John 4 - The Samaritan Women with Five Ex-Husbands Encounters Jesus at the Well!

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Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

As Jesus went back to Galilee, he had to pass through Samaria, where he encountered a Samaritan woman. Many Jews took great pains to avoid walking through Samaria by taking a circuitous route around it, which took much longer to go on. But Jesus chose to go this route probablhy knowing he would run into a Samaritan along the way. Samaritans were considered "dirty dogs" by Jewish people, because they were usually Jews who had intermarried with Gentiles. But Jesus will show that God's love was for all people not just the Jewish people. 

The Samaritan woman was going to the well at noon, which was an unusual time for a woman to go there. At noon, Jesus was very thirsty from traveling during the heat of the day. 

"This woman came for water at an unusual hour and she came alone. Typically, women came for water earlier in the day and they came in groups. Perhaps there was a sudden need, or perhaps she was a social outcast, shunned by other women in the community." (Guzik)

 “Women usually came to draw water in company, and at a cooler time of the day.” (Bruce)

There is a very good chance that this woman came at this time of day to avoid being seen given the lifestyle she was leading, which we will learn about in the verses ahead. When Jesus asks her for a drink, she is very surprised by his request given he is a Jewish rabbi. 

Jesus then says to her that if she knew who was asking her for a drink, she would realize that though she could give him water that would temporarily quench his thirst, he could give her living water. The woman thought "living water" referred to Jacob's well, where God had provided water to the Israelites supernaturally.  

Jesus then tried to get her to understand the living water he was offering to her. He tried to get her behind the physical to the spiritual by telling her that the water she was talking about would only temporarily meet a need, but the living water would well up in her leading to eternal life. She says "yes" to Jesus offer, but she is still is not really understanding the true nature of what Jesus is talking about.

So Jesus engages her regarding her past life and tells her to go to her husband and bring him back. She admits she has no husband. Jesus reveals that he knows she has no husband and that she has already gone through five of them. The woman recognizes Jesus is a prophet, but then gets into an age old argument about the place of where "true" worship takes place.  

Jesus then goes back to the essence of true worship, which is not about a place, what it means to connect with God. Rather than defining worship as a place, Jesus describes true worship as an encounter with God. This encounter happens through "Spirit" and in "truth". In this sense one could worship anywhere. When the woman mentions that the Messiah would explain all these things, Jesus concludes by saying, "I the one speaking to you am he!" 

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

The disciples are a little confused as to why Jesus was talking to this woman. But meanwhile the woman goes back into town to tell everyone about her encounter with Jesus. His disciples urged him to eat, assuming he was hungry. Again Jesus uses a physical need to show a deeper spiritual reality. Jesus tells them he has food that they don't know about, which is to do the will of the Father. 

Again, though we may eat a meal, we will be hungry again. But as we follow and obey God's will, He will meet a much deeper need in us for full-fill-ment. As we follow God, and his plan for our lives, we experience a satisfaction beyond our favorite meal. 

Then, Jesus uses another analogy of a farmer sowing and reaping. There is a time for sowing and a time for reaping.  When the harvest is ripe there is an urgency to do the harvesting, Jesus is trying to tell them that harvest will soon be upon them when he dies and is resurrected. He would be the firstfruit of the harvest God has prepared for the world. The harvest the disciples would reap as they sowed God's Word would be eternal life to those in the harvesting field of the world. 

So you can see the main thing is Jesus using practical metaphors like water, food, and sowing and reaping to lead them to see that these are all temporary, but as they trust and follow him they are working for things that have eternal value. These things satisfy the deepest needs of the soul. 

Many Samaritans Believe

The Samaritan woman is one of the first evangelists in the church. Many came to believe in Jesus because of her testimony, but even more so when they met Jesus and stayed with him. As Jesus went back to Galilee he was greated by many who had heard of his wonderful work. A royal official whose son was very sick went and found Jesus and begged him to heal his son. 

It seems as if initially Jesus mildly rebukes the man for asking for a sign. But, after seeing the man's faith, he tells him to go back to see his son because he was healed. When the man returned home, his son was indeed healed. His servants told him he was healed at the exact hour Jesus had said. When the man shared this story the whole household came to faith in Jesus. 

This was the second miraculous sign Jesus performed the first being turning the water into wine.