The Woman at the Well: A New, Changed Life

 

John 4:3-42

[3] He left Judea, and departed again into Galilee. [4] And He had to pass through Samaria. [5] So He came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; [6] 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. [7] There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." [8] For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. [9] 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.) [10] 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." [11] She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? [12] "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?" [13] Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; [14] 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." [15] The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw." [16] He said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." [17] The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband'; [18] for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly." [19] The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. [20] "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." [21] Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father. [22] "You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews. [23] "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. [24] "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." [25] 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." [26] Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

[27] 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?" [28] So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city, and said to the men, [29] "Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?" [30] They went out of the city, and were coming to Him. [31] In the meanwhile the disciples were requesting Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." [32] But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." [33] The disciples therefore were saying to one another, "No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?" [34] Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work. [35] "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. [36] "Already he who reaps is receiving wages, and is gathering fruit for life eternal; that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. [37] "For in this case the saying is true, 'One sows, and another reaps.' [38] "I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."

[39] And 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." [40] So when the Samaritans came to Him, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. [41] And many more believed because of His word; [42] 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."

 

Life's way, for this woman, was twisted and marred by tragedy, but when the God who makes all things new entered into her experience, she wasted little time in embracing the One "who told her everything she had ever done."

 

As you look at this story carefully, you can see some interesting facets in her life.  Hers was a life that we would certainly not encourage other women to emulate or follow after.  But, neither should we be surprised to see what happens when God quickens the heart of an enslaved sinner.  Although she was locked in a despairing life-style, what Jesus did in her life can give a corresponding hope to any one who has been searching for meaning and purpose in their lives--no matter who the person is or how bad he thinks he is.

 

[7] There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." [8] For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. [9] 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.) [10] 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."

 

Two things stand out here.  First, Jews would not stop to carry on a conversation with a woman.  Second, a Jew would never ask a woman for something like water, especially a Samaritan woman.  According to the regulations of the Jews, Samaritan women were in a state of perpetual ritual impurity from the time of their birth, and anyone who had contact with them would share this ritual impurity.  The regulation also adds that the Jews do not use dishes in common with the Samaritans. Accordingly, as per that regulation, Jesus, as a Rabbi, would have been unable to teach in the synagogue until he had gone through the cleansing period of no less than one week.

 

[11] She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? [12] "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?" [13] Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; [14] 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." [15] The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw."

 

Her motive behind the request to have the "living water" Jesus had just told her about was probably something like "Oh, sure, I'll have some of that; if that will make my life a little easier, why not.  IF there is anyway to keep from coming to this well in the heat of the day, I’ll take some."  The Master wanted her to see that His intent was not simply to remove the chore of water gathering from her schedule of duties, but rather the infusion of life-giving water to her existence.  Jesus implied that though she had the means by which to draw physical water, as far as having joy and purpose in her life, she resembled a dry well.  Every attempt to find meaning to her life ended in a “dry well.” 

 

It is important to note that the correlation in verses 13 and 14 between “drinking…thirsting” are quite different in meaning.  The verb tense in verse 13 is in the present tense suggesting a continuing or habitual need to drink or will be in a continual state of physical thirst.  Verse 14 reveals another verb tense, the aorist, which conveys the understanding of a one time “drinking.”  Jesus was telling the woman that the water from Jacob’s well would supply only the temporary physical quenching of their thirst, and that people would need to return for more.  However, the Lord said one drink of the water that He would give her would satisfy completely in that it would provide eternal life for her.  The literal rendering is: the spring will provide you with life-giving water and give you eternal life, like a well of water resembling a spring.  So Jesus wanted her to understand that His water was not just for thirst quenching, but was to give eternal life.

 

[16] He said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." [17] The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband'; [18] for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly." [19] The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.

 

Clearly, her life resembled a stormy sea leaving in its path the wrecks of one marriage after another.  Its impossible for us to know the cause and effects of her turmoil.  Perhaps she had been unfaithful or her husbands had been.  Perhaps she was a poor cook.  In the days of Jesus, a man could divorce his wife if she burnt the bread.  Perhaps, at one point, she had been a wealthy woman who kept looking for the right man, yet discovering each time the men had simply wanted her wealth, and now she was at the mercy of men.  Such could have been said of Christina Onassis, the daughter of the Greek shipping tycoon, Aristotle Onassis.  She represents so many who have had everything that the world says brings happiness and success, but that, which in the end, literally destroys you.  She had it all, "all" at least by the world's standards.  Yet, she never acquired the very thing she desired most--the sincere love of a man.  And because her heart was dead in her pursuit of meaning and purpose, she missed the King of Kings.  In 1988, Christine Onassis died of heart failure induced by an overdose of drugs. She was only 37. 

 

As you read the story, you get the feeling that this woman felt very vulnerable before Jesus.  She tried to ward off her fears by playing word games with Jesus.  Even before realizing who Jesus was, she probably felt that he was, at least a prophet because He seemed to know all about her.  It really didn’t take a prophet to understand that the reason she was at the well at the hottest part of the day was because she was an outcast.  She was there to avoid the glances and or gossip of the other women of the town.  On top of that she must have felt very uncomfortable when Jesus began talking to her.  He realized that her tactic was to protect as much of what little self respect she had left as possible. 

Notice in verse 19 she even goes so far to acknowledge that Jesus is a prophet.  The flow of scripture would indicate that there was a void in her thinking of a more accurate title for Him than from a sense that He was a real Holy man.  Referring to Him as such also opened the door, once again, for her to shift the focus of conversation from herself to religion.  Jesus was not about to allow her to be blinded to her need for “living water” over her misconceptions concerning “religion.”

 

It was not Jesus’ desire to embarrass her, but to give life to her.  Jesus knew that she was being blasé and evasive. Jesus had a purpose for her life and He was patient with her.  But to get to the point, He forced her to admit that there was a problem in her life.  Once the Spirit of God sheds His light upon our hearts, we can no longer try and hide what is there…His gentleness leads us to a place of safe resolve where we are able to confess our need for Him.  She admitted that she has been unsuccessful in marriage and that she is living outside of marriage with a man.  Though she has admitted the fact, this was by no means an act of repentance, but rather a statement of "ok, so you know; so does everyone else.  Yes, I am a failure of sorts, but so what?"

 

[20] "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." [21] Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father. [22] "You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews. [23] "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. [24] "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." [25] 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." [26] Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

 

She uses one of the cleverest means of rebuttal in the area of evangelism.  She tried to show spiritual depth by using religious terminology, like "prophet" and “worship.”  She referred to the religion of her ancestry.  Like so many in our day and age, she relied on what her family had done.  She didn't say, "I worship," but rather, "our fathers worshipped."  In effect, she was saying she really had no religion.  Unfortunately, God has no grandchildren.  A person does not ride into heaven on the coattails of their ancestors.  It was not sufficient for me to lay claim to the fact that my father was a Baptist pastor.  God looks at who I am.  Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, said that he would have died in his sins and spent eternity in Hell if he had not had his own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

 

Essentially, Jesus told her that it is really inconsequential who your earthly ancestry is, but rather that she needed to realize that there is a Heavenly Father whom she needed to worship.  Jesus said it is not the place of worship that matters.  The important thing is not what your ancestors believed.  What is important is "do you share a living, worship experience with the Living God through His Spirit?"