Bad
Girls of the Bible: The Woman at the Well
John
4:1-34,39-42
*Much of this is taken from Lizz Curtis Higgs book Bad Girls of the Bible. Any references not cited is due to laziness, not thievery.
Bad Girls: Bad
to the Bone- Not a single kind word was ever spoken
about them in scripture; a pattern of sinning; no evidence of remorse,
repentance, or a desire to change; they sinned with gusto. Made in the image of
God, so not truly bad to the core—they just behaved that way.
Bad for a Moment- Women who made one huge, colossal, life changing
blooper that was recorded in scripture to teach everyone else a lesson. Seem to
be believers in the one true God at the start but when forced to make a
decision, chose disastrously.
Bad for a Season, but not Forever- Sins in their past, but were
willing to change and be changed.
Intro: Today
we will be looking at our fourth Bad Girl
of the Bible, and the third in a row that is nameless. This woman was not
known by her husband’s name like Lot’s wife or Potiphar’s wife, but she was
known by her location—more specifically her location and her ethnicity. The Bad Girl we’re going to be studying is
known as the “woman at the well,” or the Samaritan woman at the well.
In the previous chapter we find
Jesus having His discussion at night with the Pharisee Nicodemus, who seems to
be seeking the truth. Following that we find a story of Jesus’s disciples
baptizing people in the Jordan River just like JBAP was doing. JBAP’s disciples
were upset that the disciples were baptizing and becoming more popular than
JBAP. JBAP on the other hand was excited because he knew that his job was to
prepare the way for Jesus and his work, in that regard, was almost done. He
said his joy was fulfilled and Jesus must increase and I must decrease.
Scripture: John 4:1-4 Now when Jesus learned
that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples
than John
2 (although Jesus
himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again
for Galilee. 4 And
he had to pass through Samaria.
At this point we need to look at the
relationship between Jews, Gentiles, and Samaritans. A Jew is a person born in
the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. A Gentile is anyone not a Jew. And a
Samaritan was a mixture of Jew and Gentile. Jews hated Gentiles. Gentiles hated
Jews. And both Jews and Gentiles hated the Samaritans. When Jews traveled
outside of Israel they would do their best to avoid travelling through Samaria.
If they must travel through it, as soon as they crossed the border back into
Israel, they stopped and shook the sand and dirt off of their feet, sandals,
and clothes so they wouldn’t pollute Israel. But when Jesus left from Judea to
Galilee he pretty much had to travel through Samaria to get there.
John 4:5-6 So he came to a town of
Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he
was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
Jews, Gentiles, and Samaritans
alike, all get thirsty. The body is made up of about 50-60% water. If you go
without water for a period of time you get dehydrated. If your brain isn’t
hydrated enough, you’ll get headaches. You also will get bags under your eyes,
and you lips start to dry out and chap. If you go to long without water your
organs will dry up and shutdown. Water is an absolute necessity.
Jesus, fully God yet fully man was
exhausted from the travel and needed some water to drink. He sent His disciples
into town to buy lunch, but He stuck behind for his divine appointment with the
Samaritan woman. Jesus’ Ironman wrist watch said it was high noon. Right on
time, the woman shows up.
John 4:7-9 A woman from 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 The
Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from
me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
Notice who initiates the
conversation. I imagine the woman came to the well with her head down, minding
her own business, not wanting to talk with anyone. I imagine Jesus reached out
to her, maybe touched her shoulder to get her attention. In the same way Jesus
is always reaching out to us.
Noon was not the time to go to the
well to get water. Women and shepherds alike would have gathered at the well in
the cool of the evening rather than in the blistering heat of the noon-day sun.
She needed water but wanted to go to the well at a time where no one else would
be there. She didn’t want to face the judgmental stares of the men and women
who would have drawn from that well. She wasn’t expecting to see anyone, but
Jesus was expecting to see her. Otherwise, He would have joined the disciples
in town buying food.
Jesus makes the transition from
physical to spiritual. He used a physical need to address a spiritual problem.
John 4:10-12 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift
of God, and who it is that is saying 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 water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?
12 Are you greater than
our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his
sons and his livestock.”
Either the spiritual message was
lost on her, or she chose to shove it aside and continue down the physical
side. Ever try to steer a conversation in a spiritual direction and the other
person keeps pushing it back towards the physical side? I imagine that this was
what this woman was doing. She was smart, intelligent, and does not seem to be shy.
She comments that he doesn’t have a bucket, or anything else to drink with. She
also points out that they were at Jacob’s well, a well that collected rain
water, which is more suitable for sheep than for people. In other words, where
and how would he get this living water?
John 4:13-15
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this
water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever
drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.[b] The water that I will give him will become in
him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him,
“Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to
draw water.”
How many of you have ever been
thirsty before? And then you drank some water. Were you ever thirsty again? The
woman at the well sees this as an opportunity to not only meet a physical need
(being thirsty) but also a spiritual need (she doesn’t want to ever come back
to that well again and face her peers). Jesus knew that she had a physical and
spiritual need that needed to be taken care. One need could be filled by simply
drawing up the water from the well. The other need would need to be exposed
before it could be addressed.
John 4:16-18 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband,
and come here.”
17 The woman answered
him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are
right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you
now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
Jesus was not calling this woman out
as being a sinner. Jesus knew everything about her already. He obviously knew
that she wasn’t married. It was inappropriate for a woman to be speaking to a man
in that culture without her husband being there. Jesus was honoring tradition,
and honoring her by recognizing that she was not a prostitute. By telling her
to go get her husband, He was letting her know that He was interested in her
spiritually and not carnally.
