Bashan Ministries - The woman at the well

The encounter

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John said that this was at a place called Sychar, near to Shechem.

That was the land Jacob gave to Joseph.

Shechem was an ancient and important fortified city, situated between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, approximately forty-one miles or 66 kilometers north of Jerusalem.

It was strategically placed at the intersection of major trade routes.

This is where Abraham built his first altar.

The city played a significant role in Israelite history, being allotted to Ephraim and designated as a city of refuge.

It briefly served as the first capital of the northern kingdom of Israel before the capital was moved.

Over time, Shechem faced various conflicts and destructions, including an Assyrian attack and later destruction by John Hyrcanus around 108 BC.

Due to its strategic importance, perhaps Jesus deliberately took the longer route on His journey to meet one person, this woman, knowing that she would tell everyone about their meeting.

We may sometimes have a “chance encounter” with one person, who can later achieve something important.

When He wanted to eat the Passover before being arrested, He sent disciples to meet one man and we do not even know that man’s identity. He sent Ananias to lay his hands on Paul and pray for him so that he would receive his sight. I do not know what else Ananias did, but that one simple task helped us receive most of the New Testament epistles.

Having mentioned Paul, please do not believe that Paul’s “thorn” was poor eyesight. Jesus healed him. Paul’s thorn was not physical, but a buffeting spirit.

You may be asked to do one simple thing that seems insignificant, but it could be extremely important for the plan of God.

Shechem had more significance because after the Exodus, this is where the people buried the bones of Joseph as seen in Joshua 24:32. This reveals that simple “bible stories” like this, have more meaning than we think. He suffered at the hands of his own brethren to fulfill God’s plan and we may well think that this woman’s “suffering” was used to bring about God’s plan for these people; for salvation to all Israel.

As I said at the beginning, it has traditionally been assumed that the Samaritan woman was a woman of ill repute, perhaps due to the timing. She was drawing water at the sixth hour (about midday) and it has been interpreted to mean that she was doing that to avoid meeting the other women in the town, but that may not be true.

The sixth hour was supposedly the worst possible time of the day to leave one’s dwelling and venture out into the scorching heat. Midday is not the worst time to be out in the sun.

If it was 3 pm (the ninth hour) the traditional theory would make better sense. It is not at all clear that this took place during the summer months, which could make the weather in Samaria altogether irrelevant.

Is it possible that we are making too much of her going to draw water at “an unusual time?” We all sometimes do regular things during unusual hours. Could it be possible that this is such a case? The woman could simply have run out of water. This does not necessarily mean we are hiding something from someone.

Rachel came to the well with her sheep possibly at about the same time in Genesis 29:6-9 and she was not hiding.

The popular theory views her as a particularly sinful woman who had fallen into sexual sin and therefore was called to account by Jesus about the multiplicity of husbands in her life. Why did she have so many husbands? Jesus told her, as the popular theory has it, that He knew that she had five previous husbands and that she was living with her current “boyfriend” outside the bonds of marriage.

In this view, the reason she avoided the crowd was precisely because of her reputation for short-lived marital commitments. But there are problems with this theory. If a woman had such a bad track record, why would they listen to her, drop everything and go to see Jesus? Why would anyone trust her?

At that time He was just another man to them! She thought that He was a prophet, but soon realized who He was.

Jesus and the nameless Samaritan woman were from two different and historically adversarial people, each of whom considered the other to have deviated drastically from the ancient faith of Israel. As mentioned before, a modern parallel to the Judeo-Samaritan conflict would be the sharp animosity between Shia and Sunni Muslims. For most of us today Muslims are Muslims, but within Islam, this is not an agreed-upon proposition. Both parties consider each other as the greatest enemy of true Islam. These two warring people groups were Israelites and were both a part of the same faith—but they were bitter enemies. This was not because they were so different, but precisely because they were very much alike. Both Israelite groups considered the other to be imposters. The Babylonian Talmud, referring to the views and practices of the distant past, stated that “Daughters of the Samaritans are menstruants from the cradle”.

