Today is Day 8!  Thank you for walking with Jesus through the gospel of John with us.  To receive an email with the podcast link and transcript, sign up for our email list here. 

A reflection on John 4:1-26

“Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’”

The Lord thirsts.  Later, on the cross, Jesus will say again, “I thirst,” (Jn 19:28) for all to hear.   But here, in this lonely place, Jesus expresses that thirst for just one soul, the Samaritan woman.  The God-man, who has taken on our humanity, thirsts, not only for water, but for her.  The bridegroom longs for his bride, for her to be filled with the living water that alone can satisfy her deepest longings.  He longs to bring her into His Father’s embrace, where she will receive true belonging.  “When God sees sin, He sees pain in us” (St. Julian of Norwich). Jesus sees through the woman’s sin to the pain in her heart.

He thirsts for me.  He sees me, on the outskirts, condemned, lonely, ashamed.  He sits, quietly observing me, and then he catches my eye.  “Give me a drink,” he says.  I’m taken aback.  I look around.  Is he speaking to me?  He stares gently at me in a way that pierces me to my heart.  What could Jesus possibly want from me?  I falter, I wonder why, but I don’t refuse.   He looks into my eyes, into my heart, and he says, “Child, I see you.  I know your sin, but more importantly I see your pain.  I see how you have lived, trying to fill a thirst, an ache, in your heart.  I can heal that ache, if you let me.  I can quench your thirst so that you are filled to the brim and overflowing.  Will you let me do this for you?”

Will I?  Am I willing to be so seen by Him? Or will I hide behind the walls of self-protection I have built in my heart?

Jesus, I long to be filled with living water.  Tear down the walls in my heart that are between us and enter into the deepest parts of my soul with your healing water.

Scripture quotations are from The Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ©1965, 1966 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved worldwide.