Scripture Study for
Third Sunday of Lent
Exodus 17:3–7 / Psalm 95:8 / Romans 5:1–2, 5–8 / John 4:5–42 or 4:5–15, 19b–26, 39a, 40–42
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Understanding the Word
By Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.
God responds to the people’s murmuring with the miracle of water from the rock. These were the very people whom God had miraculously delivered out of Egyptian bondage. Yet they suggest that their rescue was done, not out of God’s loving-kindness, but so that they will die of thirst in the wilderness. In their insolence they cry out their challenge: “Is the Lord in our midst or not?” (Exodus 17:7). Since the people did not recognize God’s reassurance in the signs and wonders of the past, God performs yet another one. Why does God endure such thanklessness, rebellion, and audacity? Because God is kind and merciful. Paul tells the Christians in Rome that they have not justified themselves. Any righteousness they might possess originates in God. In fact, they were sinners, alienated from God, when Christ died for them and gained access for them to the grace that placed them in right relationship with God. Through his sacrifice, Jesus opened the way for them to approach God. They may have been brought by Jesus to the threshold of God’s presence, but they themselves must take the step over that threshold. They do this by faith. With this step of faith they no longer stand in enmity; they now stand in grace, in peace with God. This is true righteousness. The story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman includes the discourse on living water. He asks for water when in fact he is the one who will give water. “Living water” refers to divine bounty, suggesting that this living water seems to have a very special character. The living water metaphor itself has a long and rich history in the religious tradition of Israel. It was a gift from God when the people were thirsting in the wilderness (Exodus 17:3–7). The prophets employed it to refer to the spiritual refreshment that flowed from the temple (Ezekiel 47:1; Zechariah 14:80). In each of these instances, living water is a principle of spiritual life.