The Samaritan Woman

As Jesus and His disciples traveled from Jerusalem to Galilee, they took the shorter route through Samaria. The disciples didn’t know Jesus had a divine appointment there. He knew a certain woman would come to the town well.

While the disciples went into town to buy food, Jesus sat down by the well to rest. Soon, a Samaritan woman approached to draw water—alone, and in the heat of the afternoon. Most women came in the early morning to collect water for the day’s cooking and bathing. They typically came together, chatting and socializing as they filled their pots. But this woman came alone, perhaps because she was an outcast.

As she lowered her pot into the well, Jesus asked her for a drink. She was surprised because He was a stranger, and it was not customary for a man to speak to a woman who was not his kin. Also, He was a Jew. Though Jews and Samaritans shared a common ancestry as descendants of Abraham and held some religious beliefs in common, the Samaritans were of mixed Jewish and pagan heritage and were considered unclean by the Jews. Jewish religious law forbade speaking to Samaritans.

The woman remarked that Jesus had no bucket. He replied, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst…” (John 4:13–14). Intrigued, she asked Him for this water. Jesus then told her to go call her husband. She admitted she had no husband. Jesus affirmed she had spoken truthfully, for she had had five husbands, and the man she now lived with was not her husband. At once, she recognized that He was a prophet.

Their conversation deepened when she raised a theological issue: Samaritans worshiped on the mountain, while Jews insisted worship must be in Jerusalem. Jesus told her that a time was coming—indeed, had already come—when true worshipers would worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Where one worshiped did not matter; sincerity of the heart did. The woman replied that she knew the Messiah was coming, and that He would explain all things. Then Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He” (John 4:26).

Just then, the disciples returned and were amazed to find Jesus speaking with a woman. Yet none of them questioned Him about it. The woman left her water jar, went back to the town, and told everyone she met, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of her testimony. And when they came to see Jesus, they asked Him to stay with them. He remained two more days, and many more believed because of His words.