John 4 - Every Woman's Bible

4:1-42 At the well Jacob may have dug while living in Shechem (Genesis 33:18-20), later Samaria, Jesus described himself to a Samaritan woman as living water. This interaction is typical of the way Jesus engaged and confronted people throughout his ministry, and they either followed or fell away. The Samaritan woman contrasted with Nicodemus at every turn: She was a woman, not a man; a Samaritan, not a Jew; and a religious outcast, not one of Israel’s rabbis. While Nicodemus fell silent and didn’t respond to Jesus’ challenges (John 3:1-21), this unnamed woman acknowledged Jesus as Lord and was instrumental in her village’s reception of him.

4:6-8 John sets the scene for the interaction between the Samaritan woman and Jesus. While John rarely portrays Jesus with weakness, here John makes a point of saying that it was midday (“about noontime”) and that Jesus was “tired from the long walk.” These details explain why Jesus would need to address the woman, who happened to come to the well for a divine appointment. Men were not usually responsible for drawing water, so Jesus wouldn’t have had the tools necessary to get himself a drink. He needed the woman to help him. John also alerts the reader that Jesus’ disciples had gone into the village, leaving Jesus alone. This also would have set up John’s original audience to be surprised when Jesus addressed the woman.

4:9 When Jesus addressed her, “the woman was surprised” because social taboos prohibited a Jewish teacher like Jesus from speaking to a woman. However, Jesus did not let social taboos constrain him from ministering to someone in need.

4:19 The woman inferred that Jesus was a prophet because he knew things about her that a stranger could not have. As her understanding of Jesus unfolded, the way she addressed him became increasingly well informed. Initially, she recognized him as “a Jew” and called him “sir,” later wondering if he might be “the Messiah” (4:9, 11, 25). In the end, the people of her village recognized him as “Savior of the world” (4:42).

4:28-42 The woman, despite being a non-Jew and an unlikely recipient of a divine meeting, eventually caught the theological implication of Jesus’ initial talk about “living water” (4:10). Having recognized Jesus’ messianic identity, she ran back to share her tentative discovery with her fellow villagers and led them to meet Jesus. Despite her humble position, she found her salvation and mission. God can meet you and me where we are and use us regardless of how much we know.