John 4:7,9-12 7a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 9The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” 10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
This is a great story…the story of the nameless Samaritan woman at a well…a story recorded only in the Gospel of John…one most Christians believe they know and understand…but this morning I want us to revisit this story as though we are looking at it for the first time.
The story of the woman at the well follows on the heels of the account of Jesus’ interaction with Nicodemus…let’s look together as to what makes this story about the woman at the well different than the story of Nicodemus.
John 3 gives the account of Jesus’ interview with the Pharisee, Nicodemus…a religious leader and a moral man…John 4 gives the account of Jesus’ encounter with an immoral Samaritan woman…two people as different as they could be.
…Nicodemus was a Jewish man; she was a Samaritan woman.
…He was educated in the Jewish faith; she was uneducated.
…He was an influential leader; she was a nobody.
…He was monetarily rich; she was lower class.
…He was morally upright; she was immoral.
…He sought out Jesus; Jesus sought her out.
It’s important to understand the thousands of years of history behind this encounter… following the death of Solomon the nation of Israel was split because of the judgement from God because of Solomon’s sins…his many wives controlled him leading him into the sin of apostasy and idolatry that characterized the later years of Solomon’s reign (1 Kings 11).
After Solomon died the two southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin collectively calling themselves Judah and referring to themselves as ‘Jews’ broke away from the 10 northern tribes.
These two southern tribes were ruled by Solomon’s son Rehoboam whereas the ten northern tribes retained the name Israel and were controlled by Jeroboam who was actually a servant of Solomon.
The animosity between the inhabitants of the southern kingdom and the northern kingdom began immediately after the division because:
…Jeroboam established a counterfeit religion leading the northern 10 tribes into idol worship. (1 Kings 12:26-33)
…he established his own place of worship—Bethel (1 Kings 12:25-33)—encouraging people not to worship in Jerusalem which was in Judah
…years later one of Jeroboam’s successors…built a city…named it Samaria.
The name of this city became synonymous for the entire Northern Kingdom and thus the people who lived there became known as Samaritans.
Because of the bad influence of Jeroboam and his successors the Samaritans abandoned their faith…Scripture says, “They went after false gods and forsook all the commandments of Yahweh.” [2 Kings 17:15-16] …after repeated warnings God’s patience ran out…divine judgment came to the northern ten tribes by way of the Assyrians who defeated the Samaritans and scattered them.
After falling into the hands of the Assyrians…the king of Assyria, not wishing to let the land lie idle, repopulated the area with people from five different regions to occupy Samaria.
The result was the Jews who live there disobeyed God by intermarrying with these people who in turn, brought in their own gods…the Jews began worshiping these false gods, and so, they drifted even farther away from God.
This resulted is what the Jews referred to as a nation of ‘half-breeds’… a mix of Jewish and Pagan races that were utterly despised by a devout Jew (Ezra 9; Neh. 13)…they abandoned the true religion of Israel and became intermingled with heathen idolatry.
Later the Jews of the Southern Kingdom of Judah were also taken captive by the Babylonians but unlike with the Assyrians they were allowed to maintain their racial and religious identity never compromising their Jewish faith.
So now there’s the Jews of the southern kingdom who do not accept the Samaritans of the north kingdom because they are not pure Jews but rather a mix of different people and religions…BUT to a foreigner—say a Roman soldier—there wasn’t much difference between a Jew and a Samaritan:
- Both Jews and Samaritans believed that they came from the seed of Abraham—that they are the Chosen People of God.
- Both groups worshipped the same God—the one true God.
- Both consider Moses the law-giver and prophet of God.
- Both were waiting on the coming of the Messiah.
But to the Jews and Samaritans there were 3 issues that kept them at odds with each other in addition to their lapse of racial purity:
…Wherever the Samaritans found it necessary to justify their religion they just modified the Law.
…Samaritans accept only the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) as Holy Scripture…they rejected all the other books and the prophets as sent by God.
…the Samaritans rejected the Talmud…a collection of Jewish laws and tradition written by Jewish rabbis.
Thus, the relationship between the Jews and the Samaritans was definitely strained then to add further animosity and hostility between these two groups…after returning from their 70 years of captivity in Babylon the Jews began to rebuild their temple and the walls around Jerusalem.
The Samaritans, desiring to be friendly…asked permission to assist them in rebuilding them…the Jews refused the help thus further inflaming the relationship between the two people which never died out [Ezra 4:1-5].
SO…in this encounter with the woman at the well Jesus broke four Jewish customs – not laws…but customs that had transpired over hundreds of years:
…First…He spoke to her despite the fact that she was a woman. A Jewish rabbi would never speak to a woman in public, even if she was his wife, daughter or sister.
