I always used to think it was funny to recall a story about my Grandpappy walking around the house looking everywhere for a pair of glasses that were resting on top of his head. Fast forward and now I’m about the age he was back then. I am embarrassed to admit this but the other day I did something even worse! I walked from room to room looking for my own glasses only to find out they were on my head alright – right in front of my eyes! If I hadn’t seen myself in a mirror wearing them, how long would it have taken me to figure that out? Lord, have mercy!

Have you ever been so close to something you just couldn’t see it? As I continue my journey through book of John, I’ve finally arrived in chapter 4. Here’s what I’ve gleaned so far from the story of the woman at the well: Sometimes the temporary things of this life keep us from beholding the eternal things beyond this life.

Two things illustrated this truth for me. The first one was when the woman said she wanted the living water so she wouldn’t need to come draw water from that well again (verse 15). I remember hearing sermons that asked us to consider that this woman, full of shame regarding her marital circumstances, may have been coming to draw water at this time of day because she didn’t want to have to face the gossipers and those who whispered unkind things behind her back. She wished she never had to face them again.

Jesus wasn’t interested in joining in their condemnation. He instead kept her focus clearly on HIM. It reminds me of something my husband is always saying: “here plays the music”! It’s one thing to avoid shame in this life. It’s quite another to have it removed for all eternity.

A second part of this story I thought illustrated the importance of beholding the eternal was when the disciples rather humorously wondered if anyone had given Jesus anything to eat. I admit I was already tickled by the fact that they went to purchase food in the first place, because I got this funny little vision of fast food in the first century and them walking back with sacks of hamburgers and fries.

When they arrived, Jesus told them He had food they didn’t know about. Whaaaat? Then He clearly states His food is to do the will of the Father. In other words, He was on a mission and the woman at the well was His focus. He wanted His disciples to understand the importance of being driven by things eternal rather than things that are fleeting.

³⁴ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! ³⁶ And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. – John 4:34-36

It has been said that we become what we behold. As this woman was drawing water, Jesus was drawing her attention fully onto Him. Behold! As the disciples were drawing conclusions, Jesus was busy drawing their attention back onto Him. Again, behold!

Here’s another little nugget I gathered from this story… So many times we see Jesus perform a miracle only to turn around and say not to tell anyone about it. This was clearly not one of those moments. The very first person Jesus chooses to tell explicitly who He is – the long awaited Messiah – is a woman! I love that!

Behold Jesus!