The Samaritan Woman at the Well
1Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John2(though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did).3So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
4He had to go through Samaria on the way.5Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.6Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.7Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.”8He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
9The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
This story is hard to break apart but it is too much for one post. We may go over it in pieces, then go back and discuss it as a whole.
The phrase that struck me first here is that Jesus “tired from the long walk, sat wearily”. Our Lord, the creator of the universe, was worn out by His earthly duties. He needed to rest and take a break. He is like us. If he could not keep pressing on working at a non-stop pace, why do we think we can? Life requires rest to be lived well.
Next, Jesus is at a well in the middle of the day, under the hot sun, in Samaria. What was he thinking? By the norms of his society he was completely out of place. He shouldn’t have been walking through Samaria. He should have been at the place where the hated Samaritan would have gathered, and he shouldn’t have been drinking the water of these filthy pigs! God isn’t always found where he belongs. Both in society, and in our own personal lives. We want him to stay in the corner of our lives on Sunday but he wants to be on the tip of our tongues on Friday night.
Now out comes this Samaritan woman. She is likely coming out at noon for a reason. The women normally gathered water in the cool of the morning or evening and they used the opportunity to visit and talk. But, as we will learn from the next few verses, this woman had a pretty “checkered” past. She was coming out here because she wanted to avoid the other women. This shows she had some guilt or shame for her past choices, or maybe the others had made it clear she was not welcome. We don’t really know. But one way or another. She was an outcast.
So now we have Jesus where he shouldn’t have been with a woman he shouldn’t have been near who was there because she was trying to avoid everyone else in this place that she wasn’t welcome and frankly Jesus was welcome either.
Sounds like God!
Father help me to be willing to do your will when it is not what I expect, or want. Help me be truly open to all you have for me, and all you have for me to give. *obbs*