Jesus and the Woman at the Well (part 2)
John 4: 15-26
Today we are continuing the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. It is an extraordinary story that not only shows us who Jesus is, but also how He deals with sinners who need a savior. As we saw last time Jesus comes seeking the sinner, even a sinner who is not necessarily seeking after Him. Jesus initiates the conversation by asking her for a drink. She was surprised that Jesus, a Jewish man, was even talking to her, a Samaritan woman. It is a demonstration of God’s grace toward sinners.
To her Jesus offers the gift of living water in verse 10 saying, “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.” She misinterprets what Jesus says by taking it too literally just like Nicodemus did with the idea of being born again. But Jesus is talking about the eternal life that the Holy Spirit provides to everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 14 Jesus said to her, “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” He would graciously give it to her if she would ask of Him.
Listen to the whole story again as I read John 4:1-26.
1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John
2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),
3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.
4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “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.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?
12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’
18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
There is a progression here in both Jesus’ revelation of Himself to this woman and of her response to Jesus.
- In verses 1–15, Jesus is the living water. And she responds, “give me this water.”
- In verses 16–19, Jesus is the One who knows her sin. And she responds. “You are a prophet.”
- In verses 20–24, Jesus is the One who explains true spiritual worship. And she responds, “Messiah is coming.”
- In verses 25–26, Jesus is the Messiah. And she responds by testifying to her village, “Could this be the Christ?”
Jesus’ conversation with her moved her heart and mind to receive Him as her Savior. He transformed her life. Understanding this progression is valuable for us because we see how Jesus saves people even today. How did Jesus move her mind and her heart to receive Him as Lord and Christ?
- Jesus caused her to sense her spiritual need. (John 4:1-15)
I think we can see this from her response to Jesus’ offer of living water that will satisfy her soul for eternity. She says in verse 15, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” Is she still thinking only of physical water? Maybe. If having this water means she wouldn’t have to come to the well in the heat of the day any longer, then “sure, give me this water!” But I think she is beginning to sense that this strange Jewish man is not just talking about physical water. Although she is still confused and is certainly thinking too literally about this water, I think her response also indicates she senses that she needs what He is offering.
Physical water was not out of her thoughts, and yet she most likely also had some desires for everlasting life–enough for her to ask Jesus to give her that gift. Although she doesn’t comprehend it completely, this water is for her soul, not her body. It’s her soul that’s thirsty. As John Piper points out “No woman goes through sexual relationships with six men without either starting desperately thirsty or ending desperately thirsty … There is in this woman, it seems, a cavernous void of longing, thirsting.” Jesus knows it and He offers to quench that thirst.
The point is, this woman recognized an inner need for the living water that Jesus offered, even if she didn’t completely understand what that living water was. In bringing sinners to salvation Jesus will cause you to sense your spiritual need. You have to recognize that you have a thirst that only God can satisfy.
- Jesus exposed her sinfulness. (John 4:16-19)
Jesus has just offered her living water that brings everlasting life. She has responded by asking Him to give her that water. Now again, Jesus turns the conversation in a direction that she did not expect. He says in verse 16, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
Doesn’t that seem to come out of the blue? Jesus has been offering living water, that which will satisfy her soul and give eternal life. But now He drops that metaphor abruptly. Why?
One clue may be the little word, “here,” that is found in both verse 15, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw,” and verse 16, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” It is an unusual word that is only found in the Gospel of John in these two verses. Jesus knew that for her, coming here to this well was more than just an inconvenience. It was painful. It was hurtful for her to be ostracized from the other women because of her immoral reputation.
Jesus also already knew that she did not have a husband and was living with man outside of marriage. So when she answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’” He knew that when he asked her to go get her husband. Then He shows her that he knows even more when He says, “for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” Jesus also knew that when He asked her to go get her husband. That means Jesus is intentionally exposing her sin. This is an example of Jesus, the Light, shining in the darkness and exposing the evil deeds of this woman (3:19-20). Jesus shows her that He supernaturally knows all about her past and present.
“He is moving into her inner life. He is forcing her to deal with the inside — the secret places — of her life. The living water that He had offered is for the inner person. This is not water you drink with your mouth; it’s water you drink with your heart,” (Piper).
Think about how unnerving it would be to have a perfect stranger expose the sins of your past and present! But Jesus wasn’t doing it to be mean. Jesus is still being gracious to her. He is still being kind and loving. Jesus understands her condition perfectly. He will not stay on the surface of things. He shines His light into her dark, hidden life. He did it to show her that her real need was spiritual, not material. He was helping her come to terms with the nature of the gift that He was offering.
Her response is, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.” Although she did not directly confess her sin to Jesus, she did not deny it either. I think she was admitting that His analysis of her life was spot-on.
So first Jesus caused her to sense her deep spiritual need, then He exposed her sin so that she could confess it. Thirdly we see that,
- Jesus required true spiritual worship (John 4:20-24).
