Give
Me a Drink/Part Two
The
“Red-Letter Words” of Jesus
Day
40
(This is my opinion on the Samaritan woman and I'm sharing from my perspective. You are free to disagree.)
A woman of Samaria
came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a
drink.” John 4:7 (NKJV)
I hope my last
post regarding the Samaritan woman messed up your theology. Many times, we interpret
scripture through the context of our culture instead of Jewish culture. I believe
Christianity in America reads way more into her story then what transpired.
Last post I
focused on who the Samaritan woman was not. Now let’s look at John 4:7-42 to
understand who she was.
1. A respected citizen
She lived in Sychar. She was respected by its citizens
because after she told them she had met the Messiah, they didn’t hesitate to
believe her. No one doubted her due to her lack of morality. Not one person suggested
what the Pharisee in Luke 7:39 stated about another female, “This Man, if He
were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching
Him, for she is a sinner.” The moment
this woman at the well told others about Jesus, they trusted her word.
2. Knowledgeable
The scriptures don’t indicate she came to the well as the
rejected, sullied person we hear about in sermons. Instead, we see an
articulate woman who held her own with Jesus. They had a give-and-take dialogue
on culture, tradition, and scripture. She was secure enough to challenge Him a
couple times: 1) She questioned why he approached her, a Samaritan woman. She
knew it broke many Jewish traditions; and 2) She challenged Him when she assumed
He dissed Jacob’s well. Head on. Direct. No apparent insecurities.
3. Honest
She projected honesty. Jesus acknowledged He knew she
had five ex-husbands and that the man she lived with wasn’t her husband.
Without hesitation she admitted it was true. Her forthright answer never
indicated shame. In my previous post, I wrote, “Many people read between the
lines and assume something sinister happened. Jesus never addressed her sexual
sin. He never told her, ‘Go and sin no more.’ Nor did He demand she change her lifestyle.”
If she was sexually promiscuous, I believe He would’ve
addressed it with her which was His custom.
4. Strong
We don’t know why she had five ex-husbands. Most people
assume the reason had to do with her being an impure woman. All I can say to
that is, “Chapter and verse, please.” She could’ve been widowed five times for
all we know. Also, in those days Jewish interpretation of the law allowed a man
to divorce his wife for even the slightest reason. (See Phillip J. Long’s
article on website, Reading Acts, titled “Jesus and Divorce in the First
Century – Matthew 19:3-12.)
We don’t have a clue why she had
five exes since it’s all speculation. We do know that she was a strong woman
who endured a lot of heartache throughout the years.
5. Thirsty for more
At first, the Samaritan woman didn’t grasp Jesus’s words
about the living water. She desired to understand so she asked questions and
listened. Her soul eventually understood the point He desired to make. The living
water – the spiritual life - was hers for the taking. Take it, she did. She
drank deeply from its waters. It affected her in a powerful way because the
first thing she did was share the good news with others. As a result, revival
came to Sychar.
I like this feisty
woman who went to the well and received something she didn’t know she needed – a
new spiritual reality. Jesus reached beyond tradition and law to minister to a
woman who thirsted for more than whatever life had to offer. He will do the
same for us.
“Ho, everyone who
thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat.”
Isaiah 55:1[a] (NKJV)
Father, I like
this woman and can’t wait to sit down for a long talk with her in heaven. I do
feel she has been given an unsubstantiated reputation. I’m sure right now it
doesn’t bother her a bit because she’s with You. Thank You that the living
water You so freely gave to her is available to me as well. Fill my cup,
Father. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
