Women At The Well

Add a myspace jukebox to your profile. The Woman at the Well John 4: 3-31He left Judea and departed again into Galilee. And He had to pass through Samaria. And he came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.The Jews at this time were very racially oriented; the Samarians were part Jew and gentile and the Jews looked down on them because they had not kept the bloodlines pure. The families at this time could each trace their history back to the 12 sons of Jacob (grandson of Abraham). The Jews would go around this part of the country even though it was a straighter route to Galilee.And Jacob’s well was there, Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. (Probably around noon). 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. The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)This was during the heat of the day; the women of Samaria would normally have come to the well early in the morning before the heat and late in the evening after the heat. The women would have come together for protection, so that a traveler would not accost them. The shepherds would have come after the women and late into the evening so that they would not muddy up the water with the animals. That this lady came during the heat of the day and the information that Jesus reveals later, show that this lady was ostracized from the community. I also think she was a little bold in her response to Jesus, showing a bit of attitude toward Jesus. Like: what gives you the right to ask something of me? You don’t have anything to do with us otherwise, unless you want something from us.Jesus was making a reasonable request that she offer him a drink of water. The eastern community is always known for its hospitality. He was a traveler in the area and did not come with the required water pitchers they used here to draw water. Jesus had walked around 30 miles that day. It was probably about noon and the disciples had gone ahead into the city to buy food. Jesus was known for getting by himself to pray, so perhaps he had remained at the well to pray. But I think Jesus had waited on this lady at the well. This was her appointed time to meet the Son of God.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.”Can’t you just hear the voice of God? It was so full of love and so gentle, at the same time full of masculine strength and kindness, which I am sure this lady did not know very often. I am sure just the voice of God halted her in her arrogance and her attitude. Who is this man? His voice says trust and love, but you cannot really trust men.She said to him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do you get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons, and his cattle?”I think at this time she was very distrustful, but being drawn to the heart of Jesus at the same time. She is pointing out that he cannot even get the water from the well, which was probably founded over 1,000 years before, because he did not have a bucket or rope or anything to get to the water. And if he had water, why did he want her to give him some. I think this was a very practical woman, who had been thru the rougher side of life and had been promised many things that did not happen, perhaps at a earlier time in her life, she would have been more receptive, but now she was not taking anything at face value.Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”Although the psalms speak of living water, I am sure this practical woman had never heard about living water. First because she was a woman, not worthy of being taught, she had not lived a godly life, and the Samaritans were not taught about spiritual things, because the Jews did not consider them worthy.The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw.”Again, the practical, she was looking for a way to get out of coming into the presence of the other women or the harassment she probably received at the hands of the men at the well.He 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 not husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one who you now have is not your husband, this you have said truly.”Can you imagine, 5 divorces, and probably now not considered worthy of anything more than “relationships”. I am sure this is why she came to the well to get water at a time when the women were not there. We usually avoid circumstances where our feelings would be hurt. Also, she would come when the shepherds are not there, so she would not have to fend off advances of men that did not respect her womanhood. And we can begin to see where her attitude came from, her arrogance, and her bravado. It stemmed from pain, from the pain of rejection; of putting her trust in man and being forsaken over and again. Imagine 5 divorces and just the pain from one divorce can devastate someone.The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”Now she is changing the subject. First I am sure she was astounded. That he knew so much about her, but you know we never want to hear the truth about ourselves. So she goes off the wall, talking about “you people”. This was a common argument between the Samaritans and the Jews. The Samaritans worshiped in the mountains, this was probably left from the Baal worship, where they worshiped in high places. The kings of Israel who followed the Lord tore down the worship areas in high places.Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father.Here Jesus is putting the argument aside. Answering her, but telling her it won’t be important in the future where you worship. He didn’t dishonor her by saying it is not important, or you are wrong in the way you worship now. He gave her left field argument credence. I think that was a way of letting her speak to him without putting her down, telling the truth as much as she could understand. Speaking to her gently and in love.You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews.I think she was trying to meet Jesus where she thought he came from. She thought he was a prophet, so she started talking about things she really didn’t know about. But even on a deeper level, the Samaritans did not know whom God the Father really was or how to worship him.But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is a spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”This statement is probably the second most important statement in this entire conversation. I don’t know how much of it she understood, because she changed the topic again, but Jesus gave her the honor of letting her be one of the first people to know that worship will be changing very soon. That worship will not be a form of religion but a real relationship. That God is looking for those who will worship him in that way, in our spirits and in truth, no longer a sham for others to see and comment upon, but in our hearts between God and us.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.”Finally…………… she is beginning to stay on topic. She begins to really talk to Jesus about what she has been told. She says, I do know that the Messiah is coming, and he will tell us everything.Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”Wow to be one of the first people, and probably the first woman among the gentiles, (well Samaritans, who were worse than the gentiles to the Jews) to be told out right, I am the Messiah. I have heard unbelievers state that Jesus never said he was the Messiah. How could it be plainer? Right here it is.And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He had been speaking with a woman; yet no one said, “What do you seek?” or “Why do you speak with her?’ In the meanwhile the disciples were requesting Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”No respectable Jewish man would talk to a woman under the following circumstances: 1. A Samaritan, member of the hated mixed race, 2. A woman who was known to be living in sin, and 3. A woman in a public place. That they marveled showed that Jesus did not speak to women privately. They had no clue what was going on, but didn’t question him. When she left, they tried to get him to eat, and he declined, saying I have food you don’t know about. The spiritual food and water is really more important than the physical. I think at this time he was praying that the woman would do just as she did, and that she would be received well. The woman left the water pot, thereby letting Jesus and the disciples have access to the fresh water. Giving Jesus the water he first asked for.So the woman left her water pot, and went into the city and said to the men, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” They went out of the city and were coming to Him. (This is a little out of order)Then she went to the town, again because of her history she went to the men of the town, not the other women. I am sure because of her reputation; she didn’t just say I have found the Christ, because obviously she was not known as a religious person. So she wisely, posed a question, telling them, he knew all about me, all that I have done, could this be the Christ? I think she played the men this way, giving them enough information to entice them to go see for themselves.When we meet someone who is changed, after we knew them before in all of their sin, we will listen closely, but we will not accept everything they say at face value, until they have proven they are real. I am sure that the woman at the well was changed, who could meet Jesus face to face and not be. I am sure he gave her back her dignity, and she became a new creature, and that was what the men of the town wondered about. Perhaps she was able to look them in the eye, and not flirt or respond in anger. I don’t know what the difference was, but it was there. And whatever it was, it made the men come to listen for themself to the Son of God.Jesus loved this woman who had been so abused by life that he wanted to bring her to Salvation, but he wanted also to show the men of the town that she had worth, dignified, and God’s child. God is mad at those who abused people. Here he changed her so much that she was able to go in front of the men who had abused her, perhaps by ridicule, perhaps by using her in the past and bring them to Jesus. Wow, to bring salvation to those that abused you. The ultimate love… the love Jesus showed us, our sin killed him and he brought us salvation. Writing by: [email protected]