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. (John 4:5-9)

Look At The Fields

The life of Jesus was a wonderful cornucopia of moments that revealed the character of deity in the flesh and the surprising relationship of a teacher to His disciples. Jesus would find Himself in conflict with the religious leaders of the day because He made no separation of persons as He dined with Publicans, touched the flesh of lepers, spent time with little children, talked with tax collectors and was brazen enough to speak to a woman in the middle of the day at the well of Jacob. The Lord had left Judea wanting to return to Galilee but He needed to go through Samaria. More than a thousand years before the birth of Christ, Jacob gave a plot of ground to his son Joseph and there was a well that was still in use that was Jacob’s well. Wearied from His journey, the Lord sent the disciples into the city for food while He rested at the well. Soon after arriving at the well, a woman came from the city to draw water. As the woman approached the well, it would have been uncomfortable for her to see a Jew sitting by the well where she was to draw water. Being the middle of the day it has been surmised that because of the character of the woman which was later revealed by Jesus she came to the well at noon because of being shunned by the women of the city. Regardless, she was a Samaritan and the man resting by the well was a Jew. Long-held customs did not allow the Jews and Samaritans to interact much less a man dignify a woman by speaking to her. She warily took her vessel to draw water when Jesus speaks to her. He asked for a drink of water.

Jesus was tired. He was very tired. Exhausted from the grueling schedule and the long journey by foot from Judea, the Lord needed to take some time to refresh Himself and relax. Sending the disciples into the city to buy some food would give Him some much-needed downtime to reflect and gather Himself together. He was thirsty but there was nothing at the well that He could draw water. Deity sat by a well of water that He had created and could not draw the water. In the distance, a lone figure appeared carrying a bucket. It was a Samaritan woman who had lived a very immoral life. She was living with a man that she was not married although she had been married five times previous. When she began to draw the water from the well, Jesus asked a simple request. He desired a drink of water. This startled the woman as Jews would not ask a Samaritan for anything much less a Samaritan woman. As the conversation grew the man from Nazareth opened the eyes of the woman of Samaria to the bountiful grace of a loving God who came to give all men the water of life as a fountain springing up into everlasting life. There was no rabbinic prejudice in the man’s voice as He conversed with the woman and it did not dissuade the Lord the woman was not of the highest character in society. Two people came to a well to quench their thirsts but only one had the water of life. Jesus offered this outcast woman the greatest gift she would ever know.

The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman is the eternal voice of God telling every man that He loves and cares for them desiring to save them from themselves. There are so many souls that wander the earth trying to find happiness in the carnal pleasures of the flesh like the woman from Samaria. She could not be satisfied in one marriage but had five husbands. This did not satisfy her and she decided to live with a man. She could never find happiness. As she walked to the well of Jacob she might have reflected on her life that had brought nothing but shame and heartache and believing there was no escaping her despondent life. There had been no hope in her life and there was no hope in her future. What she did not know was the man sitting by the well was going to give her something she had longed for all her life. He had the answer to what she needed. The water that He gave her would never make her thirst for the failings of human wisdom again. Believing in Jesus as the Son of God would change her life. Jesus was tired, weary and exhausted but He took the time to change the lives of not only the woman who came to the well but many of the Samaritans of that city who believed in Jesus that day. Everyone has a story and Jesus has the answer to every story. The disenfranchised of the world need the gospel as much (if not more) than the quiet neighbor who pays his taxes, work hard each day and attends church once in a while. Jesus talked to the woman at the well because she was not well. Her soul was corrupt with the filth of the world and Jesus washed her clean with the living water. Look at the fields for they are already white for harvest.