The Woman at the Well

Who am I? This is a question we all wrestle with. Some of us spend a lifetime trying to figure this out. For most of us, who we are has been told to us by others, and we are trying to live up to it. But for some, they are trying to make themselves into who they think they’re supposed to be. Maybe according to family expectations, or those of a friend group, or society as a whole. But, in reality, there is only One, our Maker, who can tell us who we really are, our true identity. And, it’s only our creator who can tell us what our individual purposes are in this world. 


We don't know her name, just her jaded past. She’s a Samaritan woman who’s had five husbands and the man she’s now living with is not her husband. In all the categories that mattered back then, she doesn't check any of the right boxes. She’s a woman, a Samaritan, her beliefs are incorrect, and she’s “sinful” and yet, Jesus orchestrates an encounter with her at a well. It starts over water, but in the course of their interaction, Jesus informs her that it’s not who the world says she is that matters, but whether or not she worships God in spirit and truth. Jesus also tells her plainly that He’s the Messiah. This woman is the first to be told, not some Jewish man who's high up in their system, and it has an amazing impact on her. She immediately leaves her water jar and runs back into town to tell all the people that have shamed her, and shunned her about her meeting the Messiah. She brings those same people to Jesus so they can see too. Who does that? What a radical transformation, what a moment, what an example. 


Let’s read this familiar story and dig deeper into what happened.