Jacob’s Well

Jacob’s Well…

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, avoiding all dealings with each other. A Jewish person would not borrow nor receive a kind act from a Samaritan. As JESUS sat by the well side, He was hungered and thirsty. There was no jar or rope to attain the water, He awaited for. The lot of humanity was His; yet He waited for someone to come and draw for Him.

A woman from Samaria approached, filling her water jar. As, she was about to leave, JESUS asked her for a drink. It was a very sacred act. Water was called; “the gift from GOD”. The division between their separate nations, was not to offer kindness or graditude. Especially a Jewish person to request anything from a Samaritan. JESUS did not offer; He requested from her, this gift. The offer may have been rejected; but trust awakens trust. The King Of Heaven came to this outcast soul, asking service at her hands. HE who had made the oceans, who controls the waters of the great deep, who opens the channels and springs of the earth, rested and awaiting upon this stranger’s kindness for the gift of a drink.

The heat of the day brought this woman here, to her supply of water. The other women of the village did not kindly socialize with this Samaritan. The woman was known to have had many husbands. Where the other towns women, had one. So her reputation was not favorable. She asked JESUS; “How is it, that Thou, being a Jew, asks me for drink?” JESUS answered, “If you knewest the Gift Of GOD, and who it is that saith to you, Give Me to drink; thou would of asked of HIM, and He would of given you The Living Water.” The drink of the water of Everlasting Life.

JESUS said; “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinks the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Every person 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 fulfillment of life and their desiring within their soul. Only One can meet that wanting..The needing of the world, “the Desire of All nations,” is Christ. The Divine Grace which He alone imparts, is as living water; purifying, refreshing, and invigorates the soul. JESUS did not convey the idea that merely one draft of the well water of life would suffice/substain the receiver. The person who receives The Love of Christ, will seek a deeper committed relationship. The riches, honors, and pleasures of this world have a lesser attraction and yearning for the receiver. The heart will desire a More Of Thee. Every longing of dependance will fail. The cisterns will be emptied, the pools will become dry; but The Redeemer is an inexhaustible fountain. We may drink again and again; and ever find a fresh supply. Where Christ dwells within; the fountain of blessings springing forth into everlasting… Where strength and grace are plentiful and sufficient for all needing… The Samaritan woman finally realized Christ; as The True Water Bearer. “Sir,” “Give me this water, that I thirst not again.” Before she could receive this Gift, she must be brought to recognize her sinning and her Saviour. JESUS said to her,”Go, call thy husband, and come back.” She answered,” I have no husband.” The Saviour continued, “Thou has said I have no husband: for thou has had five husbands; and he whom thou has now, is not thy husband: in what you say is true.” What The Saviour spoke was true. The pages of her life, which she had hoped to keep well-hidden, was being read by Him. Her conscious was being awakened. The thoughts of the future eternal judgement was vivid. JESUS desired to lift the thoughts of His hearer above the matter of form and ceremony or the division between the hatred and indifference of the Jewish and the Samaritans. “The hour cometh,” HE said, “and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship The Father in Spirit and in Truth: for The Father seeks such to worship HIM. GOD Is Spirit: and they that worship HIM; must worship HIM in Spirit and Truth.” Here is declared the same truth that JESUS had revealed to Nicodemus. John 3:3.

The woman had been filled with joy as she listened to Christ’s Words. This wonderful revelation was almost overpowering. Leaving her waterpot, she returned to her city, to carry this message to others. JESUS knew why she had gone. It was the earnest desire of her soul to obtain the living water; and she put aside her errand. With this thirst and her heart overflowing with gladness, she hastened forward to tell others of 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 fresh countenance in her appearance. they were interested to see JESUS. “Then they went out of the city, and came unto Him.” with the woman at the well. Good seed had been sown, and how quickly the harvest was received. Crowding Him, the crowd of seekers plied Him with questions, and they eagerly received Christ’s exclamations. They wished to learn more and invite their family and friends to hear Him speak. This Wonderful Teacher stayed in Samaria for two days among these new believers. Many received Him; because of this woman at the well’s witness. In the Samaritans new joy found; they told her, “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 to the Jews, but of the world. JESUS had begun to break down the partition between the Jew and the Gentile, and to preach salvation to the world. Though He was a Jew, JESUS mingled freely with the Samaritans. In the face of their prejudices He accepted the hospitality, of these despised people. The disciples despised, as the Pharisees and Jewish nation did offensively, against this Samaritan woman and townspeople. But, through this woman’s ministry, a whole township was gathered before Christ.

The Saviour is still carrying forward the same work as when He offered the water of life to the woman at the well. Those who call themselves His Followers may despise and shun the outcast ones; but in no circumstance of birth or nationality or standard of living, or condition, can turn away His Love from the children of men. HIS Love for humanity prevailes to every soul. However sinful. JESUS says, “If thou would ask of Me; I would then give; The Living Water.” John 4:5-42.