The Woman at the Well

Sorry that this post is so long. It is one of my favorite Bible stories, so I didn’t want to skip any of it.

 To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.

 A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)

 The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)

 Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”

 The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”

 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”

 The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!”

 He said, “Go call your husband and then come back.”

 “I have no husband,” she said.

 “That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.”

 “Oh, so you’re a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?”

 “Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.

 “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”

 The woman said, “I don’t know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we’ll get the whole story.”

 “I am he,” said Jesus. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.”

John 4:4-26 (The Message Bible)

I can picture the look on Jesus face during this exchange, a slight smile, his head tilted. The woman is bold and independent. She’s committed a fair number of sins, but she’s still strong and won’t let some strange Jew run her down. After this encounter, she hurries back to her village and tells everyone about it. They want to hear Jesus speak for themselves so they go out to meet, and many become believers. All because of a woman from the wrong side of the tracks.  

Here's an interesting thought. If you read the sign describing this well at Historic Jamestown, you'll note that after its usefulness had passed, these wells basically became garbage dumps. If the woman in today's' story had been an object instead of a person, she might have ended up in the bottom of an old well, if not for this encounter with Jesus.