The journey from Judea to Galilee was a good 100 miles on foot on hot and dusty roads in first century Palestine. Jesus was at nearly the halfway point on this journey, it was high noon and He was weary when He stopped to rest at a well in Samaria. The thirst He must have experienced at this point, common in that era, is practically unknown to 21st century inhabitants of Missouri where clean, fresh drinking water is abundant.
A woman comes to the well and of course Jesus asks her to draw Him a drink. But the woman, having no idea who is talking to her, is simply surprised that a Jewish man would even speak to a Samaritan woman. Jesus tells her that if she understood who He was, she would have asked HIM for water. Not water from Jacob’s well where they were standing, water that provides only temporary satisfaction. Jesus tells her (John 4:13-14), “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
The Samaritan woman doesn’t understand yet what Jesus is talking about. Jesus explains this more when He says (John 6:35-36), “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst” and (John 6:63), “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
The fourth key to happiness: Come to Jesus, all who are weary, hungry and thirsty in spirit. Crave His words, learn from Him, believe in Him, follow His teachings, and you will be satisfied for eternity. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)