As the woman headed out, the noonday sun beat hot against her skin. Beads of sweat formed on her brow as she hurried along with her empty pots to Jacob's well. The other woman had already collected their water and were now resting in the cool of the shade. Oh how she longed to join them. But she still needed water and this was the best time of day to go unnoticed.
To beat the heat, the women of the city drew their water for the day in the early morning hours. And as much as she wanted to do the same, she found the scorching rays of the sun easier to face than the whispers and stares of the others gathered at the well. She just couldn’t take their looks of shame and words of condemnation. So what if she lived by her own rules? And even if she was sinning, what business was it of theirs? Who were they to judge her! Filled with indignation, the heat she felt on the outside was equally matched with the heat of anger she felt burning inside.
Approaching the well, she noticed the figure of a man reclining nearby. "That's odd", she thought. "Why would someone be sitting out here in this heat? I wonder what he wants?" Growing closer, she saw that the man was clearly Jewish and staring directly at her. "He must have lost his way.", she thought. For no Jew would purposely come to Samaria. Meeting his gaze, a feeling of peace washed over her, and the anger she felt before quickly dissipated. It was as if his eyes penetrated her very soul. And although she knew a strange man should be approached with caution, for some unexplainable reason she had no fear, and dare she even say, something about him felt like an old familiar friend.
"Give Me a drink," requested the Man. The woman's jaw dropped in disbelief. Who was this man that He dare speak to her in public? And with him being a Jew and her a Samaritan no less! Didn't he know they were enemies? She asked, "How is it that you can request a drink from me? "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink', you would have asked Him" replied the man, "And He would have given you living water." Living water? What kind of trickery was this? This man carried no pot, and no rope to lower the pot to the water. And surely he wasn't crazy enough to think himself greater than father Jacob who had provided the well! Undoubtedly the heat must be affecting his mind.
Yet the man didn't look crazy. And motioning toward the well he continued. "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whosoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." Now to never again be thirsty or to have to draw water from the well sounded too good to be true. But if there was even the slightest chance that it could be real, she was going to take it. And so she asked, "Sir, give me this water."
But instead of giving her a drink, the man requested that she go get her husband and bring him back to the well. The woman hung her head, and looking at the ground she softly replied, "I have no husband." Studying her intently, the man went on to say that not only did he know she had no husband, he knew about her five previous ones, and how she was currently living with her boyfriend. Stunned to the core, and staring at him incredulously, her mind raced with trying to figure out he could possibly know these things. "He must be a prophet!", she concluded. Unbeknownst to her, she was about to find out that he was so much more.
After questioning the man about the proper place to worship she declared, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us." The man rose and standing before He replied, "I who speak to you am He." And as he reached out to touch her hand, the veil was lifted from her eyes. No longer did she see a stranger before her, but instead her beloved promised Savior.
No sooner than the Lord revealed himself, His disciples came to be at His side. And as they questioned Jesus about His conversation with the woman, she dropped her pot and ran back to the city. She couldn't wait to tell everyone she met about her life changing encounter with the Messiah.
The women told all who would hear about Christ’s knowledge of her many sins, and His lack of condemnation. She shared how He choose her, a Samaritan woman, to reveal Himself to. And she spoke about the living water that the Lord alone offers to all who thirst. Many were swayed by the passion of her testimony and ran out to see Jesus for themselves, and numerous Samaritans were saved that day.