Our lessons so far have been of Jesus’ very earliest ministry. He had been working in the same general area as John the Baptist, in Judea. Judea is in the southern area of Israel and is where Jerusalem is located. We see in verses 1-3 of our text that He decided to begin ministering in Galilee, the northern area of Israel where He had grown up. Judea and Galilee are separated geographically by Samaria, an area Jesus and His disciples would have to pass through to get to Galilee. It was more common for Jews to make this trip up through the Jordan Valley along the river, but that was Herod’s territory and Jesus may have wanted to choose the more prudent route through Samaria.
Read verses 4-6. As they were passing through Samaria, they came to Jacob’s well. This was a historical location. If you have studied the Old Testament patriarchs, you will remember that Jacob bought a piece of land for a hundred pieces of silver from Hamor, the father of Shechem, while returning home to Canaan after hiding out 20 years in the home of his father-in-law (uncle) Laban (Gen 33:19) in order to build an altar to the Lord on His way home.
In Gen 48:22, Jacob told Joseph on his deathbed that he was giving him one more ridge of land than his brothers. This gave Joseph’s offspring the double portion of the land… a double inheritance. He was referring to the land in Shechem, where his sons Simeon and Levi had wiped out the population (Gen 34). While Jacob did not condone that action, it was done by his offspring in his name, making that land his to give… especially considering he had already purchased it from Hamor at one time. The Israelites later carried Joseph’s bones out of Egypt and buried them there when God freed them from slavery in Egypt and returned them to the promised land (Josh 24:32).
Jacob’s well is located at this location and is more of a spring or fountain rather than a hand dug well. When He arrived there, Jesus was tired from His travels, and He sat down by the well to rest. Read verses 7-14. In those days, it was the women’s work to draw water from the well for the family’s daily needs and the women usually did this in the early morning to avoid the heat of the day. The women of the town would generally come to the well about the same time each morning and visit with each other during this morning chore. Yet we see in our text that a Samaritan woman came to the well later in the day, while Jesus was there, to draw her household’s water. This would indicate that she was avoiding the women of the town and that she was not readily accepted in their company.
We can see in verse 8 that Jesus was alone when the woman came to the well since His disciples had gone on into town to buy food. Now we would not normally expect these two to even acknowledge each other, much less speak to each other. First of all, she was a Samaritan and Jesus was a Jew. Jews and Samaritans did not care for each other, had serious differences in religious beliefs about how/where worship was to be conducted, and usually mixed about as well as oil and vinegar when they encountered each other. At one time in their history, the invading Assyrians had taken the Jews from this land into captivity and replaced them in the area with the Samaritans (2 Kings 17:6, 24). They were of a completely different race.
Also, in the culture of that time, men and women seldom spoke to each other in public and single men absolutely never spoke to women in public. Often, a rabbi might even be present to ensure that they did not.
Jesus initiated the conversation by asking the woman if she would get him a drink of water. Now, he was sitting right there next to the well. He could easily have had a drink of water without her help, but He was trying to begin a conversation with her. Often, it is God who seeks us out for interaction rather than the other way around. The woman is stunned and reminds Him that He is a Jew and she is a Samaritan. How could He possibly be asking her for a drink of water?
Look at Jesus’ reply in verse 10. If only the woman knew who He was. The Samaritans knew about the coming Messiah. Jesus told her that she could have asked Him and He would have given her Living Water. In those days, the term ‘Living Water’ referred to water that was moving as in a stream or river. This was the best type of water because it was cleaner and safer to drink. If you study the Old Testament rules about cleansing and purification, living water was the only type that could be used for ritual washing to make unpure worshippers clean. This area of Shechem had no rivers or streams. In verses 11-12 the woman reminds Jesus that even the Patriarch Jacob, his sons, and his livestock had to drink from this well as there has never been living water in the area.
Verses 13-14 clarify this issue with Jesus’ answer. He is speaking metaphorically of Himself. Living water flows through a life given over to Jesus that He then fills. God the Father had empowered Jesus with the Holy Spirit and, after His resurrection, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to empower His followers (John 7:37-39, Isaiah 44:3, Jer 2:13). Giving your life to Jesus wells up into eternal life (John 6:35). These Living Waters are also symbolized in Heaven and in the New Jerusalem (Zech 14:8, Rev 21:6, 22:1,17).