The Samaritan woman may have recognized that Jesus was Judean by his distinctive Jewish traditional clothing and his accent Jesus would have most certainly worn ritual fringes (tzitzit) in obedience to Numbers 15: 38 and Deuteronomy 22:12, but Samaritan men also observed those commands. The difference between these two groups was not whether the Torah of Moses must be obeyed—but how it should be obeyed.
To help explain, think of the morning when Mary went to the tomb to find it empty. When Jesus appeared to her, she wanted to grab hold of Him, but He would not let her do that. We must think in Jewish terms. At that moment, she was thinking of a dead body and touching a body made the person unclean. Jesus was our Kohem Gadol, or Great High Priest and He had to yet present His own blood, pouring it out as it were on the Ark of the Covenant in the most holy place of all. See Hebrews 9:11.

The most likely reason for Jesus’ instructions to Mary not to touch him had to do with the fact that He was determined to enter the heavenly tabernacle in a ready-to-serve, consecrated state. Defilement would not be a sin—but it would have temporarily disqualified Him for from entering God’s presence. Mary may have had a number of reasons for defilement such as a possible menstrual circle, or stepping into the tomb etcetera.

Jesus’ priestly mission was too important to allow for any possibility of failure. By the time Jesus met Thomas, His priestly work was done. He had returned from completing His priestly duties and possible defilement was no longer an issue.

The reason is veiled from most people because we fail to understand this sort of life. It is not a part of our modern world and thinking.

Jesus’ role as a prophet was carried out during His earthly life.

His role as king was yet to be realized at the time of the ascension.

He duties as Priest in the heavenly tabernacle had to be fulfilled.

If we think of those things, the Samaritan woman may have been perplexed, saying something like, “You want to drink from my water vessel? You want to touch something of mine?”

Today we have issues with sexuality and gender identification. We often transfer our own ideas about gender proximity into ancient stories like this one, but we do not fully understand the reasons.

Relationships between people groups can be very controversial. Outsiders rarely understand what is the reason they dislike each other and why they can’t get along and the reasons may appear trivial to outsiders.

Jesus did some things that just do not make sense by natural reasoning.

We see a Judean Jesus meeting a Greek women in Mark 7:24-29 and Matthew 15:21-28. This was at Tyre and Sidon that was to be given to the tribe of Asher but was never fully taken over by Israelites. This woman was desperate, but Jesus seemed to be antagonistic. When his Jewish disciples demanded he answer her, he responded:

I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. However, the woman was relentless. “She came, knelt before him, and said, “Lord, help me!” He answered her: “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” Matthew 15:23-26

That was an offensive statement, as Jesus was comparing Greek Gentiles to dogs. In the modern Western world dogs are thought to be part of the family and often live inside and not outside of the family home. In ancient times in the East, they did not live in the home, but outside. His comparison to dogs was not meant to dehumanize the Greek woman but to emphasize that Jesus’ primary mission was to Israel—to those inside of God’s family, not outside of it. He also said that He had other sheep in another sheepfold,. He ministered first to the “Jewish sheep”.

Paul said:

For I am not ashamed of the Good News, since it is God’s powerful means of bringing salvation to everyone who keeps on trusting, to the Jew especially, but equally to the Gentile. Romans 1:16

We now know that God wants everyone to be saved and perhaps we can better understand it by thinking that Jesus was starting somewhere—family first. When that women admitted what He said was true, that the dogs eat the crumbs from the masters’ table, He granted her request telling her that she had great faith.

Shame & depression

Many people are plagued by their past. Guilt, shame and depression often come as a result. The devil likes to accuse us, to bring up the past and condemn us and anyone who is not aware of the truth can succumb. Jesus did not just liberate us, to forgive sin and save us, but to totally eradicate our past. Once we repent, and ask God for forgiveness, we then need to accept it and leave it at that. At that moment our past is gone. It never existed and we start a brand new existence in Christ. God indeed forgives us, but we also need to forgive ourselves.

It may be possible that this woman was suffering from memories of her past. Often times when people are guilty or depressed, they avoid other people. Depression was just as present in Jesus’ time as it is today and it is a form of bondage.

When we meet people who seem to avoid others, shut themselves up in their rooms and sleep most of the day it could be the effects of drugs, grieving over some kind of loss, or that they may have had some kind of trauma leading to guilt and shame and fall into a depressed state

We may assume that this woman changed husbands like gloves, but it is just as reasonable to think of her as a woman who had experienced the deaths of several husbands, or as a woman whose husbands may have been unfaithful to her.

