A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" —For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.— Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God and who is saying 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 do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."
Jesus said to her, "Go call your husband and come back." The woman answered and said to him, "I do not have a husband." Jesus answered her, "You are right in saying, 'I do not have a husband.' For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true." The woman said to him, "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, "Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one speaking with you."
At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, "What are you looking for?" or "Why are you talking with her?" The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, "Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Christ?" They went out of the town and came to him. Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." So the disciples said to one another, "Could someone have brought him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, 'In four months the harvest will be here'? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work."
Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me everything I have done." When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, "We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world."
- John 4:5-42
Have you ever thought about why the Samaritan woman was at the well alone when Jesus approaches her? In most societies, going to the well, especially if it was outside of town, was a communal activity with the women going together early in the morning to get the water for the day. So then why was she there alone in the middle of the day? The answer comes later in our story when Jesus reveals that the woman is on her fifth husband. This would have been a great scandal in Jesus’s time, and the woman would have been the subject of much gossip and talk by those in the town. Chances are she had grown tired of being talked about when the other women went to get water and chose to go at a time when she knew she would be alone. Little does she know how that decision would change her life.
How often have we been like the woman at the well? We’ve all gone through times in our life when we’ve felt left out or looked down upon by others. We’ve all experienced gossip and been on the receiving end of stories and rumors that, whether they were true or not, caused us pain. Often, our response is that of the woman – just avoid everyone and keep our heads down. Yet it is also in these moments when God reaches out to us as Jesus reached out to the woman. And her response was quick and immediate – she wanted to taste that water which would give her everlasting life. Here she was, gathering water for the day, and yet she was drowning – not physically, but spiritually.
Notice that even though the disciples have continued into town, Jesus remained at the well. It is almost like He knew that the woman would be coming and that this was a chance to offer her a lifeline. Jesus is there in our lives offering us the same lifeline, but it is up to us to respond. Through prayer and the choices we make, we accept Jesus’s help to change our lives. And if we do this, our story can end the same as the woman’s – bringing others to Jesus. When others see the peacefulness that a relationship with Jesus can bring, they will be drawn to find out more. Will you share your story?