A Note About Jesus and Women
Jesus did not try to change the culture by preaching about gender issues. Jesus simply modeled the way men and women should interact as He went about treating women like equal human beings. He shocked His disciples on many occasions, but He expected the Twelve to learn from Him. He expected them to see that in His kingdom women as well as men were to serve. He did not hand out specific job descriptions; He meant for women to follow Him in whatever way they were called. For most women this would still mean being a good wife and mother. Other women were single or widowed and Jesus affirmed them in their callings as well.
Not only did Jesus treat women with respect and kindness, He made no differentiation as to social class.
– Some women were really poor – Mary His own mother, and Mary the mother of James.
– Other women were very wealthy – Joanna, the wife of Chuza who was a steward in King Herod’s household, Susanna, and Jairus’ daughter.
– Some women had relative freedom and responsibility – such as Martha and Mary of Bethany, who were landowners.
– Some were foreigners – The Syro-Phoenician woman
– Others were castoffs due to illness or demon possession – such as the hemorrhaging woman, the woman bent double, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna.
– Some women were prominent – Joanna, and Jairus’ wife.
– Other women were considered lowly because they were prostitutes – The Samaritan woman, the “sinful” woman, and an unnamed anointing woman.
– Many women were widowed – Mary, the mother of Jesus, Anna, the widow of Nain, and the widow with the two mites.
One thing all of these women had in common was that they had sadness or troubles in their lives. Even one as wealthy as Joanna had been demon possessed and needed Jesus’ help. Jesus saved all of these women not only spiritually, but also physically and socially. Women who were sick were considered unclean and were social outcasts. The Jews did not give single women the same respect as married women. Impoverished widows were neglected and were in danger of starvation and illness. Prostitutes were socially unacceptable anywhere.
When Jesus met the needs of all of these women He gave them new life – physically, socially, and spiritually. One of those amazing encounters for Jesus was with a woman that He met while traveling to Samaria.
The Woman at the Well–
Turn to John 4:1-42. Leave your bibles open because we will be reading the entire story of this wonderful occasion when Jesus showed His compassion to a woman who was also a foreigner.
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judeaand went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
One day during His ministry Jesus decided to go to Galilee from Judea. He had to pass through Samaria or go around it. The Samaritans and the Jews did not get along, and many travelers just went around Samaria.
In order to avoid the hated Samaritans, the Jews would actually cross the Jordan River to the east side and travel through Perea and then cross back when they got opposite Galilee.
On this occasion Jesus was led by the Spirit to go through Samaria. Jesus would deliberately go through Samaria in order to have an encounter with a woman that would show not only His love and care about the other nations of the world but also for women. Jesus brought salvation to the whole world, not just Israel.
The disciples were with Jesus on this journey. After a long trek in a dry land they were tired and thirsty and stopped to rest at Jacob’s well near Sychar. It was about the “sixth hour” or around noon.
Continuing with verse 7:
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
When Jesus sat at the well to wait for the disciples, it was a very hot part of the day. Most women came in the early morning to draw water or waited until evening. Jesus know that He would encounter the woman He wanted to see and He knew that she would be alone. She was probably not treated well by the other women and would come at a time when she could not have to put up with their unkind words about her life.
Jesus also knew that if she followed the customs of the day that she would not speak to Him. That was why Jesus opened the conversation Himself.
Follow with me at verse 8:
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered her, “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.”
The woman was probably not expecting this answer. Now right here, most of us would have taken the hint and asked Jesus, “What is this gift of God and who are you?” But the woman does not understand yet. She knows by His dress and speech that Jesus is Jewish, but she really does not get His point yet. But Jesus has at least aroused curiosity in her, and she reacts as if she thinks He means the physical water in the well.
Continuing at verse 11:
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
The woman is still thinking on a physical level. After all, she has the water jug and the means to draw water. Jesus is the one who is thirsty and tired. Here He is by a well and He can’t get any water without her help. How is He supposed to help her?
Having the privilege of hindsight, we know that the woman is of course speaking to one who is greater than their father Jacob though she doesn’t realize it. How do we understand the reason for her question? Is she being sarcastic? Is she really curious about this man who is speaking to her, a woman and a Samaritan?
Though the woman seems to want to deflect Jesus, Jesus knows what her true thoughts are. He knows all about this woman. Jesus wants to direct the conversation so He gives her an unexpected answer, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever 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.” Jesus had asked her, “If you knew the gift of God,” Jesus is the gift of God. He is the One who offers us eternal life. The water in Jacob’s well can only satisfy a temporary thirst; the living water that He gives will last eternally.