The woman at the well probably
spends every day hoping to avoid the sentence that Jesus uttered, “Go call your
husband and come here.” In much the same way parents of prodigal kids hate it
when people ask them how their kids are doing. Cake has a song with a line in
it, “All the dishes rattle in the cupboard when the elephant arrives.” The
saying “elephant in the kitchen” means that there is obviously something going
on, but the home owner pretends there is nothing out of the ordinary going on,
and tries to avoid talking about it at all costs.
The elephant in this woman’s kitchen
is that she has had 5 husbands and the one she has now is not even her husband.
Yes it’s true that this woman was currently living in sin, she was living with
a man as if they were married without being married, but let’s not look too
deep into the other five marriages. We don’t know what happened to the other
five. We do know that the woman feels shame and is probably ridiculed by the
people in her community. Is that because of her past, or because of her present
living situation? The Bible doesn’t tell us how the other relationships ended. Maybe
she was an adulteress. If she was, she would have had a difficult time securing
husbands 2-6 based on her reputation. Perhaps the previous five died. Then
maybe the town’s people looked at her as bad luck. We don’t know. The Bible
doesn’t say, and we should not just assume that she was an adulteress.
The woman, probably embarrassed and
ashamed, hung her head and said very quietly, “I have no husband.” She
recognized that whoever this was she was talking to was someone special. Jesus
acknowledged the accuracy of her statement. This must have been a little bit of
relief to the woman, until he says, “You have had five husbands and the one you
are with is not your husband.” Then she knew that He knew. Five times she went
to the altar with hope and expectancy of the marriage only to have it dashed
and broken into pieces as each of those five came to an end for whatever
reason. A married woman was protected and provided for. It’s not hard for us to
see why she may not have wanted to get her hopes up by marrying for the sixth
time. It’s not right, but we can understand, can’t we?
It was good that the disciples weren’t
there for this conversation. The disciples not known for their compassion on
Samaritans (See Luke 9, Matt 15), would have yelled out, “BOOM! Someone’s
dropping dimes all over this place!”
After meeting Jesus face to face and
having her sin exposed to Him, did she bow down and beg for forgiveness? Rend
her garments? Reach for the sack cloth and ashes? Nope.
John 4:19-24 The woman said to him,
“Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you
say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain
nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what
we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the
true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is
seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must
worship in spirit and truth.”
No, she’s too feisty to give in just
like that, so she tries again to steer the conversation away from her sin. She
recognized Jesus was a prophet, but then started a theological discussion over
where the proper place to worship God is. Jesus had struck a nerve with her so
she used words that pushed Him away. She used words like “you Jews,” and “our
fathers,” and spoke of concepts that were corporate like “worship,” rather than
personal like “sin.” She also spoke of places, “Jerusalem” that were far away
rather than frighteningly close like her soul.
Jesus may have been physically tired
but He was spiritually awake. He started off with “Woman, believe me” which set
the tone for His response. Never mind Jerusalem or Samaria, God has another
throne in mind, the woman’s very own heart.
Perhaps she was staggered from this
man’s debating skills, or maybe she was weary of arguing with Him, so she said…
John 4:25-26 The woman said to him,
“I know that Messiah is coming (he 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.”
Perhaps in her mind, her opinion
sounded good, but His did too. She may have been confused, but nevertheless,
the Messiah is coming and He will answer all of our questions. Rather than
letting her dismiss the entire conversation Jesus revealed His calling,
ministry, and identity to her. A Samaritan, a woman, and a sinner. Three
strikes against her. Jesus looked past her hard exterior and saw that she was
seeking truth and He gave her Living Water. When He identified Himself He used
the same words God used in the burning bush to Moses leaving zero doubt that He
was claiming to be God.
John 4:27 Just then his disciples
came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said,
“What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”
It was at this point the disciples
returned from Publix with their reusable canvas grocery bags. They all wondered
at the scene of Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman, but fortunately none of
them said anything because they probably would have said something stupid.
John 4:28-30 So the woman left her
water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did.
Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
Immediately she forsook her current need,
getting the water, and started evangelizing to the community. Two things happen
when meet our Savior: 1) We confess our sins openly; 2) We tell others about
Him.
John 4:31-34 Meanwhile the disciples
were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I
have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone
brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My
food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
The disciples still didn’t get it.
They have been with Jesus every day for a while now, but I bet they didn’t
mention Jesus at the grocery store while they were there. But here is a
Samaritan woman rushing all over town, that can’t stop telling people about
Jesus, while they’re thinking of their bellies.
John 4:39-42 Many
Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He
told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked
him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because
of his word. 42 They
said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe,
for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of
the world.”
Application: This
woman, who was bad for a season but not forever,
came face to face with her savior, her sin was exposed, she believed in Him who
could set her free, and she ran and told everyone about Him sharing her
testimony along the way. The Bible says that everything done in secret will
eventually be made known in the light. That means that all of our sin will one
day be exposed. But the good news is that we can still meet our savior, it may
not be face to face, but it’s even more effective, and He can still set us
free.
The good news is so good because the
bad news is so bad. The bad news is that we are dead in our transgressions. Sin
doesn’t make us bad, it makes us dead. And dead people can’t do anything. Dead
people don’t need a self-help program or a pep rally. Dead people need to be
made alive again. The good news is that Jesus died for our sins and 2
Corinthians 5:17 says that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The
old has passed away, behold the new has come.” Our old sinful selves are dead
and the new creation is here to stay.
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