John 4:4-26

And He had to pass through Samaria. So He *came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.read more.

There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” She *said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” The woman *said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” The woman *said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” Jesus *said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

What I want to share with you about this section of scripture that we have typically called “the woman at the well” is what connection has to do with this historical moment.

what connection has to do with the woman at the well

First, Jesus makes a point of going to Samaria – a place that everyone in that day and age would have avoided even if it added a full day to their journey. For Jesus, the assignment was to go and CONNECT with a Samaritan woman. She would have been the lowest of the low in the social structure, and yet she is the first person to whom he reveals who He is. The lesson for us in that is that we have to be willing to CONNECT with people that the world might consider unworthy. Jesus did it. In fact he did that as the first step of his earthly ministry.

Second, Jesus talks to her about living water. Here’s the thing that resonates with me about this part of the story. They are standing at a literal well full of water. But he tells her that even after she works so hard to get the water, and carry the water, and use the water, there will still be a need for more. People who just rely on the “water” that they can get for themselves will stay thirsty. But when we CONNECT to the source of Living Water, we are given the gift of quenched thirst. A desire for the things that are eternal, rather than the things that are temporary.

Lastly, Jesus tells this woman all about her history, about her sinful past. And He knows us that way too. But that doesn’t keep Him from sharing who He is and why knowing Him is important. Don’t let your sins, your past, your secrets keep you from CONNECTING to the One who can and will save you from a life of sin and despair.