“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ 15The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.’”
In this familiar dialogue, we actually have two different conversations going on between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus tells the woman that He can provide her with water that will quench her thirst forever. In this statement Jesus is referring to Himself as the Living Water that meets all of our spiritual needs. While the Samaritan woman is talking about water that would quench her physical thirst or at least allow her to not have to keep coming to the city well. The woman’s statement gives us a clue as to her status among her people.
The Samaritan woman has come at high noon to the city well to draw her daily water. The fact that we are told it is already noon when she goes to the well lets us know something about this woman. The Samaritan woman is getting her water when the other women from the city are not there. Apparently, this woman does not feel comfortable around the other women in the city. Later in the story we find out that she has been married to five different men and the man with whom she is now living with is not her husband.
Although in our culture, this would not be thought of as necessarily wrong by most people, in Jesus’ time and not too many years ago in our own time, if a woman and a man were living together and were not married - such a relationship would be considered as sinful. While the man would probably not be ostracized, the woman would be looked upon unfavorably by the other women. In the old days, this was known as ‘shacking up’. This is why Jesus meets the Samaritan woman alone at the well. She is the only one there.
The fact that Jesus would even speak to such a woman astounded his disciples when they returned and found Jesus talking with her. Yet, the scriptures tell us that they held their tongues and did not ask Jesus why He was even giving this woman the time of day. This is probably because Jesus sought out the outcasts of society. In Luke chapter 19, verse 10, Jesus says, “For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
Jesus is interested in the present state of this woman as a lost soul, because Jesus has hope for the hopeless. For Jesus, there is no soul so far gone into sin that cannot be saved. Jesus’ mission on earth was to seek out the lost, not to punish them even more than they were already being punished, but to restore them to their fullest potential. The Samaritan woman for Jesus is a potential convert.
Notice though that Jesus does not excuse the woman’s waywardness. Instead, Jesus confronts the woman with her past and her present lifestyle. When Jesus does this the woman is amazed that this stranger could know so much about her in such great detail. It is not surprising that the Samaritan woman believes that Jesus is a prophet and possibly the Messiah. The fact that Jesus, being a Jewish man, has even taken the time to converse with her; speaks volumes to the Samaritan woman. She recognizes that He is a man of not only great insight, but also of great compassion.
The psalmist describes the compassion of God towards those who have gone astray from Him in Psalm 103, verses 8-14.
8The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9He will not always accuse,
nor will he keep his anger for ever.
10He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him;
12as far as the east is from the west,
so far he removes our transgressions from us.
13As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
14For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.
Without having gone to any special spiritual training classes, the Samaritan woman recognizes the Presence of God in her midst. Jesus tells her that He is the Messiah and she believes. She becomes so excited that the scriptures tell us that she left behind her water jar and goes and tells others about Jesus. The woman no longer is interested in the natural water from the well that she came to get. Instead, she has found the Living Water that will change her life and sustain her forever.
John writes, “Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. 41And many more believed because of his word. 42They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.’”
Because the Samaritan woman, whom all despised, was willing to share the good news of Christ in her life, many more came to hear Jesus and to believe. The excitement of Christ in her life started a domino affect that spread throughout the city. She could have chosen to remain silent. After all, she was looked down upon by her neighbors and the women in the city. Yet, the presence of Christ in her life brought her hope. To those whom had oppressed her, the Samaritan woman was more than willing to share the good news of the Living Water that washes away the sins of the past and brings new life to all who believe.
Tomorrow morning at 9:30 AM at the Beach Methodist Church, something exciting is going to take place on this island. Believers who are excited about Jesus in their lives are going to meet and then go door to door to share the good news of Christ. A simple brochure with all of the churches in it will be handed out with the simple invitation for people to attend the church of their choice. This is a sweeping ecumenical event of which we have been invited to participate. Will we accept the invitation and go in faith like the Samaritan woman at the well and share the good news of Christ to our neighbors here in Fort Myers Beach? Would it not be awesome if the same God who blessed the words of the Samaritan woman; pour out His love and Presence on our island and turn it into a true Paradise overflowing with the Living Water?
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