The fourth sinful woman of the New Testament in this series is the Samaritan woman Jesus met at Jacob’s Well. She is also known as The Woman at the Well. Her story is presented in John 4:7- 30; 39-42. Although her story is long, it is important to review it to fully appreciate her transformation from a woman of sin to a woman that God used for His glory and honor.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:
18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.
40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.
41 And many more believed because of his own word;
42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
As Jesus walked towards Galilee from Judea, He needed to go to Samaria. Dake’s Annotated Bible (note I, page 168) states that one reason He had to go through Samaria was so that we could have this story.
Backstory on the Samaritan/Jewish Feud
According to Wikipedia, the Samarians are ethnoreligious people who originated from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They descended from northern Israelite tribes that were not deported from Israel when the Assyrians conquered the region. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of ancient Israel and Judah that comprises the northern half of today’s West Bank.
In Jesus’ day and time, the Samaritans were considered “half-breeds.” When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured and moved most of Judah to Babylon, he moved other people into their place. He also left the elderly and sickly Jews, as well as some of the Temple scribes, to take care of them. Intermarriages occurred so that the Samaritans were no longer a pure race. When the Jews returned after 70 years to rebuild Jerusalem, the Samaritans went to them to help with the rebuilding. The Samaritans were rejected, however, and the feud started. By the time of Christ, the Jews hated the Samaritans so much that they crossed the Jordan River rather than travel through Samaria. But, according to John 4:4, Jesus, our Lord and Savior, had a divine appointment to go to Samaria.
4 And he must needs go through Samaria.
When Jesus arrived in Sychar, a city in Samaria, He rested at Jacob’s well. At this well, Jesus began to engage a Samaritan woman in conversation. She was at the well alone rather than with the other women because she had a bad reputation because of her “history” with men. When Jesus asked the woman for a drink, she reminded Him that Samaritans and Jews had no dealings with each other (v.9). Ignoring her statement, Jesus began to intrigue her with thoughts about the living water that he had to offer (v. 10). The woman rebuffed Him and, stating the obvious, reminded Him that He didn’t even have a bucket to dip the water from the well, so how could He possibly have such water? (v.11).
Getting even sassier with Him, she asks if He thought He was better than Jacob, the Creator of the well (v. 12). Jesus, knowing her ignorance about who He was, refused to be offended by her and began to speak to her about the spiritual water that He had to offer. He made the everlasting water sound so good that Little Miss Sassy Samaritan dropped her sassiness and cried, in my words, “Oh my! I want some of that water.” I believe that she was beginning to understand the spiritual nature of the water that Jesus spoke of (v. 15).
Jesus’ conversational tone took on a different nature. Realizing the openness of her heart, He began to reveal Himself to her in a greater way. He hit her at the core of her being when he directed her to bring her husband. (v.16). Speaking prophetically to her, He revealed that He was fully aware of her sinful past. (vv. 17-18). The woman then humbled herself, aware that Jesus was a man of God. (v. 19).
The woman began to discuss the main difference of opinions between the Jews and Samaritans, which is whether God should be worshipped on Mount Gerizim (Samaritan territory) versus Jerusalem (Jewish territory) (v. 20). Jesus then corrected her, indicating that salvation is of the Jews (vv. 21-22). He again re-directed her, helping her understand that true worshipers must do so in spirit and truth. He made her aware that she could be a true worshipper and that God was looking for true worshippers like her (vv. 23, 24). The woman revealed her heart’s desire for Christ and that she was awaiting His appearance (v. 25). Christ then openly declared to her who He was! (v. 26).
At this high and spiritual moment, the disciples returned and wondered why Jesus was speaking to a Samaritan woman. They were not bold enough to ask him, though. (v. 27). But it was too late for the disciples’ prejudice to undo the Samaritan woman’s change. She dropped her water pot and ran to the city crying, “Come see a man, come see a man who has told me all that I have ever done! She was convinced that she had found Christ (vv. 28,29,30) and wanted everybody to know Him.
The outcome of the Sinful Woman at the Well’s experience with Jesus. As a result of her experience with Christ, this woman was converted from a sinful woman to a Saint of God. She was one of the first female Evangelists identified in the New Testament scriptures as she took the evangelistic message to a town full of people. Her message? “Come, see a man which told me everything I ever did: is not this the Christ?” Many of the townspeople were converted by her words, and others were converted when they met Christ for themselves. Jesus and the disciples then stayed with the Samaritans for two full days (vv. 39-42)
My, what a revival that must have been. Just a little talk with Jesus changed the Samaritan woman. Have you had that little talk with Jesus? He can change you, too.
