Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16
Jesus and His disciples were on their way back to Galilee one day and they decided to go through Samaria since it was the quickest route. They stopped at Jacob’s well and Jesus rested there while the disciples went into town to buy food.
Normally they would not have taken the route through Samaria because Jews and Samaritans did not like each other so they avoided each other at all costs, which would be the longer route around Samaria. But Jesus went the hard way, and took the path that was the least desirable, because He knew there would be woman coming to the well that day. She would come at an odd time of the morning so that she would not likely see anyone else there. She was an outcast, looked down upon by the other Samaritans because they know how she lived. She had jumped from one relationship to another, married many times and currently living with a man that was not her husband. She was avoiding the stares and whispers by coming to the well in the hottest part of the day. There she met Jesus. He knew she was coming, and He had come to Samaria just for her – an outcast sinner.
The woman was shocked that Jesus even spoke with her. Men generally did not address women, and a Jewish man would certainly not engage a Samaritan woman in conversation. He also asked her for a drink of water when using her cup or jar would have made him ceremonially unclean. Then He told the woman he could give her "living water" so that she would never thirst again. Jesus was talking about eternal life, the gift that would satisfy her soul's desire only available through Him. At first, the Samaritan woman did not fully understand Jesus' meaning. Although they had never met before, Jesus revealed that He knew she'd had five husbands and was now living with a man who was not her husband. He knew everything about her.
As the woman began to understand the reality of her encounter with Jesus, the disciples returned. They were shocked to find him speaking to a woman, especially a Samaritan woman. Leaving behind her water jar, the woman returned to town, inviting the people to "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did." John 4:29, ESV
Excited by what the woman told them, the Samaritans came from Sychar and begged Jesus to stay with them. Jesus stayed two days, teaching the Samaritan people about the Kingdom of God. When he left, the people told the woman, ... we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the savior of the world. John 4:42 Many Samaritans believed because of what Jesus did for this outcast sinner. God used her story - past sins and mistakes - as part of His plan to bring others to Him.
This is another story about how Jesus had the authority to judge and condemn, but He didn’t. Instead He modeled loving the unlovable and going out of His way to find them. The Samaritan woman Jesus met faced prejudice from her own community, but for the first time in her life, this woman found someone who could care enough to reach out to her, to respect her, to love her with an unconditional love, a love that would never leave her longing for something else. God had a story for her life, and He has one for yours too. Don’t ever feel like you, or anyone else, is too far gone to be redeemed. We need to be careful that we are not judging or discriminating towards someone about something that is part of God’s story for them. He may be planning to use those very circumstances to reach others trapped in sin and to glorify His name.
