Jesus knows our thirst

3-18-23
Continuing with our study of Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well, today's devotion is based on John 4:6,7, "Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"

Can God honestly know what I'm feeling? Is God in tune with what is going on in our world? Sometimes, we've misunderstood God as a distant deity disconnected from the average human's experience. But Jesus steps into human history, and he shatters that false assumption. As true God, Jesus knows us intimately. But to prove he's not a distant God, he became a real man with flesh and blood to experience pain, thirst, and even temptation—yet he never sinned. But he still thirsted.

By the well, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." On the cross, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." He was thirsty, but he suffered the agony of God's crushing punishment on the cross, which parched his very being. He thirsted for relief from his Father in heaven. He knows what we're going through and did something about it! Jesus' rest beside the well and visit with that woman was a pitstop along the way to his cross, where he would experience something that he wanted no other human to experience—punishment for sin. From his wounds flowed forgiveness and peace for every thirsting soul.

Please pray with me: Lord, thank you for approaching me in gentleness and love and with your almighty power to rescue me from sin's curse. All praise to you. Amen