Living Water

“The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

This Gospel episode comes from the fourth chapter of John where Jesus speaks with the Samaritan woman. Today, we traveled to the Samaritan city of Nablus, which is where Jacob’s well is located; the same well where Jesus and the Samaritan woman met. The well is inside the Orthodox Church of St. Photina which was filled with many beautiful icons.

Down the stairs in the crypt below the sanctuary of the church is where the well is located. The crypt is also full of icons and in the center of the small room is Jacob’s well.



The well’s exterior is simple, with a steel bucket and a wheel to draw the water out. The well is 40 meters deep which is about 130 feet! So it takes a lot of effort to pull the water up from the bottom of the well. We were able to drink the water, which was very clean and refreshing.

Going back to the Gospel story, Jesus says that he is the living water that wells up to eternal life. Jesus’s living water does not require the work of drawing up the water like we did today at Jacob’s well; we believe that the faith and grace which we received in Baptism springs up abundantly in us.

However, an overflowing spring of water is not usually how I describe my daily experience of life. Living the Christian life often seems like drawing water out of a very deep well; it’s not easy and doesn’t seem to quench my thirst. Why do we experience this discrepancy? Part of the answer, I believe, requires me to reflect on whether I am relying on God and the graces he gives me in the sacraments to live a holy life, or am I continuing to rely too much on my own abilities to live out the virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity? I have been given a source of living water, why do I continue to draw water in from the old places? Just like the Samaritan woman, we don’t immediately place all our trust in God; but also, like her, we need to continue to put more of our trust and hope in God; to rely on him who is the source of living water in our lives.