“Jesus answered and said unto her, 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.” John 4:13-14 (Read John 4:1-14)

Though the Jews usually had no dealings with Samaritans because they were a mixed people and had corrupted the Old Testament Scriptures to justify their erring religious beliefs, Jesus showed compassion on this immoral Samaritan woman and offered her living water — water that gives spiritual and eternal life.

He offered her life-giving water, but she didn’t understand. She thought only of water to quench her earthly thirst and wondered how Jesus could give her such water since He had nothing with which to draw water from Jacob’s well.

Jesus told her that anyone drinking from the well of Jacob would thirst again. This water could only temporarily quench one’s thirst and need for water. But the water Jesus offered and desired to give her was different. It was a water that would satisfy her spiritual thirst — forever! The water Jesus offered and still gives would become “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

What Jesus was offering this woman, and what He offers to us as well, is Himself, the Messiah and Savior of the world, and eternal salvation through faith in Him and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world (cf. Isaiah 12).

Jesus said in John 6:35: “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

In John 7:37-39, Jesus said: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” And John explained: “But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.”

Water is, of course, necessary to sustain life, and the people living in the arid parts of Israel knew what it was to thirst.

Jesus and the forgiveness and life He won for all by His innocent sufferings and death on the cross are needed by all of us as well so that we might have eternal life.

He desires to give everyone this living water that springs up into everlasting life, for He wants no one to perish and be lost forever. He wants to quench our ongoing need for forgiveness of sins and for life in fellowship with God our Maker. He wants us to partake of Him and His sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world by faith and live!

It is the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to see Jesus for who He really is: the Son of God and our Savior. It is the Spirit, working through God’s Word, who assures us that God is gracious to us and offers us forgiveness for our sins for the sake of Jesus’ holy life and innocent sufferings and death in our stead. It is the Holy Spirit who brings us to trust in Jesus for forgiveness and life, and He strengthens us through the promises of His Word and keeps us trusting in Jesus.

God’s Spirit also moves and enables us to share our faith and tell others about Jesus and what He has done for us. He moves and enables us to share the water of life we have received with others so that their spiritual thirst, too, might be quenched forever!

All who come to know and trust in Jesus as Savior have the gift of God’s indwelling Spirit, who not only brings them to such faith and conviction but also keeps them trusting in Jesus and moves them to share their faith with others who thirst spiritually

The life-giving water that Jesus gives is, in all believers, a well of water springing up and quenching our spiritual thirst and giving us everlasting life. It satisfies us for eternity and continues to well up within us so that we might share it with others so that they, too, might have everlasting life through faith in Jesus!

O dearest Jesus, grant us Your Spirit and the forgiveness and life You have won for us by Your holy life and innocent sufferings and death on the cross in our stead. Preserve and keep us in the true and saving faith unto life everlasting and enable us to share this water of life with other thirsty souls. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“22 After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. 23 And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. 24 For John was not yet cast into prison. 25 Then there arose a question between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purifying. 26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. 27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. 28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease. 31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. 32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony. 33 He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. 34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. 35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. 36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” John 3:22-36

While there is much to be learned from this text, I draw your attention especially to two points. The first relates to our place as ministers of the Gospel, and the second to the importance of placing our faith and hope in Christ Jesus and His ministry of Word and Sacrament.

It is often our inclination, because of our sinful flesh, to focus on ourselves and our work. Pastors come out of the seminary with hopes and dreams of great success in their ministries (often measured with human standards — greater numbers and followers), and we even become somewhat jealous of the successes of others in the ministry. We might even count ourselves more diligent and wonder why people are not flocking to hear the words of our sermons or coming to us to be baptized.

I think we see this in the opening verses of our text. Disciples of John the Baptist voiced concern that Jesus and His disciples were also baptizing, and more people were going to Jesus for baptism than those coming to John.

John’s answer provides a true lesson for us: “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven” (v. 27).

Not only are our ministries given and entrusted to us from heaven, but the fruits of our ministries — our successes — are God’s working and His blessing upon our humble labors as ministers of the Gospel.

Instead of being upset or even jealous because of his decreasing ministry and the fact that the people were following Jesus and going to Him to hear His Word and to be baptized for the remission of their sins, John rejoiced and said these astounding words: “He must increase, but I must decrease (v. 30).”

Is that how we conduct our ministries? Do we rejoice when our hearers no longer follow us because of who we are and what we do and say but follow Jesus and cling to His Word because of who He is and what He teaches and reveals to us?

Jesus is from above. He is the very Son of God who came into this world to save us. He bears witness to the truth and speaks the very words of God because He came from God, and the Spirit was given to Him without limit or restriction.

Certainly, we want our hearers to follow Jesus, not because of us and who we are but because of Jesus, who He is, and what He has done for us.

