The next major passage containing red letters is Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman and the lessons will include His comments to His disciples and the consequences of that conversation in John 4:1-42. The major emphasis of this passage has to do with the principle of worship. But before we get to the passage where Jesus talks about worship, let me set the context. In order to avoid another potentially heated confrontation with the Pharisees (they were probably still upset that Jesus had driven the vendors and moneychangers out of the temple at Passover), He decides to leave Judea and go up to Galilee (verse 3). The Pharisees were concerned because they knew Jesus’ was becoming even more popular than John the Baptist, and was gaining more followers than John (verse 1).
Maybe I should stop here and remind you of a couple of reasons why this would get the Pharisees agitated. The first is they always felt threatened when someone would gather followers with a message that promoted different ideas and doctrines from the rules oriented, self-serving and self-righteous (even profitable) religion they had crafted and now controlled. The second is the fact that their country was dominated under the heavy and excessively harsh control of the Romans who always got nervous when large crowds gathered; to them, this was a possible rebellion forming and they would blame the religious establishment for allowing it. So, Jesus decides to do the prudent thing and just leave town.
So, verse 4 says it was “necessary” for Him to go through Samaria. It’s important to point out this was not the normal route a Jew would take. On a map traveling from Judea to Galilee looks like a straight journey north through Samaria, but a proper Jew would avoid going through Samaria by taking an eastern route around that country (adding an additional three days to arrive at his destination). The Jews would not associate with the Samaritans, as I will explain later. However, as we will see, Jesus had a divine appointment with a Samaritan woman.
Verses 5 and 6 tell us Jesus arrives at Sychar, where Jacob’s well was located, and it was about the sixth hour (12 noon). Jesus was understandably tired from the journey (this is the second day, after walking a distance of approximately 30 miles) and He was resting at the well.
In verse 7 a Samaritan woman arrives at the well to draw water and Jesus asks her, “Give me a drink.” Then verse 8 tells us Jesus is alone here, as His disciples had gone into the city to buy food. It’s interesting here to frame the conversation that follows with some cultural and historical information. This is a somewhat guarded conversation for this reason: Jesus is a young man of marriageable age and the woman is also alone.
It was customary for young men possibly looking for a bride to go to the well where young women would have to come to draw water. It was also customary for women of ill repute to go to the well, knowing young men would be there. What follows then is a great example of Jesus knowing exactly what is to happen and how He directs the conversation to the conclusion the Father had obviously predetermined (a conclusion that would result in the conversion of many Samaritans).
This brings us to the woman’s answer in verse 9, “Why are You, a Jew, asking me, a Samaritan and a woman besides, for a drink? The Jews usually have nothing to do with the Samaritans.” Here, “nothing to do” (no “dealings” in the KJV) is from sunchrachomai, friendly conversation or hospitality (however normal commerce was carried on, remember, the disciples had gone into town to buy food). Here, the woman expresses her surprise that Jesus would even speak to her for two reasons. The first is that she recognized He was a Jew and she was a Samaritan. The second is that she was a woman (possibly of dubious character, as we will see) and this was her attempt to find out why Jesus was even talking to her. She’s curious; was He a single man looking for a wife or possibly for something else? Either way, she seems to want to keep the conversation going to find out.
That’s the cultural background. Now let’s look at the historical circumstances that had caused this divide between the Samaritans and the Jews. About 350 years earlier Sanballet, then the governor of Samaria under Persian rule, was granted permission to build a temple on Mount Gerizim similar to the one in Jerusalem. He built it for his son-in-law, Manasseh, and installed him as the high priest. Sanballet was a Moabite and had unsuccessfully opposed all efforts by Nehemiah to rebuild and restore Jerusalem following the Jews return from Babylonian exile (as recorded in the Book of Nehemiah); however as the record shows the Lord was with Nehemiah and nothing was going to hinder what He had purposed.
The Samaritans then established a rival worship that was distinctly different than what was practiced in Jerusalem. The main differences between the two were that the Samaritans accepted only the Pentateuch (the 5 books of Moses) as their Bible. And under Sanballet, Manasseh and their Babylonian influence, the Samaritan religion became a mixture of Judaism and the Babylonian idol cult.
Another problem was that the Jews that now occupied Samaria and had been allowed to return there from their Assyrian captivity had intermarried with the foreigners (Assyrians) in that Babylonian settlement. The result of all this was a mixed race of people generally considered to be “half-breeds” universally despised by the Jews.
Yet another problem was that Samaria had become a place of refuge for outlaws, criminals and anyone seeking to avoid justice in Judea. The Samaritans willingly accepted all violators of the Jewish laws, greatly increasing the hatred that existed between the two nations. The result of all this was (as previously mentioned) Jews traveling from Judea to Galilee would avoid going through Samaria, willingly adding the three days to their journey to avoid any dealings with the Samaritans.
Let’s get back to the account. Remember, the woman has just asked Jesus why He is even talking to her. Jesus knew exactly what to say to guide the conversation in the right direction. This is another of many examples in the Gospels of Jesus’ ability to recognize the character, motives, or even the thoughts of people (see John 2:23-25). So He told the woman, “If you only knew the gift of God and Who is saying to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him (instead) for a drink, and He would have given you living water.” (Verse 10) It will soon become apparent that Jesus is going to use His ability to know people’s thoughts to turn this conversation in a spiritual direction.
Verse 11 begins with the woman addressing Him as “Sir”. The Greek word here is kurios, commonly translated, Lord, Master or Sir, and used as an expression of respect and often recognition of authority. Jesus had a way of speaking to people not just with an economy of words, but also with an air of authority that caught their attention (and usually infuriated the religious establishment). The woman recognized in His answer that this was no ordinary Jew. “Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep, how can You give me this living water?” It was common for travelers to carry with them a leather bucket to draw water from public wells. So, in order to further the conversation, she asked Him in verse 12, “Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well?”
Then in verses 13 and 14 Jesus begins to turn the conversation directly towards spiritual, eternal issues. “All who drink of this water will only get thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I can give him will never thirst again. In fact, the water I give will become in him a spring of water bubbling continually into eternal life.” (A clear reference to the regenerating ministry of the Holy Spirit, as already noted in John 7:37-39 with 16:7.)
In verse 15 the woman asks for the water Jesus is offering, but her reasons for asking shows she does not yet understand what Jesus is talking about (she says she doesn’t want to get thirsty again and doesn’t want to have to continually come and draw water from the well). But again, her curiosity causes her to continue the conversation. She suspects the Lord is not talking about ordinary water, but needs more information.
Now in verses 16 Jesus turns the conversation towards spiritual issues in an unmistakable way by exposing the woman’s past. So Jesus says, “Go, call your husband and bring him back here.” To which she replies, “I have no husband.” And Jesus responds in verses 17 and 18, “You’re telling the truth when you say, I have no husband. You have had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband. In this you have spoken the truth.”
This knowledge of her past life catches her off guard. Jesus knows things about her that only God could have revealed. So she says, “Sir, I understand that You are a prophet.” (Verse 19) This catches her by surprise, so she changes the subject.