Read verses 15-18. The woman, not really quite understanding, still thinks that He is talking about wet water. She desires this water so that she will not have to keep hauling water from the well. Jesus tells her to go and bring back her husband. He knew she didn’t have a husband. He knew that she had already been married five times and was now living with a man who she wasn’t even married to. He knew why she was a social outcast and had to draw her water in the heat of the day to avoid being with the women of the town. Jesus knows our situation. He understands the conditions in which we are living.
We see in verses 19-20 that Jesus’ knowledge of her situation awakened an awareness within her. She recognizes that He is from God and, in an attempt to turn the conversation away from her own shortcomings, begins to ask Him about the theological differences between the Jewish and Samaritan beliefs and how/where they worship. The basis of the woman’s inquiry concerns the fact that the Jews worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, yet the Samaritans worship here near Shechem, where the Patriarchs of old had built the altar to God. In verses 21-26 Jesus begins to teach her about salvation and how a time is coming when it won’t matter anymore where people worship. Both worship sites will become obsolete. This is because the work of Jesus’ death and resurrection will soon replace the sacrifices and rites of Temple worship and man will receive salvation by faith. Jesus dismisses Samaritan worship and reminds her that salvation comes through the Jews (Rom 9:4-5) and begins to speak to her about worshipping in spirit and in truth. God is spirit and we must have true spiritual worship revolving around the work of Jesus Christ (John 14:6). The Samaritan woman acknowledges to Jesus that she knows the Messiah is coming. She voices the Samaritan belief that when the Messiah comes, He will explain everything to the people. Jesus then tells her that He is the Messiah.
Read the remaining verses of today’s text. At this point in the conversation, the disciples return from town and are genuinely surprised to find Jesus there speaking with a Samaritan woman and especially that He would speak to a woman about theological ideas. It would have been a thing unheard of at that time.
We see next that the woman hurried back to the town, even leaving her water jar, to tell others about Jesus, the Messiah. This was exciting news. Many people comment on the fact that her water jar would have slowed her down, so she left it there, even necessary as it was to her life. We should all be this excited to tell others when we meet the Messiah. And, because of her testimony about what had occurred with her, the townspeople came to the well to meet Jesus. That is what God expects from each of us… to share with others how God has shown Himself to us.
Meanwhile, while she was off finding her friends and neighbors, Jesus’ disciples tried to get Him to eat the food they had brought back, and He told them that He has food to eat that they don’t know about. To address the questions this comment had brought to the disciples’ minds, Jesus then begins to explain that His food is to do the will of the One who sent Him and to finish that work. He then compares His work to that of the coming harvest. The fields are ripe and the workers can harvest a crop for eternal life. Just as in the fields, when doing God’s work, one person may plant the seed, telling others of the Messiah and what He has done for them, and still never see the harvest. Another person may come later and be able to reap the harvest even though he has not planted it. God’s people work together in bringing others to a saving relationship with our Lord. In our story today, Jesus is telling His disciples that God has planted the seeds and the field is ripe for harvest.
When the woman arrived back with the townspeople, many believed because of her testimony, and many then believed afterwards because they met Jesus and heard His words themselves. The harvest that day was a joint effort. The townspeople urged Jesus to stay, and He remained there two more days. And the Bible tells us that many more people there became believers. It is believed that this incident near Shechem paved the way for the enthusiastic acceptance of the Gospel by Samaritans later after Jesus’ death (Acts 8:4-8).
Responding to God: Praise God and thank Him for His Holy Spirit and the Fountain of Living Water. Seek His strength in breaking through the restraints of culture and social structure in order to meet people and their needs. Ask His help in relating to other ethnic groups besides your own. Make the effort to learn more about other groups of people and ask Him to make you aware of any racial prejudice you may be harboring. Pray that you will be fed by doing His work here on earth. Pray that He will give you the desire to know more about Him and to share that knowledge with others. Seek to always worship Him in Spirit and in truth.
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