5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered 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.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
23 Jesus replied … a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said 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.”
After revealing to Nicodemus, a respected teacher of the Scriptures and the law, that God’s love embraces the entire world (John 3:16), Jesus moves into new territory. He travels to Samaria, expanding the reach of His ministry in a way, that would have surprised many of His followers (John 4:4). And it is there, in Samaria, in this unexpected place, that Jesus offers an unnamed woman a profound experience of unconditional belonging.
Jesus meets her at a well, but He also meets her in the reality of her story. He knows her history intimately, every complicated, messy, painful part of it. Yet, notice this, that His knowledge does not lead to rejection. Instead, the woman's truth becomes the doorway through which Jesus invites her into a deeper encounter with grace. The thirst of her soul is satisfied in the very moment she comes to draw water for Him. What begins as a simple request, “Give me a drink”, becomes the means for her transformation.
I am always struck in this story by the fact that we never learn this woman’s name, yet, we do learn the impact of her testimony. She actually is the first evangelist (missionary) in John’s Gospel, bringing an entire community to faith in Christ. Her method is beautifully simple: she invites her neighbors to “come and see” the One who “told me everything I ever did.” Did you notice that she does not craft arguments or assemble theological proofs to convince her neighbors. What she does do, however, is that she trusts that the God who met her in truth and grace will meet her neighbors in the same way.
I think what I love about this passage in John 4 is that Her story becomes her witness.
I believe there is something powerful for us in the details of this account. I pray that we, who have also encountered Jesus ourselves, follow her example. May we point others toward Jesus not through polished speeches or perfect answers, but by sharing our own stories of encounter, acceptance, and reconciliation. When we speak honestly of how Christ stepped toward us, when our story becomes our witness, then others may also discover that Jesus is ready to meet them too, right where they are.
Let's Pray
Help us to tell our stories of encountering Jesus with honesty, courage, and joy, so that our whole neighborhood might be drawn to seek the One who transforms every life He touches.
Amen.
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