Jesus: The Living Water
ELAINA CUMMISKEY | JUNE 14, 2026
Every day, we are bombarded by a relentless stream of cultural trends, media narratives, career pressures, and competing opinions. Without even realizing it, it is incredibly easy to let the world slowly mold our perspectives, values, and choices.
A recent survey by the Barna Group shares a revealing reality: only 4% of Christians hold a true, biblical worldview.
This begs the question, what is shaping the worldview for 96% of Christians? A humble heart asks the question of ourselves, what influences me? What shapes my worldview and thus how I live my life?
As followers of Christ, we should desire and work to have the Bible form our view of the world, rather than the world form our view on the Bible.
When we lack a spiritual hunger for God's truth, we risk slipping into perspectives and convictions that misalign with His perfect love and will.
Jesus says in John 7:37-38: “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
If the vast majority of believers are missing a biblical worldview: Where are we going to satisfy our souls if not Jesus?
The Encounter at the Well
John 4 beautifully tells the story of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well.
Through this powerful narrative, we learn three profound truths about Jesus and the living water He offers.
"Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John... So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, 'Will you give me a drink?'... The Samaritan woman said to him, 'You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?' (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.'"John 4:1-10
1. Jesus Goes to Great Lengths to Seek Us Out
During this time, Jews and Samaritans carried deep, bitter hostility toward one another. When Jewish travelers journeyed between Judea and Galilee, the logical, direct route was straight through Samaria. Yet, because they viewed Samaritans as unclean, Jews would purposely take a long, exhausting detour just to avoid them. But not Jesus! Jesus journeyed directly through Samaria because He was on a divine assignment.
The absolute hottest part of the day, which sets the stage for a deeply significant encounter. It was at this scorching hour that a local Samaritan woman arrived to draw water. Her timing speaks volumes about her isolation; women typically gathered at the well in the cool of the morning or evening to socialize. By coming alone at midday, she was likely trying to avoid the piercing stares and gossip of her neighbors due to her painful past and societal shame. Yet, before she even realized her own need, Jesus was already there waiting for her, enduring the brutal midday heat just to meet her exactly where she was.
Shattered major cultural barriers. She was a Samaritan and a woman, making her twice excluded from traditional religious discourse. But Jesus would overcome every barrier that could have been between them with the intention to know her.
"...Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst...' The woman said to him, 'Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.' He told her, 'Go, call your husband and come back.' 'I have no husband,' she replied. Jesus said to her, 'You are right... The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband...'" John 4:13-18
By bringing up her past, Jesus isn't condemning her. Instead, He is removing any future doubt. He wants her to know that He sees her exactly as she is, and He still offers her living water. Most importantly, Jesus demonstrates how He crosses the barrier of her sin, just as He does for us, so that we may have the invitation to be in right relationship with Him.
This invites us to pause and look inward, asking the Lord to search our own hearts. It is worth reflecting on where we might mistakenly think that our own past, our shame, or our current circumstances creates a barrier too great for Him to want to know us.
2. The Gift of Living Water is Jesus Himself
Jesus beautifully transitions the conversation from physical thirst to the deep, aching thirst of the human soul. Taking place in a dry desert region, His imagery is incredibly vivid. He is essentially saying to the woman, "You are deeply thirsty, but you are drinking from the wrong well."
As the late pastor Tim Keller once noted:
"You won’t accept living water unless you identify your idols."
An idol is anything you place ultimate value or ultimate worth toward, that belongs to Jesus alone. For this woman, her self-worth and the meaning of her life was wrapped up in her past. Though she was drawing physical water to meet her physical thirst, Jesus was speaking about the matter of the thirst of the soul, offering her living water that would provide ultimate satisfaction that no other source could.
"The woman said, 'I know that Messiah' (called Christ) 'is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.' Then Jesus declared, 'I, the one speaking to you (I am he).'" John 4:25-26
This is a breathtaking moment.
From the river that provided life to all nations in the Garden of Eden in Genesis, to the river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God in Revelation, water represents the very presence of God- a prophetic biblical literary motif that occurs throughout the entire Bible.
Jesus can offer living water because he is the Messiah! He is the true source of life, and He being God, is the true source of the presence of God!
In the Gospel of John, this is the very first time Jesus explicitly reveals His identity as the Messiah to anyone. He didn't reveal it to the religious elite or the politically powerful. He revealed it to a social outcast. Living water, the invitation to know Jesus, is never received based on merit, class, or morality. It is a pure gift of grace.
What well are you drinking from today to satisfy your soul? In our modern world, we often bury ourselves in the pressure to achieve success, focusing heavily on career advancement, titles, financial security, and social status.But those things cannot protect or satisfy the soul. Temporary resources can satisfy temporary physical need, but they fail to meet our deepest internal needs. Jesus is the only source that completely satisfies, offering eternal life.
3. Jesus Establishes a Loving Relationship of Worship
If Jesus goes through great lengths to seek us out, and offers us the gift of living water, Himself, we have to ask: What kind of relationship does He want with us? The answer is a deeply loving, relational covenant of worship.
In fact, this encounter follows a well-meeting pattern found throughout the Old Testament scriptures. Think of the stories of Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel, or Moses and Zipporah. In those ancient accounts, a predictable sequence unfolds: a man journeys to a foreign land, meets a woman at a well, water is drawn, the woman runs home with the news, hospitality is extended, and they are eventually joined in marriage.
Jesus intentionally steps right into this familiar biblical design. He journeys to Samaria and meets a woman at Jacob's well, (v.6) further linking the story to Jacob and Rachel. The woman comes to draw water but notices where the pattern beautifully shifts. This story doesn’t end with a physical marriage. Instead, as it relates to worship, when Jesus answers the Samaritan woman’s question on “where” to worship, Jesus shifts her focus from “where” to worship to “how” to worship.
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks” John 4:23.
Jesus reveals to her, and to us today as New Testament believers, that the time has come and the time is now! The answer is not about a place, the answer is Jesus and our call is to worship Jesus in the light of the “now is”.
The Overflow of Living Water
Look at how the story culminates:
"Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 'Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?' John 4:28-30
Encountering Jesus empowered the Samaritan Woman to tell her story of her encounter with Jesus and people were saved!
We should be asking, “How do we do the same?” How do we build an authentic biblical worldview that impacts our families, cities, and workplaces today? Jesus tells us in the gospel of John:
"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." John 7:37-38
Whatever your source is, your life will naturally flow in that direction. If your source is Jesus, you will pour out the Spirit.
Reflect and Respond
Take a moment to reflect on these questions:
A Deep Reverence for the Lord: Am I in awe of who Jesus is, or have I grown casual in my faith?
Attentiveness to the Heart: Am I regularly praying, "Lord, search my heart, and show me where I have abandoned the Truth of your Word.
A Consuming Spiritual Hunger: Am I actively pursuing my relationship with Jesus?
Our natural response to discovering who Jesus truly is must be to worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Let's step away from the broken, dry wells of this world and drink deeply from the Living Water today.
Watch the service here
