The simple story of a lost woman, and, in it, a mirror of the heart of Jesus…
Jesus was on His way from Judea to Galilee. He had to face an obstacle on His journey…Samaria!
Why was Samaria an obstacle? Samaria was the territory of the historical enemies of the Jews. What used to be a section of the original northern kingdom of Israel, had become the land of aliens, half Jews who were an abomination to the full Jews who lived in Judah and Galilee. These Samaritans were the offspring of Gentiles and Jews after the conquest of Samaria by the Assyrians. Jewish territory was split by Samaria and Jews avoided crossing it at all costs.
John 4:4 NIV
[4] “Now he had to go through Samaria.”
Jesus’ “had to” had the aroma of the Father about it. Somewhere in Samaria was someone who needed Him despite cultural taboos. He ignored the foolish hatred of His fellow Jews and set off for Galilee through Samaria.
A long journey on foot! Hot and tired, He stopped to rest beside a well outside a Samaritan village. What could be more ordinary than that? His disciples had set off to buy food, leaving Him alone in the hot midday sun to catch His breath.
By and by, a woman approached the well. An unusual situation began to unfold. Any other Jewish man might have looked the away, turned his back on her, ignored her or done something to show his contempt.
Not Jesus! He watched her approach, began to feel a stirring in His spirit. There was something unusual about her appearance in the middle of the day. She should have been drawing water in the early morning or late afternoon, not in the heat of the day. He examined her appearance. Her DEMEANOUR was discomforting … defiance, challenge, something unsavoury in her look that anticipated a contemptuous gesture or a snarky comment from this Jewish man.
The woman was shocked by Jesus’ friendly attitude. He even spoke to her, not cursing or insulting words but a simple request. She had what He needed…water, so He asked her for a drink.
Slowly, the Jesus we are beginning to know, began to surface. Opportunity! He turned a simple request into a masterful opportunity to reach deep into her troubled soul. Slowly, tenderly, unlike any other human she has ever met, He began to probe, to uncover her secret, not to judge or condemn but to redirect her heart towards truth and freedom.
Let’s pause for a moment.
As we travel through John’s gospel, let’s gaze at the heart of the Father through the words and hands of Jesus. What was He about? He gave us a clear mission statement in His words to Nicodemus.
John 3:17 NIV
[17] “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Let His words echo in our spirits… “not to condemn but to save!” This implies that every thought or attitude in His heart was not to judge, not to condemn, unlike our hearts that judge, condemn, and sentence another that does NOT reflect the heart of Jesus.
Now, let’s continue.
Step by step, gently, responding even to her questions that attempted to steer Him away from her own sordid situation, Jesus made a shocking statement that said it all.
Probing deep…
John 4:16-18 NIV
[16] “He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” [17] “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. [18] The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
What a disclosure! Did He condemn her? No! This was her “lightbulb” moment. What did He tell her? “I know you!” Despite her attempt to evade His probing, this was her turning point and her testimony…
John 4:28-29 NIV
[28] “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, [29] “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
Excited, free, and unashamed, she testified to her fellow Samaritans, “He knows me! ”
Above every other disclosure, the reality that Jesus knew her, knows us, deeply, intimately, despite all our efforts to dodge or hide, should convince us that He is God.
What if we face, on the day we meet Him, His sad, but terrifying words, “I never knew you!” not because, for a moment He lost His omniscience, but because we never allowed Him into our souls. We thought we knew Him and acted on what we knew…did all the religious things we thought He liked, but never gained access to His heart.
It’s the knowing of intimacy that changes everything.
So, Jesus’ little excursion through enemy territory, ignoring cultural taboos, listening to the voice of the Father, grasping a golden opportunity, turns out to have had eternal results…a woman rescued from her futile attempts to slake her heart’s thirst, a village rescued from a lost eternity…all because He chose to go through Samaria.