Sermon Notes

7-8 A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)9 The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.” 11-12 The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?” 13-14 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.” 15 The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!”
28-30 The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, “Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?” And they went out to see for themselves.
39-41 Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman’s witness: “He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!” They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say.

We live in a world that is fraught with division. One need only to read the morning newspaper, or turn on the evening news, to become keenly aware of how differences in race and ethnicity, sex and gender, social class and economic standing, become political divides as humans navigate life from their embodied perspectives. No one better illustrates how difference often develops into division as the Samaritan woman that Jesus converses with while traveling to Galilee in John 4. She is a Samaritan—a member of an ethnic community that is despised by the Jews because of religious differences. She is a woman—a member of first century Palestine that was considered legally, politically, socially, and spiritually inferior to men. After all, Jewish men prayed every day, “Blessed are you, LORD our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has not made me a Gentile, a slave, or a woman.” She is an unmarried woman—a constant source of derision and shame. The women of Sychar do not associate with her because she has been divorced five times and her current mate is not her husband.
The Samaritan woman’s story is fodder for gossiping tongues and judgmental hearts. She is divided from “proper Jewish society’ by her ethnicity, sex, and scandalous past. John does not even record her name. She is known only by her failed relationships. From all accounts, the Samaritan woman is not the type of person an upstanding Jewish man should be associating with. She exists on the margins of society.
However, the Johannine writer emphasizes Jesus was intent on talking to her, engaging her mind, seeing her as one who was worthy of his time and teaching—despite her past or present circumstances. Because Jesus was traveling quickly from Judea to Galilee, “he had to go through Samaria.” While the Samaritan route was the most expedient route for the sake of time, it was also the most expedient way for the sake of grace and salvation. Jesus calls this woman from the shadows of notoriety into the light of theological inquiry and spiritual renewal. As Jesus talks with the Samaritan woman, contemporary Christians are invited to eavesdrop on their conversation. In doing so, we have the opportunity to take our place within theological perspective of the Johannine narrative.

The Gospel of John is known as the “spiritual” gospel because more than the Synoptic gospels, it asserts that Jesus was the Divine incarnate—God who has been enfleshed and “moved into our neighborhood,” (John 1:14). Because John’s gospel has such a highly developed Christology—the theological doctrine about Christ’s personhood and nature—scholars date it as the latest gospel. It’s final was written during the late 90s of the first century CE. Irenaeus, an early Christian writer who lived from 130–202 CE, says the Gospel of John was written in Ephesus.
While tradition asserts the Gospel of John was written by the apostle John, also known commonly called the Beloved Disciple (John 13:23; 19:25-27, 21:1-14, 20-24), most scholars consider that attribution to be honorific. In the absence of conclusive textual and archaeological data, the writer is likely a beloved member of the Johannine community who was its principal founder, one of its founding members, or a devoted student who continues the evangelistic witness of his or her teacher. According to many Johannine scholars, the Beloved Disciple is not a particular individual, but rather a composite character who represents ideal discipleship and the spiritual authority of the Johannine community.
In the lesson text for this week, John presents Jesus’ fascinating exchange with a Samaritan woman in the town of Sychar. John’s gospel is distinctive for revealing Jesus in detailed conversations with his disciples, friends, or outsiders for whom deep dialogue is unlikely. John 4 follows the discussion that Jesus has with Nicodemus about spiritual rebirth in John 3 and has no other parallel in the Synoptic Gospels. John is the only gospel writer who tells this story. The setting for the previous chapters of John has been the Jewish regions of Judea and Galilee. However, in this chapter John makes a surprising geographical shift to Samaria which serves to theologically emphasize universality of God’s salvation for all of humanity. In John 4:1-6, the writer offers several introductory remarks that provide context for interpreting Jesus’ discussion with the Samaritan woman.
First, the writer sets up the reasons that Jesus has to go through Samaria. The Pharisees are watching Jesus, as they have watched John the Baptist, because they fear his popularity and his power is growing amongst the people. To ease tensions, Jesus leaves Judea to return to his Galilee base for ministry following the quickest route.
Second, the writer introduces an important theme—wells and betrothal—to indicate how Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman is different than her previous interactions with men. The well is a typical meeting place in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and often leads to betrothal and marriage. Abraham’s servant meets Rebecca, the future wife of Isaac at a well (Gen 24:10-33), Jacob meets Rachel, his future wife at a well (Gen 29:1-14), and Moses meets Zipporah, his future wife at a well (Exodus 2:15-22). These “well” liaisons would been firmly implanted in the minds of the Johannine community, who are the principal audience of John’s gospel. Therefore, when the Samaritan woman comes to Jacob’s well, the reader expects her to meet a possible betrothed. Further, in John 2:1-11, Jesus has already been identified as a bridegroom.
Third, in verse 6 it says, “Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon” (NRSVUE). When you explore this verse in the original Greek, a more accurate translation would be “Jesus was resting on the well.” The Johannine community would know that Jewish tradition states the temple in Jerusalem rested on fault lines which concealed the primordial waters in Genesis 2:8. After the great flood, Noah sealed the primordial waters with the rock of his altar. Later, Jewish traditions linked the altar of Noah with the foundation stone that supported the ark of the covenant in the Temple’s holy of holies. Thus, the temple is the fountain of the primordial waters of creation. Further, because Jesus is characterized as both bridegroom and new temple in John 2, we can see how John 4 craftily presents Jesus as the new temple that sits on the rock over the waters of Jacob’s well. With well, betrothal, and temple imagery firmly in place, the writer has prepared the Johannine readers for the Samaritan woman to meet Jesus.

