The Woman at the Well - John 4:1-38

©November 1, 2020 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: John

There are some conversations in life you never forget. Maybe you have had such a conversation. Maybe someone said something to you that encouraged you to keep moving forward when you were tempted to give up, or challenged you and got you moving in a different direction, or maybe you remember when someone shared the message of the gospel with you in a way that finally clicked.

In our passage this morning, Jesus has such a conversation. He engages a woman everyone else would have written off. He treats her with love and gently points her to her need for a savior. And then he introduces her to that savior! This conversation changed this woman’s life forever. This morning we’ll learn how we can do the same.

Setting the Scene

The Pharisees had heard about how Jesus (or rather his disciples) was baptizing people and gaining a following. So Jesus decided to leave Judea, which is in the south of Israel and head back to Galilee, which is in the north. We pick up the story there.

4 He had to go through Samaria on the way. 5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. (John 4:4-8, NLT)

To understand the significance of this, we need to review some geography and history.

The nation of Israel at this time was basically divided into three sections. In the north was Galilee, in the south was Judea, and in between was a region known as Samaria, where the Samaritans lived. To understand how this came to be and why it matters we have to go back several hundred years before Jesus’ time.

At that time, the nation of Israel was divided into two separate kingdoms, Israel and Judah. Both kingdoms rebelled against God, so God allowed them to be conquered by foreign nations. Assyria conquered Israel, moved many of the people to Assyria, and then moved foreigners into that region. The Israelites who were left ended up intermarrying with these foreign people, which was a violation of God’s law.

Later, Babylon conquered the kingdom of Judah. The people of Judah were taken to Babylon but did not intermarry with foreign nations. When they returned, they looked with disdain upon the people who had intermarried. The group who had intermarried became known as the Samaritans, and the Jewish people treated them like pagans and would not associate with them.

When the people of Judah rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem, the Samaritans offered to help. The Jews refused, saying they wanted nothing to do with these people who had betrayed their faith. So the Samaritans built a temple for themselves on Mount Gerizim. This further solidified the Jewish view that the Samaritans had abandoned God and should be avoided at all costs.

Most Jews, when they traveled from the southern part of Israel in Judea to the northern part in Galilee, would walk around Samaria instead of traveling through it. The journey around Samaria made the trip twice as long, but to the Jews, this was an act of devotion to God.

John says Jesus had to go through Samaria. Obviously he didn’t have to go through it. He could have gone around it. But I think the reason John says he had to go through it is because Jesus knew the encounter he was going to have there. He knew the conversation that lay ahead, so he had to go through Samaria.

Jesus and the disciples came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, where Jacob’s well was. It was hot and Jesus rested near the well while his disciples went into town to get some food. Jesus was there alone when a Samaritan woman came to get water.

Most of the time, women would go to draw water in the morning or the evening, when it was much cooler. The fact that this woman comes at the hottest time of the indicates she may have been trying to avoid the other women in town. Additionally, this well was a bit of a hike to get to, and there were wells in the nearby towns where the woman had likely come from. This too supports the idea that she was trying to avoid other people. When she gets to the well, she finds Jesus, a Jewish man, sitting there.

The woman likely simply ignored Jesus. She just wanted to get her water and get out of there. Besides, she knew this Jewish man wasn’t going to talk to her. Then Jesus asked her for a drink. This would have been a shock to her system! Jewish rabbis were not supposed to address women in public, they certainly didn’t speak to Samaritan women, and they definitely wouldn’t ask Samaritan woman for a drink! But Jesus did. Jesus saw past all the labels and prejudices of the rest of the world and saw a woman in need of a savior. So he engaged her in conversation.

The Conversation

The woman asked why Jesus, a Jewish man, would be asking her for a drink. Jesus responded that if she knew who he was, she would ask him for water, because he would give her living water. The woman was confused. She responded that Jesus didn’t have a rope or a bucket and the well was very deep, so how in the world could he give her water?

