<p>4:14 <i>But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst. The water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water, springing up to eternal life</i>- The human thirst for the Spirit would be met by the gift of the Spirit <i>within</i> our hearts. The water given would be the life eternal- the kind of life we shall eternally live. The reference is not to miraculous gifts, but to the ongoing gift of the Spirit within.</p><p>&ldquo;With joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation&rdquo; (Is. 12:3) is applied by the Lord to the present experience of the believer in Him (Jn. 4:14; 7:38). But Isaiah 12 continues to explain how the joy of that experience will lead to men saying: &ldquo;The Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation as He was for Israel at the Red Sea, cp. our baptism experience... Praise the Lord, proclaim his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted&rdquo;. The exaltation of the Yahweh Name, the wonder of it, the sheer height of who Yahweh is, these things and our personal part in them is an unending imperative to witness these things world-wide. Men did not confess Jesus to others, despite nominally believing in Him, because they did not love the concept of the glory of God (Jn. 12:43 RV). To perceive His glory, the wonder of it all, leads to inevitable witness to others.</p><p>It was from the smitten rock that springing water came out. There is an endless inspiration in the cross, an endless source of that spirit of new life. And the influence of the cross cannot be passive; we will also give out living water, <i>we</i> will become as the smitten rock, and through our share in His crucifixion we will give out to others that same new and eternal life. But in the context of the Samaritan woman, the rock at that time was not yet smitten, the living waters of the Spirit not yet given as the Lord was not yet glorified.</p><p>Repeatedly, the Lord Jesus carefully worded His teaching in order to use the same words about Himself as about His disciples. He was the lamb of God; and He sent them forth as lambs amongst wolves; He was &ldquo;the light of the world&rdquo;, and He stated that they too must be likewise. As He was the source of living water to us, so we are to be to others (Jn. 4:10,14). The Samaritan woman could be the source of living water to others, as indeed she was. John grasped this, by using even some of the language of the virgin birth about the birth of all God&rsquo;s children. It&rsquo;s as if even the Lord&rsquo;s Divine begettal shouldn&rsquo;t be seen as too huge a barrier between us and Himself. The wonder of the virgin birth is something which elicits the &ldquo;Wow&rdquo; mentality; but the miracle continues into <i>our</i> lives.</p>