Daily Reading: (John 4:4-9):
“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. 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.) 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 had to go through Samaria because God was leading Him to what the world would label as a despised woman to demonstrate the love of God. “Had to” is the Greek word (dei) which means must or it is necessary, there is need of. Jesus went through Samaria where He left gaining popularity behind because there is one unpopular person who needed His salvation.
Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Jacob had bought this field from the children of Hamor… and in it he built an altar, which he dedicated to El Elohey Yishrael, the strong God, the covenant God of Israel, Genesis 33:19-20.
A covenant God made with Israel is found in Genesis 12:1-3: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
How will all the earth be blessed? The blessing is found in the lineage from Abraham to Jesus. Through Jesus Christ all the nations are blessed. The promise of the blessing, has arrived at the place the altar was constructed dedicated to the covenant God of Israel (Genesis 33:19, John 4:5).
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” When Jesus asks for a drink it is the same thing to culturally ask if will you be my friend (John 4:7)? Jesus’ desire is for her salvation. The woman has encountered Jesus but is still living from her past instead of focusing on what is before her in the present, an opportunity for salvation and a new identity that brings new life.
This story in the end shows this woman’s life was forever changed. She went to the well at noon to avoid people (John 4:5). Nobody gathered water at the hottest point in the day and that is why she went when she did. She has met the Messiah whose gift of grace leads her to now seek out those she would avoid with the good news of Jesus Christ (John 4:28-29). That is what grace does in the life of a believer.