Crossing Boundaries to Share God's Living Water
Daily Scripture
John 4:4-15
4 Jesus had to go through Samaria. 5 He came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, which was near the land Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from his journey, so he sat down at the well. It was about noon.
7 A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the city to buy him some food.
9 The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other.)
10 Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.”
11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!”
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Abby Wambach: “Leave the jersey in a better place.”
For athletes like Wambach, “the jersey” symbolizes their team. Jesus aimed to leave his “team”—his nation, his world—in a better place. Judeans of his day despised, even hated, Samaritans. The quickest route from Jerusalem to Galilee was through Samaria, yet most Jews took two extra days through Perea, east of the Jordan, to avoid Samaria. Jesus didn’t physically “have to” go through Samaria. He purposely crossed several limits: ethnic (Samaritan), gender (men didn’t publicly talk to women they didn’t know), and social (she came at noon, likely avoiding the other village women).
- Jesus’ choice to go through Samaria—and to engage a Samaritan woman in conversation—bore witness to God’s settled longing for peace among God’s children. He intentionally crossed boundaries others avoided. Where in your daily living do you see injustice or division? What might it look like to follow Jesus’ example by purposely going “out of your way” to confront division and build bridges?
- Jesus offered the woman “living water” that quenches thirst forever. As scholar William Barclay noted, this wasn’t a casual offer but “nothing less than a Messianic claim” echoing the prophetic vision: ‘They shall not hunger or thirst’ (Isaiah 49:10).” * The woman thought of a natural spring that would spare her from daily trips to the well. Do you mainly want Jesus to make your life easier? Or do you want “living water” to make you whole, so the world sees Jesus in you? How does using Jesus for convenience differ from letting him change you for the world’s sake?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, keep me from chasing convenience and an easier life. Guide me to your work, no matter how hard, that I may bear witness to your love for humanity. Make me willing to go out of my way for the sake of the world. Amen.
GPS Insights
Emily Stirewalt
Emily Stirewalt, who serves as Resurrection's Silverlink Pastor specializing in pastoral care of elderly adults, wrote today's Insights. She is an ordained Elder in the Missouri Annual Conference and has served since 2007. She is married to Randall, a special education teacher. They have two daughters, Elliott and Marlowe. Emily enjoys binge watching "Friends" or "Golden Girls."
The Samaritan woman at the well has long been a model to me for my own ministry and call to preach and lead in worship. This is a woman who has been told to be quiet repeatedly. The first five people I told when I was 20 years old that I might be called to ministry were not supportive and there was one reason. I was a woman. And I don’t know if you have heard anything lately about the Southern Baptist Convention but word on the street is that they are telling women to be quiet. Voting on it. And making it official policy.
Make no mistake–the Samaritan woman was NOT a woman with a sordid past. If you have heard her story preached in this way, the person preaching was not a faithful interpreter of her story. Women had no say in being divorced in those times. It was her husbands who chose to divorce her–could have even been because she was barren and unable to give them a son. Perhaps she had a husband die. None of those details matter. What matters is that Jesus did not start counting the ways her community had told her to be quiet. He called her to preach. He reveals that he is the Messiah and she runs to tell others that incredible news. She becomes someone who brings the community together.
Jesus calls us all to share the good news with everyone we meet–there is something so powerful about this world event we have witnessed in the futbol/soccer world over this past month. People from all over the world are coming together and experiencing some of what the Samaritan woman did with Jesus so long ago. No matter what seeks to divide us. No matter who tries to silence us. No matter what obstacles we face. We are all called to celebrate the good news that Jesus calls us to.
© 2026 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* William Barclay, The Gospel of John—Volume 1 Chapters 1–7 (Revised Edition). Westminster John Knox Press, p. 154.