She may have been a woman whose husbands divorced her for her inability to have children.

If her husbands died, it may have been possible for her to start thinking that something was wrong with her, that every man she met died or that every marriage she had fell apart possibly for no fault of her own.

We can only go on what is said in the bible.

All that Jesus stated was that she lived with a man who was not her husband and that she was living in what we assume was a de-facto relationship. Was it?

Perhaps she needed help and lived with a distant relative, or in some other undesirable arrangement in order to survive.

We do not know her age or what she looked like. Religious art depends on the individual’s perception of things and may not always be accurate. She is depicted as a young, attractive woman, leaning towards the idea that she was a woman of low morals—a temptress, but John gives no description of her.

She may have lived a difficult life and probably worked hard every day just to survive and I doubt if any women would dress in finery etcetera if she was walking to the well to draw water.

Jesus was not nailing her to the cross of justice and condemning her. Religious people do that. He was letting her know that He knew everything about the pain she endured and this is more in keeping with the Jesus we know from other instances in His life.

Cities of refuge

Shechem was one of the cities of refuge where a man who had killed someone unintentionally was provided a safe haven in Israel (see Joshua 21:20-21). The inhabitants of Shechem were living out their lives in the shadow of that edict and would have known of the significance—the grace of God and His protective function that was allotted to their special city.

They were to protect people who were unfortunate, whose lives were threatened by avenging family members, but who were not actually guilty of any intentional crime deserving the threatened punishment.

It was in Shechem that Joshua assembled the tribes of Israel, challenging them to abandon their former gods in favor of God. After making a covenant with them, he buried Joseph’s bones there. We read about this in Joshua. 24:1-32:

The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought along with them when they left Egypt, were buried at Shechem, in the plot of land Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor for 100 pieces of silver. This land was located in the territory allotted to the descendants of Joseph.

When we dig deeper into many bible stories like this, we can see amazing revelation. Jesus chose this place to meet with a woman who may have felt alienated, perhaps unsafe. She lived in or near a city of refuge and is having a faith-finding, covenant-renewing conversation with God’s Royal Son, Jesus, who has come to reunite all Israel with her God.

This is at the very place where the Israelites renewed their covenant in response to God’s words, sealing them with two witnesses, the stone (Joshua 24:26-27) as they verbally confessed their covenant obligations and faith in God and where the bones of Joseph whose story guided them in their travels lay (Joshua 24:31-32).

This Samaritan woman did the same things.
In this account, she confessed her faith in Jesus as the Christ, saying:

Come, see a man who told me everything. Could this be the Christ?

They came out of the town and made their way toward Him and many of the Samaritans there believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, but the connection between Joseph and the Samaritan woman does not end there.

Joseph had received a special blessing from his father at the time of Jacob’s death. It was a promise that he would be a fruitful vine climbing over a wall. Psalm 80:8 speaks of a vine being brought out of Egypt, whose shoots spread throughout the earth, eventually bringing salvation to the world through the true vine. In John 15:1 we read that Jesus identified Himself as this true vine.

Like Israel of old, Jesus was also symbolically brought out of Egypt (Matthew 2:15). In his conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus—the promised vine in Jacob’s promise to Joseph, was in effect climbing over the wall of hostility between the Judean and Samaritan Israelites to unite these two parts of His Kingdom.

In a deeply symbolic fashion, this conversation took place at the very well that was built by Jacob, to whom the promise was given! Perhaps you may see that there is more to this story than you thought.

You don't know how to worship

The church is undergoing a transformation. Statistical reports conducted by sources like Barna reveal a decline in “traditional Christianity”, but other sources reveal something amazing. Often times we have prayed for “revival” expecting this to happen within the walls of our existing church organizations and structures—but want to keep doing the same things without change.

Such revival is indeed happening—but not inside such churches. Groups of people are gathering anywhere, just as the early church met—but not necessarily within the accepted “church norm”. Millions of believers are making disciples, fellowshipping together, praying with and for each other, sharing meals and other things together in real and practical terms—but not in churches.

