Page:Jesus of Nazareth the story of His life simply told (1917).djvu/164

 had been dug by Jacob and given by him to his son Joseph. It was much prized by the people of the country, both for its own sake, because water is precious in the East, and for the sake of the patriarchs to whom it had belonged. A welcome sight to the traveller in this sultry land was that well of Jacob with its sheltering archway and stone margin on which he might sit and rest.

When our Lord, with His little party of five, reached the well He was too faint and spent with His journey to go further. Seeing this, the disciples begged Him to sit and rest whilst they went on to the town to buy food.

Presently a woman of Samaria came to draw water. She had filled her pitcher and was going to poise it on her head, when Jesus said to her:

"Give Me to drink."

Surprised at such a request, for a glance had shown her the Stranger seated there was a Jew, she replied:

"How dost Thou, who art a Jew, ask of me to drink who am a Samaritan woman?"

Jesus answered: "If thou didst know the gift of God and who He is that saith to thee: Give Me to drink, thou perhaps wouldst have asked of Him and He would have given thee living water."

What was this gift of God? That of which He had spoken to Nicodemus when He said: "God so loved the world as to give His only-Begotten Son." Had she known that the Son of God was there before her, that she had all to herself Him whom the world was expecting, how eager she would have been to do Him this little service, and in exchange for a drink from her pitcher ask for that living water of grace which would cleanse her sinful soul, refresh its thirst, and preserve it for