This time it is the woman who turns the conversation in another direction in verse 20 she says, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Whether she was trying to divert the conversation away from her sin to a safer topic, or whether she was sincerely wondering about whether the Samaritan or the Jewish way of worship was correct, Jesus meets her question again with understanding and grace. In verse 21,
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
I wish we could spend more than just a few minutes on this important verses about worship. Maybe we will look at them in more depth next time if the Lord leads me that way. Be for today I want us to see the main point. Jesus makes the case that it is not the place of worship or any outward religious ritual that is at the heart of worship and of salvation. Worship is a matter of knowing and worshiping the living God on the heart level.
The woman focused on the externals of worship, who and where (4:20), “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” But Jesus cuts through the externals. It is not the traditions of our fathers or the place to worship that is essential but having a relationship with the Father. The woman had talked about the worship of her fathers, but Jesus directs her to the worship of the Father, which suggests a personal relationship as opposed to ritualistic ceremonies.
Jesus did not gloss over the errors of Samaritan religion. He pointed out their ignorance. But more than that, He pointed to the real issue: salvation “salvation is of the Jews.” It is of the Jews because Jesus is of the Jews, and He is the Savior.
When Jesus states (4:23), “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,” He is referring to Himself as the way that this dramatic shift in worship will come about. Through His death on the cross and His sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in His church, the Jewish system of worship would become obsolete (Heb. 8:13). As we saw in chapter 2, Jesus is the new temple (2:19) that would replace the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
To explain why we must worship God in spirit, Jesus states (4:24), “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Jesus means that true worship must come from the depths of our being, as opposed to just going through external rituals or ceremonies. So Jesus tells the woman that worship doesn’t require a place, it doesn’t require a priest, it doesn’t require a ritual, it doesn’t require a ceremony, it doesn’t require an offering. Just believe me, God wants you to worship according to the truth from the heart, bow to the true God in your heart. Bow your heart. That’s what the word “worship” here means, to bow before God. You could say, confess Jesus as Lord.
To worship God in spirit means to worship Him with complete sincerity, not with outward show or profession when our hearts are far from Him (Mark 7:6-7).
To worship God in truth means to worship Him as He has revealed Himself to us in His Word. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; no one can come to the Father, except through Him (John 14:6). If we have seen Him, we have seen the Father (John 14:9). To worship God in truth is to worship Him in accord with how He has revealed Himself in His Word (Cole).
So Jesus causes her to sense her need for salvation; He exposes her sin so that she may confess it to Him; and He requires her to worship Him on the heart level. Finally,
- Jesus reveals Himself as the Christ (4:25-26).
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
Here I think the Holy Spirit must be doing the work of drawing this woman to salvation because she goes right to the essential issue, the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior. She is looking for the Messiah who will explain all things. She wants the full truth, she wants to worship is spirit and in truth. And she knows that truth will come from Christ.
Now comes the most glorious moment of this encounter. Jesus says to her, “I who speak to you am He.” Literally that says, “I who speak to AM.” It’s like the other “I am” statements that we will see so often in the Gospel of John. The One speaking to you is the I AM. This is the final point in the glorious culmination. The incarnate Christ is revealed–the unveiling of Christ. She is ready for the truth, and He is there to give it to her. I who speak to you, I AM. He reveals Himself as the Christ, the Savior of the World.
We must believe in Jesus as the Bible reveals Him: He is the eternal God, creator of all that is, who took on human flesh and died as the supreme and final sacrifice for our sins. He is risen from the dead and exalted on high. To deny either His true deity or humanity is to believe in a false Christ
In response to her faith, her longing for a Savior, Jesus reveals Himself to her. To this outcast, immoral, ignorant Samaritan woman He reveals Himself as the Savior and Lord. This is a divine work. She knew nothing about Him at all when it started. Now she wants to know everything about Him so she can be a true worshiper.
This is how it works with the sinner. It starts when Jesus comes in love and compassion causing us to sense our spiritual need. He then goes deep into our inner life to expose our sin; He requires a heart that will bow in worship; and He reveals Himself as the Christ, the Lord and Savior of the World.
He offers the gift of eternal life, He confronts our sin. He shows the way to a true spiritual relationship with God. He reveals that He is Savior and Lord. That is how Christ brings sinners to salvation. How do we know this woman was saved? Go down to verse 39, “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” There were many of the people who believed in Him because of her testimony. And as she believed, they believed.
What was it that took this woman from being a hardened sinner and transformed her into a powerful witness for the Lord? It can be summed up in one word: Jesus! He makes the difference in any life He touches. Has He touched your life? Has He caused you to sense your spiritual need? Has He exposed your sinful life for what it is? Has He shown you the way to a right relationship with God? Has He revealed Himself to you as Savior and Lord?
He invites you now to ask Him to save you. Ask of Him and He will give you living water that springs up within you to eternal life.
