John iv. 14. Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst ; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
OUR Lord invites us to learn of him. To encou- rage us, he declares that he is meek and lowly in heart. Never was this disposition more displayed than in his conversation with the Samaritan woman. She was of the most abandoned character ; yet he condescended to instruct her. And, when she slighted his proffered mercies, endeavoured to recommend them to her more favourable acceptance. We shall consider,
I. What is that water which Christ will give —
The woman understood our Lord only in a literal sense. But in his words there was a mystical mean- ing. By the water which he offered her, he meant the Holv Ghost —
[The Holy Spirit is often represented in the Scriptures under the figure of water. It is he of whom the prophet Isaiah speaks when he says, that God will pour out water upon thirsty souls a. Ezekiel also explains himself as referring to him, when he promises to the Church, in Jehovah's name, that clean water should be sprinkled on them to cleanse them from their pollutions b. We are taught by God himself to put this interpretation on similar expressions used by our blessed Lordc. By the help of these passages we ascertain beyond a doubt the import of that before us.]
This water he had full authority to give —
[Jesus had not received the Spirit by measure only, like other prophets d: he had the residue of the Spirit abiding in hime; yea, he had all the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily f. As mediator he was commissioned and empowered to bestow this Spirit8. Hence he frequently
a Isai. xliv. 3. b Ezek. xxxvi. 25 — 27. c John vii. 37 — 39. d John iii. 34. e Mai. ii. 15. . f Col. i. 19. andii.9.
e Ps. lxviii. 18. with Eph. iv. 8. and Acts ii. 33. He received in order that he might give.