Chapter 19
At Jacob's Well
[This chapter is based on John 4:1-42.]
On the way to Galilee Jesus passed through Samaria. It was noon when
He reached the beautiful Vale of Shechem. At the opening of this valley
was Jacob's well. Wearied with His journey, He sat down here to rest
while His disciples went to buy food.
The Jews and the Samaritans were bitter enemies, and as far as
possible avoided all dealing with each other. To trade with the
Samaritans in case of necessity was indeed counted lawful by the rabbis;
but all social intercourse with them was condemned. A Jew would not
borrow from a Samaritan, nor receive a kindness, not even a morsel of
bread or a cup of water. The disciples, in buying food, were acting in
harmony with the custom of their nation. But beyond this they did not
go. To ask a favor of the Samaritans, or in any way seek to benefit
them, did not enter into the thought of even Christ's disciples.
As Jesus sat by the well side, He was faint from hunger and thirst.
The journey since morning had been long, and now the sun of noontide
beat upon Him. His thirst was increased by the thought of the cool,
refreshing water so near, yet inaccessible to Him; for He had no rope
nor water jar, and the well was deep. The lot of humanity was His, and
He waited for someone to come to draw.
A woman of Samaria approached, and seeming unconscious of His
presence, filled her pitcher with water. As she turned to go away, Jesus
asked her for a drink. Such a favor no Oriental would withhold. In the
East, water was called "the gift of God." To offer a drink to
the thirsty traveler was held to be a duty so sacred that the Arabs of
the desert would go out of their way in order to perform it. The hatred
between Jews and Samaritans prevented the woman from offering a kindness
to Jesus; but the Saviour was seeking to find the key to this heart, and
with the tact born of divine love, He asked, not offered, a favor. The
offer of a kindness might have been rejected; but trust awakens trust.
The King of heaven came to this outcast soul, asking a service at her
hands. He who made the ocean, who controls the waters of the great deep,
who opened the springs and channels of the earth, rested from His
weariness at Jacob's well, and was dependent upon a stranger's kindness
for even the gift of a drink of water.
The woman saw that Jesus was a Jew. In her surprise she forgot to
grant His request, but tried to learn the reason for it. "How is
it," she said, "that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me,
which am a woman of Samaria?"
Jesus answered, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is
that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him,
and He would have given thee living water." You wonder that I
should ask of you even so small a favor as a draught of water from the
well at our feet. Had you asked of Me, I would have given you to drink
of the water of everlasting life.
The woman had not comprehended the words of Christ, but she felt
their solemn import. Her light, bantering manner began to change.
Supposing that Jesus spoke of the well before them, she said, "Sir,
Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then
hast Thou that living water? Art Thou greater than our father Jacob,
which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself?" She saw before
her only a thirsty traveler, wayworn and dusty. In her mind she compared
Him with the honored patriarch Jacob. She cherished the feeling, which
is so natural, that no other well could be equal to that provided by the
fathers. She was looking backward to the fathers, forward to the
Messiah's coming, while the Hope of the fathers, the Messiah Himself,
was beside her, and she knew Him not. How many thirsting souls are today
close by the living fountain, yet looking far away for the wellsprings
of life! "Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven?
(that is, to bring Christ down from above:) or, Who shall descend into
the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) . . . The
word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: . . . if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
Rom. 10:6-9.
Jesus did not immediately answer the question in regard to Himself,
but with solemn earnestness He said, "Whosoever drinketh of this
water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I
shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him
shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life."
He who seeks to quench his thirst at the fountains of this world will
drink only to thirst again. Everywhere men are unsatisfied. They long
for something to supply the need of the soul. Only One can meet that
want. The need of the world, "The Desire of all nations," is
Christ. The divine grace which He alone can impart, is as living water,
purifying, refreshing, and invigorating the soul.
