The Giving of Water
Stories about Moses remind us that God provides all our physical needs; the teachings of Jesus assure us that our spiritual needs are just as surely met.
How could a people, so dramatically and recently rescued, so quickly turn to murmuring and complaint? But complain they did: about Moses’ leadership, about Yahweh’s intentions, and about the lack of food and water. Moses, as directed, strikes the rock and out pours life-sustaining water. A mundane act; but the miracle is in the eye of the beholder. The child’s gesture suggests that she at least looks upon the fall of water with wonder and awe.
The well depicted in the pane above looks remarkably like the well near Shechem -- the scene of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, and his offer to give her living water. "Whoever drinks of the water that I give", he said, "will never thirst again". And the pitcher is a fine example of one from New Testament times.