The Only One Who Can Truly Quench Our Thirst

“He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’
       ‘I have no husband,’ she replied.
       Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’” John 4:16-18 NIV

Most of you probably know the scripture about a Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus at a well. She was thirsty, but He asked her for water. Then, after she pretty much objected, He showed her He had the “living water” (v.10) she needed, and He promised that whoever drank from it would never be thirsty again (v.14).
       This woman was thirsty for love and acceptance. I once read that she was probably an outcast because she was drawing water from the well at a time when no one else was there. Also, as Jesus pointed out, she’d had five husbands. We’re not told anything about how the marriages ended. We are told however that the man she was currently with wasn’t even her husband.
       She was lonely and searching for something to fill the void that even five husbands past had left behind. She’d lowered her standards and became desperate, accepting the affections of a man she couldn’t truly call her own. Unlike the others, this man had not made a commitment to her. He was not her husband and therefore, probably had no legal responsibility over her. He was getting the fruits of a relationship without putting in the work and responsibility it takes to make it grow strong and healthily.
       This woman was settling for not being treasured. She wasn’t valued enough by the man she was with to claim as his own.
       Yup, she was thirsty, but was drawing from a source that could only temporarily quench her longings.
       Then, she met Jesus and after a short conversation, recognized Him as “the Christ” (v.29). We can already see her transformation soon after the conversation ends. She’d left behind her water jar to go back to town and tell the people about Jesus and her encounter (v. 28). The jar in this scripture represents her temporary means of quenching her thirst. She no longer needed that anymore because she’d had an encounter with the only One who can complete us and truly satisfy our longings.
       See, after her encounter with Him, she no longer needed any temporary thirst quencher. She didn’t run back to her man; she ran to the village. That man isn’t even mentioned again. She didn’t need his opinion or affections to satisfy her, or to give her a sense of “worth” (even though ironically he was only truly robbing her of it) anymore. She’d found Someone better: the only One Who can bring us true love, acceptance, and value.