Jesus did not convey the idea that merely one draft of the water of
life would suffice the receiver. He who tastes of the love of Christ
will continually long for more; but he seeks for nothing else. The
riches, honors, and pleasures of the world do not attract him. The
constant cry of his heart is, More of Thee. And He who reveals to the
soul its necessity is waiting to satisfy its hunger and thirst. Every
human resource and dependence will fail. The cisterns will be emptied,
the pools become dry; but our Redeemer is an inexhaustible fountain. We
may drink, and drink again, and ever find a fresh supply. He in whom
Christ dwells has within himself the fountain of blessing,--"a well
of water springing up into everlasting life." From this source he
may draw strength and grace sufficient for all his needs.
As Jesus spoke of the living water, the woman looked upon Him with
wondering attention. He had aroused her interest, and awakened a desire
for the gift of which He spoke. She perceived that it was not the water
of Jacob's well to which He referred; for of this she used continually,
drinking, and thirsting again. "Sir," she said, "give me
this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw."
Jesus now abruptly turned the conversation. Before this soul could
receive the gift He longed to bestow, she must be brought to recognize
her sin and her Saviour. He "saith unto her, Go, call thy husband,
and come hither." She answered, "I have no husband." Thus
she hoped to prevent all questioning in that direction. But the Saviour
continued, "Thou hast well said, I have no husband: for thou hast
had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that
saidst thou truly."
The listener trembled. A mysterious hand was turning the pages of her
life history, bringing to view that which she had hoped to keep forever
hidden. Who was He that could read the secrets of her life? There came
to her thoughts of eternity, of the future Judgment, when all that is
now hidden shall be revealed. In its light, conscience was awakened.
She could deny nothing; but she tried to evade all mention of a
subject so unwelcome. With deep reverence, she said, "Sir, I
perceive that Thou art a prophet." Then, hoping to silence
conviction, she turned to points of religious controversy. If this was a
prophet, surely He could give her instruction concerning these matters
that had been so long disputed.
Patiently Jesus permitted her to lead the conversation whither she
would. Meanwhile He watched for the opportunity of again bringing the
truth home to her heart. "Our fathers worshiped in this
mountain," she said, "and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the
place where men ought to worship." Just in sight was Mount Gerizim.
Its temple was demolished, and only the altar remained. The place of
worship had been a subject of contention between the Jews and the
Samaritans. Some of the ancestors of the latter people had once belonged
to Israel; but because of their sins, the Lord suffered them to be
overcome by an idolatrous nation. For many generations they were
intermingled with idolaters, whose religion gradually contaminated their
own. It is true they held that their idols were only to remind them of
the living God, the Ruler of the universe; nevertheless the people were
led to reverence their graven images.
When the temple at Jerusalem was rebuilt in the days of Ezra, the
Samaritans wished to join the Jews in its erection. This privilege was
refused them, and a bitter animosity sprang up between the two peoples.
The Samaritans built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim. Here they
worshiped in accordance with the Mosaic ritual, though they did not
wholly renounce idolatry. But disasters attended them, their temple was
destroyed by their enemies, and they seemed to be under a curse; yet
they still clung to their traditions and their forms of worship. They
would not acknowledge the temple at Jerusalem as the house of God, nor
admit that the religion of the Jews was superior to their own.
In answer to the woman, Jesus said, "Believe Me, the hour
cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem,
worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we
worship: for salvation is of the Jews." Jesus had shown that He was
free from Jewish prejudice against the Samaritans. Now He sought to
break down the prejudice of this Samaritan against the Jews. While
referring to the fact that the faith of the Samaritans was corrupted
with idolatry, He declared that the great truths of redemption had been
committed to the Jews, and that from among them the Messiah was to
appear. In the Sacred Writings they had a clear presentation of the
character of God and the principles of His government. Jesus classed
Himself with the Jews as those to whom God had given a knowledge of
Himself.
He desired to lift the thoughts of His hearer above matters of form
and ceremony, and questions of controversy. "The hour cometh,"
He said, "and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the
Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship
Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in
spirit and in truth."
