He Came for the Broken!!!!
The weight of our past, and the impact it has on our present and future weighs heavy on us at times in our lives. Because of these feelings we are often left feeling empty and unsatisfied with life - our emotions tend to dictate our engagement with life, and our satisfaction with it. However, if we let emotions get in our way…if we let our past get in the way…if we let the hurt that others have caused get in the way…if we let our sense of guilt and shame get in the way - we will never feel satisfied with life and we will feel hollow and empty. The world and all that it offers cannot solve that problem - in fact the answers found in the world only serve to compound the issue.
In John 4:1-42, we find the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. The story of the woman at the well is a powerful, yet somewhat often misunderstood event in the gospel narrative.
The first point that is interesting of note, is that most people (including pastors who preach on the topic) usually call it “The woman by the well” story (which I have done above, intentionally) without actually referring to the full context of the story and its characters.
It is - “The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman by the well of Jacob!!!!”
That context is significant in its depth of meaning and impact on our lives today, some 2000 years later.
In this study we are going to break down important verses within this section of John 4 and investigate their meaning and their application to us.
So buckle up - here we go….!!!
Verses 1-4: “Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptising and making more disciples than John (though Jesus himself didn’t baptise them—his disciples did). So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria on the way.”
These verses outline the social context of the story. The pharisees were upset that Jesus’ disciples were baptising more people than John the Baptist ever did, so Jesus knowing that this was increasing the tension falling on the group, took them back to Galilee.
Their journey would take them through the region of Samaria. Despite what is said in many Bible study books, there is considerable biblical, rabbinical and historical documentation that it was commonplace for Jews to travel through the region (especially during festival times).
This then changes the old story of Jesus going out of his way to visiting that woman - To one of Jesus acknowledging the physical needs of people, but also knowing that they need spiritual salvation. It becomes a story of Jesus visiting a person who is broken and hurting, and leading her to a place of not only restoration, but also of fruitfulness and impact - and eternal life. It is to these lessons that we will turn.
Verses 5-6: “Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.”
For both Jew and Samaritan, Jacob’s well is an important cultural site, as well as a practical one. However, there is no other mention of it in the whole Bible (only in this story).
What this does is point to two things. Firstly, Jesus was honestly thirsty and tired from the journey they had just undertaken - which points directly to his mortal humanity. And secondly, points to the fact that Jesus will wait for us at places which we think are important in our lives, one’s that we think are necessary for our lives to be fulfilled.
Verses 7-15: “Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. The 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?” Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”
These verses are perhaps the core of the story. They provide the context for the interaction and they provide the dualism that exists between our physical perception of this world and that of Jesus’ perception about eternity and the Kingdom of God.
“Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water” - We know from the previous verses that it was about noon. When you go to collect water for your daily needs, you do it at least one a day - in the morning. And if you need further water, perhaps for the evening - then you go before sundown. You typically do not go in the middle of the day. This situation shows that not only did the woman belong to a marginalised group (the Samaritans - verse 9 “She was surprised because the Jews don’t associate with the Samaritans”. It also shows that she was marginalised within her own community because she was alone at the well - it was a situation of vulnerability for her.
Jesus - in his foresight and providence - asked her for a drink knowing full well where the discussion was going to go. His request was a prompting and prodding towards a deeper interaction between the Messiah and someone who needed his salvation. Sometimes the prompting and prodding of the Holy Spirit starts in other areas of our lives, then develops into a deeper and more meaningful interaction with the grace and mercy of God.
After her shocked response, based on cultural biases, Jesus’ reply was just as shocking. Basically, he said - “You don’t know who I am, if you were as spiritually mature as you think you are - then you would recognise me, and you would want what I am offering to you!”
The woman, still not understanding the spiritual turn their discussion had taken, replied with something very practical statement - “But you don’t have a rope and bucket” - it shows that the rope and bucket needed to draw water from the well were not permanent, and people had to bring their own. The woman was equipped to deal with her physical needs, even in the face of adversity - yet she was unable and unaware of her spiritual needs. This is a warning to us - we cannot reply on our physical, mental and emotional giftings and strengths to get by in this life and certainly not the net. We must have Jesus our Messiah as the centre of our lives - mind, body and soul.
She then, unknowingly, questions the authority that Jesus used to make his reply, when she asked if he thought he was greater than Jacob.
Jesus didn’t actually reply to her statement, rather he wades into the deepest part of the spiritual message he was trying to present her with. Jesus set aside the short-lived, physical aspects of thirst, and told her that there is a spiritual source of refreshing joy and sustaining strength that comes from within. Really, Jesus was preempting His presence within believers (through the Holy Spirit).
The woman, now convicted of her lack asks Jesus to provide it for her.
What happens next is one of the great revival stories of the Bible. It was a revival in the heart of a hurting, broken woman, as well as within her whole town.
Verses 16-19: “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet.”
These few verses show the profound wisdom of Jesus, and his spiritual foresight - showing his divinity (so now this story both shows us the humanity and divinity of Jesus and the Messiah).
Jesus plainly asks her to go get her husband. She must have felt heartbroken when he asked her that. Again her past (which I am sure she wanted to forget) becomes an issue in her present. Yet, despite this she answers with honesty - a place of emotional vulnerability for her.
There are times when our interactions with God and the Holy Spirit require us to be truthful about ourselves and the situation we find ourselves in - it requires us to become emotionally vulnerable to God, so that we open the door for him to restore us.
But when Jesus reveals the full truth of her life she is astounded. Just like when the Holy Spirit fully reveals to us the depth and breadth of or own sin and past.
Verses 20-24 provide a further context to their engagement with each other, and shows the hurdles that culture and society often place in front of people when they are confronted by the truth of Jesus Christ and who he truly is.
Verses 25-26: “The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!”.
These verses provide a common reaction - many believe in Jesus, fewer believe that he is the Messiah. For both the Jew and the Samaritans of that time were expecting ‘The Messiah’ to come, yet when he did arrive they did not recognise him because he wasn’t the person that they wanted or had expected.
This is one of Jesus’ “I AM” statements that point him to being part of the godhead (the Trinity).
It is a clear statement by Jesus that is reflected later in John when Jesus says “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Fast forward to verses 39-42 and we find the beautiful, restorative conclusion of this story - where it says “Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Saviour of the world.”
In the space of a few moments Jesus helped bring a hurting, isolated woman who was living deep in sin to a place of repentance and restoration. Then in that new state she inters the very town where she is shunned and shares the testimony of what Jesus had just said to her. And based on that information alone, many believed that Jesus was the Messiah.
Jesus had turned her failure and her shame into fruitfulness for the Kingdom of God. Jesus can do exactly the same for us. He can turn our greatest failures and our greatest shames into victory and use it to bring others to a faith in Jesus as our Messiah.
Then to bring about a full revival in the town, Jesus himself spoke to the townsfolk. Between what the woman had said and hearing the power, authority and truth that Jesus spoke the rest came to believe in Jesus as the Messiah.
The point to this story was not necessarily just about the Samaritan woman who was at the well - but rather about the saving grace and mercy of Jesus Christ which is powerful enough to lead a whole town to salvation.
GLORY TO GOD!!!!
This story should bring all of us hope. That no matter what we have done, if we repent and turn our faith to Jesus, then he will redeem us, and use us to reach the lost.
If you do not know Jesus, and want more from life - then call out to Jesus. Tell him that you are sick of your sin and that you believe that he died and rose again for you - that he is your Messiah too. Ask him to help you in your loneliness, in your pain and your vulnerability. Call out to him and he will hear you and respond with love like you have never felt before.