocked by anything. That fountain springing up from Jesus Christ, who is the living life, is literally an unceasing source of life.

 

You see, even with your weakness, even with the strongest thing you possess, you cannot block that fountain. Our foolishness, of course, and even our filth and sin, cannot block that stream of life. This water will spring up and wet our weakness, cleanse our foolishness, and wash away all our sins. Furthermore, it will flow into every corner of our lives, which are cracked like a desert, and cause grass to grow and flowers to bloom and fruits to be borne in the place of our dry lives. The only water that will change your life into a green garden is this fountain of life. No matter how much you press and cover it, no matter how much your past life is a series of failures, no matter how dry a life you have with nothing to boast about yourself, the fountain of Jesus Christ will definitely spring up in your life. Because the Lord is alive, and He is the fountain that springs up forever. Anyone who has drunk that living water cannot avoid this grace.

 

Overcome Earthly Things and Prepare for Eternal Things

This water is stronger than our failures. You see, this water is stronger than our past, stronger than our sins, and even surely overcomes death. Even death can never block this springing fountain. My life's frustration and stuffiness, failure and pain, also cannot block this fountain. Therefore, my beloved, soak your soul with this living water. Rely on this fountain that pierces the barrier of sin that has been blocking you, and fight fiercely against sin. Never give in to the temptations right in front of your eyes. Every time the things you see right away dazzle your eyes, resist with faith. Remember that we are people preparing for eternity, and noble people who possess all the glory and treasure of heaven, and do not be defeated by the futile things of this earth.

 

The things of this world are like exercise equipment that God gave us to prepare for eternal values. Nobody engraves their name on the exercise equipment itself, keeps it, and worships it. My child exercises every day, but exercise equipment is just for building muscles, you don't bow to it or thank it and keep it. We know well that a tool is just a tool. But why on earth do we live while keeping the things of this earth like that? The things of this world are only meaningful when we realize the kingdom of God and the values of heaven and approach them. The moment they become the goal of life, they become broken cisterns that suck in your life and pull you from behind.

 

Therefore, do not be defeated, fight. Prepare for eternal things. We, who are already living in eternity, citizens of the kingdom of heaven, have the fountain that springs up forever. Relying on Jesus Christ, who surely overcomes everything placed before you, I hope that your life also will be victorious because of Him.

 

Let Us Pray

Loving Lord, we have come this far. Our hearts loving the world have reached this point without us knowing. Now, that appearance has become so clever that we mistakenly think we are praising God ourselves. Just as the Israelites despised, ridiculed, and betrayed Jeremiah and Isaiah when they cried out the word of God in the past, if we were to say that we have forsaken God now, perhaps no one would realize that they are standing in that spot. This is truly a fearful thing.

 

Loving Lord, let us remember how far we have come. Awaken us once again to what kind of existence we are to live by. Let us not forget for even a single moment that all the joy and pleasure we enjoy on this earth are a process to prepare for the kingdom of heaven. Since even the failures, pain, and suffering we experience are paths preparing for the kingdom of heaven, let us never forget that we can surely overcome in hope. Even if the world scratches us and gives us pain, help us to look only at Jesus Christ, who has become the springing living water, by relying only on the Lord's word.

 

We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.