on the woman at the well.

Switch lesson, The Story Teen Edition Chapter 23


A Samaritan woman, and a deeply personal conversation.

The story of the woman at the well is one of my favorite stories in the bible. It's a beautiful picture of the way that God interacts with his people, and it speaks some important truths to us. As the story opens we find Jesus, resting by a well at midday, his disciples having run off to get food from the town. As he rests, a Samaritan woman approaches with her water jar. The meeting seems, at first glance, to be a chance encounter. But we, the readers, know better than that. We can almost feel God's hand at work in bringing these two here together. But there's a few peculiarities surrounding the situation. First, at the end of verse 6, is the phrase "It was about noon". Its an odd detail to just have thrown into the story. What importance does the time really have? Who cares how late it was?
The time, as it happens, is indeed an important detail. Noon is no longer the morning. People are going about their business, a good deal of the way through their days, and people are certainly not still drawing water from the well on the edge of town. That work is reserved for the cool of the morning, not the heat of midday. And yet here Jesus is, watching this woman carry her water jar under the hot sun to draw from the well.
As the woman approaches, Jesus does something even more peculiar. He doesn't politely greet her, he doesn't inquire about her late journey to the well, but he also doesn't ignore her. Instead he simply says "Will you give me a drink?". Jesus is both a jew and a man, making this request a strange and unexpected one. Consequently, the woman is surprised. She replies in verse 9:
        "The Samaritan woman said to him, 'You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?' (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans)." But wait, it gets even stranger as the two go on talking. The conversation went like this:

Jesus: “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

Woman: “Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Woman: “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

Okay let's stop here for a moment, because if we're being honest, this conversation is weird. I don't care who you are, I'd bet my next paycheck that you've never had that kind of conversation with somebody you just met in public. So what's going on here? What are they really talking about? Now before all the church kids tune out, I want everybody to just bear with me here. I know this story has been told a million times. But let's stick with it once more.
The conversation the two are having here is about salvation. It's not just a conversation between strangers about water. It's about salvation, eternal life, and the way God interacts with his people. Water sustains life. But the water that Jesus is talking about here would give eternal life. Life that would never need any other sustenance. And the woman asks for it. She says "give me this water so that I won't get thirsty". Isn't that who scripture tells us will receive eternal life? Any who call on his name? But Jesus does another peculiar thing here. Rather than answer the request, Jesus seems to change the subject. He looks past the half-hearted request and engages the woman's heart. Jesus goes beneath the surface. He, being God, knows the woman well. He knows who she is and what her sins are. He knows her pain, and he knows where the sore spots in here life are. His response to her is this : “Go, call your husband and come back.”
And herein lies one of the most irritatingly consistent aspects of God's nature. A truth about Him that makes us uncomfortable when we dare to engage with God (or rather, when he engages with us). God does not beat around the bush. He identifies our sore spots, and he pokes us right where it hurts: In the wounds left behind by our sins. As we later find out, this woman harbors a wounded soul and a hurting, sinful heart. She is an outcast. She has come to the well at noon, presumably, to avoid the many others who would come in the early morning. Her sin? Men. The number of men she has been with cannot be counted on a single hand. I can almost see the discomfort on her face as Jesus tells her to call her husband. He found the nail that is her sin, and he hit it right on the head. And so she does what we all do when God shines the light on our sin. The very same thing that Adam and Eve did in the Garden. She hid. Her words reveal this to us:
“I have no husband,” she says. It's a half truth. A deflection, in a desperate attempt to run away from him. But Jesus does not let her. He has come to conquer sin and he is not about to let this woman hide hers.
"You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." Can you see the wince on her face? "Sir," she replies, no doubt with a weak voice. She knows there is no hiding anymore. "I can see that you are a prophet" she says. Their exchange is no longer from opposite sides of barriers. All the cards are down. Verses 20 through 26 detail the rest of their conversation.

20 "Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Verse 26 is especially remarkable. Very rarely do we see instances in which Jesus directly states that he is the Messiah. Often, when he is questioned, he will reference old testament prophecy, or speak some truth and allow people to come to the conclusion themselves. Here, however, is one of the unique occasions in which he simply says "I am he". Jesus comes to a well and meets a woman, an outcast among Samaritans. An outcast among outcasts. He speaks to her, he tells her about eternal life. He lays out her painful past as clear as day, and he reveals himself to her. But such is the nature of our God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The God of eternal life. The God who deals directly with pain.



The text:

John 4: 1-26 New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman
1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans). 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”