Longing and Thirst

There is both spiritual thirst and physical thirst. While traveling from the region of Judea toward Galilee, Jesus arrived at a Samaritan town called Sychar and sat down to rest by Jacob’s Well. Around noon, when the sun was blazing, a Samaritan woman came out to draw water. She was living a difficult life, struggling daily to quench her physical thirst.  A professor emeritus of  Scriptural Studies, in his column in the Catholic Times, helps us understand the incident.

Jesus asked the woman for water: "Give me a drink" (John 4:7). Surprised, the woman replied, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (John 4:9). The Evangelist John briefly explains the situation: "For Jews do not associate with Samaritans" (John 4:9).

At that time, Jews viewed the Samaritans—a mixed-race people—as religiously impure and were extremely reluctant to have any contact with them. One day, when Jesus sent out the Twelve Apostles, He said... “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.” (Matthew 10:5)

Jesus continues with a profound statement, suggesting that had the woman known who was asking her for water, she would have been the one to receive living water: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.” (John 4:13–14)

Hearing Jesus’s words of revelation, the woman replies, “I know that the Messiah—called Christ—is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” (John 4:25) In response, Jesus clearly declares his identity: “I, the one speaking to you, am he (*ego eimi*—‘I am the one’ or ‘I exist’).” (John 4:26)

Here, Jesus’s revelation reaches its climax. He applies to himself the very form of revelation God used when revealing Himself to Moses: “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14).

Leaving her water jar behind, the Samaritan woman runs to the village and cries out, “There is a man who told me everything I have ever done. Come and see! Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29) A joy greater than the burden of daily survival—the joy of encountering the Lord—has begun to move her. Thanks to her proclamation, “many Samaritans from that town came to believe in Jesus.” (John 4:39) Sychar is evangelized.

The Samaritan woman becomes a proclaimer of the Gospel, and the Samaritans, having met Jesus, find their perspective on the world completely transformed. We have come to possess the "living water" that instantly satisfies the longing for eternity—as well as all the regrets and yearnings of the world.

The human soul originates from the Lord in heaven, journeys toward Him, and finds its fulfillment in Him. Thus, the thirst of our souls cannot be quenched by anything in this world. If we, too, listen to Jesus’ words—just as the Samaritan woman did—will not that persistent inner longing and thirst finally be satisfied?