7-8 A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)9 The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
In the opening verses of the lesson, Jesus’s request for a drink of water is met with disdain that reflects ten centuries of conflict between Samaritans and Jews. This conflict goes back to the 10th century BCE when the Davidic Kingdom splintered into two separate kingdoms: Israel in the north with its capital Samaria, and Judea in the south with its capital Jerusalem.
In 721 BC, after a 3-year siege, Shalmaneser of Assyria conquered Samaria and deported the Israelite elite to Assyria. Shalmaneser’s successor, Sargon, “brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites” (2 Kings 17:24). This brought about a mixing of peoples that Jews thought made Samaritans ritually impure.
In 538 BCE, Persian king Cyrus allowed the return of Babylonian exiles to Jerusalem, where they would restore the land and rebuild the city and its temple. A Samaritan leader, Sanballat, initially proposed to help with the rebuilding of the Temple. When Zerubbabel, the leader of the returned exiles, refused their help, Sanballat became angry and ridiculed the Jews “in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria” (Nehemiah 4:2). He allied with the Arabs and the Ammonites but was unable to dominate the Jewish enterprise. So, the Samaritans built a temple of their own on Mount Gerizim, in Samaria, at which were offered sacrifices similar to those offered at the Temple in Jerusalem.
Around 332 BCE, when the Samaritans saw that Alexander the Great’s disposition toward the Jews in Jerusalem as favorable, they claimed to be of Hebrew descent. However, shortly thereafter, the Samaritans assassinated the Governor of Coelesyria, who had been appointed by Alexander. Alexander, in turn, conquered the city of Samaria and settled Macedonians there, who would accomplish the Hellenization of the people.
In 108 BCE, after the Jews procured their independence from Syria, John Hyrcanus, besieged the city of Samaria for over a year. Unable to withstand the siege, Samaria eventually surrendered. Hyrcanus utterly destroyed the city and its temple to the extent that no marks of a city remained.
On the surface, there are very clear distinctions between this woman and Jesus. He is a Jew; she is a Samaritan. He is a man; she is a woman. Given their long history of national conflict and cultural differences, there seems to be no commonality, no reason to talk, nothing to agree upon. Despite this, Jesus gets this woman’s attention by asking her for a drink of water, and in doing so catches her completely off guard. Jews did not share eating or drinking utensils with Samaritans. The woman can’t help but inquire of Jesus why He would ask the unthinkable. Jesus’ willingness to cast aside cultural barriers immediately gets her attention.
10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.” 11-12 The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?” 13-14 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.” 15 The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!”
Jesus’ answer is far from what this woman expects to hear. Jesus does not explain how he can ask to drink water from her cup. Instead, he seeks to show her that she is the one in need of the “water” that he gives, which is vastly superior to the water she can give. Jesus transitions their discussion from physical water to speak of “gushing fountains” or “living water” which he can provide. The reference to “living water” comes from Ezekiel 47:8 which metaphorically describes the waters flowing from the temple as bringing life. Because the Gospel of John has already identified Jesus as the temple, he is the only one that can offer the Samaritan woman “living water” which symbolizes salvation and eternal life.
