“Woman at the Well”
This drawing is based off of the story of the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. The story starts with Jesus needing to go through Samaria. In those days Jewish people would go out of their way and walk around Samaria because of the deep dislike between them and the Samaritans. Jesus, however, knew that there were people that he needed to meet there. Once there, weary from his journey at the hottest part of the day, he sat at Jacob’s well to rest. A woman from Samaria came to draw water alone. This is abnormal because women would typically draw water in groups at a cooler part of the day. Because she came alone at the hottest part, it is assumed that she may have been a social outcast and came alone to avoid the people of her village (Guzik, 2023).
At these times, by tradition, a rabbi would not so much as speak to a woman in public, not even his own wife (Guzik, 2023). Jesus, however, breaking tradition and societal standards, went out of his way to meet this Samaritan woman. He asks her for a drink and in response, the woman in her confusion asked him why he would ask her that with her being a Samaritan woman and him Jewish. In response, Jesus says, “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 asked him where he gets this water and if he is greater than Jacob who gave them this well. He then answered her by saying, “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.”
At some point in all of our lives, we have tried to satisfy this God-given thirst that our souls long and search for, but only Jesus can satisfy this otherwise unquenchable thirst in our spirits. In my life, I have looked to quench this thirst with people’s perceptions of me. If I just work harder, if I change in this way then people will see my value and I will finally feel complete. I worked so hard to be enough that I was fully depleted. My body could not handle it anymore and still I felt that I had to try harder. It is only through Jesus that I was finally able to see my worth and that I was always enough. His love for us is not contingent on what we can do for Him. It is never changing no matter what we’ve done or how inferior we feel that we are.
The woman still did not understand, asking where she could get this water so she no longer has to come to the well every day. Jesus, in response, says 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.” Jesus speaks to each person uniquely to speak to each person’s soul, as we can see in his response to the Samaritan woman. There is a quote from Charles Spurgeon, which states, “Christ has different doors for entering into different people’s souls. Into some, he enters by the understanding; into many, by the affections. To some, he comes by the way of fear; to another, by that of hope; and to this woman he came by way of her conscience” (Spurgeon, Guzik, 2023). Jesus did not bring up her sin with intent on embarrassing the woman, but because in that moment she needed to make a decision on what she loved more: her sin or her savior (Guzik, 2023). Eternal life is nothing that we have to work for or be enough for. It is a priceless gift that Jesus gives freely to all people, no matter who you are or what your past looks like. Although He calls us to repentance and to leave our sin behind, as he is doing with the Samaritan woman, we do not have to fix ourselves before coming to Him. It is only through Him that we are washed clean. Romans 10:9 NASB states, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” After confronting her sin, Jesus then discusses with her that an hour is coming and now is when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. The woman then said that she knows that the Messiah is coming and when He does, He will tell them all things. Jesus then says “I am He.”
The disciples then come back, astonished at the fact that Jesus would talk to this women. She then left her waterpot, going into the city and telling the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” This woman comes to the well to quench her thirst, yet leaves without what she came for, but with what she needed: the living water springing with eternal life. She did not feel condemned or shameful by being confronted with her sin, but felt fully known and fully loved in the fact that the Savior knew everything about her, yet met her with unmerited grace. Completely changed and freed from the weight of her sin, she goes back to the very people that she was avoiding to tell of what the Lord has done. The people of Samaria went out of the city and came to Him. After hearing what He had to say, they stated, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”
References
Guzik, D. (2023, April 27). Enduring word bible commentary John Chapter 4. Enduring Word. https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/john-4/
