The apostle Paul once said that “there is no partiality with God” (Romans 2:11); and he also declared, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). James admonished, “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality” (James 2:1). These bold statements in the Bible are hard to overlook, yet some believers act unaware of the fact that partiality and racism are unacceptable in the eyes of God.
Some pick and choose who they feel is worthy of fellowship in the church; basing their judgments on a person’s skin color, nationality, or gender. In essence, they are deciding who is worthy of hearing the gospel and receiving salvation in Christ. Jesus, however, was careful to give everyone a chance to believe in Him, no matter what their background; and in our passage today, we will see how Jesus crossed both gender and racial boundaries in order to extend the gift of salvation to someone who was spiritually thirsty.
Jesus Spoke with One Seen as a Minority (vv. 5-9)
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.
We read here that Jesus “came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar” (v. 5). Sychar possibly had a bad stigma in the region. A. T. Robertson notes that among scholars there is a dispute about whether Sychar is a variation of Shechem, which actually means “drunken town” or “lying town.”(1) Jesus chose to enter a city which had a bad reputation, revealing His unbiased nature; thereby setting the scene for a demonstration of love, acceptance and grace.
Jesus, being tired and thirsty from the long journey, came to Jacob’s well seeking a cool drink of water (v. 6); and at the same moment a Samaritan woman approached to draw water for the evening. Jesus looked at her with His caring eyes, and in a gentle voice said, “Give Me a drink” (v. 7). The account then emphasizes, “For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food” (v. 8). Jesus’ treatment of this Samaritan woman is connected to His disciples being absent, suggesting that they would have disapproved of His verbal exchange with a Samaritan.
The woman expressed great surprise that Jesus would dare speak with her, for she inquired, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (John 4:9). Her reaction reveals that it was taboo for Jews to speak with Samaritans. So, I must ask, “Why was it considered wrong to engage in conversation?”
The background begins with the Assyrian captivity of 721 B.C. During this time many Jews living in the geographic region of Samaria were deported. The Assyrians then repopulated this area with slaves they had taken from other countries, and therefore Samaria became a melting pot of cultures and religions. When they later began returning to their homeland, pure-blooded Jews believed in keeping their own culture and religion uncontaminated, and so, they stayed away from the Samaritans.(2)
The woman in this account was seen among the Jews as belonging to a minority group. She had two strikes against her: 1.) she was a Samaritan, and 2.) she was a woman. Jesus demonstrated here that in the eyes of God no one is to be viewed as a minority. Peter once addressed a crowd concerning why he had received a Gentile, the Roman centurion Cornelius, into his house. Here’s what he said in Acts chapter 10:
You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean . . . In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation, whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him (Acts 10:28, 34-35).
In our main passage, Jesus challenged the social norm. He did so, because He saw the Samaritan woman as a human being with a real spiritual need. He also realized the Gentiles were significant to God, and that the gospel would soon be carried to them by the apostles. Jesus was well versed in Old Testament scripture; and He was likely familiar with how Isaiah once declared in chapter 42 of his book:
Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, my Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles . . . I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 42:1, 6).
Isaiah had also prophesied, in chapter 49, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). Jesus was well aware of His purpose to become a light to both Jews and Gentiles, and He was unafraid to press ahead with His mission, and do a small amount of ministry unto the Gentiles Himself.
Jesus Engaged in a Spiritual Discussion (v. 10)
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.”
Jesus basically said, “If you really knew the gift that I could offer you, and if you really knew Me, then you would have petitioned Me for water, instead of Me asking you” (my paraphrase). The “gift of God” (v. 10), according to Paul, is “eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Paul also called it the “free gift” (Romans 5:15), consisting of God’s “abundance of grace and . . . the gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17). Jesus could see the woman’s spiritual need and thirst, and He was willing to share with her the greatest gift all; the forgiveness of sin, righteousness before God, and eternal life.
It was not a coincidence that this discussion took place at Jacob’s well, for this site was significant in helping the Samaritan woman understand the deep spiritual truth Jesus wanted her to grasp. Jacob’s well was not a true well. A well would have been dug down to the depth of the water table to where it would be continually supplied with fresh ground water that percolated through its sides. In the original Greek language Jacob’s well was called a phrear, which is better translated as “cistern.”(3) A. T. Robertson says, “Jacob’s Well was filled by water from rains . . . good water, but not equal to a real spring which was always preferred.”(4)
Jesus told the Samaritan woman that if she would have only asked, then “He would have given you living water” (v. 10). Robertson notes that the phrase “living water” in the Greek means, “running water like a . . . well supplied by springs.”(5) The Lord once told His people Israel, “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns - broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13). Unlike a spring-fed well, a cistern requires human effort to maintain water levels. One must either haul in water, or devise a system of channels to divert rainwater into the cistern.
