She walked a lonely road, a water jug hoisted on her shoulder, that Samaritan woman. During the most intense heat of the day she made the trek, her solitary trek, to the village well. Only after the others had returned to their own homes did she venture out. They didn’t welcome her company. No more than she, knowing they despised her, cared for theirs.
Not a good woman
“Not a good woman!” they snipped, while looking down their supercilious noses at her, if they deigned to look her way at all. So she preferred the scorching sun to their clicking tongues and haughty glances.
And wiping her sweaty brow, she found herself wishing that she could as easily wipe her past away too. “But it might as well be engraved in stone,” she thought. “Nothing in the world could ever undo that. Or take away her shame.”
But all in all, she reflected, life wasn’t too bad. At last she’d found a man who treated her well. Much older, but at least he was kind and caring to her and the child. Though she’d rather live alone. Free of the stigma of living with a man out of wedlock. Yet without him, starvation would have stared her in the face.
If only the Messiah would come
“I know the Messiah is coming,” she thought. “Coming to set us free. Maybe that could change things, even for me.” And then she saw him sitting there. No one ever visited there at midday. But there he was. And noting his prayer shawl, she saw that he wasn’t even a local man, but a Jew!
A stranger, and a Jewish one at that. And me, a woman here alone! What will he think of me coming here alone, and at this hour? But seeing he paid her no mind, she approached cautiously. Hopeing to pass unobserved.
“Give me a drink,” he said, startling, though not frightening her.
“How can you, a Jew, ask me for a drink?” she asked, knowing full well that Jews never shared a Samaritan’s cup.
Eternal words
And that’s when he spoke the words forever engraved on her mind and soul. And deeply implanted in her heart.
“If you knew who it is that says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
She remembered asking how he could draw that life-giving water, seeing he had no jug. And he answered, “Whoever drinks this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. It will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.”
A teacher… and there was something special about him! She could learn from him. Maybe he could even tell her about the Messiah!
And then he told her everything she had ever done in her life! He knew she’d had five men, and was even then living out-of-wedlock. Yet he didn’t recoil from her. There was love and acceptance in his eyes and voice. And it gave her courage to express her longing for the Messiah, the deliverer. The chance to become free.
“I am him. I am the Messiah,” he said. And she knew he had spoken the truth. Realized that she recognized it almost from the start.
The long-awaited Messiah!
“The Messiah, the long-awaited Messiah!” She had to share such news! News of one who could give life-giving water – even to one like her! So she left her water pot, racing to share the new water she’d found. Life-giving water! “Come and see the man who told me everything I’ve ever done,” she told them. “Could he be the Messiah?”
“The Messiah has come?” they marveled. “And he came to one like her? We must go and see!”
That invitation is still valid today. Christ offers his living water to one and all. He offers it to you and to me. And he still extends it to all whose lives seem broken beyond repair. Like the Samaritan woman, and like many of us.
To all who will listen he is saying, “Come drink the living water. Come and be forever changed.”
Jesus said, ‘Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.’
John 4:13-14 CSB
Images from FreeBibleImages.org: Woman by well & Jesus by www.LumoProject.com | Woman with jar by Sweet Publishing.
Signora Sheila 
I love this story of our Messiah moving toward someone so lost and despised–as we all really are. That He came there for her, for her salvation, which led to the salvation of many. Such love and grace are so lavish, filling us to the brim with life and hope and eternity. Thanks for this, my friend.
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Lavish love. I love that description, Dayle! That fits our Lord so well. You’ve given me a beautiful thought for the day, my friend! Lavish love…
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You always leave me with remarkable things to consider, Sheila.
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You too! ❤
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“Thank you for interesting post. By the way have you heard of the new book called “The Jewish Gospel of John: Discovering Jesus, King of All Israel”? The books website is located here -http://jewishgospelofjohn.com Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg is an Israeli New Testament scholar.”
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Hello, Dr. Durham! I’m glad you enjoyed the Samaritan Woman story. No, I had not heard of that book, but it sounds most interesting! Thanks for tip! Be blessed.
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IT’S TUESDAY MORNING .I LOVED THE STORY OF THE WOMEN AT THE WELL.LOOKING LIKE RAIN.MISS YOU GUYS SO MUCH, STAY HEALTHY.MOM
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Thanks Mom! The episode of the woman at the well is such an encouragement to us all. There is hope, life, and forgiveness, for each and every one of us! Miss you both so much too. Keep well, keep happy, and keep your eyes on the Lord. He never fails. Be blessed.
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The Samaritan woman became a great evangelist just by telling people what she knew. It’s not too hard to do. Thanks for the post.
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So true! Sometimes we try to make it too complicated. Yet it’s just really recounting what we’ve come to know about our awesome Lord! Thanks for all your encouraging comments! Be blessed.
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You are very welcome, and a blessing to me and many others whom you will never know, “until Glory.”
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