A SAMARITAN WOMAN MEETS HER MESSIAH 4:1-11
“Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria.
So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
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.”
The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
It’s noon. Jesus and his disciples have been walking on dry rocky paths all morning, and now Jesus is resting by a well while the disciples go into town to buy lunch. As Jesus is resting in the shade, a woman comes with her water jug to fetch water. Jesus immediately takes an interest, for women and children generally fetch water twice a day, early in the morning and early in the evening. Why is this woman coming at noon? Smiling at the lady, Jesus says, “Give me a drink.” While Jesus might really be thirsty, his main purpose is to engage this lady in conversation.
The lady is shocked because Jews generally refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. This is a long-standing racial issue, going all the way back to the time when the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom and moved in mongrel people from other areas to farm it. The Samaritans learned to worship Yaweh; however, they also continued to worship their own gods in addition, causing the Jews to shun them. Now Jesus engages this woman in a lengthy discussion, during which her status as a prostitute is revealed. But along with the woman’s low social status, Jesus also realizes that she is spiritually thirsty. Amazingly, during this brief conversation, Jesus reveals timeless spiritual truths, things that he has not yet even taught to his disciples.
“Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Jesus grabs the lady’s attention by talking about living water, water that will become a fountain of water, springing up into everlasting life. When the Samaritan woman tries to engage in a religious dispute regarding the best place to worship, Jesus points her in a totally different direction. True worship is not a matter of geography but a matter of the state of one’s heart.
Looking at this situation, several things appear to be wrong. First, as an observant Jew, Jesus should have nothing to do with a Samaritan, apart from necessary activities such as buying food. Second, this lady is obviously a social outcast because she is fetching water at a time when other women are not around. Perhaps the other village women have been so nasty to this woman that she doesn’t want to listen to verbal abuse, or perhaps they have even refused to allow her to fetch water at the same time they do. Then this person is female and therefore occupies a much lower social status than Jesus does. But there’s something funny about Jesus-Jesus is far more concerned about individuals than he is about outward appearances or social status. And Jesus can sense that this woman desperately needs God’s love. For Jesus, nothing else really matters.
What can we learn from this part of the story? Many times, we have preconceived notions of how we should tell people about Jesus or the class of people to whom we should witness. But Jesus isn’t any more interested in our prejudices than he was in the social strictures of his day.
Years ago, my husband was working as an EMT for an ambulance company in Memphis, TN, when he helped transport a patient from the VA hospital back to his home in Arkansas. As the man was lying on the stretcher, he told my husband, “I’ve been all over the world, and now I’m going home to die.” My husband immediately asked, “Where do you stand with the Lord?” “I’m not sure,” the man replied. “I’ve done a lot of bad stuff.” For the rest of the ambulance ride, my husband shared the love of Jesus with that man, praying with him for forgiveness of his sins before the crew delivered him to his home. That day, that man was able to worship God “in spirit and in truth.” Three days later, we read the man’s obituary in the local newspaper.
When we follow Jesus, we must be prepared to do what Jesus did, telling people about God’s love, no matter when or where we are called upon to do so. We must remember that when we worship God in spirit and in truth, we will have fountains of living water springing up in our hearts. But that living water is to be shared, not hoarded. And the more we give that living water away, the stronger the flow within our hearts and lives.
Is God telling you to speak to somebody, and you aren’t certain what’s happening? Don’t worry! Just go do it. God will give you the words and you will be amazed and blessed by the results.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, please give us Your mind about the people around us, so that we will not hesitate to speak to them about You. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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