Who or what is this living water? For the Jews, living water was clean water that they could drink and depend on for healthy living. This was opposed to water in wells that was contaminated and could result in sickness or even death. The water in Jacob’s well had been used for centuries by the time the woman came to draw from it.
Jesus’ answer moved the woman’s thinking from the physical water to something more special – beyond the physical. Jesus is referring either to Himself or to the Holy Spirit. But the woman is not quite ready to receive this yet.
Jesus guides her even further into the truth.
Verse 16:
He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
The Samaritan woman had still been thinking literally, and asked Jesus to give her that living water so that she would never get thirsty again or have to come to draw the water. Again, Our Lord responds in an unexpected manner with, “Go call your husband, and come back.” She responds, “I have no husband.” Jesus commends her honesty, but proceeds to startle her by telling her something only a prophet, or the Son of God, could know. She has had five husbands, and the one she was living with was not her husband. We do not know exactly what her status was, but Jesus’ answer makes the woman realize that Jesus must be a prophet, and so she shifts the conversation to religion. She points up a major difference between the Jewish worship and Samaritan worship. Perhaps she points to Mount Gerizim, seen in the background from where they are sitting. “Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain.”
Jesus responds that the Samaritans worship what they do not know. He is the living and true Temple; He is the focus of worship, not a certain mountain. The Messiah does come from the Jews, but an hour is coming when worship will be, “in spirit and truth;” The woman recalls that Messiah will come and declare all things to them. Jesus very plainly tells her, “I who speak to you am He.”
She was certain then that the man to whom she was speaking was indeed the Messiah! She left her water pot and ran to the town to tell everyone about Him. “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
The people in the town must have been amazed that the woman would approach them so openly with her story! They knew who she was. Women were not seen as credible witnesses. A prostitute must have had even less credibility. It is incredible that they believed her because of her testimony. Truly this was a work of God. Later, many would come to belief in Jesus.
While the townspeople were making their way toward the well, Jesus’ disciples had some questions of their own.
Let’s continue with verse 31:
Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
And so, on an ordinary day, an unremarkable, lowly, nameless woman came to meet her Savior. Not only that, but her courage, and the enthusiasm of her testimony led many others to belief in Jesus as Messiah. The woman left her water pot and ran to tell others of her new freedom in Christ. Many of the villagers went to see Jesus for themselves. Unlike the unbelieving Jewish leaders who wanted to get rid of Jesus, these grateful Samaritans begged Jesus to stay and teach them. Jesus did stay with them for two days.
Application
The woman at the well was forgiven, cleansed, and moved to tell others of the goodness of her Savior. Jesus cared more about her than the false rules of the Pharisees. God never intended for women to be abused in Israel the way they were by the time of the first century. Jesus restored women to their original place as children of God. Jesus invited women to be His disciples. Jesus confirmed the worth and value of women when this woman from Samaria became one of the first evangelists! We can follow her example as we serve our Savior.
Discussion Questions:
1. The Samaritan had made some bad choices. Try to put yourself in her situation and explain what you see as other options she might have had. Remember she lived in the early first century – there was no government welfare program.
2. What changes may have been occurring in the disciples’ hearts as they observed Jesus interacting with the Samaritan woman?
3. What would make the townspeople suddenly follow this woman whom they had shunned before?
4. How did the woman at the well show that the change made in her life was complete?
5. What difference does it make if two “consenting adults” agree to sexual acts outside of marriage?
Handout for Lesson 10 –
Women of God – The Woman at the Well
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” (John 4:39)
Notes:
The setting of the story
John 4:1-6
The dialog between Jesus and the woman
John 4:7-26
The woman as first evangelist in Samaria
John 4:27-42
Discussion Questions:
1. The Samaritan had made some bad choices. Try to put yourself in her situation and explain what you see as other options she might have had. Remember this is early first century – there was no government welfare program.
2. What changes may have been occurring in the disciples’ hearts as they observed Jesus interacting with the Samaritan woman?
3. What would make the townspeople suddenly follow this woman whom they had shunned before?
4. How did the woman at the well show that the change made in her life was complete?
5. What difference does it make if two “consenting adults” agree to sexual acts outside of marriage?
Scriptures for next week: Anna, the four daughters of Philip – Luke 2:36-38; Acts 21:9