…Second…she was Samaritan woman, and Jews traditionally despised Samaritans.
…Third…He asked her to get Him a drink of water…using her cup would have made Him ceremonially unclean.
…Fourth…she was an outcast and looked down upon by her own people…a woman ostracized and marked as immoral by her own people.
The Bible says this encounter occurred in ‘about the sixth hour’ of the day…the sixth hour would have been around noon…it would have been the heat of the day when most people at that time would have been resting.
Most women came in the early morning or late evening to collect water…so you weren’t likely to find many women at the well at this time of the day…but here in the heat of the day…we see this woman approach the well for water.
As the story progresses, we learn this woman regularly comes to the well at this time of day…the obvious question is…why was Jesus even there in the first place?
Scripture indicates He was on the His way to Cana… [43]…it would have been easier for Him to travel up the Jordan River road to Cana…that would have been the easy route… but instead He travels a route that was both farther and more difficult to travel.
By the time He gets to Samaria He’s thirsty and tired…we see the human side of Jesus…He’s sitting at the well ‘wearied from His journey’…He got tired and thirsty just like we do…it had been a long walk that morning climbing out of the Jordan Valley.
It’s no accident that Jesus made the extended journey to Cana…the text emphasizes the fact that Jesus must go through Samaria…here we see the providence of God.
The word ‘must’ in the Greek (δεῖ) has basically the same meaning in English…it means what was absolutely necessary…notice Jesus uses that word in [7] ‘you must be born again’ …in [14] the Son of Man must be lifted up.
Also…it’s no accident that this woman just happens to be at the well…Jesus was on a divine assignment (v. 4) …He was compelled to go… the text makes an emphasis on the fact that Jesus “had to” go to see this Samarian woman.…He ‘must’ go through Samaria.
In fact John says [6] Jesus is sitting at the well waiting for her…Jesus was on His way to an divine encounter…a predestined meeting that had been scheduled millions of years in advance…if you really believe that God is sovereign…then you’ll see this as not just a circumstance that just happened…but as God’s providence.
That’s also true with the people we meet…the circumstances in our life are not accidents…but are the result of divine opportunities to give glory to God by what we say and how we act.
As the woman looks at Jesus and He at her, four invisible walls stand between them…there is a religious wall…a gender wall…a racial wall…and a moral wall.
Jesus breaks the ice with a simple request. “Give Me a drink” [7] …the woman amazed and bewildered…what? You a Jew asking me for a drink––me, a Samaritan?
Nothing happens by chance in this story…every detail is presided over by God…
this is the reason for the ‘divine must’ to go to Samaria…the Samaritan woman had free will…BUT God in His providence arranged for her to be at the well at the same time Jesus was there.
With the simple words of ‘give Me a drink’ …Jesus placed himself in the position of one requesting a favor…placing Himself on a social equality with her…a gesture which astonished her and led to the conversation that followed.
This simple interaction between this women and Jesus may be the most dramatic and significant of any that occurred in Jesus’ entire ministry…in this account we are confronted with multiple contrasts: of race…sex…religion…moral status…marital status…social position…ability…and wisdom…in this conversation we see the contrast between:
God and man. man and woman.
wisdom and ignorance. the unmarried and the often married.
purity and immorality. Jew and Gentile.
The woman now begins to use the tactics of every person who is presented with the Gospel…she begins to argue or question Jesus about insignificant stuff.
Jesus is there talking to this woman about spiritual things and her response is: ‘you are not greater than our father Jacob, are You’ [12]
Words of advice…don’t argue the Bible because it’s pointless…Jesus never argued the Bible…with Satan or the Pharisees… Jesus was unconcerned with proving his deity…even when Satan or the religious leaders tempted him to do so…He instead lived his divinity through His convictions and works.
Sharing the gospel with someone and having constructive conversation is good… but arguing and debating with them is certainly not…is the Samaritan women asking a sincere question or is she expressing a degree of cynicism? …we really can’t discern the “tone” of her voice.
In her question ‘you are not greater than our father Jacob’
μὴ σὺ μείζων εἶ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἰακώβ
she is suggesting a “NO” response from Jesus
Here’s something about Greek sentence structure…in the Greek the person asking a question can convey to the listener the response they are expecting…a ‘yes’ (οὐ) or ‘no’ (μὴ) answer from you…example
Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?
Διδάσκαλε, οὐ μέλει σοι ὅτι ἀπολλύμεθα)
the way that question is asked with the insertion of two Greek letters (οὐ) is suggesting to Jesus… ‘we’re looking for you to say yes you care.’
So, in her question to Jesus ‘you are not greater than our father Jacob’ the insertion of the two Greek letters (μὴ) is suggesting she is expecting a ‘no’ response to her question… as in … ‘no I’m not greater than our father Jacob.’ …thinking to herself…I thought so…leave me alone.
