Woman at the Well - John 4:1-15

Now that John is in prison, Jesus leaves “Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.” JTC comments, “The direct route from Judea to Galilee lay through Samaria; but many Jews, particularly Galileans, chose to follow an indirect though longer way rather than traverse the country of a people so despised by them as were the Samaritans.” It is significant that the Savior chose to take the direct route through Samaria instead of going around, as was the custom at the time. Another example of Jesus doing what is right and not what is popular. Why was there animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans?  The conflict between Samaritans and Jews came down to blood line, with the Jews considering themselves to be pure-bloods from Abraham, because although the Samaritans also had heritage back to Abraham, they had inter-married with pagans throughout the years and had changed the Jewish religion. I just want to mention that the Jews had changed a lot of their religion as well, but it was widely accepted in the mainstream, therefore they could still hate the Samaritans, but not themselves. The Catholic website gives interesting background information saying, “The Samaritans were a racially mixed society with Jewish and pagan ancestry. Although they worshiped Yahweh as did the Jews, their religion was not mainstream Judaism. They accepted only the first five books of the Bible as canonical, and their temple was Mount Gerazim instead of on Mount Zion in Jerusalem… Because of their imperfect adherence to Judaism and their partly pagan ancestry, the Samaritans were despised by ordinary Jews.” On the one hand I think, “it’s just wrong to hate a people because they believe almost the same as you and can trace their ancestors back to the same people you can.” But then I think, it’s that just like the Reorganized church and the Fundamentalist church and were branches off of our original church? And how do we feel about them? It’s touch and go, I try to not think about them as “apostates” but I don’t think that they are held in the same regard as we do each other, so we need to work on that. If I had to drive through a FLDS or Reorg town in order to get somewhere, and I had to stop and get gas or eat dinner, would I go around or would I just go through? That’s a thought.

JTC comments on the intense hatred of the Samaritans by the Jews saying, “On one occasion the epithet ‘Samaritan’ was hurled at Christ as an intended insult. ‘Say we not will that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?’ The Samaritan conception of the mission of the expected Messiah was somewhat better founded than was that of the Hews, for the Samaritans gave greater prominence to the spiritual kingdom the Messiah would establish, and were less exclusive in their views as to whom the Messianic blessings would be extended.” That Jesus went through Samaria, not as convenience, but for a purpose as Jesus says in verse 4 that “he must needs go through Samaria,” he must have known something significant was waiting for him there.

Jesus and his disciples stop in the Samaritan city of Sychar, “near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph,” which makes sense because on one of the websites I read doing some research on the Samaritans say that they are the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh. He was tired from his journey and sat “on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.” The IM points out that Jesus was there around noon and typically Samaritan women would come to the well in the mornings and later afternoons “to get water and to socialize.” This is an odd time of day for a woman to come to the well, and the IM suggests that “the Samaritan woman who went to the well and spoke with Jesus may have come at this unusual time to avoid the women of the village, who may have shunned her as a sinner.”

While sitting there, “there cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.” Now, this was a different time, the words were different, the way people talk to each other was different, so this sounds harsh to me, but I don’t think the Savior meant it in that way. According to some different translations, that phrase could be interpreted as “will you give me a drink?” or “please give me a drink.” I’d imagine that it was something along those lines, not demanding or aggressive, but kind and respectful. The woman was obviously taken by surprise because she answered Him, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.”

Jesus answers saying, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” She doesn’t understand and asks him what he was planning of using to draw water from the well, and where did he get his living water, as this is the well that father Jacob himself drank out of, “art thou greater than our father Jacob?” As a matter of fact, he is greater. Jesus answers her, “whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” This is a difficult concept for me because the idea of “living water” is so abstract. I think that “living water” is one of those things that can only make sense in the eternal perspective. Christ gives us living water, which is the gospel, the atonement, the chance to repent and live with him again. There is nothing “living” or eternal in this life, in that is death, and no one escapes it, there’s no way out and there’s no way back. The IM quotes Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin as teaching about ‘living water” saying, “Fully understood and embraced, the gospel of Jesus Christ heals broken hearts, infuses meaning into lives, binds loved ones together with ties that transcend mortality, and brings to life a sublime… The abundant life is a spiritual life. Too many sit at the banquet table of the gospel of Jesus Christ and merely nibble at the feast placed before them. They go through the motions- attending their meetings perhaps, glancing at scriptures, repeating familiar prayers- but their hearts are far away. If they are honest, they would admit to being more interested in the latest neighborhood rumors, stock market trends, and their favorite TV shows than they are in the supernal wonders and sweet ministerings of the Holy Spirit. Do you wish to partake of this living water and experience that divine well springing up within you to everlasting life? Then be not afraid. Believe with all your heart. Develop an unshakable faith in the Son of God. Let your hearts reach out in earnest prayer. Fill your minds with knowledge of Him. Forsake your weaknesses. Walk in holiness and harmony with the commandments.”

I like that he says that living water pertains to spiritual things, because that’s the context in which it makes sense. I’m going to think more about the living water, maybe it’s separating the spiritual from the temporal, like the lesson we talked about last time, “lifting up.” Focusing on the spiritual instead of the physical. I’m going to have to think about this.