With the Woman at the Well

JESUS has stopped to rest by a well in Sa·marʹi·a. His disciples have gone into town to buy food. The woman Jesus is speaking to has come to get some water. He says to her: ‘Give me a drink.’

This surprises the woman very much. Do you know why? It is because Jesus is a Jew, and she is a Sa·marʹi·tan. And most Jews do not like Sa·marʹi·tans. They won’t even talk to them! But Jesus loves all kinds of people. So he says: ‘If you knew who was asking you for a drink, you would ask him and he would give you life-giving water.’

‘Sir,’ the woman says, ‘the well is deep, and you don’t even have a bucket. Where would you get this life-giving water?’

‘If you drink water from this well you will get thirsty again,’ Jesus explains. ‘But the water I will give can make a person live forever.’

‘Sir,’ the woman says, ‘give me this water! Then I will never be thirsty again. And I won’t have to come here to get water anymore.’

The woman thinks Jesus is talking about real water. But he is talking about the truth concerning God and his kingdom. This truth is like life-giving water. It can give a person everlasting life.

Jesus now tells the woman: ‘Go and call your husband and come back.’

‘I don’t have a husband,’ she answers.

‘You answered right,’ Jesus says. ‘But you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband.’

The woman is amazed, because all of this is true. How did Jesus know these things? Yes, it is because Jesus is the Promised One sent by God, and God gives him this information. At this moment Jesus’ disciples come back, and they are surprised that he is talking to a Sa·marʹi·tan woman.

What do we learn from all of this? It shows that Jesus is kind to people of all races. And we should be too. We should not think some people are bad just because they are of a certain race. Jesus wants all people to know the truth that leads to everlasting life. And we too should want to help people learn the truth.