Matthew 5:3-10
Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Search for Righteousness
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
John 4:4-15
Jesus is the Living Water
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
John 6:35-51
Jesus is the Bread of Life
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
John 14:6
Jesus is the Way
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Luke 21:32-36
Jesus Will Stand Before Us At the End of Days
32 “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
34 “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
As we move along the path of life we are often have a desire for something...Many of our desires are physical...Our desires come up daily in life...We have basic desires for food and for water...Jesus often taught about these basic desires of hunger and thirst...We often notice our basic desires and think about them, like when we are hungry and thirsty...Maybe our desires are a precursor to anther type of desire...Maybe they are reminders that our physical desires are so hard to fill and stay filled, and there is this one desire in life that we need and desire the most...
We also have a basic Spiritual Desire in us for God and His Son...Jesus makes reference to this in His hunger and thirst verses...He teaches the Samaritan woman at the well, that we have this basic thirst, this basic Spiritual Desire for a spiritual way in our life...When He teaches us that He is the Bread of Life He furthers His teaching to others about our Spiritual Desire...This Spiritual Desire gives life purpose, meaning, and life for everyone has a dignity to it...His Sermon on the Mount blesses the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst, those who are merciful, those who are pure in heart, those who are peacemakers, and those who are persecuted...Jesus came for all sinners on earth, and He leaves out no one in giving them meaning, purpose, and dignity in their lives...He makes it clear that this Spiritual Desire is more important than our other desires...
Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount teaches us those people are blessed that hunger and thirst for this righteousness, His type of righteousness...When one is hungry and thirsty they have a desire and a need to eat and drink...And Jesus knows of our hunger and thirst desires, as well as our other desires that we have...But He is most often focused on the soul and our Spiritual Desire for His Father and Him...When He tells His listeners that "I AM the Bread of Life...Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty...But as I told you, you have seen Me and still you do not believe...All those the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away...For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me...And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day...For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."...Those listening to Him were shocked by Him to say that He is personally the One to satisfy our soul's desire, and not God...He is the manna from heaven...But this is what He astoundingly said...He is the One who can answer the why's of everything that happens in our lives...He is the One who at the end of days will be standing...No one can come to Jesus unless the Father who sent Him draws us to Him...And at the End of Times He will raise His followers up on that last day...One day we will all stand before the Son of Man...He is the only One and the Only Way to have a purposeful and meaningful life...He is the Only Way to the Father...
The Samaritan woman drew water from the well...She would need that water daily...As she talked to Jesus, she was learning that He was everything she would ever need in her life...In His conversation with her we can feel the goodness He brings out in her...He did not have to talk to her, but He did...The dignity and value of her life was learned that day...Maybe she had forgotten this...He seems to just somehow talk away the woman's sin in the few words He gives her...We feel the sincere love He has for her (and she is a Samaritan woman)...This is what He teaches...This is what He does...This is what He can do...Her desires were completely answered by Him...