THE MAIN IDEA
When we ask Jesus for water, we will never thirst again.

Jesus came into a world that had lost hope in the promises of God and in God Himself. Yet, because of God’s faithfulness, there is still hope to be had. This story of the Samaritan woman at the well is about humanity’s hunger and thirst for hope—hope that is lost in the world but then found in Christ and Christ alone.

This story plays on the metaphor of marriage in the Bible. Marriage is often of a symbol of the union between God and His people. And marriage is also the vehicle through which God’s covenant promises are fulfilled. For the Jewish people, the well was a familiar setting for the beginning of a love story between a bridegroom and his bride. And through the love story, God’s covenant promises to His people would be passed on generation to generation. So the well was a reminder of God’s covenant relationship with His people and a reminder that Israel was supposed to be the bride of Christ, the Messiah.

But then, metaphorically speaking, Israel committed adultery with false gods. And that is what the woman at the well represents. Jesus was there to restore the covenant relationship, the covenant marriage, between Himself and the adulterous people of Israel, and Samaria in particular.

This story about the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well is not simply about her, but more about God’s great plan of salvation for the world in Jesus Christ. And yet, she fits into that great plan and becomes a part of the gospel story. In the same way, whatever Jesus is doing in our lives, it is not simply about us, but more about God’s great plan of salvation for the world in Jesus Christ. And we too become a part of that great gospel story. This story says two things about hope.

HOPE IN THE WORLD IS FAKE HOPE
We know nothing about the circumstances of how this woman ended up with five husbands and then a live-in lover. However, we can gather that this woman was on a quest to find the perfect husband. All of her hopes and dreams would be satisfied by a perfect husband. But each husband ended up being a big disappointment, as people always are. But her quest and constant disappointment simply reflects the hope that we put in things of this world: education, wealth, a bigger home, recognition and respect, children, etc. Putting our hope in the world will always disappoint, because hope in anything of this world is a fake hope. It’s basically idolatry.

HOPE IN CHRIST IS REAL HOPE
We find clues in this story that the reason she kept hopping from one husband to the next was because she was in fact in search of the perfect husband who is the Messiah. And she came to the realization that the Christ, the Messiah, was her true hope, and that her hope for the Messiah would never be satisfied in her husband or in anything else. When Jesus saw that she had lost her hope in fake hopes and found her hope in the Messiah, He said, “I am he” (verse 26). Hope in Christ is the only real hope we have. When our hope is in Christ alone, He will fulfill our hope, and we will never thirst again.

DISCUSSION QUESTION
What are some things that you had put your hope in to give you fulfillment, meaning, and happiness, only for it to disappoint you?