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5 So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. 7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." 8 (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, "Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." 11 The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" 13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." 15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." 16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back."17 The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, "I have no husband'; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" 19 The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." 25 The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." 26 Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you."27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?" 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29 "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?" 30 They left the city and were on their way to him. 31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, eat something." 32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." 33 So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him something to eat?" 34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35 Do you not say, "Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36 The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together .37 For here the saying holds true, "One sows and another reaps.' 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor." 39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I have ever done." 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world." (John 4:5-42 NRSV)
A blessed and wonderful Wednesday to you, dear Friend! Welcome back to ConCafe! I always say that and wonder how you read that? I'm the one who has been away, but I did miss you! And I missed doing these devotionals. I confess I did enjoy the time off and time away with my bride. God has blessed us with 48 years of wedded bliss. Time is relative. My beloved laptop computer on which I write these devotionals was turned off on Tuesday morning last week as Nellie and I drove off to New Mexico and on Sunday when I tried to start it, it would not. The two power cords I have for it would not indicate it was receiving a charge and so my IT guy said it might be something other than a battery because even a computer without a battery would turn on if plugged in. When he asked how old my laptop was I said it couldn't be more than two years old. Today as I logged into the Apple website, it informed me that the laptop is five years old! I couldn't believe that it was that old! Reading the email report and description of of my "baby" laptop, it read like the thing had barely survived furious battles in the Pacific! So, 48 and 5 years just seem to run together! The damage is my laptop needs a new logic board (I may need two myself, but they don't make them that old!) and that will cost me $800 to fix. Gulp. And Ouch! But onward and upward! It will be ready in about 12 days and I use a desk top to write this.
I write this devotional in the state of Texas known for being hot and dry on most days. It's the heat that has driven some newcomers to head back home mighty quick. And the drought that has plagued our state is still with us. I drive over the Guadalupe River daily and as I glance at it from the bridge we're not too far away from the days when most of us can walk across what was once a mighty and beautiful river. One of my old parishioners replied once when talking about the drought that his doorbell rang and it was a catfish from the river asking for a glass of water. Jesus finds Himself thirsty, dry and dusty, and worn out from the walk He and his crew has undertaken to get to this touchy spot of Samaritan land. John puts it nicely when he says that "Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans." It went deeper than that, but there are children present! Jesus asks a Samaritan woman for a drink of water. And she nicely replies, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" We should also note that the time of day is noon. High noon. Not normally the time most women would come to draw water from this well, but the belief is that given this woman's sinful past, she was not likely welcomed as a sister by other women at normal water-drawing times. The cool of the morning, the company and fellowship of neighbors, the daily rhythm of community were no longer hers to enjoy! She's alone in the heat because the weight of her past has pushed her to the margins.
And there Jesus waits — not to condemn her, but to offer her something she has never been given: the chance to be fully known and fully loved at the same time. “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband.’” He names her reality without shaming her. He sees all of it — and stays.
Lent asks us the same question Jesus asked the woman: “What are you thirsty for?” Not the polished, acceptable answer — but the true one. Have we been drawing water from wells that leave us empty? The well of achievement, of approval, of control, of comfort? Every one of those wells runs dry.
What makes this story remarkable is not only what Jesus offers, but what the woman does with it. She leaves her water jar — the very thing she came for — and runs back to her community. “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!” The one who came to the well in shame departs as an evangelist. She becomes the first missionary in John’s Gospel, and her testimony brings an entire village to faith.
This is the pattern of grace: we come burdened, we are seen and loved, and we go transformed — carrying the news. The water we receive is never only for us.
PRAYER: Loving Lord, how awesome if Your love for all, even me! You came not to condemn the world, but to save it; so count me in with those who need to be saved from the empty wells and even from ourselves. Revive me and renew me and make me worthy of the living waters You so lovingly share with all who ask. I ask now, fill me til I want no more; fill me up and make me whole. Thank You! In Your name, I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! OUR CALL TO ACTION: This week, identify one person in your life who, like the woman at the well, may feel unseen, marginalized, or shut out. Reach out to them — not with answers or advice — but with the simple gift of your presence and attention. Listen to their story. Let your encounter with living water overflow into their life.
I love you and I thank God for you! You matter to God, and you matter to me!
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
