3rd Sunday of Lent
Ex 17:3-7
Rom 5:1-2,5-8
Jn 4:5-42
“…but anyone who drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again.”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. At noon. Under the harsh sun.
Noon is an unusual time to draw water. Most would go in the cool of the morning or evening. But she comes under the harsh sun when no one else is around. Perhaps she is avoiding stares. Perhaps she is tired of whispered gossips about her. Perhaps she has learned that it is easier to come when no one is watching.
Lent feels like noon. It is a season that strips away comfort. It exposes what we usually hide. It brings us face-to-face with our thirst.
When I ask myself what my ‘well’ is, I realise that it is convenience. There’s a Chinese saying called “井底之蛙”, which literally means the frog at the bottom of a well. The frog thinks the well is the whole world because it has never seen the ocean. In relationships, I tend to be risk-averse and seek out the safer and more convenient options.
The well is familiar. Predictable. Manageable. It may not fully satisfy me, but it feels safe.
When Jesus says, “Give me a drink,” He begins with vulnerability. He enters her ordinary routine, asking for something small. No accusation. No shaming. No judgment.
Then, He speaks about living water, “Anyone who drinks the water that I shall give will never be thirsty again: the water that I shall give will turn into a spring inside him, welling up to eternal life.”
Living water sounds beautiful, but it also sounds unsettling. Because living water flows. It moves. It cannot be contained in the walls of the same old well.
The Samaritan woman tries to redirect the conversation to theology — safe topics and intellectual debates. Likewise, I do the same in my own life. I analyse. I plan. I calculate. I try to control outcomes so that I do not feel hurt when things go south.
Jesus, however, sees us beyond all that. He could have walked away from the Samaritan woman when her life seemed complicated. But He stays.
And something changes in her. She leaves her water jar behind. That jar represents routine and survival. She leaves it because she has encountered Love, a love greater than her fear.
I wonder what my water jar is. Is it my need to feel prepared in relationships? My reluctance to give love freely, because I am afraid of being hurt… again? My tendency to stay within the walls of what feels convenient? This Lent, Christ is gently inviting me deeper to leave the old wells behind trustingly. To draw courage from His Living Water. The courage to love freely without calculating the cost.
This Lent, let us allow Christ to meet us at the sixth hour. In the exposed places. In the heat of anxiety. In the quiet battles no one sees. Let us sit with Him in the noon sun and ask Him:
“What are my wells and water jars that I need to leave behind to be transformed in Your Love? Where are you inviting me to go deeper?”
(Today’s OXYGEN by Brenda Khoo)
Prayer: Dear Lord, please give us the courage to stay at the well long enough to admit that we’re thirsty. Perhaps we’re thirsty for security, for certainty, or for control. Please give us the grace to accept Your living water. Amen.
Thanksgiving: Lord, we thank You for meeting us in our ordinary and hidden places. Thank You for seeing our fears and staying with us in them. Thank You for offering us your living water that satisfies our deepest thirst. Amen.
OXYGEN 
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