The similarities between Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus and this woman are striking. With both Nicodemus and this Samaritan woman, Jesus used an analogy, an image of what new life with Him looked like, but both took it literally and were confused. Nicodemus didn’t understand what Jesus meant by being born again, and this woman couldn’t understand what Jesus meant by living water. In each case, Jesus persisted, trying to help them see what they could not yet see.

Jesus told the woman that anyone who drank water from the well would be thirsty again, but those who drink the water he offers will never thirst again. The woman was hooked. She may not have understood exactly what Jesus was offering, but she knew she wanted it. Then Jesus switched gears. He tells her to go get her husband and come back. I picture the woman suddenly freezing and being shocked back to reality. She felt shame over her living situation and her past, and now Jesus was bringing attention to it. So she attempted to deflect him.

She told Jesus she didn’t have a husband. Jesus knew the truth and he told her. He said it was true she didn’t currently have a husband, but that she had five husbands previously and now was living with a man who was not her husband! Suddenly this woman’s shame is laid bare. This is probably why she didn’t come to the well in town and why she drew water at noon instead of a cooler time of day. She was ashamed and couldn’t deal with the whispers, stares, and judgmental glances. She was hoping to avoid facing her shame, and Jesus confronts her with the truth.

Jesus brings the woman face to face with her sin. He was not condemning or mean about it, but he lovingly showed her that she was a sinful creature in need of a savior. He was helping her see no matter how much she tried to find fulfillment in the arms of men or the pleasures of this world, she would never be satisfied. It was something she was scared to admit but needed to hear. We learn that we must help people see their sin and their need for a savior, but like Jesus, we must do it in love, not condemnation.

I imagine the woman pausing for a second, paralyzed by fear. She surely wondered if Jesus would condemn her, but then saw the love in his eyes. He had been kind to her, not condemning. After what I imagine to be a lengthy pause she speaks again,

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. 20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?” (John 4:19-20, NLT)

People have interpreted her response in a couple of different ways. Some believe she was trying to deflect from her sin once more. Maybe she figured she could get him distracted by asking him a loaded theological question about Jews and Samaritans.

It’s also possible she genuinely saw Jesus as a prophet, was cut to the heart and sought to worship the Lord to seek forgiveness for her sins and wanted to know where the right place to go was.

Honestly, I find merit in both explanations. We don’t know exactly why she asked the question she did, but we do get to see Jesus’ answer.

21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:21-24, NLT)

Jesus says what is most important is worshiping in spirit and in truth. Dad explained this more deeply when he covered the verses following this story, but for now understand that Jesus is saying God’s desire is not for us to follow religious rituals, but to follow Him with our whole heart. That’s what is most important.

Unfortunately, she still doesn’t get it, so we see one more exchange,

25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!” (John 4:25-26, NLT)

The irony of this exchange is wonderful! She believes the Messiah will explain everything to her and sitting in front of her is the Messiah himself, trying to explain things to her! Jesus decided it was time to pull back the curtain and let her know the truth. He responded by telling her, “I Am the Messiah!”

Jesus was not only claiming to be the Messiah, he was claiming to be God. In Hebrew, the name for God was I AM. Jesus’ declaration makes it clear that He is referring to himself as I AM. The woman now understood, left her water jar and ran to get others and introduce them to Jesus. She wasn’t just running away from Jesus or running away because the disciples returned. She left her water jar! She was coming back. She had met the Messiah, and He helped her understand things she never had before. She had to bring others to meet Him!

This is a picture of a changed heart. No longer did she feel the weight of her sin. She found what she had been looking for and wanted to share it with everyone else! That is one of the marks of a person who has genuinely encountered Jesus—a desire to bring others to Him as well.

The Disciples

The rest of the passage focuses on the disciples as they came back. They had seen Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman, and though John says they were all wondering what in the world Jesus was doing, he says that no one dared to ask him. Even at this point I think they were starting to understand that Jesus had a plan for everything, even if they didn’t understand what it was.

The disciples had gone to the town to get food because Jesus was exhausted (showing his human nature), but when they came back and urged him to eat, Jesus’ answer surprised them.

