Greetings in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart. (John 2:1)
Jesus Christ is love. His love is greater than anything else. His love is so immense that nobody can grasp how wide, long, high, and deep the love of Christ is. He came to this world not to be served, but to serve. He became the ultimate sacrifice for all. In Him, we got the life, which will never perish. And by Him, the beautiful relation with God was restored. Thus, we can call God, “Abba Father.” We approach Him while expecting His love and care. What a contrast! Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman, were afraid of God and hid themselves when God called them. After the fall by sinning against God, they became children of the darkness. They could no longer enjoy the light in God. Since the first sin came into Adam, it has never left all human beings. As a result, all human beings lived under the darkness. The power of sins has been always domaining over the descendants of Adam. The beautiful relationship with God had been completely lost. Sufferings, hardships, conflicts, deceptions, hates, hurts and sorrows become a norm on earth. In order to save and restore us, our Lord, Jesus Christ came, and He humbly served all human beings by being the ultimate sacrifice for all. Yes, Jesus is love, and He demonstrated His love on the cross on which he was nailed. His death was our gain, and His misery was our blessing.
One day as Jesus saw the crowds gathering. Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him. Jesus also saw their heartaches and hardships on earth. He opened Hs mouth and comforted their hearts by revealing the secret of the kingdom of heaven:
““Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy,
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3-10)
Jesus continued blessed those who came to Him, and people followed Him wherever He went. After ministering the people in Judea, where Jerusalem was located, Jesus and His disciples moved to Galilee. To the disciples’ surprise, Jesus took a direct path to Galilee instead of going around the region of Samaria.
At that time, all Jewish people avoided Samaria at all costs. The region of Samara was originally a part of the country of Israel. However, after the northern part of the Israel was conquered by Assyria, foreigners came and settled in the northern part. Then the Jewish people in the region got mixed with the foreigners. Since then, the descendants of the mixed people occupied the region of Samaria. For the southern part of Israel, who kept their Jewish purity, the Samaritans were not Jewish because they defiled themselves by mixing with foreigners. The southern Jewish people, thus, did not want to make any contacts with the Samaritan people to protect themselves from being defiled by the Samaritan people. As a result, when there was a need to travel to Galilee, the Jewish people completely went around the Samaritan region. The direct distance between Jerusalem located to Galilee is about 100 km (i.e., 60 miles), but they took a longer path by traveling a distance of 160 Km (i.e, 100 miles). We can see how faithful the Jewish people were to their Laws and Traditions. At the same time, it is really sad that the Jews treated the fellow Samarian people like dogs. Of course, it was not what God wanted. God is love. He wanted for the Jewish people (and us too) to love God and to love other fellow human begins.
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:36-39)
Jesus walked directly in Samaria to get to Galilee, and all of the disciples were worried. Some of them were actually hesitant to get into the Samaritan region. As Jesus kept walking ahead of them, they realized that there was nothing that they could do but follow Him. They gave an extra care not to be defiled by Samaritans.
Eventually Jesus came to the Samaritan village of Sychar. Jesus and His disciples made about 1/2 of the journey to Galilee. It was near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. The disciples went out to get food, and Jesus was alone at the well.
Soon one Samaritan woman came to draw water. It was about noontime, and it was not a popular time to draw water. Most of the women came morning or evening. The Samaritan woman saw Jesus stilling at the well. She avoided her eye contact with Jesus. Soon she realized Jesus was a Jewish man, not one of the Samarian men. Initially, the Samaritan woman tried to go back to home, but she got to this conclusion: “The man is not one of men from the village. Thus, he would not know anything about me and who I am. Additionally, the Jewish man will not talk to me anyway, a Samaritan woman. I will be safer with the Jewish man. I will draw water and quickly go home.” Then she kept walking to the well. Suddenly, Jesus said her, “Please give me a drink.”
