THE SAMARITAN WOMAN - John 4:5-19

Let us read today’s verses John 4:5-19 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 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." The woman said to Him. "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, `I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet."

God always uses the truth to reveal Himself. That is how people experience His love and His concern in their personal lives. That was the same way that Jesus revealed Himself to the Samaritan woman. Samaria was an area between Judea and Galilee. The city of Sychar was in Samaria, specifically at the foot of Mount Gerizim, the mountain where the Samaritans worshipped God. Jesus was traveling the long journey from Judea to Galilee. He was tired and thirsty when He reached Sychar. As He sat by a well, He requested a Samaritan woman to give Him some of the water that she was drawing from the well. It was a fact that Samaritans and Jews despised each other. Their mutual hatred had marred their relations for many centuries. It started at the time of the Babylonian Exile when the Jews were conquered and exiled to Babylon for 70 years. Some Jews insisted on staying behind in the land of Israel, a decision which disobeyed the prohecies of God. Among them were the Samaritan Jews. As a result of staying behind, the Samaritans intermarried with their heathen neighbors, which was forbidden by the law that God had given through Moses. By the time the exiled Jews returned to Israel, the Samaritans were not purely Jewish anymore. They were thus oustracized as non-Jews. This animosity could be sensed in the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. The woman mockingly asked why Jesus, a Jew, had requested her, a Samaritan and a non-Jew, for a drink of water. A Jew must not expect any hospitality from a Samaritan. But our Lord transcended that hostile remark. In words that could only come from the gentle lips of the Savior, Jesus tried to explain that He had so much to give anyone who serves Him even if such service is only a drink of water. Jesus used the topic of potable water to illustrate the abundant spiritual blessings that only He could provide. He called it "LIVING WATER". This spiritual water would quench every spiritual thirst. Its’ essence was everlasting life. The woman did not seem to grasp what Jesus was saying. Her worldly understanding was chained to her physical needs and any material benefits she could gain. She could not lift her attention to any spiritual reality. So she tried to toy around by mocking, "Give me this water so that I do not have to come to this well again to get water." But though she mocks Jesus, she does not shun Jesus. Though she cannot grasp the full meaning of Jesus’ revelation, she still converses with Jesus. And more than anything else, she still listens to Him. That was all that Jesus needed at that moment. As long as she would continue listening, our Lord was willing to share His grace and His life-changing words. Jesus shifted the conversation. He wanted to reveal more of Himself; this He did by exposing the deepest secrets of the woman. He invaded the privacy of her heart. He openly declared the secret shame which burdened her soul. The truth could set her free. But how would she react? Humans can easily clam up defensively and deny their guilt in an attempt to avoid humiliation. Humans might even retaliate with insults in order to counteract the rebuke. But the truth, if denied, will be helpless and unable to set one free. The Samaritan woman responded admirably. She made no effort to sidestep the heavy guilt which she had been bearing; she was an adulteress. She chose not to deny the truth; instead she declared that Jesus had been sent by God. Only God can examine her heart and mind. Only God can know all the details of her past, even the darkest sins which she had concealed. She recognized that God had sent someone to draw her heart towards a spiritual reality: that God still loved her and He desired that she turn away from her worldliness and submit to Him. Her response brought a big change in her life (John 4:25-29). How about us? Are we too engrossed with the life of this world? Is it difficult to lift our attention from the worldly to the spiritual? How have we responded to those moments when the Spirit of God tries to draw our materialistic hearts to spiritual reality? Can we still recognize God’s attempts to nudge us from a worldly trance? Do we still marvel at God’s daily revelations of His love the way the Samaritan woman did? May God give us ears that hear and eyes that see. May He give us the grace to respond in humble submission and in loving obedience. And may God be glorified in our thoughts, in our actions, and in our words. God bless us all.