Here is declared the same truth that Jesus had revealed to Nicodemus
when He said, "Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the
kingdom of God." John 3:3, margin. Not by seeking a holy mountain
or a sacred temple are men brought into communion with heaven. Religion
is not to be confined to external forms and ceremonies. The religion
that comes from God is the only religion that will lead to God. In order
to serve Him aright, we must be born of the divine Spirit. This will
purify the heart and renew the mind, giving us a new capacity for
knowing and loving God. It will give us a willing obedience to all His
requirements. This is true worship. It is the fruit of the working of
the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit every sincere prayer is indited, and such
prayer is acceptable to God. Wherever a soul reaches out after God,
there the Spirit's working is manifest, and God will reveal Himself to
that soul. For such worshipers He is seeking. He waits to receive them,
and to make them His sons and daughters.
As the woman talked with Jesus, she was impressed with His words.
Never had she heard such sentiments from the priests of her own people
or from the Jews. As the past of her life had been spread out before
her, she had been made sensible of her great want. She realized her soul
thirst, which the waters of the well of Sychar could never satisfy.
Nothing that had hitherto come in contact with her had so awakened her
to a higher need. Jesus had convinced her that He read the secrets of
her life; yet she felt that He was her friend, pitying and loving her.
While the very purity of His presence condemned her sin, He had spoken
no word of denunciation, but had told her of His grace, that could renew
the soul. She began to have some conviction of His character. The
question arose in her mind, Might not this be the long-looked-for
Messiah? She said to Him, "I know that Messias cometh, which is
called Christ: when He is come, He will tell us all things." Jesus
answered, "I that speak unto thee am He."
As the woman heard these words, faith sprang up in her heart. She
accepted the wonderful announcement from the lips of the divine Teacher.
This woman was in an appreciative state of mind. She was ready to
receive the noblest revelation; for she was interested in the
Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit had been preparing her mind to receive
more light. She had studied the Old Testament promise, "The Lord
thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy
brethren, like unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken." Deut. 18:15.
She longed to understand this prophecy. Light was already flashing into
her mind. The water of life, the spiritual life which Christ gives to
every thirsty soul, had begun to spring up in her heart. The Spirit of
the Lord was working with her.
The plain statement made by Christ to this woman could not have been
made to the self-righteous Jews. Christ was far more reserved when He
spoke to them. That which had been withheld from the Jews, and which the
disciples were afterward enjoined to keep secret, was revealed to her.
Jesus saw that she would make use of her knowledge in bringing others to
share His grace.
When the disciples returned from their errand, they were surprised to
find their Master speaking with the woman. He had not taken the
refreshing draught that He desired, and He did not stop to eat the food
His disciples had brought. When the woman had gone, the disciples
entreated Him to eat. They saw Him silent, absorbed, as in rapt
meditation. His face was beaming with light, and they feared to
interrupt His communion with heaven. But they knew that He was faint and
weary, and thought it their duty to remind Him of His physical
necessities. Jesus recognized their loving interest, and He said,
"I have meat to eat that ye know not of."
The disciples wondered who could have brought Him food; but He
explained, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to
accomplish His work." John 4:34, R. V. As His words to the woman
had aroused her conscience, Jesus rejoiced. He saw her drinking of the
water of life, and His own hunger and thirst were satisfied. The
accomplishment of the mission which He had left heaven to perform
strengthened the Saviour for His labor, and lifted Him above the
necessities of humanity. To minister to a soul hungering and thirsting
for the truth was more grateful to Him than eating or drinking. It was a
comfort, a refreshment, to Him. Benevolence was the life of His soul.
Our Redeemer thirsts for recognition. He hungers for the sympathy and
love of those whom He has purchased with His own blood. He longs with
inexpressible desire that they should come to Him and have life. As the
mother watches for the smile of recognition from her little child, which
tells of the dawning of intelligence, so does Christ watch for the
expression of grateful love, which shows that spiritual life is begun in
the soul.
The woman had been filled with joy as she listened to Christ's words.
