In verses 9 through 14 we see the contrast between the emptiness of religion’s tradition and the fullness of life’s living water. The Samaritan woman asked the Lord Jesus, “Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?” (4:12). We see by this question that religion’s father is considered to be the greatest. The Samaritans thought of Jacob as the greatest. They took him as their grandfather, thinking him to be the greatest.
The Samaritan woman also considered that Jacob’s well was the best. This signifies that religion’s inheritance is always considered as the best.
The Samaritan woman said to the Lord, “You have no bucket...where then do you get the living water?” (v. 11). This signifies that religion’s way is considered as the most prevailing. Although religion considers its way to be the most prevailing, yet religion’s “water” never quenches the thirst of religious people. This is proved by the Lord’s reply in verse 13. “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again.”
Christ is greater than religion’s father. “Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (4:10). If you preach the gospel in China, people will talk to you about Confucius. Every race and tribe claims to have someone great, but none is greater than Christ. Christ is greater than Jacob, Confucius, Plato, and every other kind of grandfather.
Furthermore, God’s gift is greater than religion’s inheritance. Would you like to have Jacob’s well or God’s gift? What is God’s gift? If you say that God’s gift is Christ, that answer is not totally accurate. The divine life is God’s gift, for Romans 6:23 says that the free gift of God is eternal life. This divine life shall become in us a spring of water welling up into eternal life (v. 14). This divine life is much better than Jacob’s well. If you visit Jacob’s well in Palestine today, you will find it under the control of an Armenian monk. When I visited there, everyone who wanted a cup of water from Jacob’s well had to pay two dollars. However, all of that is tradition and means nothing. The water in that well is the same as any other.
To “ask” is more prevailing than religion’s way. The living water of God quenches our thirst and becomes a spring of water welling up into eternal life. Death’s thirst is quenched by life. In principle, this also is to change death into life.
The Lord Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again” (4:13). This statement is simple but its meaning is profound. The “water” here signifies the enjoyment of material things and the amusement of worldly entertainment. None of these can quench the thirst deep within man. However much he drinks of this material and worldly “water,” he shall thirst again. The more he drinks of these “waters,” the more his thirst is increased. For example, in education people like to have higher and higher degrees. After receiving a bachelor’s degree, they want a master’s, and after that, a doctorate. Others may desire to accumulate ten thousand dollars in a savings account, but after that, they want to have a hundred thousand, and after a hundred thousand, a million. The more you drink of the water of this earth, the more thirsty you become. Never try to quench your thirst with any kind of worldly water. Although the Samaritan woman had had five husbands and was living with a man who was not her husband, she still was not satisfied. Nothing could quench her thirst. Some sisters love clothing. However, no woman can be satisfied with any type of garment. After you purchase one, you will want a second and a third. If you have ten pairs of shoes, you will want to have fifteen pairs. Some women who have more than fifteen pairs of shoes still are not satisfied. This kind of “water” will never satisfy people. There is only one “water” that satisfies people for eternity—Jesus Christ. Christ satisfies today, tomorrow, and for eternity. He is ever new, ever fresh. He always satisfies. So, the Lord could tell the Samaritan woman that whoever drinks of the water that He gives will not thirst, for that water will become in him a spring welling up into eternal life.