Well (John 4:1-42)

 

Well (John 4:1-42)

 

Whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him
will never be thirsty again, but the water that I will give him
will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.
John 4:14

Why was the condemned well kicked off the debate team?

Its argument couldn’t hold water.

 

Why don’t they ever make movies about wells?

They’re always too deep.

 

What’s the difference between a poorly-built well and a chatty neighbor? One you can easily walk away from.

 

After the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, John 3 pivots to John the Baptist. The gospel reaffirms the supremacy of Jesus as the one sent from heaven by the Father. Jesus is the one God sent to speak God’s words. John joyfully humbles himself saying, “Christ must increase, and I must decrease.”

 

In today’s reading, Jesus speaks God’s words to an outcast among her people. The Samaritan village Sychar (Soo-khawr’) means drunken. It is closely associated with the Old Testament town of Shechem.

 

The patriarch Abraham built an altar at Shechem upon arriving in the promised land. Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, bought land in Shechem. He built an altar there and dug a well. He and his household lived there until the son of the chieftain raped his daughter Dinah. In retaliation, Jacob’s sons murdered all the men of Shechem.

 

At Shechem, Joshua reconfirmed Israel’s commitment to the covenant given through Moses. They wrote the law on stone tablets and placed them on Mount Ebal. Shechem lies in the valley between Mt Ebal and Mt Gerizim. Joshua built an altar upon Ebal.

 

 

 

When the nation split into the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel, the northern kingdom made Shechem its first capitol city. After The Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom, they imported foreigners to irradicate any memory of the Hebrews who lived there.

 

By the time of Jesus, the people living in Shechem/Sychar were called Samaritans. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews. They considered them to be half-breeds and heretical. The Samaritans’ scriptures were the first five books of the Bible, the Torah given through Moses. They rejected the Davidic line of kings and refused to recognize Jerusalem as the place for worship. Instead, the Samaritans built a temple upon Mount Gerizim.

 

Jesus is traveling from the Jordan Valley to Galilee and passed through Samaria on the way. He sat down at Jacob’s well because he was tired and thirsty.

 

Wells are important community gathering spots. We still refer to the traditional community well when we call a local tavern the old watering hole. When you read Genesis, there’s mention of wells dug by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. One story shows how the Philistines begrudged the wandering Hebrews. Abraham was considered blessed by God by the Philistine King Abimelech. When Abraham died, they showed no regard for Abraham’s son, Isaac. They filled in the wells that Abraham had dug. They fought over the wells that Isaac dug. After 2 different wells were filled by the Philistines, Isaac dug a third without incident. He praised the Lord.

 

“Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will prosper in the land.”

 

The ownership of a well was as good as owning the land around it. Wells were a sign of God’s blessing. By owning wells, Isaac was receiving God’s promise of the land.

 

Wells were also a sign of fertility. When Jacob watered his flocks, they would mate near a watering trough at a well. AND it was at a well where Moses, Isaac and Jacob all found their future wives. So apparently the old watering hole is a good place for hook ups.

 

But on this day, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman drawing water in the middle of the day. Jews do not associate with Samaritans and it was considered morally questionable for a Jewish man to speak to a woman without her husband present. Religious leaders were known to cross the street to avoid encountering women. Since women were considered unclean during menstruation, men thought it best to remove any threat to religious cleanliness by completely avoiding women.

 

So it is remarkable how Jesus treats the Samaritan woman. Not only is she a heretic, she’s a woman who has failed at marriage 5 times. She’s an outcast among her own people. We all know that Jesus taught that remarriage while one’s divorced spouse still lives is adultery. Jesus isn’t squeamish about asking for a drink of water from a scorned Samaritan woman with questionable morals. This close contact with her made Jesus unclean. But Jesus has a different agenda than ritual purity. He is about loving people. He makes himself available to whoever may cross his path.

 

On this day, it’s a woman with no friends that Jesus meets. Others came to the well early morning or at day’s end when the sun isn’t so hot. But this woman came at noon, so that she might be alone. Interactions with her neighbors were painful. But Jesus sees her. He knows what she’s done, and that doesn’t stop him from offering her what he came to give, abundant life.

 

When Jesus asks her for a drink of water, she is surprised. “How can you, a Jew, ask me for a drink?” Jesus seizes the opportunity to talk of something deeper. He dangles the idea that he is someone special who can give her living water.

