Water of Life (Christianity) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Water of Life (Christianity) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: The Gospel of John





Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well, by Paolo Veronese, 1585
In the Gospel of John some references to water, as in John 4:15, are traditionally identified as the Water of Life being the Holy Spirit.[3]

The passages that comprise John 4:10–26, and relate the episode of the Samaritan woman are sometimes referred to as the "Water of Life Discourse". The Water of Life Discourse is the second among the seven discourses in the Gospel of John that pair with the seven signs in that gospel.

Another discourse, called the Bread of Life Discourse appears in John 6:22–59.[11] On their own, each of the discourses on the Water of Life and the Bread of Life are key examples of "single theme discourses" in the Gospel of John.[12] However, these two discourses in the Gospel of John complement each other to form the theme of "Christ as the Life".[4][13]

According to W. E. Vine, this theme of "Christ as the Life" relates to John 5:26 where Jesus states: "Just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to his Son the possession of life in himself", reflecting the assertion of Jesus to have the power to give life, based on his relationship to the Eternal Father.