Religion today conforms to society to appease the masses. It aims to not offend, and we are made to believe that there are infinite ways into heaven, just like all roads leading to Rome. Religion today doesn’t always stick to the word of God or His perfect plan for us. We have made religion comfortable enough to blend in with the crowd. However, Jesus didn’t blend in with the crowd during His life here on Earth. The Jesus we’re taught about today is kind of emasculated. He’s depicted as weak and slain, still hanging up on that cross. But He is strong, mighty to save, and seated at the right hand of God. He has overcome death, freed us from our curses, restored our salvation, and is the resurrected King! We do not depict Him as strong, like we ought to.
While He walked the Earth, He didn’t blend into the crowd. Jesus got angry and flipped over the tables of merchants that were charging buyers in a Holy temple. John 2:15 “And Jesus went into the temple of God and cast out all of them that sold and bought in the temple and overthrew the tables of the money changers.” It doesn’t say they fought back; it illustrates that He was successful. He didn’t have to lay a finger on them, instead He was authoritative in nature. Only someone with grandness can pull that off and not be beaten in the middle of the street for the agressive interruption in a temple. So, if something didn’t fit, He called it out! Jesus wasn’t scared or intimidated by what people thought, did or said. He spoke truth, defended the weak, and declared righteousness for all that came to Him. He observed the behavior in the society around Him and spoke with authority when He witnessed wrongdoing and unjust behavior. He would tread where no others in society would tread and make a way where there was none before.
The parable of the woman at the well highlights the importance of treating others how you want to be treated, and doing so free of judgment. All the woman at the well ever wanted was love, and to be accepted. She hadn’t known that she was trying to fill a cup to match her need for love, but it kept making her thirsty until she met Jesus at the well. The meeting spot was where they went to gather water. The Bible story goes as follows.
Jesus sat down by the well when He saw a woman approaching the in the noon hour of the day. It was unusual to see anyone at the well, so it was clear that both Jesus and the woman seemed out of place. Jesus asked the woman, “Will you give me a drink?” Anybody in the city watching the scene would have been astonished that the two of them would be seen sitting and speaking to one another. Jesus just sat on the wall and became an unavoidable deterrent.
Drawing water from the well was a task for women and they usually did this task first thing in the morning before the heat of day. So, seeing anybody at the well at the noon hour is safe to assume that she was probably an outcast and a harlot from society because she waited until the crowds were gone before fetching water, just to avoid confrontation with other people.
Jesus knew she was an outcast. Jesus called this woman, without a proper marriage, into a new, redeemed relationship with Him. She had a ruined reputation and violated the morals of her community; therefore, she was downcast. She sounds a lot like me. This heightened the significance of Jesus’ overture in conversation.
“Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, how is it that thou, being a Jew, asks drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” John 4:9
In this one interaction alone, Jesus crossed many boundaries to reach this woman. Men rarely spoke to women alone; Jews did not associate with Samaritans; and men rarely ever went to the wells, so this scene was obscure. It was almost a designated female-only spot in the city. That’s what made this interaction so significant. Jesus and the woman discussed earthly and heavenly realities. Jesus asked her two questions that made her think and comprehend God’s gift, as Jesus explained to her that through a relationship with Christ, she can thirst no more. The woman probed Jesus to understand deeper.
This woman came to the well for physical water, but in their conversation, Jesus tells her about the living water, a relationship with God. The woman asks Jesus how she can get this living water and thirst no more, and He teaches her the spiritual significance behind His metaphor.
“Jesus answered and said unto her, 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. John 4:13-14
In this interaction with the woman, Jesus is talking about a new life available through the Spirit of God. Water itself signifies the Holy Spirit and Jesus Himself is the origin of precious living water, which can transform even this woman and her isolation as an outcast. It is a gift of God. A word that later believers associated with the Holy Spirit. Her response is clear, as she seeks to know where to get this water, so she doesn’t have to make the long, lonely journey in the heat of the day to the well. The woman is clearly intrigued but skeptical.
However, her understanding is flawed. She was still thinking about earthly things and was confused about the example. The woman had asked for water, but she did not understand the gift, nor did she understand the identity of the Giver. How often do we expect to be given something without fully understanding the Giver? God, His spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and truth. She truly wanted to understand, so He took it to the next level. Jesus revealed His identity to the woman. BOOM! Jesus defined His power. He reminds her that she has had five husbands, and her current lover is not her sixth husband or a man that she’s unmarried to. He told it how it was and directed to her heart to share that message with truth and spirit. Jesus doesn’t pass judgment on her, she correctly recognizes that He is a messenger from God because He tells her things about her past that she has kept to herself. Imagine the scenario: He literally showed up like that for her in such a way that only she knew in her heart that He went out of His way to get to her. She was thirsty, and He was the solution.
A Samaritan believes in the coming of the Messiah and understands that this person will explain everything to them. Jesus’ disciples returned and were surprised to find Him talking to a Samaritan woman. The woman was so convinced that He was the Messiah that she left her water jar and went back to town and said to the people, “Come and see the man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” This new character is a woman, a Samaritan woman no less, with doubtful moral character. He’s a man, a single man. Social boundaries should prevent Him from speaking with a woman in such a private setting. The Samaritan woman was not traditionally regarded as a leader either because she was an outcast. She held no official position or title; we don’t even know what her name is; she was a nobody with no name. She had no identity except the one the town gave her. How many women don’t have names but are described only by what they have done? Jesus didn’t see her like that; He saw gold! She became an influencer, which means she was a leader that others ended up following all the way to salvation.
What lessons can we draw from her experience? People are important to good leaders. No one exemplified this more than Jesus and the Samaritan woman. She valued everyone in her town, including those who avoided her. Try seeing people with value through Jesus’s eyes, as women who are His daughters. People benefit from good leadership. Jesus did this with everyone daily and remembered to display His fruits so much that His Spirit impacted the Samaritan woman. She attempted to connect with those in her village because she saw how Jesus could improve their lives. Everyone desires to be loved, helped, and appreciated. She was a leader and a giver, and Jesus pulled those hidden gems out of her confidently.
The gospel still needs to be shared with the sinners and outcasts of this world. The gospel still needs to be shared with the men and women in the sex work industry, and the sex addicts. This is where a light is needed, and these men and women desire a deep connection that isn’t conditional or transactional. In an instant, the Lord can change them and use them as leaders. Leaders initiate contact, and they establish common ground. They listen and allow others to communicate. They arouse interest. They take others only as far as they have traversed themselves. They stick with key issues, stay focused, and communicate issues directly. Jesus disclosed His identity in clear and straightforward terms as a complete leader.
Recognize that we are all sinners and God is not moved by need; He is moved by faith. In the same way that resistance training helps your physical muscles to grow, resistance in faith training helps your faith grow stronger.