Spiritually speaking, a cistern is man’s substitute for God’s well of living water. It is a spiritual replacement that the individual believes will become much better than the well that God has provided. A cistern is equal to “good works” that a person performs in the hope of earning salvation and eternal life. A well, on the other hand, is equal to “God’s grace,” which is the “gift of God” (v. 10) that Jesus mentioned to the Samaritan woman. It is eternal life that is freely given and, therefore, must be freely received - not earned. Paul explained, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Jesus was telling the woman that if she would have simply asked for salvation from her sins, that He would have generously granted her request. She had deep within her heart a spiritual thirst that could only be quenched by the eternal fountain which never runs dry. Jesus offers people “living” or “running water,” which is a life that never ends, and He bestows it absolutely free of charge. There is no need to work for it; and it will not tire out and slow down as people do when they become weary; it is forever sustaining.
Jesus Saw Everyone as Needing Salvation (vv. 11-15)
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.”
The Samaritan woman said, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?” (v. 11). Jesus graciously answered her question, thereby acknowledging her need for salvation. He did not discriminate and withhold the truth because of her Samaritan ethnicity. Jesus could have been singularly focused and ignored any Gentile who crossed His path (cf. Matthew 15:24); however, He realized that the Samaritan woman was a human being with a real spiritual hunger, and that she needed salvation just as bad as anyone else.
You see, Jesus is not just a Jewish Savior, or a white Savior. He is Savior to “all” who call on His name. John testified, “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38). Notice that Jesus stated, “If anyone thirsts” (v. 37). Jesus is not Savior only to those who live a good life, or only to those who attend church every week. Paul declared, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). Jesus died for imperfect people, which includes everyone in the world (Romans 3:23).
Jesus said that if “anyone” chooses to believe in Him, then “out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38), and it “will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). Since the rivers will flow “out of one’s heart,” we know that Jesus was referring to a well or a spring (a “wellspring”; cf. Proverbs 16:22), and not some stagnant cistern. Spiritually speaking, an outward rushing spring serves to flush out (and keep out) in a sustaining manner, all the sin which so easily besets us (Hebrews 12:1).
In John 7:37, Jesus declared that this cleansing effect will take place in the heart of “he who believes in Me.” Believing is the key to obtaining living water in Jesus Christ. In Romans 10:9-13, Paul declared how anyone of any race can receive salvation and eternal life simply by believing in the resurrection, and then turning that belief into an open profession of faith. Paul said,
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:9-13).
The Samaritan woman responded to Jesus by saying, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw” (v. 15). The last part of her statement reveals that she did not understand that Jesus was offering to satisfy her spiritual thirst. She took it as meaning that Jesus could provide her with a source of water close to her house, which would keep her from having to journey day in and day out to the well to draw water and carry it back home.
Even though she did not understand, we can learn a lesson from her haste to receive a sustaining water source. She was eager to acquire something that would keep her from working so hard each and every day. The water that Jesus provides will keep His followers from working to earn salvation, for He provides it freely to those who simply believe in Him. Are you eager to receive the refreshing, cleansing and sustaining living water found in Christ? Are you more than ready to have your sins washed away; to be forgiven and receive eternal life? If so, then cry out to Jesus, “Give me this water!”
Jesus Silenced the Critics and Scoffers (v. 27)
27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”
Notice the disciples’ reaction when they returned and found Jesus speaking with a Samaritan woman - “they marveled.” Robertson notes that there was a rabbinical precept of their day which stated, “Let no one talk with a woman in the street, no, not [even] with his own wife.”(6) He continues to elaborate, “The disciples held Jesus to be a rabbi and felt that He was acting in a way beneath His dignity. Yet no man said [anything].”(7) There is no doubt the disciples were forced to consider His actions. Hopefully they would learn a lesson about how His followers should not discriminate on who can receive the gospel.
Time of Reflection
Whenever we take a stand for what is right, then we prompt others to consider our stance, and to reflect on their own behavior. Will you become an example of the love of Jesus Christ by sharing the gospel with everyone, including those seen as minorities? Be sure not to submit to peer pressure, or to follow the crowd in excluding those who appear different. Jesus loves everyone and sees them as worthy of salvation. Will you follow His lead?
Jesus offers His living water to anyone and everyone who will believe in Him as Savior and Lord. His water washes away the stains of sin; it becomes the water of forgiveness liberating us from the wages of sin, which is death (Romans 6:23); it restores us unto a right standing before God (2 Corinthians 5:21), and it transforms us into a brand new creation (2 Cor 5:17). It is the genuine fountain of youth and source of everlasting life (Job 33:25)!
NOTES
(1) A. T. Robertson, Robertson N. T. Word Pictures, on Power Bible CD.
(2) Damian Phillips, A Life Giving Ministry (Raleigh, NC: Lulu Press, 2011), p. 65.
(3) A. T. Robertson, Robertson N. T. Word Pictures, on Power Bible CD; cf. lexicon number G5421, Blue Letter Bible: www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5421&t=KJV (Accessed June 30, 2011).
(4) A. T. Robertson, Robertson N. T. Word Pictures, on Power Bible CD.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Ibid.
