I AM the Water of Life (I AM (3))

I first thought of writing this series after I searched the book of John for all the times that Jesus said, “I AM…” In that first search I found that upon various occasions Jesus affirmatively stated “I AM” with respect to some revelation of who he is. Those teachings include: 1) I AM the Bread of Life (6:35); 2) I AM the Light of the World (8:12); 3) I AM the Door of the Sheep (10:7); 4) I AM the Good Shepherd (10:11); 5) I AM the Song of God; 6) I AM the Resurrection (11:25); 7) I Am the Life (11:25; 14:6); 8] I AM the Way (14:6); 9) I AM the Truth (14:6); 10) I AM the True Vine (15:5); and 11) simply I AM (13:19). As I contemplated these and the book of John, though, I remembered the woman at the well and Jesus words to her and thought I must have missed one.

Read all of John 4 for the complete story. Here we see Jesus ask a Samaritan woman for a drink of water. She expresses great surprise when Jesus talks to her because he is clearly a Jew and she but a woman of mixed races. Her incredulity probably came not so much from the fact that Jesus talked to her, but from the fact that he was actually going to touch her and drink water that she had touched! The Jews taught that such people were unclean and that they could not touch such a one without becoming unclean themselves. The Jews were racist, but Jesus was not. He knew that he could not be defiled by touching a woman of mixed race.

In response to her question born of surprise Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you (O)living water.” Then she says to him, [b]Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that (P)living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who (Q)gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” And Jesus replies, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him (R)shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to (S)eternal life.”

 15 The woman *said to Him, “[c]Sir, (T)give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” 16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” 19 The woman *said to Him, “[d]Sir, I perceive that You are (U)a prophet. 20 (V)Our fathers worshiped in (W)this mountain, and you people say that(X)in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 21 Jesus *said to her,“Woman, believe Me, (Y)an hour is coming when (Z)neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 (AA)You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for (AB)salvation is from the Jews. 23 But (AC)an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father (AD)in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is[e]spirit, and those who worship Him must worship (AE)in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that (AF)Messiah is coming ((AG)He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, “(AH)I who speak to you am He.” (John 4:10-26)

I missed this one because here Jesus simply said, “I AM.” But notice when he said it. He affirmed to this mixed-race woman that he, the Jew condescending to speak to and touch her, was the Messiah, the Christ! And look further at the context. Not only did he reveal himself as the anticipated Jewish Messiah, he told her that he was the Water of Life! And told her that if she simply asked him he would give her living water!

Water is the most abundant resource on the surface of the earth and water comprises about 70 percent of our bodies. We can live without food for many days; we can live without water very few. We must have water or we will die, and die soon! Thus Jesus first reveals himself as that most essential element that none can live without. In one short meeting Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah, the Christ, the water of life, and the God who reaches out to save all men, not just the Jews! And so, Jesus reveals himself as “I AM,” the very God of the Old Testament, at least twelve different ways in the Book of John.

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