The Prodigal's Returnናሙና

He Knows

Bailey Hartman

[John 4: 1-29 NASB] Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people. So, Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee. To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon. 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.) 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.) 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.” 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?” 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.” 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!” He said, “Go call your husband and then come back.” “I have no husband,” she said. “That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.” “Oh, so you’re a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?” “Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is a sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.” The woman said, “I don’t know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we’ll get the whole story.” “I am he,” said Jesus. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.” Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn’t believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it. 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 story has always been a favorite of mine. However, recently, while listening to a podcast by a well-known theologian, I have come to love this story even more. Jesus was baptizing and preaching and chose to move on from Judea and go to Galilee. In the time period that this story takes place, Jews would have taken the route across the Jordan River and back in order to avoid Samaria altogether. Jews had bad relations with the Samaritans. The Samaritans had intermarried with foreigners (non-Jews) and were dirty in the eyes of the Jews. I LOVE that the passage in verse four says He “had” to go through Samaria. Jesus, wholly God and wholly human, knew what would be waiting for Him there.

The gospel is for everyone, not just the Jews, and Jesus proves that by going to Samaria. He stops to rest conveniently at a well where a woman is. She was a Samaritan and Jesus a Jew, but He asked her for a drink of water. He shares the gospel with her, but then says, “Go, call your husband and come here.” What I love here is that Jesus already knows this woman’s story. He knows what her life has been like. She truthfully tells him that she is without a husband. She has had five and is now with a man who is not her husband.

Here is the epiphany: I for years have thought this woman to be somewhat of a prostitute, but recently, this podcast talked about a different scenario. This woman likely had an issue. She was quite possibly barren and unable to have children. This would explain why five husbands had left her. In verse 21, he starts by saying “Woman” which if we hear it today, is often a short and almost rude term, but here Jesus is saying, “I know”. I know what you have been going through. I know who you are inside and out. I can give life to you beyond the hardships that you have faced here.

Jesus not only went to this woman, but He then cared for her as no man has ever done before. He cared about her soul and where she would spend eternity, not her earthly being. She then goes and shares with the men in Samaria that the Christ they have heard about is here. Jesus takes the broken and makes it beautiful. God knows. He knows our pains, sorrows, sins, joys, and everything about us, and He still goes to Samaria to meet us at the well.

Lord, thank you for meeting us where we are. Thank you for pursuing us and loving us. Please help us see that we need You. We are nothing and are lost without you. Help us seek You, the only one who knows everything, but wants us even more despite our flaws. Lord, help us see others the way you saw the woman at the well. Help us use compassion that matches your love every day to those around us. Amen.