With Opened Bible
Third Sunday of Lent
“Give me a drink.” (John 4,7)
Water is a divine creation that has marked the history of the people of the Bible. From creation to the river of life in the Book of Revelation, water conveys a message that reminds us of God's great love for his creation, offering us comfort and hope in our spiritual journey.
In the desert, Israel succumbed to many temptations. They disregarded the wonders performed whenever any need threatened them. Faced with thirst, they forgot the Almighty God who parted the Red Sea and began to murmur against him. God came to their aid by using Moses's staff to strike the Rock of Horeb. (Exodus 17:3-7) This Rock was a prefiguration of the true one from which water and blood flowed, that is, the pierced heart of
Jesus. (Cf. John 19:34) This story reminds us of God's unwavering faithfulness, inspiring trust in his continual care for us.
In the episode of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman, water is central. But its spiritual meaning is essential to understand the message better. Jesus asked the woman to give him a drink: "Give me a drink" (John 4:7). But what kind of drink was he talking about? The image of the water from the well, a source of daily life, was far from the subject. Jesus wanted to imply that he needed to be loved and adored as the one and only Lord, since the Samaritans had served five false gods in the past (the woman's husbands): "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him." (John 4:23)
The well, a symbol of the covenant between God and his people, between man and woman, becomes the place where Jesus wanted to reach the Samaritans who had abandoned the True God. Indeed, all who come to him will drink not from the well's water, but from the water flowing from his heart, the Holy Spirit: "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, 'Rivers of living water will flow from within him.'" (John 7:37-39) While the Jews thirsted for water that would not quench their thirst, Jesus thirsts to offer us the water that makes inexhaustible springs gush forth within us. On the cross, he reiterated this to us: "I am thirsty" (John 19:28). During this Lenten season, we are invited to give him something to drink by receiving his Word and living in truth.
