It’s fascinating that the woman with the most number of speaking lines in the whole of the New Testament is an unnamed Samaritan woman whom Jesus meets one day at a well. She is far removed from Jesus in terms of gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual background … and yet the two strike up a deep and meaningful conversation following a chance encounter.
Unlike other biblical encounters at a well that lead to marriage (think of Rebekah, Jacob, Moses), this conversation steers towards discussing water and thirst, most appropriate for the context. Jesus is physically thirsty and asks the woman for a drink of water. The woman, it turns out, is spiritually thirsty and engages with Jesus concerning how to quench her thirst, about worship and who the Messiah might be.
The hook is when Jesus talks about the gift of living water that he can provide. Intrigued, the woman wants to know where to get this living water that will fully satisfy her thirst. Jesus doesn’t say much more here but in later chapters will speak about the food that leads to eternal life (chapter 6) and the living water (chapter 7) that likewise leads to eternal life.
Where do we turn to satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst? Where is our ‘well’ where we find sustenance and refreshment for our spiritual journey? What practices do we follow each day? May we be as open as the woman in this story to seek and to receive all that Jesus has to offer us.