John 4: 5-42
The Woman at the Well
When Jesus knew that the Pharasees had heard that He was making and baptizing more disciples than John, He knew it was getting dangerous to stay in Judea, so He went to Galilee, where He was from. To get there, he took the short route, through Samaria. Most Judeans who wanted to go between Judea and Galilee took the long way, around Samaria on the other side of the Jordan River, to avoid those people they considered to be half-breeds, mongrels.
But Jesus wanted to go through that territory.
So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph;
And Jacob's Well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about the sixth hour (noon).
Jesus had been walking all morning, and it was noon now, and He was tired and thirsty, so He was sitting by the well.
There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give Me a drink.
For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan and a woman? (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
Jesus was asking her for a drink, not making a demand. He always showed respect for people, and He was not predjudiced against her like the Jewish leaders were. He wanted to give this woman the opportunity to know the Truth.
Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.
Jesus is referring to Himself in the third person, a common way to speak, explaining a vital part of what He wants to do for her.
She said to Him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do you get that living water?
She is thinking in Earthly terms, just like Nicodemus did. It's natural for us to do that, since we live here, under the Sun, so we tend to think this is all there is in life.
You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you, who gave us this well, and he drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?
Now she's suspecting that this Man may be more than He appears to be ...
Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.
She's getting an idea, but still doesn't get the full scope of what He's saying. Jesus is talking about water, because they're by a well. And this woman came out to get water at the hottest part of the day, when no one else would be there.
The woman said, Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.
This sounds good to her, to not have to come out to the well every day and haul water back to town. How convenient!
He said to her, Go, call your husband and come here.
This would be expected, as women were not leaders, they were under their husbands' authority, and the husband would need to know what the wife was learning so He could lead her in it. But Jesus also had another reason.
The woman answered and said, I have no husband.
He knew she would say this.
Jesus said to her, You have correctly said, I have no husband; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.
He was complimenting her on her honesty, and letting her know that He really did know her, and accepted her anyway.
The woman said to Him, Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
She's getting closer. Since He knew what an ordinary stranger wouldn't, then He must at least be a prophet. So she'll pursue this, and ask Him something she's been thinking about.
Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
So who's right?
Jesus said to her, Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshippers.
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth.
He's laid it all out for her here, about carnal and spiritual Truth.
The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.
Now her understanding is expanding, and she's starting to get the picture. So she is asking if He really is the One. So He tells her right out.
Jesus said to her, I Who speak to you am He.
Here's where the disciples return with the food, right at the climax of their conversation.
So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, Come, see a Man who told me all the things I have done; this is not the Christ, is it? (Could this actually be the Christ?)
Jesus had summed up her whole life with what He said to her, and she probably knew all the men of the town, so she's going to let them see for themselves.
They went out of the city and were coming to Him.
Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Him, saying, Rabbi, eat.
But He said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about.
So the disciples were saying to one another, No one brought Him anything to eat, did they?
Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me and to accomplish His work.
He was "eating" so much spiritually that He wasn't even aware of His physical hunger any more!
Do you not say, There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. [The mission fields.]
Already he who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
For in this case the saying is true, One sows and another reaps.
I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.
We are all, as children of our Father, to be "laboring" in scattering the seed of His Word. All of us are given the assignment to plant all over the World, to spread God's Truth among all the Nations; and others of us are sent to harvest, to reap the ripened crop, and lead individuals to faith in Christ.
It has been said that each person must hear the Gospel multiple times (7? 12?) before it will sink in and produce Salvation in that individual. So don't expect every person to come to faith as soon as you share with them. They may need to hear from several sources, to validate the Truth in their minds. Many are planting, others are reaping.
Now we return to today's story.
From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, He told me all the things that I have done.
So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.
Many more believed because of His word;
And they were saying to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the World.
Now, because the woman shared her testimony, there are many of the people of this town believing in Jesus as Messiah; not just from her account, but because they were listening to Jesus Himself, and were certain of His identity, and put their faith in Him.
O my Father, help Your children to realize their responsibility to share their witness of what You have done for them, just like this unnamed woman that came to the well where Jesus rested. She didn't stay there with Him alone, she ran into the city and gathered them all with her words, to come see for themselves. This is what we all should be doing.
Help me, Father, to get out of my little comfortable cocoon into the wide world and cast the seed of Your Word broadly to reach many fields; that some may land on that fertile soil that will produce much fruit.
And permit me, my Lord of the Harvest, to help You reap some of that fruit, with others of Your missionaries, to gather into Your barns to overflowing. To find all the lost sheep and corral them into the safety of Your fold.
Then I look for my King to return to His Kingdom on the Earth, to rule in righteousness and justice.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
