Divine Appointments

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Samaritan woman at the well and the story of Jesus’ interaction with her.  For those of you who may not be familiar with the story, or might need a refresher, the story takes place in John 4. Just in case you don’t have your Bible app handy, I’ll give a synopsis.

I’ll start with some background information and then jump straight into the story:

The Jews didn’t like the Samaritans and they hadn’t for many generations.  The Jews saw the Samaritan people as unclean, unfaithful posers (to use modern terminology).  However, Jesus needed to get back to Galilee and He decided to cut through Samaria on His way.  The Bible never says why He decided to cut through Samaria, but He had a very important job to do while there.  Because Jesus was a human man (thought also fully God), He experienced the same things we do -- weariness, hunger, thirst, and so forth.  He comes across a well in the heat of the day and sits, because He’d been walking for several hours at least. He sent His disciples out to procure some food so He can rest.  As Jesus is resting against the well, a Samaritan woman comes along to draw water. This sounds like a normal enough thing to happen and it is. But there’s more to it than just that.  Most women during that time would’ve gone to the well in the cool of the morning, not the heat of high noon, and they would’ve gone in a group to share gossip and information. Now, the woman began to draw her water, ignoring the Jewish Rabbi who was reclining next to the well.  She knew the relationship between her people and His wasn’t exactly friendly, but more than that, she knew the customs of her time. As such, she knew that speaking to Him, especially in public, would be wildly inappropriate, because she was a woman and He was a Jewish man -- a Rabbi even.  She remains silent as she draws her water, and -- the Bible doesn’t say this, but I can imagine myself in her sandals -- she’s probably nervous and used to the abuse her people would most likely receive from the Jews. That’s why I can imagine she was shocked when He spoke and said, “Will you give me a drink of water?”  I imagine it took her a moment to react and stammer out, “I am a Samaritan woman and you are a Jewish man; why are you asking me for a drink?” Jesus proceeds to tell her about the Living Water that would quench her thirst forever. Eventually, Jesus says to her, “God home and bring you husband.” I can feel the heat that probably rose in her cheeks as she replies coldly, “I do not have a husband.”  Jesus says, in what I can only imagine is a gentle tone, “I know. You’ve had 5 husbands and the man you currently live with is not your husband. So you’re right. You don’t.” I can imagine her shocked silence as He reveals something He couldn’t possibly have known. She begins to question Him on the doctrines and traditions that differ between the Jews and the Samaritans. He ultimately reveals to her -- a gentile -- that He is the Messiah.  When Jesus’ disciples returned they were shocked -- and probably a little offended -- that Jesus was talking with a Samaritan woman. When Jesus finally sent the Samaritan woman home, she told everyone who would listen about the Messiah she had met. Many Samaritans came to Him and receive Salvation through the Christ because of what the woman had told them.

Now that we’re refreshed on the story, let’s dissect it some.  Jesus broke several cultural customs just by interacting with this woman.  She, a woman of ill-repute, would be the last person we would expect Jesus to interact with.  There are so many reasons Jesus should’ve avoided her… but He didn’t.

1. She was a woman.  In His time and culture, Jesus would not have spoken to a woman. It would have been considered improper and inappropriate for Him to have had a conversation with her like He did.

Instead, He risked His own reputation and went against everything He’d ever been taught, just to show love to her, in spite of what His disciples might have thought.

2. She was the enemy, and Jews went out of their way to avoid Samaritans.

Jesus went out of His way to go and interact with her.

3. She was an unclean sinner.  She had a bad reputation and had to go to the well alone at the heat of the day in order to avoid the gossip and stares of her peers.  She’d been married and divorced five times, and was living in fornication with a man to whom she was not wed. She was even considered shameful to her own people who, as a whole, were “unclean” in the eyes of God’s chosen people.

Despite all of this, Jesus got on her level and didn’t just have a conversation with her; He also drank water from her bucket.  I’m not an expert on Jewish culture and customs, I just know a few basics. However, I’ve seen throughout the Bible that things people touch can make them unclean and vice versa.  I also know that ingesting something unclean could make the person unclean too. Jesus even risked that in order to show love to her.

God brings people like this woman into each of our lives.  Maybe their situation isn’t identical to hers, but we all know someone to whom we react like the Jews and some to whom we react like the other Samaritans.  But as Christians and as disciples, we’re meant to act like Christ. Because Jesus followed the will of God to go and talk with the unnamed Samaritan woman there at the well, many Samaritans found salvation through the Christ.

The people God brings into our lives are there for a reason. They’re not always who we’d expect.  This woman was a gentile, an enemy to the Jews, a woman, and a sinner with a bad reputation. God can use that person you’ve been avoiding to love, and He can use you to get them there, but first you’ve got to let Him lead you to your divine appointments with them.