 

Living water generally means running water, or a gushing spring. So she responds by saying, “How are you gonna give me water, when you don’t even have a bucket? Surely you don’t presume to think yourself greater than our ancestor Jacob!”

 

She holds her ground with this stranger. She’s not buying it, not just yet. I like to think that Jesus finds her refreshing, a courageous soul.

 

Jesus ups the ante. He tells her that if she drinks from Jacob’s well, she’ll be thirsty again. If she drinks the living water that Jesus gives, she’ll never thirst again. Jacob’s well represents Jewish and Samaritan history. Both Jews and Samaritans descend from Jacob. The Samaritans remember Jacob since they draw from his well. Their scripture tells Jacob’s story. The woman quips, “Give me this water you speak of, so I won’t have to keep coming here to the well to draw water day after day.” This might imply that her religious tradition has its limits. Her thirst for God persists.

 

Now Jesus gets personal. “Go get your husband.” She admits she doesn’t have one. Jesus knows. He sees her. He knows her story and it hasn’t been pretty.

 

“Right you are… you’ve had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband. You speak the truth!” A lesser woman may have walked away feeling insulted, but not this one. She takes a good long look at Jesus and realizes this stranger is no ordinary Jew. He has astonishing insight. He must be a prophet from God. So, she takes up the religious topic. “I can see you are a prophet. You, Jews, say we must worship at your temple in Jerusalem, instead of here on Mt Gerizim where my ancestors worshipped.”

 

Again, another challenge. She’s no pushover. And I respect her for that. I think, perhaps, Jesus is also impressed by her stamina in their battle of wits. Jesus is a master at these kinds of conversations, always finding ways to draw his audience closer to God.

Jesus tells her, “Very soon it’s not going to be about the place of worship, but about the hearts of those who worship. God is seeking those who worship Him in spirit and truth.” A clear invitation.

 

The woman seems to shrug it off. “The messiah will make all these things clear in the future.” Jesus responds. “I am the messiah. The future is here, now.” Filled with wonder, she ran back to town telling everyone about Jesus. “Come, see this man who told me everything I ever did. I think he might be the messiah!”

 

Meanwhile back at Jacob’s well, the disciples arrive from their supply run. They were shocked that Jesus had been talking to a Samaritan woman, but they didn’t say anything. Instead they encouraged Jesus to eat. But Jesus told them, “I have food you know nothing about.”

 

I imagine Jesus watching the woman running to tell her neighbors, “Come and See!” Her excitement was food for Jesus’ soul. He came into the world for such as these. He didn’t see half-breed heretics. He saw beloved children in need of the saving love of their Father. Jesus foresaw a plentiful harvest there among the Samaritans.

 

Leaving her water jar behind is symbolic of the Samaritan woman leaving behind her old religion for lifegiving faith in Jesus. For she tasted of the Spirit as Jesus spoke God’s words to her. She felt God touching her heart. And she wanted more. In her excitement she brought many others from the village to meet Jesus. They heard the words of God themselves and placed their hope in Jesus as their messiah. They shared their joy. “We know that this one really is the Savior of the world.”

 

Jesus told his disciples that the food He is interested in is completing His father’s work. By doing what He was sent to do, Jesus felt immense satisfaction. Seeing the Samaritans respond with such joy, quenched the thirst of his heart and sated the hunger of his soul.

 

In every human heart, no matter what they believe or don’t believe, regardless of their religious background or moral behavior, is a deep well meant for God. We all have a God shaped hole. Nothing in this world can fill that empty well inside, until the living God fills it. We might find temporary means to satisfy our hearts’ hunger and thirst, but there’s only One who satisfies so that we never hunger or thirst again. Jesus came to give us abundant life. He pours into our hearts living water. The Holy Spirit of God wells up in our souls, overflowing to eternal life. So learn to drink deep from the well within.

 

The story of the Samaritan woman at the well gives us hope that God will satisfy our hearts with living water. Jesus gives the Spirit to all who trust in Him for salvation. Our sins, our failures and mistakes, do not disqualify us. Jesus sees us, loves us as we are, and calls us to come closer to God. He knows your life. He knows your pain. He knows your hopes and dreams. He knows your deepest need. And he knows that He can satisfy your heart’s longings with the gift of God.

 

Come and see the One who sees you! Come to the well and drink.