If only you knew!

She came to the well, pitcher in hand, all alone, to get some water. She didn’t expect to meet anyone there least of all this Jewish man. She certainly didn’t expect him to ask her for anything let alone a drink of water. How many times had she come here? More times than she cared to remember and as she drew the water she had often thought how pointless the whole this was. Come to the well get some water take it home, drink (or use it for whatever) and then come back for some more. It was almost like a curse. Even more cursed was her loneliness – that aching longing for companionship that ate at her inside and felt like a yawning hole that could never be filled. Like this futile trip to the well, it seemed she was doomed to a fruitless search for fulfillment. After 5 husbands she was still alone. So who was this Jewish man who, with no vessel in hand claimed access to life giving water? What did he know that she didn’t?

As he sat at the well Joshua watched her approach and saw more than anyone else could see. Perhaps even more than she could see. He saw the dry barren loneliness inside that plagued her as she went from marriage to marriage looking for what no man could give her. Five times disappointed, rejected or abandoned and still counting. She was thirsty but couldn’t quench her thirst. With her pitcher in hand she was surprised that he with nothing, offered her a drink. If only she knew.

That was just the problem. Like all the others who had come to Joshua’s well before her, they didn’t and couldn’t know. How could they know how desperately dry and barren their souls were? They had grown so accustomed to the emptiness, they thought it was normal. Still in spite of themselves they went to great lengths to fill the emptiness with everything but water. How could they know how deep the well was? So deep that without the help of the one who owned it no one could drink the living water. How could they know to ask when all their lives they had been taught that they were in control? How could they know how sweet and filling this water was when they were consumed with the pursuit of everything else? If only you knew, he thought, you would have asked me and I would have given you water that would quench your thirst forever.

As he spoke to her and laid her soul bare to her the water flowed in and she was not alone anymore. Could this be the One she had been waiting for? With her heart now filled, as it had never been before she left her pitcher of clay at the well and ran back home with a new song. “Come and see a man who told me every thing I ever did. Could he be the messiah?” Now she knew how thirsty she had been, how impossible it would have been to get this water by herself and how sweet the living water was. And all she had had to do was put down her pitcher, ask for a drink and receive it!

Rich man, Poor man

Among the many who come to the well each day two men who came for a drink long ago stand out. They were similar in that they were both wealthy, powerful men. One was described as a rich ruler the other a tax collector. The similarities however, end there.

One, the rich ruler, was a religious man who prided himself in his observance of the religious rules and regulations. He was probably counted among the “righteous” elite. He came to Joshua asking what more he needed to quench his eternal thirst. As far as he was concerned he had done all that is humanly possible with no regrets. He almost dared anyone especially Joshua deny him a drink. Joshua in his wise and knowing way quietly spelled out the cost of a cup of this water. When it became apparent to the ruler that a cup of water from this well would cost him everything he valued - his money and his position, he turned and left the well sad, dejected and still thirsty, still holding on to everything he came to the well with. “How hard it is for the rich to enter into the kingdom of God”.

On the other hand the tax collector came to the well with no religious pretensions only curiosity. In fact he was generally considered a sinner and hated and probably feared by the people of his day. As far as his contemporaries were concerned he deserved to die from his thirst for all his sins. However that very thirst is what drew him to the well. Is it true what they said about Joshua and his well, that a drink from it could cure the eternal thirst of man? Even at the well he did not dare ask for a drink and certainly did not expect any favors from anyone least of all Joshua. Yet while he felt the heat from the hostile stares everyone else gave him, he also felt the warmth of a friend’s attention as Joshua called him by name and offered him a drink from the well. No questions asked no price to pay just open your mouth and drink. Overcome by the offer and struck by the sheer generosity it spoke of, he responded the only way he knew how. With a forthright admission of his unworthiness and a pledge to make restitution with all he had – his money and his position. That day salvation came to the house of this rich man.

How is it that 2 rich and powerful men came to the same place and responded so differently? Well of course they were 2 completely different people whose wealth and position meant different things to them. Most importantly though it is the value they placed on what was offered to them that determined which direction they went. It is the magnitude of their thirst in comparison to what was offered and what they thought they already had. The first rich man did not think he was thirsty enough to give up everything for a drink of water whereas the second thought this offer was too good to be passed up. The former left still a “wealthy”, thirsty man with a heavy heart; the latter left a "poor" but satisfied man. In the final analysis who was the wealthier? The one who had all the money and could not quench his thirst or the one who had no money but no need for it anyway? Joshua says “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions”. To him a man’s wealth is measured not in how much he has to his name but how much he is willing to give up for a new name.