32 But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” 33 “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. 34 Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. 35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. 36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 37 You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. 38 I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.” (John 4:32-38, NLT)

Jesus told them he is nourished by doing the will of the father. When you are serving the Lord, lots of other things seem less important, even food. Jesus knew there was still much ministry to be done, and though he was hungry and tired he found strength in doing God’s will, which was telling others about Him.

This is a good reminder for us. The temptation is to minister for a while (in whatever capacity God has called you), but then get tired and quit. Ministry is hard. It requires an investment in people. Sometimes you invest in people and don’t see any progress. Sometimes you try to minister to people and they attack you. But Jesus says we should persist in serving Him. God will provide for us and will help us carry on—just like he did for Jesus.

The other statement Jesus makes to the disciples is about harvesting. We understand harvest. We understand working hard for months planting, then waiting for the crop to mature, followed by the hard work of harvesting those crops in order to finally see the payoff. Jesus used this analogy with the disciples. He said the fields were ripe for harvest. Jesus wasn’t talking about corn or other crops. He was talking about people. He wanted his disciples to see people who were ready to be harvested—people who were ready to trust in the Lord just as this woman had done. I wonder if, as Jesus said this, he gestured to the people streaming down the hill to come and hear him. He was telling the disciples there was work to be done.

He also reminds his disciples that sometimes the one who plants and the one who harvests are not the same person. If you have mature trees growing in your yard it is not likely that you were the one that planted them. Someone else did, and now you get to enjoy the “harvest”. In the same way, sometimes we will be the ones who harvest and sometimes we will just be planting seeds that others will harvest in the future. Our job in ministry is to do the work God has called us to. It is to see the opportunities for both harvesting and planting in the world around us and then do the work before us.

Conclusions

This story has much to teach us about how to share our faith and how to minister for the Lord. Here are several lessons we should take away.

First, see people, not labels. Our society is obsessed with labels. The label you wear determines whether you belong or not. Jesus tells us that labels aren’t important, people are. We need to learn to look past labels (Republican, Democrat, Black, White, Gay, Straight, Male, Female, Young, Old, etc.) and see people who need Jesus. Jesus went to the people God put in front of him and reached out to people others would have overlooked. We should follow His example.

Second, tailor the message to the person you’re talking to. The gospel is always the same: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. But how we present it should change based on who we’re talking to. The person who has lost a loved one isn’t interested in philosophical or scientific evidence. They want to know about the comfort of Christ and the hope of heaven. The person struggling with addiction wants to know how Jesus can bring deliverance and strength. The person searching for meaning in all the wrong places needs to hear how Jesus is the only one who can fulfill the desires within them. So do what Jesus did and tailor the message to the person in front of you.

Third, carry out the ministry God has given you. All Christians are to be involved in ministry. If you aren’t serving the Lord in some capacity you should ask yourself why. God has a job for each of us. Not everyone is going to preach or teach. But you can reach out to your friends. You can have conversations with co-workers, people in line at the store, people you sit with at ball games (if we ever get to have those again). You can go out of your way to meet the needs of others and use that as a springboard to point them to Jesus. These things are all ministry. You may feel like your service to the Lord is not accomplishing anything. But your role may be planting seeds rather than harvesting crops. Every part of the farming operation is important. Driving the combine is fun, but without everyone else doing the work behind the scenes, the harvest wouldn’t happen. Work the job God has given to you, and do it with gusto, knowing He will give you the strength to carry on.

Finally, Jesus alone can save. The woman at the well was looking for fulfillment. She had sought it in the love of men and worldly pleasures, but still felt empty. Her example reminds us that Jesus alone is the source of salvation. He alone is what we need the most. Remember this truth as you share the message with others. Don’t get sidetracked on all sorts of other issues—point people to Jesus.

The message of the gospel is for everyone, even those who believe. Jesus’ statement that those who come to Him will have living water still rings true for us today. Jesus is a source of strength, of satisfaction, of encouragement for us. Just like we need water, we need to tend to our relationship with Him. When you feel lost, defeated, afraid, or alone, turn to Jesus. When you feel happy, excited, or grateful, turn to Jesus. As you walk through life with Jesus, and see Him meet all your needs, remember the rest of the world needs to know Him too.

©November 1, 2020 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: John