Gospel of St. John
Sychar’s Well – 04:11-19
So far in this chapter, we observed the Lord taking the initiative by beginning the conversation. When He asked her to give him drink he was talking of spiritual refreshment which He would get by helping her recognize her own salvation. We saw her prejudice and her ignorance of salvation. He offered her living water if only she would ask for it.
“The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?” The woman completely missed the spiritual intent but noted the obvious physical limitations. Like us she was occupied with material things and looked to the means rather than the end. She came to the well to draw water and that totally consumed her thoughts. She assumed He could not provide living water without the physical means to draw. How often do we limit the Lord to our understanding of means? She asked if He was greater than Jacob, not knowing he was Jacob’s God. How often do we ask question, raise difficulties and create doubts out of our own blindness?
“Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.” Jesus was very patient to show this woman the possibility of her salvation. The water she came to draw would not slake her thirst. The living water he offered would not only slake her thirst, it would become a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman begins to understand he is talking spiritually and recognizes her own need of a spiritual lift. She asked the Lord for the living water that she would no longer need to draw water from the well at this time of day. Yet, another step is needed. She must face and confess her sin before she would have the conviction to maintain her new life of living water.
“Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband; For thou has had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband; in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.” Jesus told her the price for this living water was becoming a contrite sinner. She was to go and call her husband and come back to Christ in her true character. He combined the requirement for truth with the grace to accept her in her true character. At this point the woman confessed she had no husband. When Jesus revealed all he knew about her, she was amazed. She began to understand she was in the presence of someone who could speak for God.
It would be easy to say we must simply recognize our sins, repent and assume the countenance of a contrite sinner. The woman recognized her sad spiritual condition. She was aware of how the women in town talked about her infidelity. She could not fail to recognize her sins. The question for her and us is – are we ready to do something about it? If the conscience is not sufficiently pricked to avoid a recurrence, nothing has been accomplished. Furthermore, an awakened conscience must precede intelligence of the things of God. Knowledge of God is a good thing but we have a tendency to allow our desires to get the upper hand. Then we use our natural tendencies to rationalize and override our knowledge of God. Spiritual illumination comes through the heart more than the mind. One of our deepest needs is a more sensitive conscience. Hebrews talks of those who were “dull of hearing” and incapacitated to receive the deeper things of God. “Dullness of hearing” does not mean they were suffering from a stupefied mind but rather a calloused conscience. According to Hebrews, “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
Sychar’s Well – 04:20-30
We have observed the Lord’s patience and grace as well as the application of the truth to her heart and conscience. We have observed the woman’s depravity, her prejudice, her ignorance, her occupation with material things, and her procrastination. Are we so different?
“Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the Hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him is spirit and in truth.” The woman was on the verge of being saved. But, like us, getting there is a process of conflict between light and darkness until things are clearly defined. Whether worship was to occur on the mountain in Samaria or the temple in Jerusalem was a prominent point of contention between the Samaritans and the Jews. The question was designed to divert the conversation from the painful focus on her sin. Perhaps our concern over the conflicting claims of churches and denominations is really a similar diversion from our own failures. The woman worries about whether she could obtain salvation by worshipping on the mountain or in Jerusalem. She needed salvation before she could worship in spirit and truth anywhere.
Jesus ignored the diversion about where she should worship and instead addressed how she should worship. The time had come to quit worrying about the location. Jesus pointed out that the Samaritans did not know what they were worshipping. Jesus also pointed out that the Jews knew what they were worshipping and that salvation is of the Jews. In this case he equated salvation to the Saviour. The Nunc dimittis says, “For mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” We are sometimes guilty of working harder to grow our ranks than leading anxious souls to Christ.
Jesus said, God is a Spirit; and they that worship him MUST worship him in spirit and in truth. To worship in spirit is to worship spiritually. To worship in truth is to worship truly. These are not different kinds of worship but two aspects of the same worship. To worship spiritually is the opposite of external rites pertaining to the flesh. To worship truly is to honor all God’s revelations to mankind. Jesus said “MUST”. There are no options. Worshipping in spirit and truth is the only acceptable worship.
“The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. And upon this came his disciples, and marveled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? Or, Why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her water pot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I died: is not this the Christ?” The woman acknowledged that a messiah would come and tell them all things. She was finally ready for the Saviour to be revealed to her. The disciples came back as Jesus revealed himself to the woman and they were speechless. They missed the process of revelation and did not understand why He identified himself as the “I am” of Jewish Scriptures. This stunned the disciples and that was all the woman needed to hear.
She left her waterpot. She would no longer be an adulteress. She would no longer need to draw water in the heat of the day to avoid others. She was no longer concerned for the transient material things of life. She had the living water and Christ was now the object of her life. Her job was to bring people to Christ. She was beyond the divisive concerns about where to worship. She was beyond the prejudice between Samaritans and Jews.
Would we not do a better job at bringing people to Christ if we worried less about where we worship or with whom? Is how we worship still important in light of what this woman learned directly from Christ?