John 4:13-14 Living water_
Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 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.” John 4:13-14 NKJV
The water Jesus is speaking of is the infilling of the Holy Spirit. There is so much to be said about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in believers. Books have been written about it. Theologians have fought about it. From the very beginning, the Father had the deep desire to be close to us, inhabiting our body. Inseparable. But since Adam’s sin, his longing has rarely been realized. Until Jesus’ time, there are instances of men being filled – but in contrast to what we see since the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), Jesus is speaking of a new kind of presence within believers. Jesus’ death create gave me salvation. Salvation, alone by itself is no consolation. Rather, it created opportunity of the greatest gift that one may experience while on this earth — His infilling. His last words before departing earth were, “Wait for it!” (Acts 1:4)
So, what is it?
Water is one of the foundations of life. It cleans, it refreshes, we can’t live many days without it. Your garden requires it. The farmer couldn’t produce our food without it. At it’s core it contains oxygen and gives us the air we breath. Life requires water and the earth has it abundantly. Yet the irony is not lost in Jesus’ transaction at the well. They are in a dusty, barren land, and this woman is trudging daily to the source to get enough. She’s obviously street-wise, and whether or not she believed him, she played along, “Give it to me!” I love how pragmatic she was: if it’s something real, then I won’t have to come back here every day. This is work!
But Jesus already made the distinction between the two waters. Physical water will take care of the body. But it’s only sufficient for a time. You must keep coming back. But the water that the soul and spirit need is different. It is Spirit and life. Once you drink of him, you will not thirst again. You won’t feel parched. You won’t feel abandoned. There will be no insufficiency with you. You will be a well-watered garden of delight within which our Savior may walk, fellowship, and nurture every day.
This water is a Person. The actual indwelling of the presence of God. In an unusual statement in Luke, we see that John was filled with the Spirit from the moment he was conceived. And the spirit of God was within Jesus “without measure” (John 3:34). Jesus knows by experience what he’s talking about. He’s living it in this very moment: flesh mingled with Spirit. Once I drink of this water – or when we believe and receive his indwelling presence like they did on the day of Pentecost – the presence of the eternal, life-giving God may abide in me. Never to leave. One drink, one filling. One sip, and a forever abiding presence within. Jesus’ offer is as incredible as it sounds. And if that were not enough, just to tweak your faith a bit, the physical earth responds to the kingdom of God. Jesus experienced this when he walked on water and fed the crowds with a couple fish and a few loaves. Once filled, if I have the faith, it could be a physical supply too – maybe the woman really didn’t need to keep coming back to the well. But that’s a topic for another day.
With the Holy Spirit within, I realize that I have been born a second time. The new birth is the first step (John 3) and the infilling is the next (John 4). As much as both of these events happen at a point in time, Jesus makes it clear that the Spirit within is a fountain springing up. In the Greek it carries the meaning of gushing plumply, and from within it jumps or figuratively, gushes, leaps, springs up.
Believers carry this source every day and it never runs out. Never. Ever. It does not originate from me, but rather from heaven. Over the span of my life, I must ask: do I put a rock of flesh on this well? Or do I allow it to flow freely? He is so good. Jesus, flow freely!