The wonderful revelation was almost overpowering. Leaving her waterpot,
she returned to the city, to carry the message to others. Jesus knew why
she had gone. Leaving her waterpot spoke unmistakably as to the effect
of His words. It was the earnest desire of her soul to obtain the living
water; and she forgot her errand to the well, she forgot the Saviour's
thirst, which she had purposed to supply. With heart overflowing with
gladness, she hastened on her way, to impart to others the precious
light she had received.
"Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I
did," she said to the men of the city. "Is not this the
Christ?" Her words touched their hearts. There was a new expression
on her face, a change in her whole appearance. They were interested to
see Jesus. "Then they went out of the city, and came unto
Him."
As Jesus still sat at the well side, He looked over the fields of
grain that were spread out before Him, their tender green touched by the
golden sunlight. Pointing His disciples to the scene, He employed it as
a symbol: "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh
harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the
fields; for they are white already to harvest." And as He spoke, He
looked on the groups that were coming to the well. It was four months to
the time for harvesting the grain, but here was a harvest ready for the
reaper.
"He that reapeth," He said, "receiveth wages, and
gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that
reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth,
and another reapeth." Here Christ points out the sacred service
owed to God by those who receive the gospel. They are to be His living
agencies. He requires their individual service. And whether we sow or
reap, we are working for God. One scatters the seed; another gathers in
the harvest; and both the sower and the reaper receive wages. They
rejoice together in the reward of their labor.
Jesus said to the disciples, "I sent you to reap that whereon ye
bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye are entered into their
labors." The Saviour was here looking forward to the great
ingathering on the day of Pentecost. The disciples were not to regard
this as the result of their own efforts. They were entering into other
men's labors. Ever since the fall of Adam Christ had been committing the
seed of the word to His chosen servants, to be sown in human hearts. And
an unseen agency, even an omnipotent power, had worked silently but
effectually to produce the harvest. The dew and rain and sunshine of
God's grace had been given, to refresh and nourish the seed of truth.
Christ was about to water the seed with His own blood. His disciples
were privileged to be laborers together with God. They were coworkers
with Christ and with the holy men of old. By the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit at Pentecost, thousands were to be converted in a day. This was
the result of Christ's sowing, the harvest of His work.
In the words spoken to the woman at the well, good seed had been
sown, and how quickly the harvest was received. The Samaritans came and
heard Jesus, and believed on Him. Crowding about Him at the well, they
plied Him with questions, and eagerly received His explanations of many
things that had been obscure to them. As they listened, their perplexity
began to clear away. They were like a people in great darkness tracing
up a sudden ray of light till they had found the day. But they were not
satisfied with this short conference. They were anxious to hear more,
and to have their friends also listen to this wonderful teacher. They
invited Him to their city, and begged Him to remain with them. For two
days He tarried in Samaria, and many more believed on Him.
The Pharisees despised the simplicity of Jesus. They ignored His
miracles, and demanded a sign that He was the Son of God. But the
Samaritans asked no sign, and Jesus performed no miracles among them,
save in revealing the secrets of her life to the woman at the well. Yet
many received Him. In their new joy they said to the woman, "Now we
believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and
know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world."
The Samaritans believed that the Messiah was to come as the Redeemer,
not only of the Jews, but of the world. The Holy Spirit through Moses
had foretold Him as a prophet sent from God. Through Jacob it had been
declared that unto Him should the gathering of the people be; and
through Abraham, that in Him all the nations of the earth should be
blessed. On these scriptures the people of Samaria based their faith in
the Messiah. The fact that the Jews had misinterpreted the later
prophets, attributing to the first advent the glory of Christ's second
coming, had led the Samaritans to discard all the sacred writings except
those given through Moses. But as the Saviour swept away these false
interpretations, many accepted the later prophecies and the words of
Christ Himself in regard to the kingdom of God.
Jesus had begun to break down the partition wall between Jew and
Gentile, and to preach salvation to the world. Though He was a Jew, He
mingled freely with the Samaritans, setting at nought the Pharisaic
customs of His nation. In face of their prejudices He accepted the
hospitality of this despised people. He slept under their roofs, ate
with them at their tables,--partaking of the food prepared and served by
their hands,--taught in their streets, and treated them with the utmost
kindness and courtesy.
