Woman at the well

koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College

5 November 2010

Have you ever gone for a long walk. You are tired, thirsty and hungry. What are the three things you want most? Stop. Take a rest. Drink some water and eat some food. And that is what happened to the Divine Son of God who became human. He was walking with His disciples for many kilometers and He got tired, hungry and thirsty. The Divine Son of God tired? Hungry? Thirsty? How can God get tired, hungry and thirsty? Ellen White in Desire of Ages tells us that Jesus took humanity in the form of a body that was degenerated by 4000 years, fully with no exceptions.

And not only Jesus was tired, they were thirteen together tired, hungry and thirsty.

And that is exactly what happened in John chapter 4 at verse 6. They were in Samaria. Samaria was an area with which the Jews wished not to associate. They were the backyard family that screamed to each other when they talk so that everyone in the neighborhood can hear what they are saying.

They stopped at Sichar and where do we find the disciples? John 4:8 tells us that the disciples went to a convenient store in the nearby town to get food. Wait a minute? Is that not what we do when we travel and are hungry? The situation with the disciples are noteworthy. Not one of them stayed with Jesus, not even the one who loved Him dearly. None said, "Ok, you guys, you go to the store, I will stay with Jesus?" When you are hungry, tired and thirsty, are you willing to leave Jesus alone and go and take care of your own needs?

But Jesus was not alone for long for a woman of Samaria came there to get water at a well nearby. Jesus asked her to give Him some water since He is thirsty (John 4:7).

The woman was taken by surprise since she knew that Jews do not talk easily to Samaritans. Jesus told her that if she knew His ID, she would asked Him for water and He would give her living water.

Jesus had in mind that Hell is over, Satan destroyed, evil out of the way, the new heaven and earth created, the New Jerusalem there and a river running through the city and Jesus Himself gives people the everlasting living water to be never thirsty in eternity.

But the woman thought He was talking about the well and she could not see His container (John 4:11). In our lives, is Jesus offering us spiritual blessings and we are focused on physical blessings?

The woman compared Jacob to Jesus and said that Jacob was greater than Jesus (John 4:12). Jesus then repeated His talking about living water as an eternal gift (John 4:13-14). Jesus is focused on the eschaton here and remain focused on the eschaton. The woman in contrast is bound by the physical present things. Almost as a kind of joke it seems she asks Him to give her this high tech water, this Samsung or LG water, this General Electric water, this Sony water, this Mercedes Benz water so that she will not get thirsty ever and do not have to come to this well and drink again there (John 4:15). Also for us Jesus offers the eschaton blessings but are we confining our future with this world and hope to magically discover high tech to help us survive here forever, live forever?

But the woman had the same problem as the seventh church of Revelation, Laodicea. She can see but she is blind. She can hear but she is deaf. She thinks she is rich but she is poor. This church is us in our times. We are now the woman at the well. We are acting out the drama of the woman and Jesus as if it was a rehearsal by ourselves. If we are sitting in church and we can see our watches, hear our cellphones, see the people, see the carpets or furniture but we cannot see Jesus Christ, we are blind. How fatal! Blind but we cannot see Christ.

So Jesus had to reveal Himself to her. He had to identify Himself to her. He asked her to get her husband (John 4:16) which she immediately denied but Jesus surprised her by hanging out her washing for her by saying that she had five husbands. This was too much for her. She knew that He had supernatural powers. What is to follow was an attempt of her to talk to a prophet theology since she thought that prophets like to talk theology so if she opened up a theological dispute with Jesus then it is easier to just follow logic and sensibility and an agenda. And above all, it is religious talking! How convenient and nice.

John 4:25 is a Theological admission by the woman that she expects the Messiah to come. A Samaritan who expected the Messiah's First Coming. A first Adventist if you please.

It is at John 4:26 that Jesus revealed Himself totally to her: The Messiah, it is Me.

Now the total Revelation stands in front of her. She is no longer blind, no longer deaf. Confronted by Christ the Revelator we cannot be the same afterwards. All our needs are suddenly fulfilled in one moment instantly. Of course spiritual, emotional needs. And in John 4:28 the woman became an evangelist. Peter left his fishnet, the woman at the well her waterjar, what are we willing to left behind for Jesus? The day is coming, and it is near, that the Latter Rain of God, the latter outpouring of the Holy Spirit is going to act like a duracell battery giving everyone who believes in Him to continue to leave everything behind and evangelize for Him. A great harvest will come into the remnant. At that time we will each say, this and that is not important to me any more, I want to do everything for Jesus.

The men of the city came and listened to Jesus and John 4:41 says "And many more believed because of His word".

These listeners then said to the woman in John 4:42 that they are no longer believing indirectly but directly hearing things for themselves. They are no longer hearing sermons by grandmother returning from church telling about the preacher of that day, but they are themselves in church to hear the Word of God directly. Also we cannot rely on the indirect reception of God's Word. We need to dig in with our elbows on the table. The Bible need to be read from the back to the front and from the front to the back non-stop and the Holy Spirit will take the words and link the thoughts in patterns and spiritual tapestry that will surprise our souls endlessly.

Dear God

Like the woman at the well

I was seeking

for things that do not satisfy

But then

I heard my Savior calling

"Draw from My well,

that never shall run dry".

Here is my cup Lord

In Jesus name

Amen