Good Evening! The Samaritan woman was a terrible sinner. She had 5 husbands and now she had a live in boy friend. She was an outcast from her own society. Her life was miserable, wretched, and dry. But praise God! He did not abandon her to perish in her sins. Rather he was actively sought her out to transform her from a thirsty Samaritan woman a true worshiper of God.

I. A little background

Who were the Samaritans? 450 years before Jesus’ journey to Samaria the Assyrians had replaced the Jewish population with Samaritan colonists.  The Samaritans accepted just the first 5 books of Moses and they mingled pagan practices and idols from the Assyrians with the Law.  They even built a temple on Mt. Gerizim as a rival to the temple in Jerusalem. The Jews regarded the Samaritans as half-breeds and reprobates, and hated them even more than they hated the Gentiles.

Not long ago in the segregated South, a white person wouldn’t dream of drinking from the fountain labeled “colored.”  Conditions were the same in what we call “The Holy Land” A Jew would not drink form the same well with a Samaritan.

Look at verses 1-4. Jesus popularity was growing in Judea and in order to avoid a conflict he decided to depart from Judea. Notice vs 4. “he had to go through Samaria”  Many of us avoid driving through “bad neighborhoods” if we can.  Many Jews went out of their way to get from Judea to Galilee. The most direct route ran through Samaria, today’ “West Bank.” But they would double the 70 mile trip to almost 150 miles, taking the hot desert road from Jerusalem to Jericho and then traveling up the Jordan Valley, just to avoid Samaritans.

But Jesus was different. He was smarter and more importantly there were no human barriers in Jesus. There is no prejudice in Jesus Christ.

Look at verses 5 & 6.  About a half a mile west of the village of Sycar he stopped to take a break at Jacob’s well. It was about noon so while Jesus rested by the well the disciples went into the village to get some fish burgers and pizza.

It was a historic spot—Jacob’s well, at the foot of Mount Gerizim.  In the bible wells are romantic places.  It was at a well that Abraham’s servant found a wife for Isaac (Gen. 24).  It was also at a well that Jacob first met beautiful Rachel, whom he fell in love with at first sight. In order to marry Rachel he worked for her uncle for 14 years.  (Gen. 29)

As Jesus rested by the well perhaps he surveyed the panoramic view of the mountains before him. The Israelites were commanded to read the Law of Moses every year from the tops of the twin mountains that span the valley that leads up to the city of Samaria, Mt. Gerizim on the east and Mt. Ebal on the west. Mt Gerizim was the place where the blessings of the Law were read; while Mt. Ebal was where the curses of the Law were read to those who disobeyed it.

Jesus quite time was disturbed when a Samaritan woman came to draw water.(7)  In those days it was strange to see a lone woman coming to draw water in the heat of the afternoon.  Usually the women would come together in the cool of the evening to chat together about the days events.  It was the one time they had to get together and fellowship.  But this Samaritan woman was different.  She came alone to the well because she was an outcast. She was a social pariah among social pariahs.  So she would walk about a half a mile or so to Jacob’s well to avoid the inevitable pointing and snickering.

Jesus initiated a conversation with her: “will you give me a drink?”  Jesus could have taken the bucket from her and drew his own water.  He could have said to her “deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” But she wasn’t ready for this advanced  Christian lesson. She was deeply wounded woman. Jesus humbled himself, and ingratiated himself to her. Jesus is gentle and humble of heart. Jesus is a wonderful Savior.

Jesus simple question shocked this unshockable Samaritan woman. Her response is telling. “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman.  How can you ask me for a drink?”  It is a scandal the woman herself takes note of.  When Jesus requests of her, “Give me a drink” she questions him directly “How is it, that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me?”…read between the lines. “What kind of a Jew are you anyway?”  In the first place, she was well aware of the bitter feelings between the races.  The Jews had very specific rules about how to eat and drink, and that most defiantly included not drinking from the vessel of a non-Jew.

