Living Water in the Wilderness

Listen to Jesus – Part 4 | Melissa Robinson

Have you ever been physically thirsty—so thirsty that a cold drink of water feels like the best thing in the world? In the Bible, thirst is often used as a picture of something deeper: the spiritual longing every human heart carries. We try to satisfy that thirst with comfort, success, relationships, or distractions, but nothing truly fills the emptiness inside. In John 4, Jesus meets a woman who comes to a well looking for ordinary water—and instead offers her something that would change her life forever: living water for the soul.

This past Sunday at Open Arms Community Church in Bradford, PA, Melissa Robinson shared a message as part of our Listen to Jesus series. In Part 4: Living Water, Melissa walks through the story of the Samaritan woman at the well and shows how Jesus meets people right in the middle of their wilderness. Through this encounter, we’re reminded that Jesus doesn’t just address our temporary struggles—He offers something far deeper: a restored relationship with God and a source of spiritual life that never runs dry.

The Bible Tells One Connected Story

One of my favorite things about the Bible is how interconnected the Old Testament and New Testament are. When you really start paying attention, you realize that Jesus didn’t just appear suddenly in the New Testament—He has been present throughout the story from the very beginning.

We know that God is a triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and that all three have existed since the beginning of creation.

Throughout the Old Testament we see moments where God reveals Himself in ways that foreshadow Jesus:

• Humanity itself, created in the image of God — Genesis 1:27
• The mysterious visitors who meet Abraham — Genesis 18
• The man Jacob wrestles with — Genesis 32:22–32
• The Angel of the Lord who appears to Moses — Exodus 3
• The pillar of cloud and fire guiding Israel — Exodus 13:21
• The Ark of the Covenant and the tabernacle — Exodus 25–30
  

Even the Psalms point forward to Jesus.

A Song of Praise
Come, let us sing with joy to the Lord. Let us sing loud with joy to the rock Who saves us. Let us come before Him giving thanks. Let us make a sound of joy to Him with songs. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. The deep places of the earth are in His hand. And the tops of the mountains belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it. And His hands made the dry land.

Come, let us bow down in worship. Let us get down on our knees before the Lord Who made us. For He is our God. And we are the people of His field, and the sheep of His hand. If you hear His voice today,
Psalm 95:1–7

In this psalm we see descriptions of the Lord that Christians recognize clearly in Jesus:

• The Rock of our Salvation
• Our King above all gods
• Our Creator
• Our Shepherd

When Thirst Reveals the Heart

Psalm 95 refers back to a story in the wilderness when the Israelites were desperate for water.

All the people of Israel left the Desert of Sin, traveling from one place to another as the Lord told them. They set up their tents at Rephidim. But there was no water for the people to drink. So the people argued with Moses, saying, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you argue with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people were thirsty there for water. They complained against Moses, saying, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and animals with thirst?” So Moses called to the Lord, saying, “What should I do with these people? They are almost ready to throw stones at me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Pass in front of the people and take some of the leaders of Israel with you. Take the special stick in your hand with which you hit the Nile, and go. See, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb. When you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, with the leaders of Israel watching. He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the arguing of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Exodus 17:1–7

The people had been freed from slavery in Egypt. They had seen the ten plagues. They had watched the Red Sea part before them. They had experienced God’s protection through the pillar of cloud and fire.

And yet when they became thirsty in the wilderness, they doubted.

Their thirst exposed something deeper than physical need—it revealed faithlessness in their hearts.

Jesus Meets Us in the Wilderness

But God didn’t leave humanity wandering in that wilderness forever.

He sent Jesus.

In John 4, Jesus travels from Judea to Galilee and passes through Samaria. Most Jews would go out of their way to avoid Samaria because of the hostility between Jews and Samaritans.

But the text says something interesting.

Jesus had to go through Samaria.

This wasn’t about geography—it was about mission.

At a well near the town of Sychar, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman who has come to draw water.

Jesus knew the proud religious law-keepers had heard He was making and baptizing more followers than John. 2 Jesus did not baptize anyone Himself but His followers did. 3 Then Jesus went from the country of Judea to the country of Galilee. 4 He had to go through the country of Samaria. 5 So He came to a town in Samaria called Sycar. It was near the piece of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from traveling so He sat down just as He was by the well. It was about noon.

7 A woman of Samaria came to get water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 His followers had gone to the town to buy food. 9 The woman of Samaria said to Him, “You are a Jew. I am of Samaria. Why do You ask me for a drink when the Jews have nothing to do with the people of Samaria?”

