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Snapshot

At the well

Jesus, the Samaritan

In John chapter 4, we learn of a Samaritan woman who was privileged to meet the Messiah. Master Jesus coming back from a 3-day journey away from Judah, decided to do the uncommon: walkthrough Samaria to Galilee. The Jews Samaritans were viewed by Jews as a mixed-race – half-Jew, half-Gentiles. Thus, not only were they in social disparity with one another, but they also maintained religious distancing. For example, although boycotting Samaria was Father, travelling to Judea or Jerusalem, Jews will typically take the longer route to avoid contact with the Samaritans. If the average moral Jew observes this, I wonder what stricter measures their teachers of Mosaic laws will apply. I reckon that she will not get an audience. Condescending so low in this manner to seek and to save the lost fitted Jesus for no other narrative than the Samaritan He described in one of His parables (see Luke 10:25-37).

The Samaritan woman

This young gentle-looking man then opened his mouth and spoke to a Samaritan woman. It is worth noting that a woman coming to the well at noon alone to fetch water means she had no friend. And she may have been notorious but friendless and therefore lonely. This loneliness might have accounted for her frolicking around 5 men. Now this young man was also alone. And the opening line was, “Please give me a drink.” This shocked all her defences, and a fascinating story of salvation in a smooth flow of conversation ensued. In what follows, we shall observe the names and manners she addressed or approach the Master. As we shall see, she went from seeing Christ as a prospect, an imposter and finally a prophet.

Jesus the prospect

I wonder what physical beauty the woman had been made up of or what artificial or external beauty she must have been adorned with. She not only scaled one man but up to 4, and the 5th could not resist her so much that he was pleased to have her as a partner. She captivated lustful men despite being used and dumped or relatively not well-behaved enough to submit under a man. Why do I assume she was too pompous to have a rule over herself?

There were a lot of women in the fold of Jesus. None of them ever engaged Jesus this much. The longest we had was busy Martha on two occasions. One on Lazarus death, the other on the busy day when she sacrificed devotion for service; but she was more or less a disappointment on both. He spoke mildly but not erroneously when He told Mrs Zebedee, mother Of James and John, that she was ignorant of what her request entailed. She asked for her two sons to sit with Jesus in heaven, one to the left (displacing his Father) and the other to the right. In other words, no woman in the fold of Jesus' disciples showed an aptitude for intelligent dialogue like this woman. She was well-versed in history and competent in conversational engagement. She knew the twists and turns she could take to avoid answering specific questions. For example, Jesus told her to go and bring her husband, she decided to flatter Jesus by calling Him a prophet.

Suppose she did this much and engage Jesus, the art and science of word Himself, in this chapter-spanning conversation. In that case, I wonder how cheaply she would have captivated the men in her life. Permit me to speculate for a moment. I presume that she decided to engage this young Jewish man, if perhaps, he may go the course of her fallen five captives of lust. Then, having fetched her water for herself, Jesus asked for a drink. Still, she needed some spiteful yet inviting comment to answer Jesus. Her statement could be taken for, “Why are you interested in me? What business do Jews have with Gentiles?” To a thirsty soul to whom everything seems food, this statement is rather appealing than repelling.

She seemed apt to exploit the tenderness of Jesus, who could perhaps be an addition to the connection. Little did she know the stuff of which this mighty man was made. The almighty is hungry here, though. Why? That He may be made like unto His brethren. For if Jesus were not thirsty nor hungry, He could have had no prerogative, opportunity, nor compassion to minister to an emotionally and spiritually sick and thirsty soul. He truly knows the feelings of our infirmities not because He created us alone but because He had faced similar limitations.

Are we not instead at risk of similar gestures? Do not people seek to take advantage of the spiritual fruit of kindness and gentleness with which we approach lost souls to be saved? Are there not cases where the sinner has tried to lure the preacher saints into sinning? Are we ignorant of instances where men picked up Bibles to evangelize Jesus and were won over by lustful gestures of the sin-hardy supposedly repenting sinner? I intend to clarify that Satan is not afraid to prospect the believer who sets out to recover the lost by preaching. I mean, in a lustful and flattery attempt, the soul winner’s soul may be won over, or better put, dragged down by the lost.

Jesus did not mince words to oppose Satan strength to strength. He told her if she knew the gift of God, which is talking to her, she would quit her gimmicks and find it an honour to serve Him what He asks for. Jesus, knowing His place, would not allow Himself to be dragged down in disgrace. O that my eyes may be opened to see my glorious inheritance in You! So that no facial expression – ugly or beautiful – may derail me from enforcing the kingdom of God, preaching it, wherever I find myself. O, not to be like Samson, who ended up defending the Delilah he should have destroyed in a deadly defeat. O to follow Jesus in this light!

How easy was it for Jesus to have taken advantage of her gullibility! Less than 30 minutes into the conversation, Jesus had emptied her vault of knowledge. And were Jesus out for His own glory and not the Father’s, it would have been easy to take advantage of her. “You are taking this too far!” one may say. “Jesus was Holy!” another may assert. But my inclination is, just as I am tempted with almost anything and everything, He had been tempted alike. Sometimes I sin, but no time was it recorded when sin triumphed over Him. And if he was not susceptible to sin such that he could be tempted, then He will be a slavedriver, telling us to follow Him! But I know He is not one. The sermon the world preach to lure saints is not limited to lust alone but is even much more dangerous when the bait is money. Oh, how excellently the son of Mammon had made so many converts of former Christian faithfuls!