The Samaritan woman was surprised. She stopped walking and paused. However, she felt something unusual. The Jewish man’s voice was not like other men. She heard respect and warmth from the Jewish man, Jesus. She recalled one very rare occasion encountering a Jewish man before. He was bossy and rude to all Samaritan people He treated Samarian people like a dog. Additionally, the Jewish man did everything not to be defiled by letting Samaritan. She did not say anything at that time, but she could not erase the bad memory about the past Jewish man.
She was truly baffled. Not just the voice of Jesus, but He also looked different. His face was radiating with peace, and the peace immediately took away her hostility toward the Jewish man, Jesus. She took courage. Rather than avoiding an eye contact with Jesus, she lifted up her eyes and looked directly Jesus’ eyes. From Jesus eyes, she saw deeper peace that she had never experienced before. She felt that all her concerns were melting away, which were always with her long time while bothering her.
She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” She was also curious about Jesus. Indeed, her curiosity was not originated from her own mind, but initiated by Jesus, Son of God.
Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” (John 4:10)
Jesus told the truth to her, but she could not understand what was really meant. Although she was attracted by Jesus, what was told by Jesus was completely nonsense. She asked why Jesus wanted water from her, but Jesus told I would give you living water. By the way, this type of interaction is not so strange, but rather common to all who meet Jesus for the first time in life.
The woman could not be quiet. She said, “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket, and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”
Jesus did not have a rope nor a bucket to draw water from the deep well. Thus, Jesus cannot draw water from the well. She was getting more curious about the “living water.” Then she compared Jesus’ living water with the water from the precious well. She knew the well was dug by Jacob, and Jacob was the one who originated the entire nation named “Israel.” She as one of the Samaritans had a pride in Jacob. Thus, she was a bit defensive too.
Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” (John 4: 13-14)
In fact, Jesus did not give one single answer to her question. Jesus continued explaining the truth. After all, the truth really mattes. Yes, it is impossible to understand the truth by one’s own wisdom and knowledge. The living water is completely different from the water from the well belonging in this world. No water in this world can eliminate thirst completely and forever. The satisfaction of the water of this world is transient and will not last. The water of this world keeps demanding again and again to quench the thirst. However, the living water coming from above is eternal and capable of completely satisfying the thirst of our souls fully and forever.
Upon hearing Jesus, finally, the woman opened her heart, and put out the problem in her heart.
Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” (John 4:15)
Without water she could not live even one day. Thus, she had to come every day to draw water from the well. However, she did not want to come to the well because of the other women talking about her heart pain. She wanted her earthly problem be disappeared from her life once for all so that she be completely free from her heart pain. We cannot blame the woman. We all want the same solution – our problems simply disappear once for all. However, this really means that we want to continue live as used to be, while the world changes for us so that all our problems are simply gone. Will Our God allow for this type of wish to come true? No. Because God dearly loves us.
“Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. (John 4:16)
Yes, Jesus did not immediately give what she wanted. Instead, Jesus poked her most painful part in life. She did not know what to do. Jesus hold on tight her heart with one simple sentence. Now we know why she avoided all other women at the well. She had a martial problem, and she buried it deep in her heart. Then she did everything to avoid a possibility of confronting with the very heart pain at all cost. Instead she always fled, but it continued hurting her. Sometimes, she was up all night. However, Jesus knew exactly her pains and what was at the center of her heart. Jesus saw her true needs, and touched her heart but with His loving heart and mercy. Yes, Jesus loves us so dearly. With love, Jesus touched the center of our heart pain, not harshly, but Jesus speaks to us with His tender and loving voice. When we hear His tender voice, we should not harden our heart like the woman at the well.
“I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.
Then she made a true confession of her heart to Jesus. It took lots of courage. It was the first time in her life, but she was completely honest to Jesus. Rather than defending herself as she always did, she humbly presented herself to Jesus. She dropped her eyes, and remembered what she did so far. Then she asked Jesus’ mercy in her heart. It was the moment that she directly confronted her past and presented all of her painful past to Jesus. Then, she found the mercy through Jesus who was compassionate. The mercy from above poured on her. Then what shall we do when we have our deep heart pains? We should confront our heart pains, and confess our sins, especially hidden ones, by opening our hearts to Jesus. Of course, it requires lots of courage, but the courage, in fact, does not belong to us. It also comes from Jesus as a part of His mercy. What we need is our humility before God and letting Our Lord, Jesus come in our heart in our authentic prayer to God. Then the mercy from above dwells in our heart.
Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” (John 4: 17b, 18)
How did Jesus respond, when the woman confessed? Jesus did not blame nor criticize her about what she did. Jesus was sympathetic about her situation. Jesus exactly knew her wrong doings. She had five husbands, and she was living with one whom she did not marry. This was the very reason why she avoided all the other women at the well. She did not want to talk about her own past, and she did not want to hear any gossips about her. In fact, the failure of her first marriage was truly painful. She through that the second one would save her, but it did not. The second marriage went down the drain also. She hoped that she would be saved by the third marriage, but it was not the case. The fourth marriage was also short lived. She married again fifth times without success. She found that she did not fit to any one of her past five husbands. Thus, she searched, and found yet another man who, she hoped, would give her peace, but it was not what she expected. Thus, she even did not bother to get married for this time. She was so much hurt by herself, all five ex-husbands and the current man living with. Before Jesus, the woman really opened her heart, and told “I don’t have a husband.” Upon hearing her authentic answer, Jesus comforted her. Jesus was on her side. She searched for someone whom she could truly lean on for long time, but she found none. She was continuously hunted by her own past, but Jesus was difficult. Through Jesus, she started seeing a change in her heart.
She realized that Jesus was not an ordinary person, but a prophet. Then she expressed her heart desire to see the Messiah who would come and explain everything to her as well as the rest of the Samaritan people as promised. Then she looked at Jesus.
Hearing upon her heart desire to see Messiah, Jesus nodded slowly.
Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!” (John 4:26)
Jesus patiently waited till the moment that she shared her hope for the Messiah. Although she was suffering from her earthly pain, but her heart was yearning for the Messiah who would being a true hope and eternal salvation. And she found the Messiah, Jesus Christ just standing before her. What a joyful moment to her!
How about us? Our early life might be full of pains, disappointments, sorrows. Our earthly joy, peace and comfort are rather short-lived. After all, no matter what they are, all earthly ones are short-lived. Despite of this reality, we know the eternity and we are yearning for the eternity. Why? We are created in God’s image. We know our true home where we will enjoy our beautiful relationship with Our Ever-Loving God. Our Jesus Christ, the Messiah, has already restored the beautiful relationship with Our Ever-Loving God by forgiving all sins that separate us from Our Ever-Loving God. Thus, what we need to enjoy this beautiful relationship with God by fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ, who is our Savior, and walk the walk given to us with Jesus. Although we on earth experience troubles and bitter pains, we are securely in God’s hand. The Holy Spirit renews everyday as the morning sun rises so that we daily experience God who dearly loves us. In Him, we have an eternal peace. Praise Him and Give thanks to God, the Ever-Loving Father, His Son, Jesu Christ, who died for us, and the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us to protect and guide through our journey to Our Home!
Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once more. (Psalm 71:20-21)
What did happen to the woman at the well after she met Jesus, the Messiah. She was in extreme joy, and ran to the village. She left the water jar at the well, and she told everything that happened at the well, and especially about Jesus Christ, the Messiah. The people at the village heard about the Messiah, and they ran to the well to meet the Messiah, Jesus, whom they had been early waiting for.
Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus. They begged Jesus to stay in their village. So Jesus stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear HIs message and believe. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard Him ourselves. Now we know that He is indeed the Savior of the world.” Yes, the faith multiplied. The kingdom of heaven on earth was expanded. What a beautiful scene it was! What we’ve received is the most precious on earth and in heaven. Like the woman at the well, it will be our real joy to share the Good News with those who are around us.
And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” (Romans 10:8)
In God’s grace and peace,
David