Woman at the Well

The Woman at the Well

In John 4:1-26, it says,

Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, His disciples did), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria. So, He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” for His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says 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 nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that, you spoke truly.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet…………………..”I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”       

 Jesus is telling the story of a woman He met outside of the city of Samaria. She had been married 5 times and was now living with a man she wasn’t married to. As I was thinking about this woman, I started wondering about her heart. How did this woman get to where she was? I wondered if it was because the society/culture was so accusatory of her. I wondered if she felt the pain of rejection as she had been abandoned in her life. In those days, men were the only ones that could request a divorce. Some speculate that it was because she could not have children that she had been divorced so many times.

In the story, it says that Jesus literally went out of His way to go to Samaria, where she lived. He encountered her at the well outside of town, where He asked her to get Him a drink. This was unusual because Jews and Samaritans did not speak to or “friend” each other. Why did He do that? Because He knew the thirsty places in her life that were dry from disappointments and rejection. He knew the pain she felt, and He wanted her to know that she was seen and valued by Him, that He was the answer, the “Living Water” she needed.

I started thinking about my own life, and I have had the very same questions. As I looked at my life, I literally asked myself, “How did I get here? What brought me to this place? Why did I make the decisions I did?”

Jesus never shamed or accused me. He just spoke to the deep places of my heart. I allowed Him in and allowed Him to love me where I didn’t even love myself. I didn’t know what true love really was until I met Jesus.

The same thing was true for this woman. Jesus spoke straight to her heart with love and kindness. Never shaming or accusing her. He just loved her. Jesus does the same for us. He speaks straight to the deep places of our hearts. Why? Because He sees and knows how deep and painful our hurt is. He wants to take that pain from us, from you, and replace it with His love. No shame. No accusations. Just love….. BUT, we must allow Him access and let Him love us.

The woman dropped her water jar she was carrying and ran to town-the town that had shamed and accused her-with the freedom Jesus had given her.

Jesus does not characterize us by our mistakes or our failures. He does not outline our future with ink from our past. Who you were or the things you still battle aren’t what gives definition to your life. Only Jesus does. He will never restrict or punish you by making you live in a box of shame and regret. No, He only calls you to a new life with Him

He has all the healing, freedom, and love we need and is willing to pour it out on us at any time. He is just waiting for us to be open and willing to receive it.

 Lynda Renne

Sanctioned Love