"The Woman At The Well”

In Jesus Holy Name March 8,2026

Text: John 4:4-7 Lent III – Redeemer

“The Woman at the Well”

Th first three stories in the Gospel of John “The wedding at Cana”; Nicodemus”; The woman at the well” are not in Matthew nor Mark, nor Luke. So, the Question we must Ask:

1. Why does John tell these three stories? What Does John want me to know about God and Jesus?

a. First, Jesus is the replacement for all Jewish religious rules and rituals that they created to make themselves acceptable to God.

b. Jesus is without sin and he replaces Jewish rites of purification making sinful people acceptable before God

c. With Nicodemus: the message is that salvation is not through earning forgiveness and eternal life by keeping the commandments and trusting your connection to Abraham as the key to heaven. Jesus and His cross is the way.

2. Now, the Woman at the Well: What does is Jesus teaching me about God and my life?

3. Background:

Jews living in Galilee would often travel to Jerusalem to worship at the temple for the great Jewish feasts. But they would travel along the Jordan River, even though the shorter route would be to travel through Samaria. Jews would not travel through Gentile territory of Samaria unless there was no other option. Traveling through Gentile land would make one unclean.

The Jewish /Samaritan animosity was approximately 700 years old when Jesus came on scene. Jews and Samaritans worshipped in two separate temples and used two different scriptures. Jews tracing descent from Judah accepted the whole Hebrew Bible, while Samaritans descend from the northern Kingdom of Israel, accepted only the Pentateuch (Torah) and they viewed Mount Gerizim as the holy site, not Jerusalem.

Hundreds and hundreds of years later Jesus chose to travel through Samaria.

He sat with a Samaritan woman at Jacobs well. It is still there today. The well was dug in the days of Patriarchs. ( Abrham and Jacob)The well was a gathering place for the local women, while there they would catch up on local news or gossip and help each other raise the rope tied to a bucket. This woman was an outcast which is why she came alone. Unlike the others she would have to crank the rope alone in order to draw the water up from the well.

Jesus the Jewish rabbi was breaking two rules: 1. He was traveling through territory not acceptable. It would require days of purification before he could enter the temple in Jerusalem. and He was talking to a woman.

The encounter of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well was not a random meeting. It was planned by God and it demonstrates Jesus’ mercy, passion and love for non Jews, resulting in joy. Four invisible walls stand between Jesus and the woman at the well in Samaria. There is a religious wall, a gender wall, a racial wall, and a moral wall. Yet Jesus found a way through all of them. He found her, and then she found him!

First, that a Jew would speak to a Samaritan. Second, that a man would speak to a woman he didn’t know in public. Third, that a Jew would drink from a Samaritan’s cup. In the first century, it was almost unheard of for a man to speak to a woman in public. Asking for a drink of water was even more unusual since Jewish rabbis taught it was a sin to touch a utensil that a Samaritan had touched.

John writes: Jesus left Judea and departed again for Galilee. He had to pass through Samaria. What? He HAD to pass through Samaria. Were his feet too tired to cross the Jordan like most everybody else? Was there some kind of traffic accident or road construction which forced Him to go through the land populated by these religious rejects? There is only one reason Jesus HAD to go through Samaria. He had an appointment with a lady at Jacob’s well

The conversation begins with a simple question from Jesus: “Will you give me a drink?”

He was thirsty and knew it.

She was thirsty and didn’t know it.

The woman did not come to the well seeking Christ, but he came to the well seeking her. He had an appointment to keep. As I noted last week God always acts first. To keep that private appointment is why Jesus sent his disciples into town to buy food. To keep the appointment is why Jesus sat by Himself at the well and waited. He knew she would come in the middle of the day.

She came alone to the well at noontime. This was potentially dangerous and somewhat unusual. Women normally came together to the well in the morning or the evening. It was something of a social event. The fact that this woman came alone means her checkered past was well known to the villagers.