Woman At The Well

Scripture: John 4:1-42 (ESV Extract 4:1-24) – “Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.  And he had to pass through Samaria.  So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.  Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.  A woman from 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.)  The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)  Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying 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 water with, and the well is deep.  Where do you get that living water?  Are you greater than our father Jacob?  He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.’  Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.  The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’  The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.’”

“Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’  The woman answered him, ‘I have no husband.’  Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband.  What you have said is true.’  The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.’  Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’” (please read the entire text in your Bible – extract limited to 500 words due to copyright permission limitation)

Message: “Come, see” she said, rushing through her town, filled with joy.  She’d met the Savior they’d been waiting for, and she wanted everyone to know.  Jesus knew her sins, and instead of shaming her, he invited her into comfort and hope.  She was fully known, but not turned away.  At her invitation, the town came to hear Jesus for themselves.

In a remote Guatemalan mountain village, our group performed plays about the one who brought joy.  As we portrayed the truth of the gospel, the people smiled.  The crowd was small, but we persisted.  The pastor who traveled with us preached a message about salvation in Christ.

The next day we set up and waited for the crowds to gather.  Women in colorful skirts trudged through the mud to listen, babies resting on their hips.  Men hovered around the edge, listening, hats protecting them from the misty rain.  By the time we were ready, the crowd had doubled. The people were so eager to hear that they came through the rain, others they had told also came. 

They heard how Jesus died to save them from their sins, gifting them freedom from death with the promise of everlasting life.  Their souls were touched as they remembered the good news from the play.  As villagers heard the gospel, broad smiles spread through the crowd.

You don’t have to go to a remote village to share the news of the world’s Savior.  There are many waiting in your own village for the joy and hope that Jesus offers.  He knows their sins; He died on the cross for them.  He gives lasting peace and rest for all who believe.  Now, you have the powerful message of salvation so many are waiting to hear.  Go.  Be bold.  Invite others.

Prayer: Father God, thank You for sending Your Son to us, and for His sacrifice for our salvation.  Please give me boldness and the words to spread the joy of salvation to those I meet.  Amen.

Danielle Roberts
Faith Community Church,
 Hudson, Wisconsin