And this brings me to the second point — a point I so appreciate — the simplicity of the Gospel.

“The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (v. 35-36).

You can’t get much more straightforward and clear than that! Jesus is the Christ. He is our Messiah and Savior. God the Father committed our salvation into His hand, and He went to the cross and paid the price — He made full atonement for your sins, my sins, and the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:1-2; John 1:29). In Him is “plenteous redemption” (Ps. 130:7).

The one who believes in the Son — who looks to Jesus the Messiah and His cross in faith — has eternal life. The one who doesn’t look to the Son in faith “shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (v. 36).

This, of course, echos the words of our Lord Jesus earlier in John 3, when Jesus, while speaking to Nicodemus, said: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (v. 16-18).

Both John the Baptist and our Lord Jesus called upon all to repent of their sinful ways and look to Jesus in faith. They both clearly taught that we are justified by faith alone in Jesus Christ and that, apart from such faith, we are not justified but remain under the wrath of God and stand condemned.

It is as the apostle John writes in His first Epistle, chapter 5: “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (v. 11-12). Or, as we read in the ending of Mark’s Gospel (16:16): “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

That is certainly reason to point our hearers not to ourselves but to Jesus and His life-giving Word. Only in Him is life!

O dearest Jesus, grant that we place our faith and hope in You alone and follow after You and hear Your life-giving words. And grant that we rejoice that others, too, hear the truth of Your Word and come to You for forgiveness and life! Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12

Have you ever tried to walk someplace in total darkness? Perhaps in a cave or on a moonless night? What happened? Without any light, we lose our way and begin to trip and stumble over everything. But what if a friend has a flashlight? If we walk with him, we can see and find our way. But if we do not follow closely, we again begin to stumble and grope in the darkness.

We live in a world full of darkness when it comes to knowledge of the truth. People don’t know or understand who they are, how they got here, why they are here, or how to live. People do not know God, their Maker, or how to walk in fellowship with Him. Instead, people deny the existence of God and believe they are freak accidents of time, chance, and evolution. They have no idea of their purpose here in this world — if they even have one — or what will happen to them after they die.

To the people of this dark and sinful world who are groping about in spiritual darkness, trying this and that to find happiness and fulfillment, Jesus says, “I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Jesus truly is the light of the world. He speaks the truth about our utter sinfulness before God and the condemnation we deserve, and He speaks the truth when He calls upon lost sinners to repent and trust in Him for forgiveness and life everlasting (cf. John 8:23-24; 8:44; 8:34-36; 8:51; 3:3-6,14-21).

Jesus, the very Son of God, took on human flesh and blood and came into this world to save sinners like you and me. He lived a holy life under God’s law and then suffered and died on the cross to bear the full and just punishment for our sins. Jesus’ resurrection is proof that God accepted His sacrifice for sin and that we can be pardoned, forgiven and justified before God through faith in Jesus and His cross (Rom. 4:23-25). Jesus is “the Light of Life.” In Him alone can we sinners have life in fellowship with God our Maker, both now and forever!

What shall we do? Shall we continue to grope around in the darkness, trying to find our own way? Or shall we follow Jesus, the Light of the world?

Like the person walking next to one with a flashlight, if we walk with Jesus by trusting in Him as our Savior and being led and guided continually by His Word, we will “not walk in darkness” but “have the light of life.” We will not be condemned on account of our sins but be comforted with the knowledge and assurance of forgiveness for our sins and life everlasting through faith in His name! And we will be led and guided in the right way through life by the Holy Spirit’s teaching through the Word.

On the other hand, if we wander off and do not follow closely after the Lord Jesus, we will quickly find ourselves groping and stumbling through the darkness of sin and death, not knowing the way to God or how to live for Him.

Dearest Jesus, “In Thy light shall we see light” (Ps. 36:9). Graciously shine upon our hearts, revealing our sin but comforting us with mercy and forgiveness through faith in You and Your atoning sacrifice for our sins; and lead us safely through this life to Yourself in heaven. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:14-18

Why is it that some will be saved and have everlasting life in heaven while others will be condemned to everlasting torment in hell? Those who are saved have forgiveness for their sins and everlasting life entirely because of God’s love and mercy in Christ Jesus. Those who are condemned are so entirely by their own fault for rejecting God’s grace and mercy in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). And, as Jesus said, God’s only begotten Son was “lifted up” for us on the cross and paid in full the just punishment for the sins of the whole world (cf. Num. 21:4-9; John 3:14-15; 1 John 2:1-2). Therefore, because of Jesus’ atoning sacrifice, whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

It is as John writes: “He that believeth on him — on Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, who died for our sins and rose again — is not condemned.” The one who, by the grace and mercy of God, hears God’s Word and believes and trusts that, in Jesus, atonement has been made and his sins are paid for in full is not condemned but is forgiven and has everlasting life.

