The Woman at the Well

The Woman at the Well

The story of the Samaritan Woman, or the woman at the well, is a microcosm of Scripture itself. As Jesus sat at the well, weary and exhausted, He was fulfilling the promise to Abraham, it was Gods way of saying I AM here! The well that Jacob had returned to time and time again to water his flocks and quench his own thirsts, had now been visited by the promised seed of Abraham, who would quench men’s thirsts forever. This well was situated within the despised territory of the Samaritans. The well, where now the source of living water, the Son of God had come to sit, was in the midst of an area considered unclean by the phony and self-righteous. In the midst of a despised and rejected unclean land, Jesus the source of all goodness and hope had returned, for such was the mission of the Savior of the world. There at the well, was one spiritually unclean, lost, one worshipping what she did not understand. For her to receive the living water, the promise of Abraham, and like all who will be saved, a dialogue must needs begin. Jesus simply says, go get your husband, and this woman’s whole world was laid bare. This woman who had five husbands and was living with another now, in a moment, comes to realize the depths of her sin, the true reality of her condition before God. In return she begins to inquire of Him, perceiving Him a prophet, she inquires as to why He is even speaking to her, being a Samaritan. However Jesus had come to save such, the outcast, the unclean, the rejected of society, was the mission of the one sitting before her. She then ask whether Jesus considered Himself greater than Jacob, to which Jesus responded, I AM. Jesus in very few words, revealed to her that He was greater than all before Him, and all who would come after Him. Then the woman asked, how can you give me water, when you have nothing to use to draw from the well, for little did she know Jesus needed nothing at all, for He was the source of the water of which He spoke, and was free to give it at a moment’s notice. In this story, only one thing still remained, and that was for this woman to thirsts for the water of which Jesus spoke. The one element needed now, was a weary, longing and thirsty soul, willing to ask the Lord of Glory to quench her thirsts, and so He did. In this story is the paradigm of all who will be saved. In it, is the sum of Scripture. When wearied enough, we come to the well seeking something to quench our parched souls, and there we meet the one who tells us all we need to know. We see our sin, we meet our Savior, and we ask for this living water that only He can give, and He gives it freely! What a glorious story of us all!

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