This woman wanted to avoid that scorn and rejection and came at the end of the hot, dusty day when no one was there. After all, she just couldn’t get her life together and they had. Certainly, this needy woman was often the topic of their conversation. Most women went at the beginning of the day when it was cooler and then as they gathered together at the well, turned it into a gossip fest. The woman comes to get water at the end of the day when it’s the hottest-6pm. When we recognize our own neediness, it puts us in a thirsty place-just right to receive God’s intervention.

Her neediness put her in the right place at the right time. They wouldn’t need an encounter with Jesus-they were doing just fine. The townspeople most likely compared themselves to this woman and thought they were better than her. I feel sorry for those from the village who were just as needy emotionally but weren’t there. He longed for her to recognize her thirst, planned for her to experience her thirst, and invited her to allow Him to meet her thirst. Jesus as a human, yet with a divine soul, made her important enough to put aside His own needs. Not the combined value of the group, but one sinful, unhappy, thirsty woman. One person is important enough for Jesus. Nothing could have made the situation more unlikely for the Messiah to stop by.Īt this time, Jesus was weary, but not too weary to keep Him for God’s appointed task: to reach out to one woman. Plus, this woman had three strikes against her in this society and culture: she was a woman, a Samaritan, and a sinner. They avoided that area at all costs-even the cost of taking the longer route around Samaria because the Jews hated the Samaritans and avoided them like the plague. Verse 4 tells us how totally opposite God viewed this woman: she was important enough that Jesus “had to pass through Samaria.” Actually, He didn’t have to. After all, why even think about it? Nothing was going to change. She most likely had a low grade awareness of her misery but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She was thirsty and maybe didn’t even know it. The daily scorn of her neighbors and townspeople.

She was looking for happiness and fulfillment in all the wrong places-through sad and disappointing relationships. Did she feel hopeless? Helpless? Caught and trapped by her circumstances? Unloved? Unhappy? Discontent? She might have little glimpses of happiness but overall, she was just existing. Have you ever felt like you already have three strikes against you? That’s the Samaritan Woman–the Woman at the Well. We may think we can’t learn anything more about the Woman at the Well but let’s try. Now, back to our regularly scheduled posting. And thank you to everyone who submitted their name. I’m so excited to announce the winner of the drawing for Pam Farrel’s book “Discovering HOPE in the Psalms.” Drum Roll! The winner is… Linda Weber!Ĭongratulations, Linda! I’ll send your contact information to Pam.

Scorn strikes