Cliffhangers are the worst. We all probably have had that show that we are so invested in, and right at the most intense moment, the credits roll and you have to wait until next week, or even worse, next season.
Well, in John 4, we are left on a little bit of a cliffhanger. Jesus meets this woman at a well who has a complicated past. Jesus speaks to her and tells her about living water. She then goes into the city, tells everyone about the man who has told her everything, and asks, “Could this be the Messiah?”
Jesus stays in the city for the next two days and teaches them. The cliffhanger comes on the third day because we don’t know what happened with the Samaritan woman. I would love to think that she woke up excited to serve Jesus and never looked back. But the reality is that we don’t know what temptations, struggles, or doubts she faced after Jesus left.
This past summer, I was studying this passage with a brother, and I asked him, “How do we reconcile that we don’t know the end of the story?”
He told me, “Though we don’t know what headspace she woke up in on the third day, she now has a community to remind her why she left the water pot.”
In verses 28–30, the text says, “So the woman left her waterpot and went into the city, and *said to the people, ‘Come, see a Man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is He?’ They left the city and were coming to Him.”
Her water pot was important to her everyday life. Yet, after hearing the words of Jesus, she left it behind to tell others about the true source of life she had just found. She left the water pot alone, but she didn’t have to keep following Jesus alone.
Later, in verse 42, the people acknowledge the role her testimony played in bringing them to Jesus: “It is no longer because of you that we believe, for we have heard ourselves and we know that this indeed is the Savior of the world.”
What a thought that this woman now had a community of people who knew the Savior of the world because she had first told them about Him. If she faced temptations or discouragements, they could remind her: Don’t forget, you were the one who told us about Jesus. Don’t forget why you left the water pot. Let’s keep living for Him.
This story is powerful and convicting to me, and it leaves me with three takeaways.
First, I need to remember my water pot moment more. I need to go back to that day where 13-year-old Daniel realized what Jesus had done for him and that nothing else could compare. In moments of temptation, I need to remember the joy I felt coming up from the water, the peace found in Him, and understand that moment is greater than any selfish desire I might pursue.
Second, I need to learn my friends’ water pot moments. I have realized that I do not know many of my dearest friends’ conversion stories. I need to ask about those moments so that when they face struggles or temptations, I can remind them why they left the water pot.
Third, I need to seek the community in Christ where we share, labor, and live in the love and grace of the Savior of the world. We need people who will remind us why we left the water pot, and we need to be those people for others.
Praise be to God for His Son, who has lavished grace upon us. May I never forget that moment when I realized what He did for me and that His grace is greater than any desire I might have. Lord, help me to never forget my water pot moment. This week, may I ask someone I love about their moment, and when they struggle, may I remind them why they left the water pot behind. —Daniel Collins