John 4: 13-14. The water

[pneuma07]

13
Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again;
14
but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4

It is normally explained that the WATER in this pericope is the Revelation Jesus brings. ( related verse by John : 7:38). What else could be said ?

I’d like in particular to see explored if/what connections can be made with other pericopes by John. Namely the one in the preceding chapter
(John 3) about being born again out of water and Spirit.
Any baptismal parallel here at the well ( even if you do not drink baptismal water) ?

And what about the “bread of life” speach in John 6 ?
A first difference you can see is that Jesus does not state " I am the “living water” ( an expression introduced in verse 10)", as He does about the bread of life, yet comparisons could be usefully suggested ( or refuted).

Looking forward to insights by everybody.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Nita]

John 7:37-38 …"If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water’ " Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Search on gospels shows the expression “living water” used only three times in the gospels - twice in chapter 4 and once in chapter 7. I guess we can thank John for giving us its meaning here - “living water” refers to the Holy Spirit.

 

[Nita]

My personal way of understanding “living water” is that it is the supernatural life of God, sanctifying grace, that the Holy Spirit, through His presence, infuses into our souls. He is the “fountain” of the living water.

Some references for expression “fountain”
Rev. 21:6 To the thirsty I will give from the fountain of the water of life without payment.

Zechariah 13:1 “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.”
(Connection with Baptism??)

Jeremiah 17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake thee shall be put to shame; those who turn away from thee shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.
(I had an ulterior motive for choosing this verse; one that has nothing to do with the topic of this thread. In this Jeremiah passage, I have found the phrase “…those who turn away from thee shall be written in the earth” very interesting when pondering the gospel scene with the adulteress where Jesus “wrote with His finger on the ground”. (John 8:6)

 

[Joe_Kelley]

. . .(I had an ulterior motive for choosing this verse; one that has nothing to do with the topic of this thread. In this Jeremiah passage, I have found the phrase “…those who turn away from thee shall be written in the earth” very interesting when pondering the gospel scene with the adulteress where Jesus “wrote with His finger on the ground”. (John 8:6)

I just recently found that Jeremiah [17:3] passage. Unfortunately many modern translations decided to explain the Jeremiah. They translate it as their names will be forgotten or something similar. One never realizes the relation of the original to John - though I bet the Pharisees did when Jesus was writing.

That is a major problem with modern translations. They try so hard to be sure we understand the passage as they understand it they lose any links they don’t recognize.

 

[pneuma07]

*QUOTE=Nita;3326714]My personal way of understanding “living water” is that it is the supernatural life of God, sanctifying grace, that the Holy Spirit, through His presence, infuses into our souls. He is the “fountain” of the living water.

QUOTE]*

Thank you for elaborating on the most direct connection, ie John 7:37-38.

I agree through this comparison that in John 4 too we can consider the expression as related to the Holy Spirit and His gifts. Also because we have a future in 4:14 : “the water I shall give”( not the “water I am giving” ). This way the coming of the Holy Spirit can be seen as a fulfillment of the promises formulated about the living water in John 4 and John 7.
Just as by instituting the Eucharisty the promise about the bread of life in John 6 appears fulfilled. There too we have a similar future: "“the bread that I will give” in verse 51, and already in verse 27.

A possible parallel between John 4 and John 6 could sound like this:
In both cases a promise : something will be given by Jesus.
Here : living water. There: bread of life.
Here: Jesus does not state to be the living water. There: he states to be the bread of life.
Here: fulfillment through the coming of **the Holy Spirit **(sent, given by Jesus), and every time a believer receives the Holy Spirit…
There: fulfillment by giving **Himself ** in the Eucharisty, and every time a believer receives in this Sacrament Jesus.

Does this formulation hold “water” ?

I guess we have to consider John 3:5 too, in order to get a
correct picture of the whole of the connection between water and Spirit.

 

[ryanoneil]

“On the last and greatest day of the feast” in John 7:37 the procession was going to pour the water on the alter in rememberance of Moses striking the rock in Numbers 20:11.

Jesus is proclaiming himself the rock.

It is also a reference to Ezekiel 47:1 the water flowing from the Temple.

Jesus is proclaiming himself the Temple of God.

Peace,

Ryan

 

[ryanoneil]

Also, Jesus’ heart had to be pierced by the lance (the rock being struck) for the water/Holy Spirt to flow.

Peace,

Ryan

 

[JReducation]

The fourth chapter of John is part of the Book of Signs. Therefore, it is logical to conclude that he (John) is making reference to another sign of Christ’s divinity. Let’s remember that John uses the word sign to mean proof.

John is continuing the use the theme of water which he uses in his description of the wedding at Cana and the Nicodemus episode. Also, the disciples of John the Baptist had claimed that Jesus had imitated John, rather than John the Baptist being the precursor. It is important for John to divorce Jesus from this claim. Otherwise, Jesus would be a follower of John the Baptist, rather than the one for whom the Baptist prepared the way. This theme of water is an important one.

Observe that he asks the Samaritan woman for a drink of water and that she is surprised. Samaritan women were considered impure as they were half-Jews and therefore impure. It was forbidden for any Jew to drink from a vessel used by a Samaritan. By asking her for a drink of water, Jesus is drawing her into the mystery of redemption. But redemption can only come from above, not from a well. What Jesus offers her is redemption.

If we cross reference this passage with Jn 3; 1-21 we see that Jesus instructs Nicodemus on the necessity of a new birth from above. He then moves on to a monologue on being born of the water and the Spirit. This overlaps with Jn 4; 43-54.

At the wedding of Cana John reintroduces the theme of water. But this time John uses the miracle of water and wine to drive home the Life Giving Word of Jesus.

We all know that life comes from water. This is basic biology. We also know that Palestine was an oasis in the middle of the desert. Water was essential to their survival and difficult to get as it hardly ever rains there.

John constructs a bridge between life-giving water and Christ who is the source of all life, physical and spiritual. Water is the sign of Christ’s life which he gives through grace. This is why John cites Mary at the wedding of Cana as saying, “Do whatever he tells you.” For those who do what he says Jesus is the source of life.

What we have here is a sign of Christ as Word of God and Life of God. If we look closely at the liturgy we have captured both; the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

JR