The Woman at Jacob's Well

Before I begin this article, I'm going to assume a couple of things. First, I'm going to assume that you are a believer in the Bible, or at least in God. Second, I'm going to assume that you believe Jesus to be the Messiah. If not, then please feel free to write me and I will be glad to discuss this and your views.

John 4:25

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh (he that is called Christ): when he is come, he will declare unto us all things.

This comment is made by the Samaritan Woman at Jacob's well to Jesus. It is an interesting one, when you know the background of the Samaritans and of this encounter with Jesus. Especially when you read just a little further that she goes and tells those of her village, and Jesus goes and speaks to them, showing them from THEIR scripture that HE is the Christ/Messiah. I want to delve into this a little further to see what we can learn from this encounter, not necessarily in a theological way, but in a practical way about encountering those who don't necessarily believe the same way that we do..

The whole encounter by Jesus with this woman is intriguing. John goes to great pain to give us the details behind this and the things that can be drawn from it. He is quick to emphasize that

1. She is a woman of Samaria (vs.7) and therefore not Jewish.
2. That the Jews of the day, did not have anything to do with Samaritans (vs.9)
3. That Jesus is alone with her at the well (vs.8) at the time of this discussion. (vs.27)
4. She is "living with" a man, to whom she is not married (vs.17)

All of the items above, were taboo for orthodox Jews of the day. Samaritans, had long been considered "non-Jews" by the time of Jesus. The name "Samaritan" appears only once in the Old Testament, in II Kings 17:29 where it is used for those colonists transplanted by the Assyrians, who persisted in their pagan ways. The majority of the population though, consisted of Israelites from the northern tribes who had not been deported. They were mostly farmers and common folk made up of the “mixed” faith of worshipping God outside of the tenets of the Law and not returning to Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:29). The mixed population of Samaria was not accepted as "Jewish" by those returned from the Babylonian Exile and began to rebuild the Temple, because of their persistent idolatrous practices and primarily because they refused to adhere to the scripture (2 Ki.17:41) that Jerusalem was the place designated by God in the Law to worship (Ezra 4:1-24). The Samaritans maintained their hostile attitudes and actions through the years, and were directed against Nehemiah (Neh 6:1-13). Their opposition proved unsuccessful but the division was now complete. Samaritans were forbidden to offer sacrifices at the Jerusalem Temple or to intermarry with Jews, while the Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerazim, near Shechem. Their Bible consisted of the Pentateuch (first 5 books of Moses) alone. The text features minor deviations from the accepted Hebrew text, but the primary deviation is the alternation specifically mentioning Mount Gerazim as the site of the temple ("in mount Ebal" (Deut. 32:4) to "in mount Gerizim") It is this mountain that the woman mentions in John 4.

A couple of striking things come from Jesus' discussion with the woman, that stand to us as lessons of teaching today.

1. Just because "orthodox" religion doesn't consider someone to be teachable or acceptable to be considered worthy of spiritual enlightenment, should not mean that they are right. While the orthodox of the day of Jesus thought these people unacceptable, and teaching them to make one unclean, Jesus shows us that truth is for EVERYONE (see Jn.3:16).
2. Just because someone believes differently than I do, does not mean that they cannot be taught, and that we cannot have civil conversation.
3. Jesus talks with the woman regardless of societal views. Then as now, it is considered a "taboo" thing to speak to a woman alone, without anyone else around as a 'witness." It was considered by the Jews of the day as indecorous to talk with a woman in public, and the rabbins held that to talk with such an inferior creature was beneath the dignity of a doctor of the law. Jesus, talks with her showing us that both of these perceptions are wrong.
4. The woman is "living with" a man that is not her husband. The hint of immorality and stigma of this is very much implied, especially as it related to the way that the Jews of the day viewed this. Once again, Jesus shows us, that teaching the truth to someone and helping them to find God, is more important than social stigma. He was not there to judge her, He was there to help her.
5. John 4:40-42 shows us the value of what the Lord did with this one woman. It is interesting here, that Jesus spends 2 more days there teaching them. It is also interesting that they state, "we have heard Him ourselves and know that this is truly the Christ, the Savior of the world." It did not matter whether they were right or wrong on the point of WHERE God was to be worshiped. Jesus answers this with the woman in (Jn.4:21). What was important was not only truth, but SPIRIT. Both are required. So, there are two maxims here.. a.) When truth is right, the SPIRIT will shine. b.) When the SPIRIT is right, truth will be manifest.

Jesus also takes the time here in this chapter to teach His disciples the value of teaching, and to not let teaching be swayed by prejudice. Opportunities are all around, if one will just open their eyes and hearts to see. We might argue, "but they don't even have the same Bible that we do." The Samaritans didn't either, but Jesus took the opportunity to speak with and teach them.

In "The Fourfold Gospel" by J.W.McGarvey and Phillip Pendleton (http://www.ccel.org/m/mcgarvey/ffg/FFG000A.HTM) it states, "His delight at the woman's conversion, as a part of the work which his Father had given him to do, overcame for a time his desire for food. Food has several characteristics: 1. enjoyment; 2. satisfaction of desire; 3. refreshment and strength. God's work had these characteristics to Jesus, whose life fulfilled the principle that man shall not live by bread alone."

Wouldn't this be a wonderful thing, if we were this way too?

Jim