What is the significance of the woman at the well?

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Jesus stopped in a Samaritan town to rest (John 4:6) and asked an approaching Samaritan woman for water (John 4:7). She questioned why a Jew would ask her, his enemy, for water (John 4:9), to which Jesus replied that if she understood who He was, she would have asked Him for living water (John 4:10). Intrigued, she asked where He got such water and whether He considered Himself greater than Jacob, who dug the well (John 4:11–12). Jesus replied that Jacob’s water left one thirsty, but whoever drank from Him would never thirst again. He was referring to Himself as the source of eternal life (John 4:13–14). Jesus then showed her that she was sinful (John 4:16–18) and revealed that He was the Messiah (John 4:25–26), explaining that His arrival removed the need for worship in specific locations, thereby opening worship to all who worship in spirit and truth (John 4:20–24). She believed Him (John 4:28–29), ran to the town, and gathered the people who also believed (John 4:39–42). When the disciples questioned Jesus for not eating, He said accomplishing God’s work was His good (John 4:34)—in this case, bringing salvation to that town. While we cannot evangelize with Jesus’ knowledge or insight, this story shows us Jesus’ heart for everyone to hear about Him and encourages us, like the woman, to tell others what we have believed.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

• The story of the woman at the well is not found in the Old Testament.

FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Contextually, the Jews and Samaritans were longstanding enemies, with serious theological disagreements. The Samaritans were “mixed” Jews, from Jewish and Gentile relationships, and only believed in the Torah, the five books of Moses. Conversely, Jews held to strict separation from others, claiming adherence to the entire Old Testament. Because of this, Jews avoided the Samaritans and took the long way around them when traveling from Judea to Galilee.
• However, Jesus intentionally took the more direct route through the town (John 4:1–5). This explains His comments to the disciples at the end: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34). He came this way for the express purpose of proclaiming His arrival to the Samaritans.
• Jesus chose that specific city because He was tired and sitting next to a well Jacob had dug. John said, “It was about the sixth hour” (John 4:6), which was probably noon (cf. John 19:14). The disciples left Him there to find food (John 4:8).
• As a Samaritan woman approached, Jesus asked her for water from the well (John 4:7). John explains her surprise at a Jew asking her for anything: For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:9). Jesus replied, “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” (John 4:10).
• The woman challenged Jesus because He had nothing to draw water, so from where would this water even come, and besides, the great patriarch Jacob dug this well, and did He think He was better than Jacob (John 4:11–12)?
• Jesus patiently replied, “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” (John 4:13–14). What He meant was that eternal life came through Him.
• The woman asked for that eternal water (John 4:15), to which Jesus surprisingly replied, “Go, call your husband, and come here (John 4:16). Jesus knew the woman had actually been married five times and was now living with a sixth man (John 4:17b–18). He was revealing her sinfulness despite her pious talk.
• The woman changed the topic to ask Jesus where the right place to worship was, considering the Jews were in one place and they, the Samaritans, were in another (John 4:20). Jesus corrected her, saying that the Jews had it right (John 4:22) but that His arrival opened the way for God to be worshipped from anywhere if one worshipped in spirit and truth (John 4:21–24). He then revealed that He was the Messiah they had been waiting for (John 4:25–26).
• The woman left, believing, and ran into the town saying, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” (John 4:28–29). The rest of the town came, “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’” (John 4:39–42).

IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY

Jesus moved around a lot during His three years. But as John 4 highlights, His movements were purposeful. He obeyed the Father (John 14:31), doing what He sent Him to do and going where He sent Him (John 4:34; 8:29). This particular story shows how Jesus’ mission included proclaiming His arrival even to areas that His fellow Jews avoided. John 4 is a beautiful picture of how Jesus’ faithfulness brought salvation to a town and to one woman in particular.

We are not Jesus, and we will never be able to witness like He did, having insight into a person’s sin and so forth. However, we have the same evangelistic mission. Jesus was given authority to send others in His place, a mission He has given to all believers (Matthew 28:18–20).

Your “mission” may not be a traditional mission. Jesus may not send you to another country but instead send you to your friends and family. You have been saved for a reason, and one reason is to tell others about your Savior so that they may be saved and tell others.

Some are frightened by evangelism, but Jesus has not given believers the mission without the ability to fulfill it. Scripture equips us (2 Timothy 3:16–17), and Jesus sent His Spirit to help us (Acts 1:8). God also provides evangelistic opportunities throughout our lives (e.g., Colossians 4:3).

You don’t need to be specially trained to share the gospel. Like the woman leaving her jar and telling others (John 4:28), you need to be willing to go wherever God sends you and to be faithful in growing in the knowledge of Scripture so you can teach others what it says!

UNDERSTAND

• Jesus crossed cultural boundaries to reach the Samaritan woman.
• Jesus is the “living water” and the Messiah.
• The woman at the well immediately responded to Jesus and shared what she had learned about Him.

REFLECT

• How does Jesus' deliberate decision to travel through Samaria challenge the boundaries you place around who you consider worthy of hearing the gospel?
• In what ways might Jesus' patient method of bringing the woman to recognize her sin inform the way you need to think about how to speak truth to sinful people?
• How does the woman’s immediate response to Jesus challenge you to share your faith, even when you don’t feel like you know enough or have all the answers?

ENGAGE

• What are the implications of the truth that God can be worshipped anywhere?
• What does Jesus' interaction with the woman at the well reveal about the nature of His mission and who He came to seek?
• How should the woman at the well’s example of immediately telling others about Jesus shape the way we respond to Him and the gospel?