Bible Reading
1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 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.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 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.” 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.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet 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.”
The Disciples Rejoin Jesus
27 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?” 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him. 31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” 34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Many Samaritans Believe
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.”
Jesus Heals an Official’s Son
43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there. 46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. 48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” 49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed. 54 This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.
The Disciples Rejoin Jesus
27 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?” 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him. 31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” 34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Many Samaritans Believe
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.”
Jesus Heals an Official’s Son
43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there. 46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. 48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” 49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.” 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed. 54 This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.
Devotional
We read a powerful story of evangelism and conversion in John chapter four. This amazing story is even more powerful when we have a better understanding of the context and cultural aspects at play surrounding this conversation. As with most of Jesus’ stories, it begins with a journey. Jesus travels from Judea to Galilee, passing through Samaria. The scripture even records that Jesus needed to go through Samaria. Anyone with a map of the area could clearly see Jesus did not need to go through Samaria to get to His destination. There were many routes that could have easily avoided the region of Samaria. Most pious Jews often avoided Samaria because there was a deep distrust and hatred between many of the Jewish people and the Samaritans. The Jews claimed that the Samaritans had betrayed them many years earlier during the Old Testament Divided Kingdom era. Most of the Jews in Jesus’ time even despised the Samaritans more than Gentiles – because they were, religiously speaking, “half-breeds” who had a tainted faith which was a mixture of Judaism and false pagan religions of surrounding countries.
The need was not a physical one, but a spiritual one. Jesus was led to travel to Samaria by His Heavenly Father so that He would have a divine appointment. This is the nature of the God we serve. He sets up divine appointments in our lives and leads us. We choose whether we walk the path God has laid out for us or if we walk the path that we set out before ourselves. But Jesus, as he always did, followed where His heavenly Father led him - To a solitary well. This particular well was where Abram first came thousands of years earlier when he arrived into Canaan from Babylonia and was called by God to become a great nation. (Gen 12:6-8) This was also the place that Jacob returned with his family from his time with Laban. Jacob built an altar to the Lord to re-establish the covenant. The well that was dug in that place was even called Jacob’s well in remembrance not only to Jacob but also to the covenant that had been re-established.
It was in this very spot that Jesus, weary from long travel and the heat of the noonday sun, asked a lone Samaritan women for a drink of water. What followed was a powerful conversation.
The request genuinely surprised the women. A Jew did not speak to a Samaritan, much less ask to drink from her cup. It was also known that a Rabbi did not speak to women in public - not even their wives - in the culture of the time. Furthermore, this Samaritan women had come to the well alone in the heat of the day, in an obvious attempt to avoid anyone who would ridicule or look down on her lifestyle. Jesus is unfazed by the mistakes of her past and even her present mistakes. He offers her salvation the same as any other person. This holds true throughout all of time and even today; It doesn’t matter what mistakes you have made, you can find new life and a fresh start in Christ.
As the conversation progresses, Jesus refers to Himself as the Living Water, a water that if you drink of it, you will never thirst again. Jesus is again using what is around Him to make a spiritual point. The well of water was a source of daily water to satisfy a daily thirst, but Jesus offered something not temporary or fading. The response of the women was logical; “Give me this water.” Jesus then brings the reality of the situation back into focus. There will be something she must do if she wished to attain eternal life with God the Father. She will need to acknowledge the sin in her life and repent of it. Jesus was lovingly presenting the woman with two paths and she would have the free will to choose between the two. She could return to her old life of sin, apathy and selfishness, or she could repent of her sin, turn and instead become a part of the Kingdom of God. Jesus ends the conversation by revealing that He is the Messiah, the one even Samaritans would know and be familiar with from the Old Testament scriptures.
The Samaritan women left and went back into the city. Scripture records that she left behind her water pots. The symbolism is powerful and clear to the reader. She knew she would soon return to the place where Jesus was. She returned to the people of her city, many of whom despised her, and began to share the gospel with them. She told them of this man Jesus and what He had told her. She immediately went to work sharing the good news of Jesus to any that would hear. She went from sinful outcast to bold evangelist in just a short amount of time.
In the end, the women’s evangelism was effective. Many came to Christ because of her. It’s amazing to think of how Jesus calls people to join His mission who have a checkered past. Jesus focuses on the plans He has laid out before, not the guilt and shame that marked the road behind you. Even today, pasts marked by shame, guilt and sin can be washed away as people step into a new life, with a new purpose and identity in Christ.
The need was not a physical one, but a spiritual one. Jesus was led to travel to Samaria by His Heavenly Father so that He would have a divine appointment. This is the nature of the God we serve. He sets up divine appointments in our lives and leads us. We choose whether we walk the path God has laid out for us or if we walk the path that we set out before ourselves. But Jesus, as he always did, followed where His heavenly Father led him - To a solitary well. This particular well was where Abram first came thousands of years earlier when he arrived into Canaan from Babylonia and was called by God to become a great nation. (Gen 12:6-8) This was also the place that Jacob returned with his family from his time with Laban. Jacob built an altar to the Lord to re-establish the covenant. The well that was dug in that place was even called Jacob’s well in remembrance not only to Jacob but also to the covenant that had been re-established.
It was in this very spot that Jesus, weary from long travel and the heat of the noonday sun, asked a lone Samaritan women for a drink of water. What followed was a powerful conversation.
The request genuinely surprised the women. A Jew did not speak to a Samaritan, much less ask to drink from her cup. It was also known that a Rabbi did not speak to women in public - not even their wives - in the culture of the time. Furthermore, this Samaritan women had come to the well alone in the heat of the day, in an obvious attempt to avoid anyone who would ridicule or look down on her lifestyle. Jesus is unfazed by the mistakes of her past and even her present mistakes. He offers her salvation the same as any other person. This holds true throughout all of time and even today; It doesn’t matter what mistakes you have made, you can find new life and a fresh start in Christ.
As the conversation progresses, Jesus refers to Himself as the Living Water, a water that if you drink of it, you will never thirst again. Jesus is again using what is around Him to make a spiritual point. The well of water was a source of daily water to satisfy a daily thirst, but Jesus offered something not temporary or fading. The response of the women was logical; “Give me this water.” Jesus then brings the reality of the situation back into focus. There will be something she must do if she wished to attain eternal life with God the Father. She will need to acknowledge the sin in her life and repent of it. Jesus was lovingly presenting the woman with two paths and she would have the free will to choose between the two. She could return to her old life of sin, apathy and selfishness, or she could repent of her sin, turn and instead become a part of the Kingdom of God. Jesus ends the conversation by revealing that He is the Messiah, the one even Samaritans would know and be familiar with from the Old Testament scriptures.
The Samaritan women left and went back into the city. Scripture records that she left behind her water pots. The symbolism is powerful and clear to the reader. She knew she would soon return to the place where Jesus was. She returned to the people of her city, many of whom despised her, and began to share the gospel with them. She told them of this man Jesus and what He had told her. She immediately went to work sharing the good news of Jesus to any that would hear. She went from sinful outcast to bold evangelist in just a short amount of time.
In the end, the women’s evangelism was effective. Many came to Christ because of her. It’s amazing to think of how Jesus calls people to join His mission who have a checkered past. Jesus focuses on the plans He has laid out before, not the guilt and shame that marked the road behind you. Even today, pasts marked by shame, guilt and sin can be washed away as people step into a new life, with a new purpose and identity in Christ.