She nears the well, probably head down, just wanting
to get the water and get going. But
Jesus speaks to her. This is
shocking. Furthermore he asks her for a
drink of water. I get the impression
that this lady has a little vim and vigor, is
cynical, tired of being judged, and wary of hypocrites. She knows Jewish men do not talk to Samaritan
women. She also knows that a Jew would
never take a drink from a “defiled” Samaritan cup, let alone from a Samaritan
woman’s bucket. Perhaps she gives Jesus
a good once over, like a grandmother sizing up her granddaughter’s spiked
haired, tattooed, motorcycle riding boyfriend, and then gives him the stink eye
before she answers. “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan
woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”
(John 4:9). She’s no dummy. But his
answer surprises her.
"If you knew
the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked
him and he would have given you living water.” (v.10). What
does he mean? He doesn’t have a
bucket. No cup either. How does he expect to carry water, let alone
reach the depths of the well?
She blasts him with her observations. He appears unrattled. Then he speaks to her again. “Everyone
who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I
give him will never thirst. Indeed, the
water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal
life.” (v. 13).
Oh. Now she
gets it. He must be off his rocker. Figures.
She just wanted to go to the well, get her water, and go home. Now this.
Great. Probably all the other
Samaritan women will get a good laugh out of her bad luck. She was used to being the butt of their jokes. So what. Who cares. She certainly didn’t anymore. She is tired.
Weary. She looks at him
again. Just play along with the crazy
guy and then maybe he will move on. Ok. She says, “Sir, give me this water so
that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” (v.
15). She sighs.
Then the conversation abruptly shifts. Jesus’ next words grab her attention. He knows all about her. He knows her life story, he knows her hurts,
her disappointments, her damaged heart.
Then the shocker: he tells her he is the long awaited for savior, the
Messiah, the Christ, speaking to HER, a divorced, Samaritan woman, sitting in
the dirt by the well in the mid-day heat.
She drops her bucket and runs to town.
She shares the news and tells them all, the ones who judged her, the ones who dropped her
from their social circles; she doesn’t care about what they did anymore. She found the savior! She tells them, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (29).
They listen to the woman and then go find Jesus. They talk with him. He stays with them for a few days, many hear
him speak, and many believe. They say to
the woman, “We no longer believe just
because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that
this man really is the Savior of the world.” (42). And who did Jesus speak to first and entrust
with his amazing message? A divorced, Samaritan
woman, the "least of the least."
“If anyone is
thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living
water will flow from within him.” (John 7:37b-38).
*(NIV study notes John 4:4, 9).
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