Leaving our Water Jars Behind:

 

Leaving our Water Jars Behind

                                          

The Third Sunday in Lent 2026 

March 8, 2026

www.johnpredmoresj.com | predmore.blogspot.com

Exodus 17:3-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-8; John 4:5-42

 

The overwhelming theme in this passage is that we thirst and that God is the only reality that quenches our real thirst. Moses deals with the grumbling Israelites as they stumble through the parched desert. God provides a supply of water from a rock to settle their physical thirst. We are not in our right minds if we are thirsty, and many of us do not hydrate well enough. The Israelites hardened their hearts of Meribah and Massah and they doubted God’s care.

 

The woman at the well was spiritually thirsty and the encounter with Jesus revealed the depth of her desires for God and for liberation. The conversation with Jesus reveals her identity, her mission, and her redemption. She becomes the person she was designed to be from the beginning without shame, without regret, and with great courage. Jesus also becomes the person he was designed to be when he lay on the cross and yelled, “I thirst.” 

 

A detail in the Gospel that strikes me as important is that this woman left behind her water jar. She was full, full of her restored personhood. She was spiritually filled. Her conversion was complete through that encounter with Jesus. This is the invitation for Lent for us because we fill ourselves with so many things that do not satisfy. We remain thirsty until we have this needed encounter with Christ. 

 

We consume in order to be nourished, and we miss the mark. We thirst because our needs are not met. What are some of those things that we seek? Affirmation and acceptance, the pursuit of success and a sense of belonging, positive regard and respect from others, control over people and situations, intimacy and meaningful relationships, and so much more. We thirst for many needs that remain unmet. We have been trying to drink many things that are not God, and we remain restless. We try to pray, we fast, we do good works, and we have to let “thirst” become our prayer because only God can provide this living water. 

 

The woman at the well had to stay in conversation and her sarcasm moved to sincerity. That’s what we want. Authenticity. To be seen and known. To be valued. To be embraced at our core. The living water that we seek is a real encounter with God that moves us to stay in the conversation. We want a meaningful relationship with God in which we can relate comfortably and often. We want to feel the presence of God so we know we are on the right track. We need to stay open enough to receive what God wants to generously give to us. God’s grace is a gift to us. Jesus reminds the woman, and us, If you knew the gift of God…” All we have to do is ask. 

 

Our work is to believe in these words of the Gospel: Jesus said to her,
“I am he, the one speaking with you.” Our belief helps us to worship in spirit and in truth, and we can be like the faithful woman at the well. We can leave our water jars behind.