During Bible times, women were often seen as a lower class to the men. Men had more rights than women, and were generally treated better. Secondly, the Jews and the Samaritans disliked each other. Dislike may not be a strong enough word. They despised each other. Why? The Jews hated the Samaritans because they saw them as second class citizens. The Samaritans were a result of the Jews marrying outside their culture, and as a result the Samaritans were considered “half breeds.” Likewise, the Samaritans hated the Jews for the way they were treated. This mindset was a cycle of “we hate them and they hate us” that was perpetrated by pride and as a result was very difficult to break. 

However, Jesus purposely chose to travel through the land of the Samaritans because he saw both women and Samaritans differently.

“So he (Jesus) came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 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. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 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.) John 4:1-9 (ESV)

Jesus Came For A Purpose

Jesus knew there would be a woman coming to the well in the middle of the day, and he had a very important message for her. You see, all the “proper” women would go to the well in the mornings when it was cool. It would be a time to chat with the other ladies, and catch up on the latest gossip. It was much like how women like to meet up for coffee to catch up and talk with each other. They would go to the well in the morning to talk, and they would go there in the morning because it was cool outside. Who wants to walk a long distance in the middle of the day when it’s so hot? Only women who were outcasts would go to the well in the heat of the day. We see this woman whom Jesus wanted to talk to coming by herself to get water in the heat of the day. She was an outcast. Why was she an outcast? We will talk more about this in a bit, but just know her lifestyle had a lot to do with why she was considered an outcast among her fellow citizens. 

Little did she know that today would be a day that forever changed her life. 

Knowing that this woman was considered an outcast to the Jews because she was a Samaritan, and she was an outcast to the Samaritans because of the way she lived, how do you think she must have felt when she saw a Jewish man sitting at the well in the middle of the day? I’d imagine she felt pretty nervous!

Jesus Offers Living Water

Jesus came that day because he had a special message for this Samaritan woman who lived a disgraceful and sinful life. We see Jesus ask this woman for a drink of water. She replies with shock and asks why on earth is he asking her for a drink of water. The thing about Jesus is he is not easily offended. The way people react to his requests never shock or appall him. Jesus will always answer in kindness and in a way that makes people feel loved. What does he say to this woman after she responds to his request for water with shock (and maybe even a bit of disgust)?

“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.” 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?” John 4:10-11 (ESV)

Jesus seems to answer in code at times. Basically he says, “If you knew who you were talking to you would ask me to give you living water.” Living water is a spiritual substance God uses to purify people and things in the spiritual realm. (This is a very abstract concept that even people who have been followers of Jesus for decades struggle to understand.)

She Needed A Spiritual Solution

This woman thought Jesus was offering a solution to solve her physical problems. However, Jesus was actually offering to solve her spiritual problem. You see, everyone is just like this woman. You are like her. I am like her. There is not anyone who has ever lived or will live in the future who is exempt from suffering with the same problem as this woman. It doesn’t matter where you live, what your background is like, how rich or poor you may be, what you may think about yourself, or what other people may think about you. What is this common problem everyone has? We call this problem sin. Sin in the simplest terms is just missing the mark. It’s like shooting an arrow at a target and missing the bullseye. Even if you miss the bullseye by just a tiny bit, you are off the mark. Sin is failing to measure up to the standard that Jesus has set. 

Sin has nothing to do with how good of a person you may see yourself, nor does it have to do with striving to do more good deeds than bad. Have you lied? Have you ever stolen anything? How about wanting something someone else has, and secretly wishing they didn’t have it either because, in your view, they don’t deserve to have that thing? If you have answered yes to any of the above questions then you have sinned. You failed to measure up to the standard God set. You may be thinking, it’s impossible for anyone to never lie. I know I’ve lied many times in my life. I failed to measure up to God’s standard too. 

The truth is you can never be good enough to wash yourself clean from the things Jesus says are wrong. Romans 3:23 (ESV) says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” 

Good Works Aren’t Good Enough

God does not have a scale in Heaven that weighs the “good” things we do with the “bad” things. The Bible says this about our good works, “…And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags…” Isaiah‬ ‭64‬:‭6‬ (‭NKJV)‬‬ Even the things we consider to be good works can’t measure up. 

