In the Bible's book of John, an interesting story is told of Jesus' encounter with a woman from a marginalized people group. Jesus didn't look down on her, but treated her kindly. As she was drawing water from a well, Jesus made an amazing claim -- that he had access to water she could drink and never thirst again. What did he mean by that? Find out below:
The Story of Jesus and the Woman at the Well
(from the book of John chapter 4)
... Jesus was tired from his journey and sat down by Jacob's well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 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.) 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." "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
Jesus answered, "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." 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."
He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back." "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?" Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" They came out of the town and made their way toward him.…
(Jesus said to his disciples) “Look to the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life…”
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. 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."
To learn the lessons from the story, CLICK HERE.
The Setting of the Story
The Jews looked down with self-pride upon the Samaritans because they were merely half-breed Jews. They had intermarried with gentiles, (a practice forbidden by Jewish Law), after being captured by the Assyrians centuries earlier. Even though the Samaritans followed some of their past Jewish roots, the Jews despised them because they violated many other important sacred teachings. Consequently, a mutual, deep-seated contempt developed between the two countries. The woman in this story had even more problems to deal with. Because of her wayward lifestyle, she most certainly was shunned by her own neighbors. This is seen because she came alone to draw her water during the hot part of the day, suggesting she was not accepted by the women of her village who normally would gather socially to draw water during the cooler hours of day. It was a cultural norm for men, especially a rabbi, to not speak to strange women in public, and certainly never a Samaritan woman. Further, no Jew would consider even touching a utensil used by the hated Samaritans, but Jesus requested a drink from her pitcher. Most Jews walked miles out of their way to avoid going through Samaria, but Jesus walked 40 miles strait through the interior to seek this woman out, to display his unconditional love for her, and to offer salvation.
Some Lessons Taught
(It will be helpful to first read the Scripture text)
We see several significant teachings unfold in this chapter regarding the person of Jesus and also the truths about the salvation he offers.
The person of Jesus:
Jesus clearly claimed to be the promised Messiah, whose coming was prophesized in the Old Testament Scriptures. They foretold that the Messiah would be the Savior, and would be Divine, God in human flesh. Jesus displayed his Deity by his offer to give eternal life, which implies authority to forgive sin, something only God can do. Evidence of his Deity is shown by his supernatural knowledge of the woman’s rocky past. A few years later his Deity was proven by his resurrection from the dead.
Jesus’ love has no limits:
Jesus’ love reaches out to everyone, even to the worst of sinners. This is seen by his putting aside cultural barriers and purposefully walking 40 miles to offer salvation to this needy woman, and also by his willingness to live with and teach these culturally despised, people. His love was displayed even more forcefully a few years later by his sacrificial death on the cross, for her and for every one of us.
Salvation is a free gift:
This eternal life, that Jesus offered was presented as a free gift, therefore, it isn’t earned. A gift cannot be earned or paid for, or it can no longer be considered a gift. Four times in his conversation Jesus told the woman that his living water (eternal life, salvation) was something that he would give her as a gift. The book of Romans (4:4-5) seems very fitting to this story. “Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
Eternal life is received by believing and trusting in Jesus:
Jesus noted that the harvest season was still 4 months away, but then he told his disciples to look out and see the fields (the villagers approaching in their traditional white robes) and announced there was about to be a harvest for eternal life. Jesus knew that their hearts were “ripe for harvest” and were ready to receive his free gift. This is exactly what happened from the testimony of the villagers: “And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the Woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know (an expression of belief) that this man really is the Savior (at this point their Savior) of the world.’”
There are scores of verses throughout the New Testament that clearly teach that salvation comes only through believing and trusting in, Jesus and his sacrificial death on the cross as full payment for our sin. (See “Resources” drop-down) Following is just a few.
From Paul’s introduction to the book of Romans: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1: 16-17
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:1-2
Probably the most quoted verses in the entire New Testament is John 3:16-18. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
God’s grace displayed:
God’s grace is displayed in this true story by Jesus’ offer of his free gift of eternal life in spite of the woman’s sinful life. She had no role in her salvation except to believe Jesus had the authority to give her eternal life, and to trust in him and his promise to grant her this gift. Grace is receiving favor when we deserve the opposite. Ephesians 2:8,9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” We can’t even brag about our faith.
Eternal Life is just that…Eternal:
Jesus further promised that by accepting his gift, the woman would never thirst again. God’s gift of salvation is a forever gift that Jesus called “eternal life” throughout the scriptures. It is ours forever. In John 11:25 Jesus said the following just before he raised his good friend, Lazarus, from the dead, “…I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Jesus’ statement was both a promise of assurance to believers in Jesus and also an invitation for anyone to accept him as their Savior and to put their faith and trust in him for their eternal salvation. As Jesus asked, “Do you believe this?” if so, thank him for his wonderful gift of salvation, the living water that “springs up to eternal life.”
For a discussion on if good works are required for salvation CLICK HERE.
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May God bless you!