But, the one who does not believe and place his trust and confidence in the atoning sacrifice of God the Son “is condemned already.” Why? Not because his sins are worse than those of others and not because Christ Jesus did not pay in full for his sins when He suffered and died on the cross for the sins of the world; rather, it is “because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Jesus is the only source of salvation. When God sent His only-begotten Son into the world to fulfill all righteousness for us and then pay the just penalty for all our transgressions, He was and is the only way provided for lost sinners to be saved (cf. Acts 4:12; John 14:6). Those who do not look in faith to Jesus and His cross will not be saved!

It is just that simple. God, in love, “gave his only begotten Son” as a true man, born of the Virgin Mary, to suffer and die for the sins of all. Those who, by the grace of God, look to Jesus and rely on Him for forgiveness are not condemned but have everlasting life! Those who do not look to Jesus and trust in His atoning sacrifice for their forgiveness are condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s only-begotten Son, the only Savior of lost sinners!

In his first epistle, John says it this way: “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5:11-12).

So, if by the grace of God, you look to Jesus for forgiveness and trust that He has paid in full for all your sins, you are not condemned but have everlasting life.

If, on the other hand, you do not look to Jesus and His blood shed on the cross for the forgiveness of all your sins, you are condemned already, not because your sins are too great or because Christ did not pay in full the just punishment for your sins, but because you have not believed and placed your trust in the only-begotten Son of God, the only Savior of the world!

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God and Son of man, grant that I repent of my sinful ways and trust in You alone for the forgiveness of all my sins and for life everlasting, and so be saved. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]

“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)” John 7:37-39

We think little of the importance and need for water. We just turn on the faucet, and water flows. It wasn’t so in Bible times, especially in the arid regions of the Middle East. Water was a precious commodity, and obtaining all the water needed was a continual task and concern.

Think of the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 17). They had no water to drink and thirsted. They complained against Moses, accusing him of bringing them out into the wilderness to die of thirst. God commanded Moses to strike the rock with his rod and water gushed forth, meeting the needs of God’s people. And the Bible tells us that God provided water for the people from the rock on more than one occasion (cf. Num. 20:8ff.; Deut. 8:15).

Now, it was the Feast of Tabernacles, the last day of that great feast in which the people dwelt in tabernacles to remind them of their living in tents in the wilderness for 40 years. On each day of the feast, the priests drew out a vessel of water from the Pool of Siloam, and the people sang psalms as they returned to the temple to pour out the water into a basin there on the side of the altar — a reminder that God had given them water from the rock in the wilderness.

Then, on the last day of the feast, Jesus cried out in the temple, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

That rock in the wilderness pointed to Jesus Christ. As God satisfied the thirst of His people in the wilderness with water from the rock, so Christ offers to meet the spiritual thirst of God’s people with living water, water which continues to flow and meet all our needs and to quench the thirst of those around us as we point them to Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world by means of his sacrifice upon the cross (John 1:29).

As Jesus offered living water to the woman at the well in Samaria (John 4:10,13-14), so here He offers it to all who had come to the temple in search of God’s mercy and blessing. And, He offers it to you and to me, as well!

How does Jesus quench our thirst? He offers and gives us pardon and forgiveness for all our sins when we come to Him in faith, trusting that He indeed is God’s Son and our Savior and that He has satisfied the demands of God’s law for us and suffered the full and just punishment for all our sins and is risen again (cf. Eph. 1:6-9; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; Rom. 3:21-26).

And, as John explained, when we trust in Jesus, He gives to us His Holy Spirit, who continually works through God’s Word and the comfort of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper to keep us in the true and saving faith. He convicts us of our sinfulness with God’s Law and comforts us with God’s pardon and forgiveness through the message of the Gospel, the good news of His mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus (cf. Isa. 55:1ff.; 12:1ff.; Matt. 11:28ff.; Acts 2:36-39; Phil. 1:6).

We are living in a spiritual wilderness. True spiritual water is scarce — we can’t find it on our own. But God has provided it for us in His Son — the Rock which follows us in this wilderness of sin and death (cf. 1 Cor. 10:4; Psalm 36:9). And in Jesus, our thirst is quenched. Our greatest need — forgiveness of sins and fellowship with God our Maker — is met. And when we come to Jesus in faith, which is in itself of the gracious working of God (cf. Eph. 2:8-9; Col. 1:12ff.; 2:12; John 6:44,63), the Holy Spirit is given to us and our spiritual thirst is continually quenched as He sanctifies and keeps us in the true faith in Christ Jesus, our Savior (Rev. 22:17)!

We come to You, O Jesus, to quench our thirsting souls.
Forgive our sins and keep us within Your flock and fold.
And grant to us Your Spirit, and may the rivers flow,
That others, too, may hear us, their Savior come to know. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.]