Here’s the thing, sin is not a physical problem, rather it is a spiritual problem. Just as your physical problems need physical answers, so your spiritual problems need spiritual answers. For example, when you are hungry, you physically feel the need to eat. Your stomach will start growling, you may feel like you have less energy. When you notice those signs, you go to the kitchen to find something to eat. It would be ridiculous to notice those signs and then go read a book about how food is made, thinking this will solve your problem of being hungry. As absurd as this would be, it is equally absurd to try to fix a spiritual problem with physical solutions. 

We need a spiritual substance to wash us clean from our sin. When my children were little we would take them to the beach. My youngest daughter loved playing in the sand. She would literally throw sand in the air and let it fall on her head. When we would leave, we would try to wash as much of the sand off of her as we could. Inevitably we would find more sand on her body. I remember one time we took her diaper off after a day at the beach to find it full of sand! We would bathe her and think we got all the sand off her only to find more someplace the next day. No matter how much we tried to wash the sand off, we continued to find more days later. We thought we cleaned her really well, but our best effort wasn’t good enough. Sin is like the sand left on our daughter. People can try and wash off the bad choices they make and those things they do that miss God’s mark, but despite their best efforts sin will still be there. 

There Is Nothing You Can Do By Yourself

Actually, there is nothing we can do by ourselves to wash ourselves clean from sin. No matter how hard we try, we can’t even wash off one speck of sin from our lives. Remember sin is a spiritual problem that needs a spiritual solution.

One of the rules God set up is that there must be blood shed in order for God to see a person as clean from their sin. This is the reason the Jews of the Bible times were required to sacrifice lambs to be cleansed of their sin. Thankfully, Jesus had a better plan. His plan was to leave his rightful place as God in Heaven to live on the earth as a man. Actually, he was 100% man and 100% God at the same time. Because he was 100% God he was able to live a life that never missed the mark. He was perfect. He never lied, never stole, and never said a cuss word. Because he was 100% man he was tempted to do those things. There were times in his life when he felt like sinning, but he never did. 

When Jesus was 30 years old he began to gather a group of men, who would be called his disciples. They would be his friends, and help him in his ministry. One night, Jesus was betrayed by one of his closest friends and turned over to the Romans to be crucified on the cross. He willingly shed his blood on the cross so we can be made clean by his sacrifice. Because he is 100% God, his blood has the power to wash every speck of sin off of us. Only the blood of someone who lived a perfect life, a life that didn’t have any sin, would be powerful enough to clean sin off the rest of us. 

The amazing part is that Jesus did something else you and I can never do. This is the most important part.  Three days after Jesus died on the cross he rose from the dead, proving he was in fact God. Only God can cause a dead man to live. Jesus was not just a good man, who lived a good life. He is God in the flesh. He is no longer dead, but alive and will come back to earth in the flesh someday!

Is Jesus Greater Than Jacob?

In his conversation with the woman at the well, the woman questions Jesus’ authority. She asks if he is greater than Jacob. Jacob is a man from the Old Testament who is considered a founding father of the Jewish people. God actually changed his name to Israel! The woman says, “Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” ‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬ ‭(ESV‬)‬

What does Jesus say in return? “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.” John‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ (‭ESV)

Jesus goes back to his original offer. He wants to give her his living water. He tells her the water he is offering will allow her to never thirst again. What does he mean? We can see more of what Jesus means in his next statement to this woman, “Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here. The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “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.”” John‬ ‭4‬:‭16-18‬ ‭(ESV‬‬)‬‬ 

Her many husbands show us that she had an insatiable thirst that was really rooted in her spiritual problem. She was trying to quench a spiritual thirst with physical solutions. She believed the lie that a man could make her feel whole and worthy. This woman tried to place physical love and affection in the place where God’s love and affection belonged. The living water Jesus was offering would quench that thirst. 

Jesus is still offering the same thing today. You can accept his offer of living water and the sacrifice he made by shedding his blood and be washed clean of every sin you have ever committed and every sin you will commit in the future! Will you accept his offer?