May 5th

By Randall L. Broad

Read Judges 21:1-Ruth1:22; John 4:4-42; Psalm 105:1-15; Proverbs 14:25

Today in the One Year Bible we read the familiar story about the Samaritan Woman at the well. This narrative is a favorite for sermons about the grace of salvation and the unconditional love of Christ. Despite a long standing feud between the two old kingdoms the gospels written by John and Luke are favorable toward the Samaritans. Some see the Gospel of Matthew a little different. In chapter ten Jesus sends out his twelve disciples with instructions not to “… go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans” (v. 5). However, this is most likely a matter of timing because Jesus later tells the Apostles to “… to make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). He also promises they will be witnesses to the Samaritans (Acts 1:8) and appoints Paul to carry His message to the Gentiles (Acts 9:3-15).

⁴Now he had to go through Samaria. ⁵So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

⁷When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” ⁸(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

John 4:4-9

As pastor’s often do in their sermons, there are some significant things to note in the narrative of this story. Jesus in the fullness of His humanity experiences fatigue (v. 4:6) and thirst (v. 4:7). These basic human weaknesses lead him into the conversation with the Samaritan woman–whom under normal circumstances no self-respecting Jewish man would ever address. Samaritans were considered unclean by Jews and if Jesus drinks from the woman’s vessel he will defile himself. Yet Jesus in the fullness of His divinity knows no such limits and not only does he speak to her but reveals to her some key kingdom principles including His power to grant eternal life (v. 4:10); His supernatural knowledge (4:17-18); the coming of the Spirit (vv. 4:23-24); and His true identity (4:25-26).

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?”

¹³Jesus answered, “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.”

John 4:10-14

The idea and the term ‘Living Water’ has Old and New Testament significance. Modern Christians believe Jesus is speaking of the eternal life found in Christ which is why they often label it the Water of Life Discourse (John 4:10-26) and associate it with another discourse they label the Bread of Life delivered later in the Gospel of John (vv. 6:22-59). Old Testament believers would have no such understanding–for them Christ was still an unfulfilled prophecy (c.f. Jeremiah 2:13, 17:13-14; Joel 3:18; Zechariah 13:11). However, both the Jews and the Samaritans would have understood the term as a symbol of the exceeding love of God which flows from the “Spring of Living Water”.

Later in the Book of John, Jesus tells the Jews in Jerusalem:

³⁷On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. ³⁸Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” ³⁹By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

John 7:37-39

But into today’s conversation with the Samaritan Woman, Jesus reveals much more.

¹⁵The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

¹⁶He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

¹⁷“I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

¹⁹“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

John 4:15-19

The Samaritan brings up the ancient feud between Israel and Judea which originated when Solomon’s successors split his lands into the Kingdom of Israel to the north and the Kingdom of Judah to the south. Many tensions contributed to their ongoing struggle but one that significantly underlies this narrative is the bloody disagreement between the Samaritans and Jews of the holiest place to worship. The Samaritans built a temple on Mount Gerizim around 400 B.C which was destroyed by John Hyrcanus in 128 B.C. The destruction of their temple only heightened the tension and by the time Jesus sat down at the well, the Samaritans still recognized Mount Gerizim as the holiest place to worship.

However Jesus uses his authority to tell her:

²¹“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²²You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

²⁵The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

²⁶Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

John 4:21-26

There is some significant truth found in this part of the narrative. First, Jesus tells the woman “Salvation is from the Jews” (v. 22). He is not taking sides in the dispute between Jerusalem and Samaria–only reminding her–the prophecies declare the messiah will come from the Jews not the Samaritans. This may have been unknown to her; as the Samaritans accepted only the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses) as canon. The Woman expects the Messiah, but has been taught everything will be explained when He arrives. For her–that day comes today and Jesus reveals to her the coming of the Kingdom and the Spirit of true worship. Jesus also declares to her “I am He”–the Messiah using the same language God uses before Moses in Exodus 3:14. Here the message is not where a person worships but how and whom. Jew, Samaritan, and Gentile will be reborn and worship God in the Spirit. The Spirit-filled life will allow people to worship anywhere–for God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

May you be in the Spirit and know the truth …

Walk with the Lord …

Ephesians 1:17

(RLB250505)

© Copyright 2019: Randall L. Broad

Disclaimer: This commentary is written by Randall L. Broad. It is in no way affiliated with or represents any denomination, university, church, or pastor. Any errors or omissions are purely my responsibility.