When Jesus Shakes It Up

Jesus and our Samaritan sister continue their chat.

The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?" (John 4:11-12).

Jesus will shake up religion and tradition to bring us salvation.

She still only sees the physical: her physical need for water, what is required in the physical to draw it and the fact Jesus does not have it!Where does He get this living water? What’s He talking about? Where is this water source and how does He get it?What He is saying that He is not saying is this is the well of your fathers. It is the well of tradition and heritage, even religion. But even as deep as it is, it is not the source of living water. He is challenging all she has ever known, and she does not understand.This is where Jesus will shake up our religious habits in order to reveal Himself. He is about to show her salvation is not gained through religion, who our fathers are or what they have established for us. All of it is like drawing water from Jacob’s well; it will NOT satisfy the spiritual thirst of our souls for the living water only Jesus gives.We may worship as part of a particular denomination or religion, but that denomination or religion is not the source of living water. Jesus alone is the source!When Jesus answers her, He explains the water He is talking about:

Whoever drinks of this water (from Jacob’s well) will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:13-14, parentheses added).

An encounter with Jesus where He reveals Himself and leads us to a point where we see and believe Him as the source of living water is the only thing that will save us for eternity and satisfy our ongoing spiritual needs as we live and figure out life here on this earth! The living water He offers is the exact thing for which our souls thirst, and it is only found in Christ!

Jesus is exact!

Jesus meets us at our exact point of need to reveal Himself as exactly what we need!

What about you? Are you at Jacob’s well trying to draw water that will only leave you thirsty again? Is Jesus counter-cultural to you? Is He challenging the traditions of your religion and upending the traditions and beliefs of your fathers – all you have ever known and done? Is He getting your attention in an unconventional way? Has He ordered His exact route to this exact place at this exact time to use your physical and/or soul need to show you your spiritual need for Him? What will your response be?