(My imagining of how this portion of conversation may have gone, as told from the woman’s perspective. John 4:13-26, 28-30)
Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
She thinks… ‘I hate coming here, every day, in this heat, to draw water. When that water is gone I have to come back again for more. I’ve made so many mistakes. I’ve tried so hard to make a good life and I can’t seem to get it to work. All I ever wanted was a family. Friends. Kids. A real man to take care of me. None of the other women like me or care about me. They won’t even talk to me. Life is so hard, and lonely. I don’t want to be thirsty any more. I don’t want to come here by myself anymore. It sounds like he’s offering me some kind of holy water that will make it so I’m never thirsty again. I want that. Maybe if I ask him nicely he’ll give it to me. He is a Jew, but he doesn’t seem to hate me… I’ll ask and see what he says…’
“Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
“Go call your husband and come here.”
Why would he ask me that? What does that matter? What does my man have to do with this water? Well, no reason to lie…
“I have no husband.”
“You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
(Have you ever been called out on your sin? Take a second, close your eyes and feel her shame. The heat and blood rising in her cheeks, the tightness in her throat, the sting of tears in the corners of her eyes. The stone of shame sinking into the pit of her stomach. Her heart beat wooshig in her ears. Her limbs feeling like lead. That feeling of being found out… uncovered… naked.)
‘How could he know that? What business is that of his? Maybe he met someone else that gossiped about me. It’s not my fault they all leave me. I feed them and they keep my bed warm, until they find out the real me, then they leave me. Why should I marry a man if he’s just going to leave?— Who is this man? What right does he have to shame me like this? Maybe he does hate me. What if he knows more than that? Maybe he is some kind of prophet. Maybe he doesn’t realize why I stay here. As bad as it is, this is where I belong… It’s all I’ve ever known.’‘
(Then her shame turns to anger, her lips tighten, her brows furrow and her eyes squint as her posture turns defensive. She crosses her arms.)
“Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
“Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, then the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
‘What is he talking about? Where else is there to worship? I have never heard anyone say things like this before. He speaks as if he knows the Father. What does he mean the hour is now here? I’m so confused…’
“I know the Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”
“I who speak to you am he.”
(When did you get “saved?” Do you remember? Feel her eyes opening. Not her physical eyes, but her spiritual eyes, opening and seeing the truth of Jesus. The cobwebs of confusion all of a sudden swept away by grace. She doesn’t even know his name, but she knows his truth. He is her redeemer. Feel her heart beating faster. Feel the stone of shame in her stomach turn to butterflies.)
‘I MUST GO NOW, TELL EVERYONE what has just happened to me. I found the TRUTH! This is Messiah! I was blind but now, I SEE!
So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,
“Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”
(I love her sense of urgency, and how all of a sudden that water jar, and all the implications of shame that came with it, had no more meaning or power over her. It’s a symbol of how she didn’t need it, she wasn’t thirsty any more.)
Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. 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.”
Jesus at my Well
Even my heart beats faster as I write this. I remember where I was, and all the broken wells I was drinking from. I’ve been through seasons of drug abuse and addiction, depression, false spiritualism and witchcraft, lying and stealing, self destruction, self deception… We all have our list… Water pots full to the brim with dead water.
It really only takes the tiniest glimpse of His glory, to see that Jesus is the source, the Living Water, the Spirit and the Truth. The only part of my testimony that matters is that he knows everything I’ve ever done and will do, even those secret sins, and loves me anyways. Died for me anyways. When I was at my worst, His enemy, (Rom 5:10) He saved me. We can’t clean ourselves up to come to him, that’s impossible. He comes to us when we’re dying of thirst, without hope in the world, and gives us HIMSELF. He washes us inside and out with the Living Water, his mercy and grace.
Paul explains this perfectly in 1 Timothy 1:12-17
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
The woman from Sychar experienced this “perfect patience” of Jesus and went to people that weren’t even her friends, to tell them she had found Messiah. Jesus showed me his perfect patience over and over at every lonely well along my path, and still does today. You have found the Christ, the Savior of the world, invite somebody you know to meet him today.
Next Time
An Interview with Matt and Alison Piro on Worship, Spirit, and Truth.