John 4:11-19 : The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From where then have you that living water? Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, as did his children, and his livestock?” Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I don’t get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.”

After telling the woman that she should be asking Him for water, she challenges Him by asking Him how He would get water without a pail and by asking Him if He is greater than Jacob.

That’s a pretty big question. Jacob’s other name was “Israel.” Jacob was the one that gave Israel its name and is one of the most important people in Jewish history. But, it is obvious from this book, that Jacob was not as important as Jesus because “the word was God“(John 1:1) and Jacob wasn’t.

Jesus keeps the conversation focused on the living water by saying His water would be better than Jacobs because it would turn into more water and give you eternal life. It sounded at this point like the woman was convinced and willing to give it a try, but before Jesus goes on, He asks her to get her husband. When she was finally willing to try supernatural help, Jesus said “Ok, now let’s deal with your life…” Jesus, basically exposed what she was up to in her private life.

This woman appears to have been living in a relationship with a man that was not her husband. Jesus reveals to her that He knows everything about her. It is good when we come to realize that God knows everything about us. It is ridiculous to attempt to keep anything from God. Attempting to do this shows our lack of understanding about who God is.

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus offers life to sinners? Isn’t it interesting that He found the need to expose her hidden life first? The water that Jesus was offering was for the soul and the body. Our souls were dying in sin when Jesus found and exposed our need. We only realized our need for living water when we saw that we were dying without it.