The Samaritan woman

The story of the nameless Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, recorded only in the Gospel of John (4:4-26), is a revealing one, full of many truths and powerful lessons. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus Christ, tired as He was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. It was at that time that a Samaritan woman came to draw water.

Please to note that the Samaritan woman at the well was no angel. Mixed up with a wrong crowd, this poor woman from Samaria had quite a reputation. She had been married five times and was living with a sixth one at that time.

In His encounter with this woman at the well, Jesus broke three Jewish customs: first, He spoke to a woman; second, she was a Samaritan woman, a group the Jews traditionally despised; and third, He asked her to get Him a drink of water, which would have made Him ceremonially unclean from using her cup or jar. This shocked the woman at the well.

Although they had never met before, Jesus revealed that He knew she had had five husbands and was now living with a man who was not her husband.

The woman at the well is a turning point for women, not only in Christianity but also in the world.

Somehow, two women from the New Testament have always attracted me – Mary Magdalene and the Samaritan woman, or "the woman at the well – last year I blogged about Mary Magdalene and now the Samaritan woman. How nice of Jesus to have rescued both these women from their sexually immoral lives!

It is Jesus’ greatness that He never judges the Samaritan woman or tells her explicitly to turn away from sin or forgives her for any unlawful behavior. All He is does is reveal His true nature to her, knowing she will eventually recognize Him.

Mary Magdalene is another woman from John's Gospel who is famous for recognizing Jesus. It’s been tough, though, to grasp her true story, and it’s believed that she was an adulterer and a repentant sinner.

Mary of Magdala is perhaps the most misrepresented figure in the entire Christian tradition. Since the fourth century, stories, stained glass and paintings have portrayed her as a prostitute and public sinner who, after encountering Jesus, spent the rest of her life in private prayer and penitence. This interpretation has no basis in scripture. John depicts her as the primary witness to the most central events of Christian faith. She is the first to discover the empty tomb. The risen Christ chooses her to announce the good news of his resurrection to the other disciples, which prompted some early church fathers to declare her "the Apostle to the Apostles."

The Samaritan woman is the first to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Mary Magdalene is the first to recognize the resurrected Christ. The Samaritan woman is the first disciple to recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah, and her testimony brings him many followers in Samaria. Mary Magdalene is the first disciple to witness the resurrected Jesus and to proclaim the resurrection to the male disciples.

Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well are just as true today as they were then. Jesus, the three-time holy God, was speaking with a six-time sinful woman by a well. He knows her life, her thoughts, her feelings, her past, her sins, her insecurities and her fears. He had the 'advantage' of being God and being able to see her heart.