One day Jesus was quite tired. He had been walking with his disciples for the better part of the morning, and seeing a well at about noon, he sat down near it and let his disciples go to the nearby town to get food for them all.

This is the story of Jesus at the Samaritan well, where he met a single person, a woman, to whom he asked for a drink of water from her jar. The unfolding of this story reverberates with other stories of previous encounters at a well. The servant of Abraham waited at a well to encounter a woman , Rebekah, chosen by God , to be the wife of Isaac, Abraham’s son. (Genesis 24) Jacob arrived at a well in time to see Rachel bring her sheep to be watered. He fell in love with her on the spot, and eventually married her. (Genesis 29) Moses stopped at a well in Midian where he helped seven girls to water their sheep, and was given the oldest one for his bride. (Exodus 2:16-21)

Jesus was tired when he watched a woman approach the well. She was from the Samaritan village of Sychar. When she approached, Jesus asked her for a drink of water and she responded : “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” ( John 4:9) Jesus responded with a declaration he had never made to anyone else at that time: “ If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10) In their conversation the woman spoke of her expectation of the coming of the Messiah. Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—am he.” (John4:26) At these words the woman returned to Sychar and reported that she had met someone who might be the Messiah. The response was large as the townspeople came out to see for themselves. Jesus spoke with them, and they said ,”Now we have heard for ourselves and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” (John 4:42)

Of all the places where Jesus preached and talked, this little village in Samaria is the only one where no mention is made of miracles. There is no healing, no changing water to wine, no multiplying food, yet Jesus stayed two more days with these people. Jesus saw that they believed he was from God on the basis of his own words. In some ways, they could be called the very first church. Even before his death and resurrection, Jesus had a glimpse of his bride, and people are still coming to hear his words.

Love in Him,

Prue