Jesus and the Woman at the Well

 

Last Saturday our ladies at the First Baptist Church of Cottondale (Texas, that is - there are two others, in Florida and Alabama) held the usual Mother/Daughter Banquet before Mothers Day - only this one was a Ladies Luau.

I do have to say that these are always memorable occasions and we have from one to four generations of ladies attending, enjoying great food, seeing an uniquely fitting skit, plus a biblical message applicable for the ages.

Our pastor's wife gave our devotional. It is a well known story, so often referred to as The Woman at the Well, and is found in John's fourth chapter. In the first four verses we learn that the religious Pharisees had learned that more people had been baptized after hearing Jesus than had been baptized by John. We also learned that Jesus had not done any of the baptizing. 

When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. (John 4:1-3 KJV)

The fourth verse sets an interesting stage:

And he must needs go through Samaria. (John 4:4 KJV)

The Bible mentions Samaria several times. The Samaritans worshipped the same God as the Judeans, but were located in the northern kingdom of Israel, separated from Jerusalem, the center of Jewish worship. Oxford Bibliographies has a page on Samaria that includes:

'The name “Samaria” was applied to the region when the city of Samaria became the capital of the northern Israelite kingdom under King Omri in the 9th century BCE. In the biblical period, the majority of the population in the region were Yahweh worshipers (even after the Assyrian conquest in the late 8th century BCE), just as the Judeans to the south of them. Those Yahweh worshipers of the region of Samaria who eventually rejected Jerusalem and its temple as sacred centers are the Samaritans. For them, Mount Gerizim in the vicinity of ancient Shechem (modern Tell Balatah, near Nablus) and the temple on it became the focus of religious life.'

Jesus gave the parable of the Good Samaritan, but the woman at the well was a real person, and they had an interesting exchange. Samaria was on the way from Judea to Galilee, and along the way they stopped for food and water at Jacob's well - yes, the Jacob who was renamed Israel, who had twelve sons:

Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. (John 4:5-9 KJV)

As I understand the culture at the time, it was not unusual for a man to ask a woman to do something for him, but unusual for a woman to not only answer the man, but to question him. Just as strange was His answer to her:

Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (John 4:10 KJV)

Do you know that "gift of God" that Jesus referenced? Following their discussion the woman did, described who she thought He was, and He confirmed it:

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. (John 4:25-26 KJV)

If you know that same Jesus, you know that He is the gift of God. Paul knew it when he wrote the church at Corinth:

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. (2 Corinthians 9:15 KJV)

We cannot say what the townspeople said at the end of this story:

And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. (John 4:42 KJV)

Moses and multiple writers in the Old Testament wrote of Him, for the woman at the well knew those stories. We read of Him through others. Here we read John's story. Matthew, Mark, Luke, Paul, James, and Jude give us more of Him, but still second hand to us. 

Please do your own reading, but also join groups such as our ladies at the celebratory Luau. There are many churches that use the Bible for their doctrine, their lesson, and as the inspired Word of God that convinced us as Jesus did the woman at the well. 

A Reason For Reading in Context

 

I've done a couple of blogs  on the reason my readers should not take my word for it that what I copy from the Bible and insert here is God's message. It has to be "taken in context." As Google's AI explains:

Context is the situation in which something occurs or exists, and it can help explain it. For example, "It is important to see all the fighting and bloodshed in his plays in historical context". 

Context can also refer to the parts of a written or spoken statement that come before or after a specific word or passage, and usually affect its meaning or effect. For example, "You have misinterpreted my remark because you took it out of context".

Let me sshare an example that occurred today. It happened in a prayer group of scattered people, with one person in the group, whose husband is experiencing serious health problems, certainly in need of prayer from believers in God's ability to help His children. The group utilizes a social media that allows them to cross time zones and international boundaries to join in specific prayers. That's a blessing in so many ways.

One sincere believer wrote to "name and claim" a specific verse that she believed carried a promise from God:

Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. (Job 22:27-28 KJV)

That does sound good, doesn't it? It's easy from these two verses to assume God is speaking to Job, telling Job that all he has to do is pray, giving a decree of what he wants, and it will happen. That is taking it out of context.

Job's story is about tragedies he endured, costing him his family and all he had worked for his entire life. He was left sitting in ashes, with four friends who came to keep him company, and to convince him of his sinfulness for God to have punished him so strongly. The person speaking in verses 27-28 is introduced in verse 1, and continues well beyond verse 28. The chapter heading is: Eliphaz Speaks: Job's Wickedness Is Great:

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous? or is it gain to him, that thou makest thy ways perfect? Will he reprove thee for fear of thee? will he enter with thee into judgment? Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite? (Job 22:1-5 KJV)

I really wouldn't want a friend such as Eliphaz to tell me how deeply I have failed God, even ignoring widows in need or breaking an orphan's arm. In veres 27-28, Eliphaz is encouraging Job to pray for God's mercy, God will hear when Job prays then pays for what he has done wrong. Job then can ask God for something good and expect it to happen. 

Trust me, bad things happen to very good people. They are inexplicable, beyond making sense out of what is happening. There are many tragedies we will not understand in this world, but a good deal of them simply occur because we live in an imperfect fallen world that does have active evil doers. Job was a good man. Get to know him at least in the first chapters of his book.

Also know there are promises spoken by God where He is specifically identified as the speaker. Our lesson in last Sunday's sermon from Habakkuk was such a promise - to allow Israel to fall to the Chaldeans:

Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs. (Habakkuk 1:5-6 KJV)

God kept his word there and Jerusalem fell, the people taken into captivity. For what life was like there, read the book of Daniel, a young man who purposed in his heart to do what God expects. Does God allowing Israel to be captive mean God is vengeful? Actually, He is just. Israel turned away from Him, forgot Him, ignored Him. The Chaldeans served as a reminder that from people given much, much is required.

To know God in context, the entire Bible is necessary. Don't treat is a buffet where only the gifts are shown. Remember that there are responsibilities, and communication is one. Search the Bible for God's interaction with mankind, not for verses that appear to fit the moment, especially when they are easily shown to be out of context. Open the book with a prayer that God's Holy Spirit will provide what you need.