I have been think a great deal about the The Gospel from this past Sunday —the encounter Jesus had with the Samaritan woman at the well. We don’t know her name or her age. But her conversation with Jesus is his longest one-on-one conversation recorded in Scripture. So maybe this is a real important passage that we
should pay attention to.
It was midday and hot. Jesus, tired from traveling, chose a sensible rest stop—Jacob’s well on the outskirts of town. He decided to wait there while his disciples went into town for food. An unnamed woman appears with clay jar in hand. Jesus makes a simple request: “Will you give me a drink?” This is where Jesus broke all the barriers of nationality and Jewish custom. Jews weren’t supposed to speak to Samaritans. Men weren’t
permitted to address women without their husbands present. And rabbis had no business speaking to shady ladies such as this one. Jesus was willing to toss out the rules, but the woman at the well wasn’t. “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman,” she reminded him. “How can you ask me for a drink?” The Jews and Samaritans had been divided for centuries. They had no dealings with one another, avoiding all social contact. If their paths crossed it would not be unusual for hostility to break out. But instead of insisting she pour him a drink of water, he offered her Living Water. She begins to question Jesus wanting to know how he was going to draw this Living Water when he didn’t even have a bucket.
To continue the conversation Jesus tells her to go and get her husband. When she confessed, “I have no husband” Jesus affirmed her answer, then gently exposed her sin: “The fact is, you have had five husbands,
and the man you now have is not your husband.” Five marriages didn’t make her a sinner. But sharing her bed with a sixth man who wasn’t her husband? That was a sin. Did she confess? Nope. She changed the subject. She talked about worship, Jerusalem, the differences between Jews and Samaritans. Again, we understand her evasion. We’ve probably done it ourselves. This conversation was getting too scary and way too personal. Finally, the woman at the well did her best to shut Jesus down. “When [the Messiah] comes, he will explain everything to us”. How stunned she must have been at Jesus’ revelation: “I who speak to you am he”.
Now the disciples show up and confirm his identity and gave the woman time to process the truth: The Anointed One had come! Overjoyed, she left her water jar and went back into town to urge her
neighbors, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” What can we learn from this encounter? Jesus showed the universality of the Gospel. No one is barred from the love of God and the good news of salvation. Where will we encounter Jesus? What will our reaction be? Remember, the only thing that can keep us from God and his redeeming love — our stubborn pride and willful rebellion.