What we call “church” today, has evolved from the influence of Rome, when people like Constantine and the early Papal system in essence made it a “law” that people had to become Christians and worship in buildings. The problem was that no conversion experiences occurred. They simply added “Christianity” to the list of pagan worship.

What is happening is a return to the foundations such as “home churches” and that is a major topic in itself best left for another time. It is estimated that up to 200 million born again believers are in China. Other places where their very lives are at risk by confessing Jesus are also experiencing what we can read about in the book of acts or the epistles. They are learning that real worship is the worship Jesus spoke about in that meeting with this woman.

He met her where she was—at a well, going about her everyday life. He met people where they were. It may have been on a beach, at a wedding or a funeral, at a market place, in the village streets, in peoples’ homes and occasionally inside a church (synagogue) or the Temple. Having church can be anywhere. As He told her and as I am starting to realize, we really do not know how to worship—but the Holy Spirit is moving again. The real church is being revived.

Jesus made one simple request, “May I please have a drink of water?” That established a point of contact. It was at a level that she could readily identify with. He did not talk about prophecy, religion, the state of the economy etcetera, but related at down-to-earth practical level and left it at that. People do not want religion because to them you and I could be just another “bible basher”, wanting you to join their organization, give them your money and so on.

He knew her heart and this is probably the best starting point for anyone—at their level.

He was being led by the Spirit of course and this is how we can and should operate. She responded appropriately. “Why are you bothering to talk to me?” Why would a Jewish man ask a Samaritan for a drink of water?” He told her that He had living water that would slake any thirst.

The woman replied, “But sir, you don’t even have a bucket and this well is very deep. So where do you find this ‘living water’? John 4:11

That well is still there. It is around 100 feet (31 meters) deep today and she was thinking of lowering a bucket.

In one translation she told Him that he did not have a bucket. Many people look only at the externals, or at the natural.

When Jesus told the disciples that He was going to feed the multitudes, the disciples immediately looked as their wallets.
We can live in both dimensions—the dimension of the natural that is real and perfectly acceptable and also in the dimension of the spirit where we can tap into the supernatural when impossible things become possible. Do not look however for the spectacular, but at God’s supernatural provision as and when appropriate—and at His discretion.

The Lord knew her and knew how to reach her. Ministry wise, we need to learn to emulate Him. I do not want to adopt any “hit and miss” approach, because we are dealing with people’s lives. What we say and do, can have lasting effects.

Listen to the Holy Spirit. Jesus was anointed by the Spirit. He ministered as an ordinary man who was led by the Spirit. He stated that of Himself He could do nothing and that He only said what the Father said and did what He saw the Father do. So can we.

Perhaps He operated in the gifts of the Spirit such as the word of knowledge and told her about the men in her life.

That really got her attention. Often times, we need to function like that for effective ministry. She responded, saying that He had to be a prophet and she was right. I am more convinced than ever that if we really want to be effective and not just ”have church”, we need to return to those things and I am pleased to say that it is happening. The tide is turning.

Springing up

Jesus told her that the water He gives is a fountain of living water, not a well. Wells are still. To obtain water, she had to let her bucket down and pull it up. That is work. It involves labor of some kind.

Our salvation however is free. Many Christians believe that they must “do something for God”. Some believe that the more they do, the “better” they are. Many become so busy in their church life and activities that it is almost like having a job and in so doing the intimacy of relationship often seems secondary, even lacking.
We are meant to be as one, with each other and with the Lord and all the externals, good as they may be, can be mere religious expression. People are turning away from “religion” and various statistics and polls substantiate my claim.

“Seeker friendly” churches cannot provide that intimacy. Test it. Attend some several times. The “life” in such churches depends on the programs, the hype and music etcetera, but the real test is what happens when the doors of the church are closed.

What God offers is not dependent on those things, because His gifts are free. They last and change lives.

That fountain Jesus said He would give is hallomai. It means that this water leaps, springs up, gushes up and overflows.

