The Samaritan Woman The Gift

Today, “The Woman at the Well” wouldn’t be that much of an oddity, at least not in the U.S., or Britain, or many other places. But in her day, she was part of a minority in Palestine who was looked down upon by the religious and cultural elite in Israel. Although that wasn’t the spectacle of her first-century life. It was her “backstory.”

This woman, who met Jesus in the middle of the day at a well in Samaria, was notorious. Married far more than once, she was in an illicit relationship. In Jesus’ time, it was so much of a scandal that she could only collect water from the community well during the height of the midday sun. To go when the rest of the townsfolk were there would only invite ridicule.

When the woman arrived at the well, Jesus engaged her: “Give Me a drink,” He said (John 4:7). In that culture, this was an invitation to a conversation. She’d probably had such invitations before, and some of those had led to her five marriages, maybe even her current unmarried relationship.

Knowing that Jesus was a Jew, she asked Him why she was being asked to fetch a drink. The Jews had long looked down on the Samaritans; the Bible says they “[had] no dealings” with her people (John 4:9).

That’s when Jesus revealed Himself, albeit subtly: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (v. 10).

When Jesus told the woman what she already knew, that she had been married five times and was now living with a man to whom she wasn’t wed, the light began to dawn. “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet” (v. 19). When she described the Messiah as revealing all truth, Jesus answered, “I who speak to you am He” (v. 26).

This revelation turned the woman into an evangelist; she told the men of the village, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (v. 29). The men followed her and listened to Jesus.

Divine insight made a disciple of the Samaritan woman—and an outreach worker as well!

Reflect: After she recognized Jesus as the Messiah, this woman evangelized her community. What are you doing to reach your neighbors? Pray and act this week!

Key Bible Texts

Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? (John 4:29 KJV)