365 Days in the Gospels and Spirit of Prophecy
Known, Loved, and Never Thirsty Again — February 8 [Description]
Bible discovery
1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 365D 39.2
2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), 365D 39.3
3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 365D 39.4
4 But He needed to go through Samaria. 365D 39.5
5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 365D 39.6
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 365D 39.7
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 365D 39.8
8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 365D 39.9
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 365D 39.10
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 365D 39.11
11 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? 365D 39.12
12 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?” 365D 39.13
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 365D 39.14
14 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.” 365D 39.15
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” 365D 39.16
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 365D 39.17
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 365D 39.18
18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” 365D 39.19
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 365D 39.20
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” 365D 39.21
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 365D 39.22
22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 365D 39.23
23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 365D 39.24
24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 365D 39.25
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” 365D 39.26
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He. ” 365D 39.27
27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?” 365D 39.28
28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 365D 39.29
29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 365D 39.30
30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him. 365D 39.31
31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 365D 39.32
32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” 365D 39.33
33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” 365D 39.34
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 365D 39.35
35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 365D 39.36
36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 365D 39.37
37 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 365D 39.38
38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.” 365D 39.39
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” 365D 39.40
40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 365D 39.41
41 And many more believed because of His own word. 365D 39.42
42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed [a] the Christ, the Savior of the world.” 365D 39.43
Spirit of Prophecy Reading
The Desire of Ages pp.183-187: 365D 39.44
This chapter is based on John 4:1-42. 365D 39.45
On the way to Galilee Jesus passed through Samaria. It was noon when He reached the beautiful Vale of Shechem. At the opening of this valley was Jacob's well. Wearied with His journey, He sat down here to rest while His disciples went to buy food. 365D 39.46
The Jews and the Samaritans were bitter enemies, and as far as possible avoided all dealing with each other. To trade with the Samaritans in case of necessity was indeed counted lawful by the rabbis; but all social intercourse with them was condemned. A Jew would not borrow from a Samaritan, nor receive a kindness, not even a morsel of bread or a cup of water. The disciples, in buying food, were acting in harmony with the custom of their nation. But beyond this they did not go. To ask a favor of the Samaritans, or in any way seek to benefit them, did not enter into the thought of even Christ's disciples. 365D 39.47
As Jesus sat by the well side, He was faint from hunger and thirst. The journey since morning had been long, and now the sun of noontide beat upon Him. His thirst was increased by the thought of the cool, refreshing water so near, yet inaccessible to Him; for He had no rope nor water jar, and the well was deep. The lot of humanity was His, and He waited for someone to come to draw. 365D 39.48
A woman of Samaria approached, and seeming unconscious of His presence, filled her pitcher with water. As she turned to go away, Jesus asked her for a drink. Such a favor no Oriental would withhold. In the East, water was called “the gift of God.” To offer a drink to the thirsty traveler was held to be a duty so sacred that the Arabs of the desert would go out of their way in order to perform it. The hatred between Jews and Samaritans prevented the woman from offering a kindness to Jesus; but the Saviour was seeking to find the key to this heart, and with the tact born of divine love, He asked, not offered, a favor. The offer of a kindness might have been rejected; but trust awakens trust. The King of heaven came to this outcast soul, asking a service at her hands. He who made the ocean, who controls the waters of the great deep, who opened the springs and channels of the earth, rested from His weariness at Jacob's well, and was dependent upon a stranger's kindness for even the gift of a drink of water. 365D 39.49
Jesus did not immediately answer the question in regard to Himself, but with solemn earnestness He said, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” 365D 39.50
He who seeks to quench his thirst at the fountains of this world will drink only to thirst again. Everywhere men are unsatisfied. They long for something to supply the need of the soul. Only One can meet that want. The need of the world, “The Desire of all nations,” is Christ. The divine grace which He alone can impart, is as living water, purifying, refreshing, and invigorating the soul. 365D 39.51
Jesus did not convey the idea that merely one draft of the water of life would suffice the receiver. He who tastes of the love of Christ will continually long for more; but he seeks for nothing else. The riches, honors, and pleasures of the world do not attract him. The constant cry of his heart is, More of Thee. And He who reveals to the soul its necessity is waiting to satisfy its hunger and thirst. Every human resource and dependence will fail. The cisterns will be emptied, the pools become dry; but our Redeemer is an inexhaustible fountain. We may drink, and drink again, and ever find a fresh supply. He in whom Christ dwells has within himself the fountain of blessing,—“a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” From this source he may draw strength and grace sufficient for all his needs. 365D 39.52
As Jesus spoke of the living water, the woman looked upon Him with wondering attention. He had aroused her interest, and awakened a desire for the gift of which He spoke. She perceived that it was not the water of Jacob's well to which He referred; for of this she used continually, drinking, and thirsting again. “Sir,” she said, “give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.” 365D 39.53
Jesus now abruptly turned the conversation. Before this soul could receive the gift He longed to bestow, she must be brought to recognize her sin and her Saviour. He “saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.” She answered, “I have no husband.” Thus she hoped to prevent all questioning in that direction. But the Saviour continued, “Thou hast well said, I have no husband: for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.” 365D 39.54
The listener trembled. A mysterious hand was turning the pages of her life history, bringing to view that which she had hoped to keep forever hidden. Who was He that could read the secrets of her life? There came to her thoughts of eternity, of the future Judgment, when all that is now hidden shall be revealed. In its light, conscience was awakened. 365D 39.55