John the Evangelist presents Jesus at Jacob's well, situated in Sychar or Schechem and sees a great deal of meaning in that presence. Jesus is there taking the place of God, as the author of the living water. The paradox here is that the giver himself is thirsty and does not mind any social barrier ( the Jew does not ask a Samaritan for water) but humbly asks for water. This is a love scene as well because at the site of wells such conversations used to take place. The Samaritan woman must have been intrigued but took a cautious stand by revealing her unworthiness to offer that water to someone of a higher status. Jesus makes an offer to her by saying " but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" .He was offering her also love , a new type of love, and hinting at the same time that he was from a higher status than she could have imagined.So she fell for that offer whatever it might have been and said, " Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water". But like a real lover, he puts a condition that she should declare her private life, " Go call your husband and comeback " (Jn. 4:16). To her evasive answer he pointed out how she was with more than five men until then, "For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband" (Jn. 4: 18). There was further evasiveness and diversionary tactic on her part, by introducing a discussion about the place of worship of the Samaritans and Jews. When Jesus answered that question too her final argument was that until the Messiah would come she had no way of knowing the truth. Immediately, on the spot he revealed himself to her; that revelation is the real living water he wanted to give her.
In this story John sums up the Old Testament teaching about Yahweh as the giver of the living water and points to Jesus as God present visibly with the living water of his revelation. The story of Jacob's well too gets fulfilled here when Jesus surpasses the ancestor Jacob in greatness by providing a new well from which the water could never be exhausted.
The theme of the life-giving water is repeated in this Gospel again, but identifying the living water as the Spirit that was to come,
" On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, 'Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: Rivers of living water will flow from within him' . He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified " (Jn. 7:36-39). The flow of blood and water from his side when his side was pierced after his death, is an important detail that John took note of, " One soldier thrust his lance into his side , and immediately blood and water flowed out" ( Jn. 19:34). It has a special symbolism for the Church that was born from his side; it also means the living water of sacramental grace that he gives us freely.
Our discussion of the well cannot easily end here because Jesus' Spirit forms that eternal source of water in each of us and urges us on to seek for more of his revelation and grace.
In this story John sums up the Old Testament teaching about Yahweh as the giver of the living water and points to Jesus as God present visibly with the living water of his revelation. The story of Jacob's well too gets fulfilled here when Jesus surpasses the ancestor Jacob in greatness by providing a new well from which the water could never be exhausted.
The theme of the life-giving water is repeated in this Gospel again, but identifying the living water as the Spirit that was to come,
" On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and exclaimed, 'Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink.Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: Rivers of living water will flow from within him' . He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified " (Jn. 7:36-39). The flow of blood and water from his side when his side was pierced after his death, is an important detail that John took note of, " One soldier thrust his lance into his side , and immediately blood and water flowed out" ( Jn. 19:34). It has a special symbolism for the Church that was born from his side; it also means the living water of sacramental grace that he gives us freely.
Our discussion of the well cannot easily end here because Jesus' Spirit forms that eternal source of water in each of us and urges us on to seek for more of his revelation and grace.
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