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So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink’. (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 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.) 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.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 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.’ 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.’Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come back.’ The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 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’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am he,the one who is speaking to you.’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?’ Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ They left the city and were on their way to him.Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 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. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’ Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of his word.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)
This is certainly not a short passage. Yet, it contains power and truth. Jesus alone, unfed, thirsty, and awaiting the return of the disciples, meets a woman who has come to draw water from the well known as Jacob's well. This was a significant historical spot for it was here that Jacob had given this plot of land to his son Joseph. "Give me a drink," is how Jesus starts a conversation that will end with the woman knowing exactly who Jesus is, and who she is. She, being a Samaritan, tries to get Jesus not to ask for water by reminding Him of their differences. Jesus may have confused her by saying if you knew who I was, you would have asked living water from me. She replies that He has no bucket, the well is deep, where in the world would you get such living water? And Jesus proceeds to tell her all about that living water and how it leads to eternal life. She still didn't get it and thinks that maybe this is finally the running water she needs to stop making this trip to the well. Jesus asks her to bring her husband. The woman is honest in saying she has no husband, and Jesus concurs and says, "You're right in saying you have no husband, because you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" This takes the woman by surprise and wonders if Jesus is a prophet, and speaks of the place where they are located.Jesus speaks of true worship being done in spirit and truth, and she replies in saying she knows the Messiah is coming. Jesus declares Himself to be the Messiah. The disciples arrive, and the woman returns to her village inviting all to come and see a man "who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can He?"
The woman was amazed that Jesus knew everything she had ever done. Jesus knew her sins, yet, she could tell He was not condemning her but inviting her to come into a new relationship with herself and with God. How do we react when we find out that Jesus knows all of our sins? "Everything (we) have ever done?" Some might feel embarrassed, or shameful; few might feel relieved - but I hope all of us would feel thankful that in spite of our sin, we were still invited to love Jesus and receive from Jesus the forgiveness of our sins. This encounter is a Lenten encounter. Jesus shares with His disciples that His food was in doing the will of God. They were hungry and believed Jesus to be, but He was content in doing what God asked of Him. He was sharing forgiveness of sins, offering living water, and speaking truth about living water leading to eternal life. It took a while for the woman to get it, but the villagers seemed to get it quicker because of Jesus' teachings, and they proclaimed Jesus to be the Savior of the world.
Jesus' invitation to us still holds. In spite of who we believe ourselves to be, the long list of sins that we have amassed, Jesus is with us, loving us and sharing with us that which blesses us with living water and eternal life. I would pray dear friend, that you would, if you have not yet done so, accept His loving invitation to you. We're getting closer to that Friday in which Jesus died for us a painful death, becoming the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (that's you and me!). Won't you accept Him?
PRAYER: Awesome Father, thank You for Jesus and all He did on our behalf. Help me to know and accept Jesus as MY Savior and Lord. Thank You for loving us in spite of bad decisions, terrible choices that I have made. Please give to me, living water, life in abundance, and life eternal. Take my sins away and replace them with love and grace for all. This I pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