In the temple at Jerusalem a low wall separated the outer court from
all other portions of the sacred building. Upon this wall were
inscriptions in different languages, stating that none but Jews were
allowed to pass this boundary. Had a Gentile presumed to enter the inner
enclosure, he would have desecrated the temple, and would have paid the
penalty with his life. But Jesus, the originator of the temple and its
service, drew the Gentiles to Him by the tie of human sympathy, while
His divine grace brought to them the salvation which the Jews rejected.
The stay of Jesus in Samaria was designed to be a blessing to His
disciples, who were still under the influence of Jewish bigotry. They
felt that loyalty to their own nation required them to cherish enmity
toward the Samaritans. They wondered at the conduct of Jesus. They could
not refuse to follow His example, and during the two days in Samaria,
fidelity to Him kept their prejudices under control; yet in heart they
were unreconciled. They were slow to learn that their contempt and
hatred must give place to pity and sympathy. But after the Lord's
ascension, His lessons came back to them with a new meaning. After the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they recalled the Saviour's look, His
words, the respect and tenderness of His bearing toward these despised
strangers. When Peter went to preach in Samaria, he brought the same
spirit into his own work. When John was called to Ephesus and Smyrna, he
remembered the experience at Shechem, and was filled with gratitude to
the divine Teacher, who, foreseeing the difficulties they must meet, had
given them help in His own example.
The Saviour is still carrying forward the same work as when He
proffered the water of life to the woman of Samaria. Those who call
themselves His followers may despise and shun the outcast ones; but no
circumstance of birth or nationality, no condition of life, can turn
away His love from the children of men. To every soul, however sinful,
Jesus says, If thou hadst asked of Me, I would have given thee living
water.
The gospel invitation is not to be narrowed down, and presented only
to a select few, who, we suppose, will do us honor if they accept it.
The message is to be given to all. Wherever hearts are open to receive
the truth, Christ is ready to instruct them. He reveals to them the
Father, and the worship acceptable to Him who reads the heart. For such
He uses no parables. To them, as to the woman at the well, He says,
"I that speak unto thee am He."
When Jesus sat down to rest at Jacob's well, He had come from Judea,
where His ministry had produced little fruit. He had been rejected by
the priests and rabbis, and even the people who professed to be His
disciples had failed of perceiving His divine character. He was faint
and weary; yet He did not neglect the opportunity of speaking to one
woman, though she was a stranger, an alien from Israel, and living in
open sin.
The Saviour did not wait for congregations to assemble. Often He
began His lessons with only a few gathered about Him, but one by one the
passers-by paused to listen, until a multitude heard with wonder and awe
the words of God through the heaven-sent Teacher. The worker for Christ
should not feel that he cannot speak with the same earnestness to a few
hearers as to a larger company. There may be only one to hear the
message; but who can tell how far-reaching will be its influence? It
seemed a small matter, even to His disciples, for the Saviour to spend
His time upon a woman of Samaria. But He reasoned more earnestly and
eloquently with her than with kings, councilors, or high priests. The
lessons He gave to that woman have been repeated to the earth's remotest
bounds.
As soon as she had found the Saviour the Samaritan woman brought
others to Him. She proved herself a more effective missionary than His
own disciples. The disciples saw nothing in Samaria to indicate that it
was an encouraging field. Their thoughts were fixed upon a great work to
be done in the future. They did not see that right around them was a
harvest to be gathered. But through the woman whom they despised, a
whole cityful were brought to hear the Saviour. She carried the light at
once to her countrymen.
This woman represents the working of a practical faith in Christ.
Every true disciple is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary. He
who drinks of the living water becomes a fountain of life. The receiver
becomes a giver. The grace of Christ in the soul is like a spring in the
desert, welling up to refresh all, and making those who are ready to
perish eager to drink of the water of life.
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