Taken from the Gospel of John, Chapter 4
John's Gospel chapter 4 is the first recorded instance of Jesus declaring he is the Messiah.
He did so to the woman of Samaria.
She wasn’t just any Samaritan woman. Samaritans were hated just because they were half breeds. Women in those days were treated unfairly just because they were women. But this woman had the triple whammy. She replaced husbands like some people replaced thatching on their housetops. She was a Samaritan woman and a swinging divorce' too. Unlike normal townfolk, she did not rise early to fetch water for morning chores, nor did she wait until the end of the day when it cooled down to get water for bathing like most people did. Instead she chose the scorching heat of the mid day sun, just like so many other choices that were burning her recently.
She headed off to Jacob's well, hoping to see no one, and thereby avoid the roving eyes of men, mocking wives, wagging heads looking away in disgust, and the more subtle hints of disdain, like mother’s turning children’s faces away from her smile. It hurt and she’d had enough. Today she was a bit hung over after last night’s wine drenched tryst, slept in too late, and was more parched than ever. The burning heat was causing her head to throb and tongue to cleave to the roof of her mouth. Little did she consider that being thirsty was perfectly God's plan for this exact time on this specific day.
Startled to see the figure of a man leaning over the well as she approached, she almost turned away. He looked up at her immediately as if he knew she might, and asked for a drink of water from her. He had nothing to draw with, but what he did have were the kindest eyes she’d ever seen, and now she couldn’t lower hers fast enough. How embarrassing. Wasn’t it enough that she was a woman and a Samaritan here with him alone? Shouldn’t he just drink the water and leave this second? Yet he seemed to be in no hurry, and eager to talk. He began telling her what she should be asking him for. What kind of talk is this, that a perfect stranger has something to ask for? Now he’s offering her "living water." She’d heard lines that sounded a bit off before, so she laughed it away in disbelief. “That would be so nice,” she said, “not to have to come all this way to get water!” I’m listening, a-huh, she thought to herself.
Then he suddenly got personal. He told her to get her husband! Just hearing him say the word “husband” caused anger to rise on her face, a shudder down her back, and panic that nearly sent her fleeing. He sensed it and then she felt like he was looking right into her heart. In reluctance to answer, she couldn't help notice how earnestly he waited, so she dug deep for a very thin shred of dignity and muttered she didn’t have one. Well it was true, in a sense, since technically she was divorced…at the moment. He immediately corrected her misstatement by stating she’d had five husbands, and the man she “had” now, wasn’t one of them. Who in the world was this man who knew things about her which she didn’t dare think or speak, even to herself? “I perceive you are a Prophet,” she lowered her head, trembling. Then quickly she changed the subject to public worship, much safer, since she didn’t want him asking more personal questions. Ok, get the focus off me, she thought. I wonder what else he knows? As she listened she took a deep breath and as she did she lifted her head and sensed a feeling of calm and peacefulness come over her like nothing she'd ever known. For the first time in her life she felt this is someone I can trust. Only someone with extraordinary authority, grace and love can raise you up simply by being in their presence. He paused, “Those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” She suddenly remembered teachings long since forgotten from childhood, before her father died. He took the family up to the mountain top from Sychar and told his children about God's Son. “One day Messiah, called Christ, will come and establish his kingdom and declare all things!” She shared this memory with the stranger, whom she now considered a true friend. He replied, “I who speak to you am He.” She believed.
Jesus has a way of raising women’s esteem in all his encounters with them. Never is it more appreciated than by those women needing a touch more grace! "He who is forgiven much loves much."
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