Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Topic: “Jesus’ Presence Sanctifies Our Lives”
Text: John 4:4-14
4. Now as he had to pass through Samaria, 5. he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6. Jacob’s well was there. And Jesus, tired from his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8. For his disciples had gone into the city to buy food. 9. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How do you, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, a Samaritan woman?” For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10. Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give me to drink, you would have asked him for a drink, and he would have given you living water. 11. The woman said to him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where then can you get this living water? 12. Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, and his children and his livestock? 13. Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. 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 well of water springing up to eternal life.
Remember:
Ignorance can cause us to miss the most important thing we are looking for. Knowing how to discern and how to analyze circumstances are spiritual qualities that we must seek. The Samaritan woman had the opportunity to come across the savior of humanity. In his legendary humility, Jesus went to meet her through a titillating dialogue. But the Samaritan woman did not perceive the savior in Jesus. He saw in him only a common Jew similar to ordinary mortals. What Jesus asked the Samaritan woman was what he possessed, he wanted to give her but he waited for the woman to realize it. Obviously, further on, Jesus had given living water to the entire city of Sychar. The presence of Jesus brings sanctification. We must first perceive the presence of Jesus before us. Jesus can appear in several forms: poor, child, sick, pastor, layman, Bible… Jesus provides living water in all its forms. The concept of living water has several explanations. In the profane sense it designates spring water as opposed to stagnant water. In the ritual sense of local churches, it designates baptismal water. In the biblical sense it designates God as the source of life. But in the Christian sense, it designates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is present in all the forms listed. The Samaritan woman had before her living water in abundance, pure and limitless. It is in Jesus alone that there is living water because he is the source of living water that never dries up. Let us desire his presence to water us and sanctify us. It is this water that flows over our faith, our gifts, our language, our gaze… Excellent Wednesday. Amen
Alain Louz.-
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