As I was preparing for Group, I saw something incredible in the text! John says:
The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
Have you ever wondered what “Living Water” actually means? I started doing a little bit of study and found that it’s a word-for-word parallel with another verse that John authored in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 22:1, John says:
Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life.
Pardon my dorkiness here, but WATER OF LIFE in this passage is the exact same Greek word that John uses to describe LIVING WATER in the Gospel! Are you kidding me?
Revelation 22 goes on to say,
…a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.
Did you see it?
Not only is he using the same phrase in Revelation, but he is talking about a place - the Garden of Eden! The place where rivers bubbled and flowed out from the center, where God and man dwelled perfectly together, where the nations were to dwell and be healed! This passage is not talking about the old fallen Eden; it is talking about the fully redeemed and restored garden of Eden called the New Jerusalem!
Why would Jesus be making this connection? Why would He be saying that He could give “Living Water” that also shows up in Revelation in the new garden?
Because Jesus is claiming to be the heart behind what the garden of Eden was all about. The Samaritans only had the first 5 books of the Old Testament, but they had warped the words to fit their theology. But the garden of Eden language was all there! Jesus used one of the great stories that this woman would have recognized and agreed with to communicate a powerful truth!
- He is the place where man and God perfectly dwell!
- He is where the nations will come to find healing!
- He is the one who will break the curse!
- He is a fruitful paradise where life giving waters satisfy the people of God!
Jesus is the true and better garden whose life-giving waters completely satisfy! He is the best place for you and I to dwell.
ISN'T THAT AWESOME? Mind: totally blown!