10 Jesus said to her, “You do not know what God has to give. You do not know Who said to you, ‘Give Me a drink.’ If you knew, you would have asked Him. He would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, the well is deep. You have nothing to get water with. Where will You get the living water? 12 Are You greater than our early father Jacob? He gave us the well. He and his children and his cattle drank from it.”

Jesus Tells of the Living Water
13 Jesus said to her, “Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 Whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty. The water that I will give him will become in him a well of life that lasts forever.”

15 The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I will never be thirsty. Then I will not have to come all this way for water.”

The True Kind of Worship
16 Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” 17 The woman said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said, “You told the truth when you said, ‘I have no husband.’ 18 You have had five husbands. The one you have now is not your husband. You told the truth.”

19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I think You are a person Who speaks for God. 20 Our early fathers worshiped on this mountain. You Jews say Jerusalem is the place where men should worship.”

21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me. The time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You people do not know what you worship. We Jews know what we worship. It is through the Jews that men are saved from the punishment of their sins. 23 The time is coming, yes, it is here now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father wants that kind of worshipers. 24 God is Spirit. Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

Jesus Is the One the Jews Are Looking For
25 The woman said to Him, “I know the Jews are looking for One Who is coming. He is called the Christ. When He comes, He will tell us everything.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am the Christ, the One talking with you!”

27 Right then the followers came back and were surprised and wondered about finding Him talking with a woman. But no one said, “What do You want?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”

28 The woman left her water jar and went into the town. She said to the men, 29 “Come and see a Man Who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of town and came to Him.

Jesus Tells Them of a New Kind of Food
31 During this time His followers were saying to Him, “Teacher, eat something.” 32 He said, “I have food to eat that you do not know of.” 33 The followers said to each other, “Has someone taken food to Him?” 34 Jesus said, “My food is to do what God wants Me to do and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘It is four months yet until the time to gather grain’? Listen! I say to you, open your eyes and look at the fields. They are white now and waiting for the grain to be gathered in. 36 The one who gathers gets his pay. He gathers fruit that lasts forever. The one who plants and the one who gathers will have joy together. 37 These words are true, ‘One man plants and another man gathers.’ 38 I sent you to gather where you have not planted. Others have planted and you have come along to gather in their fruit.”

The People of Samaria Believe in Jesus
39 Many people in that town of Samaria believed in Jesus because of what the woman said about Him. She said, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So the people of Samaria came to Him. They asked Him to stay with them. Jesus stayed there two days. 41 Many more people believed because of what He said. 42 They said to the woman, “Now we believe! It is no longer because of what you said about Jesus but we have heard Him ourselves. We know, for sure, that He is the Christ, the One Who saves men of this world from the punishment of their sins.”

John 4:1–42

Living Water for the Soul

Jesus asks her for a drink of water, which surprises her.

But then He tells her something astonishing.

Jesus said to her, “Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again.Whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty. The water that I will give him will become in him a well of life that lasts forever.”
John 4:13–14

The woman thinks Jesus is talking about physical water.

But Jesus is talking about living water.

All throughout the Old Testament, God is described as the source of living water.

As the deer desires rivers of water, so my soul desires You, O God.
Psalm 42:1

“Listen! Every one who is thirsty, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
Isaiah 55:1

“For My people have done two sinful things: They have turned away from Me, the well of living waters. And they have cut out of the rock wells for water for themselves. They are broken wells that cannot hold water.”
Jeremiah 2:13

“On that day a well of water will be opened for the family of David and for the people of Jerusalem to make them clean from their sin.”

Zechariah 13:1

Worship in Spirit and Truth

The woman tries to shift the conversation to a theological debate about where people should worship.

But Jesus gives a much deeper answer.

“The time is coming, yes, it is here now, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father wants that kind of worshipers. God is Spirit. Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

John 4:23–24

True worship isn’t about a location.

It’s about the heart.

The Living Water We All Need

Jesus didn’t come just to make life easier.

He came to transform us.

Sin brought:

• death
• shame
• suffering
• separation from God

But Jesus came to restore our relationship with the Father.

Jesus said, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one can go to the Father except by Me.”
John 14:6

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

He is the living water our souls need.

Plan Your Visit to Open Arms Community Church

If this message encouraged you or stirred something in your heart, we would love to welcome you.

Join us Sunday mornings at 71 Congress Street in Bradford, PA for worship at 9:00 AM or 11:00 AM.

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