Water Under The Bridge - The Woman At The Well

John 4:1-42

The story is well known. Jesus is alone at a well. A woman has come to draw water, and Jesus asks her for a drink. Today that doesn’t seem so scandalous, but in that day, the situation raised several cultural red flags. Jesus was a Jew; the woman was a Samaritan. Jews did not associate with Samaritans, and they particularly would not associate with a Samaritan woman who had been through several husbands and was now living with a man who was not her husband.

Even the woman knew it. The account in John 4 makes it clear that she was surprised Jesus was speaking with her. And yet the conversation that ensued was one of the most important in Jesus’ ministry. It’s during their back and forth that he calls himself the “living water” (John 4:10). It’s here that he talks about worshiping God “in spirit and in truth” (verses 23-24). At the end of this conversation, he declares that he is the Messiah. It is a very important conversation indeed, and one that ends with the woman not only understanding who Jesus is, but also telling her whole town about him.

There are many theological gems here we could pull out and polish up, but let’s choose a practical point. Jesus had no problem speaking to someone outside his faith and culture. Many would have chastised him for talking to this woman, but he entered into an intimate conversation with her.

“She’s not one of us,” some might say. (That seemed to be the attitude of Jesus’ disciples when they showed up.) But Jesus didn’t care. He spoke to her with kindness, compassion, love, and respect, and the end result was a new understanding—not just for her, but also for her community and for all of us who read the story.

In Jesus’ day, there weren’t many opportunities for people of different faiths to intermingle, but today those opportunities abound. When those outside the Christian faith enter into relationship with you, will you react with the same kindness that Jesus modeled? Through your words and actions, will they understand who Jesus is?

The time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.

John 4:23