Secondly, she was a woman, and you’ve heard what it was like for women in those days.  Second class is hardly adequate to describe their status. They were forbidden to worship with men. Nor did they have the same civil rights as men. They were almost thought of as property.  Neither was a man supposed to speak with a woman in public, including his own wife.  For a Rabbi to discuss theology with a woman was so extraordinary at to be unimaginable.

But when Jesus gently asked her for a drink, he boldly refused to fit the Jewish stereotype.

Look at verse 10.. Jesus answer is far from what this woman expects to hear.  Jesus does not explain how He can ask to drink water from her cup.  Instead, He immediately seeks to show her that she is the one in need of “water,” and that the “water” he gives is vastly superior to the water she can give.

Jesus indicated to this woman that there is something of which she is ignorant.  She knows neither the “gift of God” nor the identity of the One speaking to her.  If she knew these things, Jesus tells her, she would be asking Him for a drink, and he would have given her “living water” to drink. She doesn’t really understand what Jesus is saying, but she does understand that He is claiming to be someone important, and to have something she would want if she knew who He was and what He could give her.

So she says to Jesus (read vs 11-12) As Nicodemus did earlier the woman takes Jesus literally.  She thinks Jesus is telling her that he can give her better water than that which this well provides. By “living water,” she might think Jesus is going to offer her some bottled spring water or clear cool mountain water..

Also if His water is truly better water than that which can be drawn from this well, then Jesus must at least think He is better than Jacob, who dug the well, used it to bountifully provide for men and flocks alike, and then gave it to his descendant, among whom this woman considers herself.  Does Jesus dare claim to be better than Jacob?

Look at verse 13.  Jesus does not answer the question about being greater than Jacob quite yet.  He momentarily sets her question aside and answers it indirectly by showing that His “water” is better “water” than that provided by Jacob’s well. Jacob’s well “water” temporarily quenches thirst, but only for a time, and then more water is required.  This woman recognizes the “inferiority” of this “water” because day after day she must return to the well for more.

What well do we draw from to quench our thirst? Some people like to sit in front of a big screen TV reclining in their lazy boy ultra deluxe recliner with the cup holders built into the arm. The Samaritan woman had a thirst for human love and acceptance. Just like me and you. Some find to find relief in drugs and wild living. When I was in college that’s what I did. But this only made me miserable because I couldn’t find the meaning to my life. But Jesus came and offered me living water. When I am guided by the Holy Spirit I don’t chase thirst quenchers that will leave me feeling thirsty again. We spend a lot of time, and a lot of money buying and experiencing things we hope will satisfy our inner thirst but those things never sastifies our thirsty souls.

But the “water” of which Jesus speaks is vastly better.  This “water” that Jesus has permanently quenches one’s thirst.  The one who drinks His “water” will never thirst again—and this “living water” produces eternal life.  John chapter 8 verse 37 “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” Do you believe this?

The woman at the well was intrigued by this living water. She thought this would just be a practical solution to the everyday problem of having to come to the well to draw water. Sounds good to me she must have thought, hardly knowing what to make of it all. “Sir” she said boldly, “give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty again or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

But little did she know what she was really asking.  Abruptly Jesus changes the subject. Look at verse 16.  Can you feel the stress?  The tension builds as she stops dead in her tracks to carefully consider her response to this curveball he has just tossed her.  Should she be angry that his is suddenly getting so personal? Should she be dishonest because she doesn’t want to admit to her current state of affairs?

She musters up her remaining shreds of dignity and looks Jesus right in the eye. “I have no husband.” Jesus responds to her (read vs 17b) Why does Jesus bring up this sore point in her life? It is because Jesus must touch her life sin problem in order for her to be healed. Jesus is not afraid to look into the messy parts of our lives. Secondly Jesus is calling her to repent of her sins. We must turn away and forsake our life sin problem no matter how chronic it is.

Imagine the Samaritans woman’s life. Perhaps she was married first a 16 then divorced at 24. Then she remarried at 26 and divorced at 35. and  so on and so on until she became a hardened middle aged woman with a live in boy friend.

