4v7-30 Discussion
with the woman about salvation
The above historical outline prepares us for the
dialogue between Jesus and the unnamed woman.
The Jews regarded the Samaritans as unclean apostates;
the Pharisees actually prayed that no Samaritan would be raised in the
Resurrection. When Jesus’ enemies wanted
to insult Him, they called Him “a Samaritan”-John 8v48. Thus, we understand the tension that existed between
them. There was no such prejudice with
Jesus, as He purposely went through Samaria.
The importance of this is evident in the Acts of the apostles where both
prophetically in the great commission (chapter 1v8), and practically (chapter 8v5-25),
the people of Samaria were visited by Divine blessing. No doubt this visit by Jesus was preparatory
to that.
The sixth hour was 12.00 midday. A woman of Samaria came to the well to draw
water. We watch the Divine soul-winner
at work, and mark with rapt attention how He won this woman to Himself despite
the historical religious differences.
“There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw
water: Jesus saith unto her “Give me to drink” (for the disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat).
He opened the dialogue by asking for her help-He was
thirsty. He had made all the water in
existence, but He needed some right then.
He used a natural approach; people respond to that.
The woman raised the SOCIAL barrier v9
She says, “Thou being a Jew…the Jews have no dealings with the
Samaritans”. This was loaded with
prejudice for it was not the truth, since the disciples were away buying meat
from the Samaritans. What was true is
that there was a social barrier, they were not exactly on speaking terms. Jesus answered by ignoring the obvious
objection, saying(v10) “If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith
unto thee Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him and He would have
given thee living water.”-reference is made to this in Isaiah 12v3 and 44v3,
but the Samaritans did not read the prophets.
The woman raises the CREDIBILITY barrier v11-12 “Sir thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from
whence hast thou that living water. Art
thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof
himself and his children, and his cattle?”
What you are saying makes no sense for you have no
means of drawing the water, and our forefathers have been drawing from here for
centuries. How come you have better
water than they? Jesus answered her “Whosoever
drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst: but the water that I shall give him,
shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
This raises what is a major biblical subject and often
unconsidered, the issue of human thirst in the spiritual sense. This can only be satisfied from the Creator. Man is more than the body, and he has
spiritual needs, that God alone can satisfy.
The subject occurs often in scripture and is even mentioned in the last
chapter-Revelation 22v17 “And him that is athirst come, and whosoever will let
him take of the water of life freely.” There
is water which satisfies the body, and there is the water of life which
satisfies the soul.
The woman raises the CURIOSITY barrier v15 There
is a certain drudgery associated with physical life which cannot fully meet
peoples need. “Sir, give me this
water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.” This is akin to the words of the
listening crowd in John 6v34-“Lord evermore give us this bread.” Everyone knows, deep down that there is more
to life than the material. There is
within a hankering for something better.
Back in Eden, at the fall, the devil suggested that God was withholding
some good from the woman, and this lie has been swallowed down the ages of
time, yet within we know there is something more than man can provide. It was a form of scepticism, but her
curiosity was aroused.
Jesus raises the MORAL barrier v16-18 “Jesus saith unto her, Go call thy husband and come hither. The woman answered and said I have no husband.
Jesus
said unto her, thou hast well said, I
have no husband, for thou hast had five husbands and he whom thou now hast is
not thy husband in that saidst thou truly” There is always a moral barrier; there are
always things in our lives that come between us and God. We are all different, and we all have different
issues, but there is a lifestyle barrier that prevents us from seeking
God. In the case of the woman the
problem was loyalty and commitment to a marriage bond. There is no suggestion, as some have inferred
that she was a prostitute, but she did have a problem in marital affairs. Why does the Lord raise this? Because being right with God, and enjoying
His blessings involves the removal of sins-judicially at first, then
practically eventually. However, there
must be confession of sin, acknowledgment of need. Jesus focused on the need of the woman, what
she lacked, that He could provide, rather than her shortcomings. In this way He drew her, when otherwise she
might have been repelled. He took the
opposite approach with Nicodemus who should have known better. We can
learn from the wisdom of this meeting. This
evoked from her the ultimate barrier…I’ve got my own religion. How many times have we heard that as an
excuse?
The woman raises the RELIGIOUS barrier v19-26
Personally she was drawn to Him but was hindered by the historical and
spiritual differences.
“The woman saith unto Him Sir, I perceive that thou
art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in
this mountain and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to
worship. Jesus said unto her, woman,
believe me the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem
worship the Father. Ye worship ye know
not what: we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the fathers
seeketh such to worship Him. God is a
spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The woman said unto him, I know that Messiah
cometh which is called Christ: when He is come, He will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee
am He.”
We note the progressive awareness of the woman, as she
gradually has her eyes opened. She first
saw Him as a Jew-v9; then she addressed Him as “Sir”-v11, v15, v19, the word is
kurios which elsewhere many times is translated as Lord and suggests
someone having supreme authority; then she perceives Him to be a prophet-v19,
that is one who speaks for God; finally, she accepts Him as the Messiah, the
highest accolade of all-v29.
