Christ and the Woman at the Well

Read John 4:1-43

Christ is on the way to Samaria. Why? He's left Jerusalem because, just like in John 2:24-25, Christ as fully God (deity, right?), knew what was going on around him. He knew of his growing popularity among the common people. He knew of their desire to make him their political King. All in all, the people still didn't get who Christ was, so it was time for him to leave Jerusalem.

So, onto Samaria. Samaria is located between Judea and Galilee. Just a little background, Samaria was used after the nation of Israel split into two parts (Israel and Judea), to be the capitol of the northern kingdom of Israel. The people of Samaria were not even around until after the captivities. During the Assyrian captivity, the Assyrian king conquered Samara (the capital of Israel) and repopulated it with heathen people, who eventually intermarried with the Jews left behind and eventually adopted many of the forms of Jewish worship. The Orthodox Jews looked down on these Samaritans and would avoid them at all costs. Until now, when we see Jesus, an orthodox Jew, go directly through Samaria.

Let's talk about the Samaritan woman. She had many strikes against her. First of all, she was a Samaritan. Second of all, she was a woman--women were not valued at this point and Jewish men did NOT talk to women in public. Thirdly, she was an adulteress--the lowest of the low--this is why she was going to the well in the hottest part of the day--everyone hated her, even her fellow Samaritans.

We've seen how far apart and sinful Samaritans and Jews are. So, what can we learn about Christ from this passage?

Well, we see his humanity. Christ had grown weary (vs. 6) and he looked like any other Jewish man--she recognized him as a Jew (verse 9). We also see his deity. He offers her eternal life (verse 14), he is omniscient (verses 16-18), and he claims his deity (verses 25-26).We also see Christ's dedication and urgency to do God's Will. Verses 34-35 show us Christ's heart and a deep, determined desire to do God's will. In fact, as we know, Christ was willing to sacrifice all. Lastly, we see Christ's concern for His disciples. He wanted his disciples to have the same burden for souls as he did. Thought here, if we claim to be Christians, then we claim to be imitators of Christ and need to have his same burden.

So, a few final thoughts that we can take from Christ about Evangelism. He gives us the ultimate model for how to witness.

1. He stirred her curiosity (verse 7)

2. He made her face her need (verses 13-15)

3. He made her see her sin (verses 16-18)

Some final thoughts about Salvation that we can take from this passage:

1. Salvation is a gift

2. Salvation brings everlasting life

3. Salvation is for whoever will believe

4. Salvation is not related to race, wealth, or intellect