BUT Notice Jesus doesn’t get into a debate with her
…He doesn’t get into an argument with her about His heritage
…He doesn’t attempt to use Old Testament prophecy to prove His existence
…He doesn’t lay out the genealogy from Abraham to Himself
Jesus continues to relate to her spiritually…He makes a statement that now completely astonishes her [4:13-14]
13“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
In this conversation there are two different words for ‘well’ and two different words for ‘drink’ that are used.
The women says the ‘well is deep’ …she uses the Greek word (φρέαρ 5421) that is in essence means a hole in the ground…Jesus used a different Greek word for well (πηγὴ 4077) [4:14] which means a spring or fountain.
What a striking contrast – a hole in the ground versus a bubbling spring…the word Jesus used (ἁλλομένου 242) is a picture of water springing up…as the Holy Spirit is the continual source of energy in the believer that is active and always flowing …there may be times of greater and lesser flow, but it never dries up.
This woman had already scoffed at Jesus for posing as someone greater than Jacob …now her response to Jesus’ statement about drinking the water springing up to eternal life is viewed a little less sarcastically…since Jesus is still speaking in mostly symbolic terms, she is probably still rolling her eyes at Him.
Her response…OK…fine… ‘Sir, give me this water so I will not be thirsty or come up here to draw’ …she’s intrigued and to some degree is showing some level of respect by calling Him ‘sir’ …although still not quite sure what He means.
BUT… certainly this could be the answer to many of her problems…a way out of eliminating the physical task of having to continually climb this hill every day to fetch water…eliminating the distasteful confrontation with the other women.
BUT notice Jesus’s response…His reply in the next verse is critically important to understand because what she’s asking for is not what she’s ready for.
13 “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.
Jesus uses two different tenses for drink… ‘everyone who drinks this water’ …whoever drinks this well water will be thirsty again…you will never be fully satisfied…it’s in the present tense…meaning you’ll be continually drinking.
But…in [14] referring to the person who drinks the ‘water I give’ is in the aorist tense… meaning the living water I give will satisfy forever.
Note the striking contrast between the ‘two drinks’ – here Jesus describes continually drinking from the world’s water, which can never fully satisfy…but just one drink of the water Jesus offers satisfies and gives life for all eternity!
In fact…Jesus actually refuses her request…of ‘give me this water’ …so what’s the problem…problem is she doesn’t understand what He’s speaking of…she’s not ready to receive it…for Jesus to say… ‘OK here you go, you’re saved’ would be exactly what we’re seeing in the church today…it’s what Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls cheap grace.
It’s the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance…baptism without church discipline…communion without confession…cheap grace is grace without discipleship…without the cross…and without Jesus Christ.
Reflecting back on what Jesus initially tells her [10]:
“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
Two things are noted in [v10]:
FIRST… ‘If you knew’… knew what? …two things:
…1) the gift of God, and
…2) who it is that’s talking to you
If you knew those two things…you would have asked…BUT…because you don’t know who is talking to you which is a condition of Me giving you living water…a condition that hasn’t been met yet…without knowing Jesus you cannot be saved.
That’s the SECOND problem with the world…not only with lost people but with Christians as well…1) not asking Him for it…2) but also not knowing there are conditions that need to be met.
With respect to salvation…thinking that somehow God owes it to me…or I’ve somehow earned it because I’m really a good person…doesn’t meet the condition that you have to ask Him…then ‘He would have given.’
With respect to heavenly gifts they must be asked for…God doesn’t just give out gifts because He has nothing to do…everything that is necessary for the spiritual and eternal good of His people must be inquired of…and sought after.
If you would have asked Him…He would have given you…this is the law of Heaven…prayer is a necessary link between God who gives and the human heart that receives…you do not have, because you do not ask.
‘He would have given you living water’ [10] …water is one of the most common symbols for the Holy Spirit in the Bible…since water is indispensable for human life, the phrase “living water” is an appropriate metaphor for the Spirit’s work in the human heart.
With this encounter with the Samaritan woman we see two things:
FIRST…we see the common response of Jesus’ offer of salvation…this woman is representative of everyone who is exposed to saving grace…it shows how slow sinners are to understand the doctrines of religion…hence the need to be patient…not realizing what is required for spiritual transformation.
SECONDLY…we see the way in which Jesus approaches this woman is the way in which He approaches every sinner who has ever lived:
1. He seeks sinners who aren’t seeking Him. [Romans 3:11]
2. He offers all sinners the gift of eternal life. [John 3:16]
3. To receive His gift of eternal life you must ask for it. [ 4:10]
‘if you would have asked, I would have given it to you’