John 4:5-19, 28-29
The account before us reveals that Jesus’ ministry was not to the Jew only, but also to them who were outside of Judaism. Samaritans were considered to be half-breeds who were practitioners of a false religion. The Samaritan population had descended from Jews who had intermarried with their Assyrian conquerors hundreds of years earlier. While holding to books of Moses as scripture, Samaritans considered Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem, to be the proper center of worship.
John 4:4 states that Jesus needed to go through Samaria. One would assume that Jesus chose the direct route through Samaria to save time, but this does not appear to be the case because He stayed an additional two days there (see v. 40). The real reason that Jesus needed to go through Samaria was to deliver the message that the Father seeks them who would worship Him in spirit and in truth (see v. 23).
Neither the worship at Jerusalem or the worship at Sychar (v. 5) was that of true worshippers. Sychar was a one and a half days distant from Jerusalem. The city was close to the parcel of land which Jacob purchased from the sons of Hamor (Gen. 33:19) and was the location of the well which, according to tradition, Jacob dug.
The Samaritans were well aware of the disdain with which the Jews viewed them. It was with this knowledge that the woman at the well asked Jesus, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria?” (v. 9). From her question, one can infer another question: “Why do you not shun Samaritans as other Jews do?” Not knowing anything of Jesus, the woman realized that Jesus was different. New Testament believers know how Jesus is different. He is God. God reaches out to all, and would have all come to repentance (II Pet. 3:9). New Testament believers know God because all who believe have received the gift of the Father, His only begotten Son. Jesus was different because He was the Messiah — the Messiah of whom Isaiah prophesied, saying, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5).
Jesus in answering said, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water” (v. 10). Jesus’ promise to supply living water was conditional. The woman did not know the gift of God and was not able to ask. God the Son was the Father’s gift. Jesus had come to be given but He had yet to be given as the atoning sacrifice at this time. The woman would have to wait until Jesus died and arose before she could know the gift of God. Then, and only then, could she ask and receive the living water.
The woman had no idea of the nature of the living water but she knew that it was superior to the water of Jacob’s well, and, like the water from Jacob’s well, it must be drawn from a reservoir of some nature. She ruled out the possibility that Jesus could draw living water from Jacob’s well. She asked Jesus the source of the living water and then asked if Jesus were greater than father Jacob (v. 11, 12). She wanted to know more. She wanted to understand the living water of which Jesus spoke. Jesus possessed no visible means by which He could draw water from a well and Jesus did not appear to be carrying a water supply with Him.
“Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well. . . ?” (v. 12). This question focuses upon Jesus’ identity. The well from which she came to draw water had been in use for fifteen hundred years. The well was regarded as a gift from the patriarch Jacob. Was He greater than the patriarch?
Jesus did not respond to her question of how He would draw water or of its source. He responded to her need. Jesus told her of the living water which He offered. Jesus did not explain how or why He could supply living water. He simply stated that all who drank of Jacob’s water would thirst again, but those who drank of His water would never thirst again but receive water that yields eternal life.
Jesus’ answer revealed His greatness and His identity (a greatness beyond father Jacob’s) with the words: “. . . the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into eternal life.” The only way by which she could know if Jesus were greater than father Jacob was to drink the water which Jesus had to offer. The only access to that water was to ask Jesus to supply it.
The living water which Jesus offers requires one to believe. In verse 15, the woman asks of the water without believing. She wanted the water because, upon drinking, she would have no need to draw water from Jacob’s well. In verses 17 and 18, Jesus gives her a reason to believe that He possesses the power to supply living water. He tells her things of herself that He, a stranger, could not know.
In verses 23 and 24, Jesus tells her of the true worship which is yet to come —worship that is in spirit and in truth. The woman then confesses her belief that the Messiah shall come and explain all things (v. 25). Her words reveal that she is not looking to her own understandings, but to that which will be furnished by God. The woman was ready to worship in spirit and in truth because she was looking for the Messiah to come and supply understanding.
“I that speak unto thee am he” (v. 26). When Jesus told her that He was the Messiah, she believed and went and told others. She was ready to drink of the living water! She did not know what Jesus must do (go to the cross), but she knew that He could supply the promised living water because He revealed things to her which only God could reveal.
New Testament believers of today have cause to go and to tell others because we believe. The Son has made the Father known to us. We know the Gift of God. God is revealed to all who worship Him in spirit and in truth. Let us declare His truth: Believe and you shall receive.
