Nicodemus went to see Jesus at night and left confused. Here, it seems a chance encounter, at noon. A tired rabbi breaks down social barriers, asks a favor of a stranger, and gets involved in conversation. It is not clear to me how much men would speak to women in public at this time and place, plus this woman is a member of group against whom prejudice was common among the people of Jesus. Engaged in conversation, the woman is a superior theologian to Nicodemus: another  Eve perhaps. She offers hospitality to Jesus, even though we start out we saying that the religion of Jesus does not share with Samaritans. At this point we need to deal with her marital history. This woman at the well  is not the one who sees husbands as disposable. She is either widowed and divorced by her husbands a number of times. It is astonishing how much has been read into her moral character by the lascivious minds of preachers. She  may well be at the bottom of the social ladder, maybe her chances in life have dried up,or she is just plain busy at the well at noon. She realizes that Jesus has shifted the terms of the discussion and she moves into a religious dialogue. She becomes a speaker for her people. She is the first to get a clear revelation of the nature of Jesus so far. She left the water jar behind, to show here hurry, or maybe she had all of the living water she could hold, or no jar could contain the living water offered her. Early in John's gospel we hear: Come and see. She exemplifies it, she offers it but not in some pretty package in a bow. She has more questions than answers for her community. Does she already have living water within her? The encounter itself is the one with the gift of living water is asking for water from another. Maybe living water can only be shared? What could of been a place of contention became one of hospitality and sharing.

What does living/running water mean in a spiritual sense? Sometimes the tap seems closed. What thirst does it quench? Does it satiate the thirst for more and more? Does it give us the sense that our cups runneth over; that a bit is plenty, but there's plenty more where that came from?  Does it offer, in a word, contentment? Living water is: healing;  washing us clean; it restores, renews, and refreshes. Here in this place we can worship in a place of spirit and truth. We have the gift of living water in our baptism. We have the gift of Jesus Christ daily.
When we run into trouble, we are often at the places, Meribah and Massah. Instead of offering living water, too often the church offers us Meribah and Massah, a locus of contention, often over trivia, let alone serious religious discussion. We just received manna last week, but we complain.  We wonder where God could possibly be, or is God even doing this to us?
Meribah and Massah were posing an ultimatum to God. God responds to their anger-the water comes from the mountain of Sinai where they are headed. The water flows toward them.We are going toward the life-giving stream of Ezekiel, the crystal fountain that Paul tells us is a symbol for Christ, or the river of life in Revelation. We flow toward a God's eye view of each other, an eye that sees us at our best, an eye that sees through the eyes of love, imperfections and all, always worthy of respect. In the end, the living water is love, always at the ready for us to be showered in its life-giving, life-sustaining flow.