that God is loving us tenderly and wisely, and to put ourselves
unreservedly into His hand, is eternal life begun in the soul.

FOOTNOTES:

[10] In saying, "Art thou the teacher of Israel, and knowest not these
things?" our Lord hints that it is bad enough for an ordinary Israelite
to be so ignorant, but for a teacher how much worse. If the teacher is
thus obtuse, what are the taught likely to be? Is this the state of
matters I must confront? And in saying that the subjects of conversation
were "earthly" (ver. 12) He meant that the necessity of regeneration or
entrance into the kingdom of God was a matter open to observation and
its occurrence a fact which might be tested here upon earth.

IX.

_THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA._

"When therefore the Lord knew how that the Pharisees had heard that
Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although
Jesus Himself baptized not, but His disciples), He left Judaea, and
departed again into Galilee. And He must needs pass through Samaria.
So He cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel
of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph: and Jacob's well was
there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus by
the well. It was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of
Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give Me to drink. For
His disciples were gone away into the city to buy food. The
Samaritan woman therefore saith unto Him, How is it that Thou, being
a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a Samaritan woman? (For Jews
have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said unto her,
If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee,
Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have
given thee living water. The woman saith unto Him, Sir, Thou hast
nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast
Thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob,
which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and
his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that
drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of
the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water
that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing
up unto eternal life. The woman saith unto Him, Sir, give me this
water, that I thirst