At The Well John 4:1-18
The first thing that popped into my mind as I read over this is that this conversation between Jesus and this woman never should have taken place. There are a couple of reasons for that. One, simply she is a woman. In that time and place exchanges between an unaccompanied woman and a strange man was not socially acceptable. Second, this woman is a Samarian. Again in that time and place someone from the lower kingdom of Israel would not engage a Samaritan because they were thought of as impure due to their marrying foreigners and their diluting the faith by introducing foreign ideas and traditions to it.
And as we read, she’s had five husbands. Now honestly, we’re not told why. Perhaps they left her, she may have left them, but we can deduce she had a hard life, a life that more than likely put her in a position below a man of God like Jesus.
So, with all this Jesus addresses her. And Jesus doesn’t just address her, “How are you doing,” Jesus asks her for something, verse 7, “Would you give me a drink?” This was unusual. And our scripture tells us this woman thought it was extraordinarily unusual, Verse 9, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?”
As you read the Bible, you will find many stories that God cares for the least of us. He cares for the servant of the Roman Centurian. He cares for the crucified thief. He cares about the leper, the blind man, the crippled man, and the bent woman. And he cares for this Samaritan woman.
Jesus actions show us we should not be looking for people who look like us or think like us when we want to invite someone to church. Remember we are saved by God’s grace and not by our actions. If we think someone is not good enough to be saved, it shows we really don’t understand the covenant of grace between us and God.
Now this woman asked Jesus a question, and how he answers it says a lot; verse 10, “If you knew the gift of God…” She did not know who was sitting there with her, she was just going about her life, getting up each day, doing her work, doing those things she needed to literally live through another day.
If we back up a little bit, when Jesus left Judea, he didn’t have to go through Samaria, he chose to. God sought out this woman. And this woman could have just walked away when Jesus addressed her. Here is the reality of every person alive. We work, we can go about our lives with little to no thought of God; but God thinks about you. God knows where you are and he reaches out to you. And when we hear God speaking to us it is our choice whether we respond or just walk away.
No one, no matter where you’re born, what you’ve done in your life, how you live your life; no one is beyond Jesus and the grace and salvation of God. And how do you receive this grace and salvation? Verse 15, “The woman said, ‘Sir, give me this water so I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.’” Ask Jesus to give you his salvation and you will never have to work at earning it by your work. Some try to make this a big production but it’s quite simple, simply ask Jesus for his grace.
This woman offers her request of Jesus in a simple sentence. The thief on the cross simply says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 23:42) Simple, yes, but there is a caveat, verses 16-8, “Jesus said…’Go call your husband…’ the woman answered, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right…you have had fiver husbands and the one you are with now is not your husband.’”
Why? If Jesus is offering her salvation, living water, why bring this up? Could it be just to reenforce for us that whatever we do in our lives Jesus still is front of us offering hope? It could be, but I think it goes to the heart of asking Jesus for his grace. I said asking Jesus for his forgiveness is simple, but it must be with a true understanding of ourselves and why we need Jesus. “Jesus, I want you in my life,” but if I’m saying this without knowing why I need him, is it sincere, is my heart behind it?
Through his words and actions Jesus shows us that part of salvation is asking him for it, and part of salvation is understanding why you need it. And that part is repentance, admitting our choices go against God and sincerely wanting to live without sin’s dominance in our lives.
Gaining salvation is simple, but it can be painful. It can be hard to admit we are wrong and that we need God’s help in our lives.
Will we ever be perfect? No, we will continue to make mistakes. We will continue to sin. However, with our sincerity at repentance, God’s spirit will work in us so that we will see our mistakes quicker, maybe even before we do them. With our sincerity God sees only perfection in us, even as we stumble. Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved…” 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Romans 10:10, “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
People today are the same as they were 2000 years ago. If we read a little further we see this woman understands but she, like many today, start asking questions to deflect this truth, “Our priests say to worship over here, your priests tell us to worship over there. How do I know which is right?” It’s the same today. “There are too many denominations, this church says “A” that church says “B”.
Verses21-22, “Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know…we worship what we know…the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth…”
Jesus reaches across time to tell us not to get hung up on man’s rules. Worship in a grand cathedral or in a store’s back room, the where and the how do not matter, the why matters. Why? Because time is finite. Because men sin. Because we need salvation.
Worship Jesus, repent and invite him into your life. Worship the Father, praise him for his grace and forgiveness. Worship the Holy Spirit, thank him for showing you the truth.
And last, if we read all the way to the end of this story, verse 29, “Come see a man who told me all I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” We can see this woman trusted Jesus, trusted what he told her and her life was changed because of it. Trust Jesus and your life will also be changed.
Jesus and the Samaritan women at the well tell us many things. We see by Jesus example we are to engage and be concerned about others with no regard to their culture, religion or lifestyle. Through Jesus actions we see how God reaches out to everyone, no one is unable to be saved. We see that asking Jesus for salvation can be simple but it also can be painful. It requires facing our mistakes and admitting we need God’s help. We learn that with a sincere self-examination and sincere request of Jesus, God forgives us all past, present, and future transgressions for all eternity. And Jesus tells us not to get hung up on man’s rules about “religion.” It doesn’t matter if you worship in a church or a living room. It doesn’t matter if you have communion once a month or every week. What does matter is that you worship and trust Jesus and that you sincerely ask him into your live.
Trust Jesus; “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Amen.