Why does a woman go through five husbands and then keep living with men anyway. It is an old, old, story-telling a great weakness in the fallen human race.  The hunger is for the thrill and excitement of falling into romantic love. My dear co-worker loves romance. How do I know? Everytime we rent a movie she insist that we a least rent one romantic comedy.

When people fall in love it transforms a perfectly ordinary boy into a Greek god in the eyes of a girl.  It transforms a nice young girl into an irresistible Aphrodite making a boy’s heart pound and his head swim.

A book store has a whole section devoted to romance novels. Guess why? Because a woman dreams of romantic love. She wants to find the man of her dreams to hold her in his big strong arms and tell her everything is going to be all right. If she could just find that one man to give her whole heart to it might be her ultimate pleasure just to make her man a good home cooked meal. But the problem with this kind of intoxicating romantic love is that it is only found in romance novels. It doesn’t really exist in the real world.

The Samaritan woman kept on trying for the pleasure and intoxication of falling in love. But that high excitement cannot be perpetuated. It’s impossible, but the deceived refuse to believe it. They take on new partners, looking for what is now fading in the old one. The cycle never ends. They never quench their thirst and at the end of it they are just miserable. Have you ever watched an episode of MTV’s The Real World. All those people seem just so miserable even though they have all these relationships.

When Jesus said “You have had 5 husbands and the one you now have is not your husband” He is telling it like it is, yet at the same time, refrains from judging her. Rather than distancing himself from her because of her past, he draws closer to her.  He wants her to deal with the sin problem in her life, the problem of immorality.

The sudden intimacy and unexplainable knowledge Jesus has of her is a little unsettling to the woman, as you can imagine. She begins to realize this man truly knows her.  If he knows all this about me already, what else could he know? She switches the topic in verse 19 not because she wants to avoid talking about herself but she really has a deep thirst for spiritual reality as she raises the subject of worship. Catching her breath over the fact that this conversation is even happening, she steps forward to engage Jesus at another level.

Look at verse 19. At first glance we see a woman whose personal life is in turmoil, but she cares about worship.  Jesus really cares about worship, land he wants to introduce this sinful woman to the worship of God as a loving Father so that she can become a “true worshiper.”  Jesus wants her to see that God is the initiator of worship and he is always seeking people who will respond to him wholeheartedly as worshipers.

One of the greatest issues that divided the Samaritans and the Jews was the place of worship. It had been debated for hundreds of years and caused bitter feelings between them. The question at stake was who had most direct access to God.

Look at verses 21-24.  Jesus answer wasn’t like anything she could have expected.  He implied that true worship of God would transcend both Jerusalem and Gerizim.  God’s grace was available to all and all were invited to worship together in spirit and truth—both chosen and rejected people, both male and female. These were the ones God was actually seeking. Children of God who might receive the Spirit that would enable them to transcend earthly institutions and worship God with sincere hearts.

By the end of the conversation the woman confesses. Look at verse 25. and Jesus replied to her. “I who speak to you am he”  (Pause) A shiver must have gone through her body, because the flash of recognition was instantaneous. Because she left the water jar and went to the town to tell all of the people.

When the disciples returned they were munching on some burritos and were they ever surprised, not because he was talking to a Samaritan but that he was talking with a woman! But you notice no one dared to ask, “What’s going on here” or “Why are you speaking with her”  ----They could feel the electricity in the air. This conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman might have begun about a drink of water but it concluded with a revelation about who they both were.  She was no longer simply a Samaritan woman, but a child of God. He, no longer a tired and thirsty Jewish stranger but the true Messiah.

Though this story comes to us from another time and another place. It seems particularly relevant today.  We often talk to students who are searching for living water, though they may call it something else.  Even many of us are dry and thirsty.  People look to human relationships and strange practices to quench their thirst. Our souls are always thirsting for God, according to the psalmist (Psalm 63) as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

The Samaritan woman bears witness to the fact that even the most estranged among us can receive the gift of living water.