The woman does not understand what Jesus is saying, but she understands that He is claiming to be someone important, and to have something she would want if she knew who He was and what He could give her. As Nicodemus did earlier in John 3, the woman takes Jesus literally, misunderstanding what he is saying. She thinks Jesus is telling her that He can give her better water than that which this well provides. She understands Jesus to be speaking of spring water. But if Jesus has “better water” than she can draw from Jacob’s well, how is He going to get it? This well is deep, and Jesus has no vessel with which to draw water. Although the woman is still taking Jesus literally, she responds to Jesus’ offer of eternal water with a resounding yes!
As their conversation progresses in verses 16-27—which are not a part of the printed lesson—the Samaritan woman perceives that Jesus is prophetically drawing her into a deep theological conversation. Through his discussion of temples, worship, religious practice, and God, Jesus stimulates the woman’s mind and spirit, touching a part of her that has not been engaged for some time, if ever before at all. Jesus engages her as an equal, as one who is worthy of his time and teaching. Needless to say, this theological dialogue transforms this woman from the inside out. She eagerly embraces Jesus’ invitation to worship in “spirit and truth.”
28-30 The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, “Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?” And they went out to see for themselves.
This is the final step in the process of salvation—the sharing of one’s faith with others. The woman’s original purpose was to draw water from the well, but now she forsakes her water pot and hurries back to Sychar, where she tells the others about Jesus. The woman leaves her water jar behind, a sign that her deeper thirst has now been quenched. She speaks of Jesus as a possible Messiah. The way she phrases her question does not indicate her certainty on this point, but she at least regards Jesus as a possible Messiah. The effect aroused curiosity among those who heard her testimony. The whole city begins to make its way out to hear Jesus.
39-41 Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman’s witness: “He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!” They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say.
In the final verses of the lesson text, we see the outcome of this woman’s powerful witness. This exchange in Sychar resembles the call of the disciples: the Samaritan woman meets Jesus, testifies to her villagers, who then go out to meet Jesus in person and come to declare their faith as well. Jesus agrees to stay (dwell in Greek) with the Sychar Samaritans for two additional days. Because the Samaritan woman understood and embraced Jesus’ teaching, she was able to cast aside her past issues drama to testify about how Jesus saw her in ways that no one else had ever seen her. For once in her life, she truly becomes visible!
In John 4, Jesus engages in conversations that upend traditional societal norms and customary expectations with regard to religion, sex, and gender roles. A woman of scandal is his theological conversation partner. And unlike Nicodemus, she understands the religious and spiritual teachings that Jesus shares with her. She is an outsider who lives on the margins of society with respect to her ethnicity, religion and sex/gender. Yet, she comprehends the deep theological concepts that Jesus shares with her in authentic dialogue. Thankfully, the results of their life-altering conversation still resound throughout the annals of ecclesiastical history. Because Jesus called the Samaritan woman from invisibility and notoriety into transformative dialog and authentic relationship, her witness calls forward to the Church today: “come see a man…who knows me inside and out… could he be the Messiah?” The task for the contemporary Church is to invite those on the margins to meet Jesus for themselves. If we do our job—make the invitation to “have a little talk with Jesus”—then the Gospel of Jesus Christ will do it’s job.

Mary L. Coloe, John 1–10 Wisdom Commentary Series, 252-254. Liturgical Press. Kindle Edition.
Ibid., 256.
Adele Rhinehart, “John” in Gale A. Yee’s Fortress Commentary on the Bible. Fortress Press. Kindle Edition.