From the well – to the Town

John 4:28-30 (NLT) “The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?’ So, the people came streaming from the village to see Him.”

The woman in the text is the Woman of Samaria. This woman had an unexpected meeting with the Lord which resulted in her conversion. She came to the well to draw water in the heat of the day and she found the Lord Jesus there. He was there, of course, specifically on her account, and He asked her for a drink. Then, in a very gentle way He revealed her sin to her and her need of His saving grace. The disciples came back from the village with food and were amazed that Jesus was talking to this woman for many reasons: the first being that she was a woman, second, because they probably knew what kind of woman she was (her reputation) and thirdly because she was a Gentile. At this point the women runs into the city, leaving her water-pot behind her. Why did she leave it? Why has the bible recorded this fact?

I believe that one of the reasons she left her water-pot behind was because it would have hindered her from fulfilling her task. The task of telling the village where she lived in about Jesus! She was bursting to tell others of the Savior she had found, leaving behind anything that would hinder her or slow her down. She ran to tell a village of people who knew her reputation, who she avoided to the point that she drew water in the heat of the day. Can you imagine coming to the well by yourself in shame and returning to the village proclaiming the gospel to the people who rejected you? She was transformed!

Notice that the disciples returned with food from that very same village with no one. When this woman went back into town, she brought the whole village with her. The disciples wanted to fill their bellies, but God wanted to fill a village with revival, and His kingdom with souls!

I love how the story ends in John 4:39-42 “Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, ‘He told me everything I ever did!’ When they came out to see Him, they begged Him to stay in their village. So, He stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear His message and believe. Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard Him ourselves. Now we know that He is indeed the Savior of the world.’”