Spirit and Truth

This brings us to the point of the matter. We have seen that people argue and debate over religious issues, how, when and where we should worship. It is in Jerusalem or on that mountain? Is it in this church or that church? Should it be on Saturday or Sunday? There are endless debates on such matters, but the core of the matter is, “Does that water spring up and gush forth as Jesus said or it is still and often stagnant?”
Jesus said:

יהושׁע said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you shall neither on this mountain, nor in Yerushalayim, worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because the deliverance is of the Yehuḏim.
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also does seek such to worship Him.
“Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship Him need to worship in spirit and truth.”
The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming, the One who is called Anointed. When that One comes, He shall announce to us all.”
יהושׁע said to her, “I who am speaking to you am He. John 4:21-26

It is all about Him.

What is this “spirit and truth”? Spirit is spirit. In the Greek it is pneuma, that means breath, life and wind.

It often refers to the Holy Spirit, so our worship should have “life in it”. I suggest it should involve the Holy Spirit.

Truth! This is interesting, because we can look at several Greek words, alētheia, alētheuō, alēthēs, alēthinos and alēthōs.

If we put it all together, it relates to that which is in accord with what really happens, facts that correspond to a reality, speak truth, real, not imaginary, genuine, truly, with certainty, surely and an eternal reality not limited to historical fact.

I recently taught on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in an Anglican church in Adelaide after being invited by a dear friend to speak to a group of believers from Sudan. They came from a wide range of different churches and my friend told me that they needed to hear the truth—because there is much confusion in the churches on such matters, even in so-called “pentecostal churches”. A pastor from Melbourne and an Anglican minister came and they both spoke. I met with the rector of the church and she came from India. My wife comes from England and I am an Australian man with Jewish blood. This is unique! This is how things should be and it is happening all over the world in increasing intensity as God is restoring truth, just as He promised. I need not say more, but miracles happened that day.

This woman at the well had a Divine encounter that changed her life. This is what it should be. By using a simple natural request for a drink of water, Jesus ministered in the Spirit to her in what I believe was a word of knowledge that is one of the Gifts of the Spirit as seen in 1 Corinthians chapters twelve to fourteen.

That got her attention.

He had no band, no worship team, no smoke machines or flashing lights, no big screen displays or set forms of service. He did not start with a prayer, a homily, three points and a poem, take communion or receive an offering as we do now. He cut to the chase, spoke into her life and she responded. She became an evangelist on the spot and an entire city was impacted!

What could happen if we allowed the Holy Spirit to do what the Lord said He would do? What would happen if we dropped our agendas and programs and got on side with Him? If it happened in the early church and if the Holy Spirit is still the same Holy Spirit, the word of God has not changed and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, it should happen today.

This is the kind of thing that is coming back to the church and we are the church. A friend of mine lives in Phuket and he is the captain of a ship. He spends time traveling in the area, especially tourist spots. He and his wife can enjoy the lifestyle there and to a certain extent, I am slightly envious of them, but what an opportunity to simply allow their light to shine and attract others to the Lord.

Others I know work in hospitals and as they go about their duties, they can release an anointing into people and impart a blessing to them without making any outward display at all. They do not have to “be religious” about it. All that they need to do is touch others, knowing that the anointing inside them can be released and give God something to work with. I’ve proved that many times. We need to be wise about this of course for obvious reasons. For example, I am a kind of open and friendly person and like engaging in light-hearted conversations about anything. At the checkout at a supermarket for example, after such a conversation, I like to address them by their name and that is important. I like to thank them and in a friendly non-invasive gesture and if I can, give a little pat on the shoulder. They do not realize it, but I am imparting a blessing and releasing an anointing to them. That’s all we need to do at times and God does what He knows best.

In closing

You may be like this women, going through all kinds of turmoils and stresses, plagued with guilt and remorse, perhaps shame from things of the past. Jesus does not condemn you. He may not like what you are doing, but wants to fix things up, because he has that “living water” to give you. What do you do? You can take it or reject it. Please take it! Like that women who admitted her status, admit it and do what you need do to and receive His help.

You could be like the others in the city, being critical and judging other people for their mistakes. If you qualify to cast the first stone as Jesus said, go ahead and do it, but I suggest that you are not better than those you condemn. They might be innocent victims and suffering for it. Listen to what is being said and look past the externals to see what is in the heart. That’s what the Lord did.

No matter where you are at right now, there is always something better that this living water alone can provide. Try it.

If this has done something for you, tell someone about it.

Robert