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The following article will be included in an upcoming book entitled:
The New Day

“Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give Me a drink.””

“Why are You asking me for a drink?”
(Joh 4:7,9)

This familiar passage of the Samaritan woman at the well is one of my own personal favorites for many reasons and on many different levels.

  • Jesus comes to a town of the Samaritans (Sychar) and breaks with Jewish traditions of not having any contact with non-Jews or semi-Jews.
  • He not only speaks to a Samaritan, but to a woman. This is a double-whammy!
  • He offers His life (the living water) to someone outside of Israel.
  • But He does and says much more to this most “unlikely” of all women.

I would go much further and propose to you that what Jesus says and does here is way more than anything we could have thought or imagined. What He says, how He says it, who He says it to, and where it takes place are all very important factors here. In fact, I would dare say that this is one of the most monumental passages in all of the founding of the New Covenant! And it has everything to do with your relationship to Christ and His Church.

The Location

The city (or village) is called Sychar. Most scholars agree that this is a nickname for the city of Shechem which was situated at the foot of Mt. Gerizim, in the province of Samaria which is where the temple of the Samaritans was built. It also became their capital. The name literally means “drunkeness” because the inhabitants were known for their much drinking (interesting!).

This place is of note in the Scriptures:

  • As being that where Abram first stopped on his coming from Haran to Canaan.
  • Where God first appeared to that patriarch, and promised to give the land to his seed.
  • The place where Abram first built an altar to the Lord, and called upon his name. (Gen_12:7)
  • The land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

“And besides, do You think You’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can You offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”” (Joh. 4:12)

This woman is banking on the patriarch Jacob, but One Who is much greater than Jacob is here! In fact, Jesus comes to this woman as the New Israel (Jacob) with His New Tribes (the 12 apostles) presenting a whole New Covenant. It’s no accident that this takes place at Jacob’s old well. Christ is bringing in the new and taking out the old.

The Persons

The Woman – We have all heard stories and sermons about this woman. We know that she was ashamed to draw water in the morning with the rest of the women because of her many husbands and immorality, so she came at noon time, etc. She was obviously hungry, thirsty, and desperate for a new life. But I can’t help thinking that there is much more to this woman. In fact, I believe there is much more to all of the women in the bible, especially in the New Testament. Could it be that this woman represents something or someone more than just herself? Could it be that this woman represents The Woman, the corporate woman that Jesus was looking for?

We know that both Paul and John descriptively refer to the Church as the Bride of Christ (2Cor.11:2; Eph. 5:31,32; John 3:29; Rev. 21:2,9). So I believe that we can legitimately see this passage with the Samaritan woman from the “corporate” perspective. Please note these points made in the passage:

  • This Woman (Church) is very thirsty and she has been searching for life, fulfillment, and love in all the wrong places! (aka – “husbands”)
  • This Woman has gone into religion and an alternative mountain and temple to find Him.
  • This Woman had tried and tried to know Him and love Him in her own self, soul-life, and human strength.
  • This Woman is still functioning and trying to draw water (life) from the Old Covenant which is external and temporary (2Cor. 3).

Brothers and Sisters, that Woman is Us!

The Lord Jesus – He comes to us as the only valid Life Supply. He comes to provide for our thirst for reality and life. He comes to us as the Real Jacob/Israel providing the Real well of life supply. He comes to us to reset everything we thought we knew about Him! He comes to us to provide the water of Life so that we could together, as a corporate Woman, become the living Well:

“But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
(Joh 4:14)

In other words, this Woman becomes the living Well! Out of her comes rivers of living water.

“On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to Me! Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.'”
(Joh 7:37-38)

Under the old covenant, the woman had to provide something out from her own self and nature. Her own soul (mind, emotions, will) was her only source for knowing and loving God. This kind of “life” is very thin and runs out quickly. She had many ways (husbands) to know and to live by, but it all amounted to dung. Only He could be the living water. Only He could provide spirit and truth. She needed some REAL water! And when she took Him in, He became within her the source (well) of that living water for all of eternity. Wow! What a Christ!

A Well for the Real Jacob

Now, this Woman (corporate) has become a Well to provide living Water to the very One who gave her that same Water! His request for a drink can now be fulfilled and satisfied.

For me, this has completely redefined true worship. Now, I see worship as Christ filling His Bride to overflowing with His life, and She giving Him a drink in return of this very same Life!

I Am Thirsty

I was there before creation
Before there was any “thing”
I was the Water of Life – the River of Life
And yet, I was thirsty…
My Father quenched my thirst and continuously fills me with his life.
In fact, I am the gushing spring and the deep well of his life.
I am the container of his life, love, and glory.

And yet … I am thirsty

The water within our fellowship was so abundant and so overflowing that We
wanted to channel it into new realms still uncreated.
So We masterfully crafted realms both seen and unseen so that the living river
would have gardens to water.
And my Father’s life which he had deposited into me flowed into this creation by
means of his Spirit.

And yet … I am thirsty

I watered the fruit bearing trees and the fish in the sea, the birds of the air, and
the cattle of the field.
But still I searched for somewhere to deposit the deep water that the Father had
given to me.
I was looking for a well …
So I walked down the hallways of history searching high and low, here and there
to find the container for Our life.
I looked in the Jerusalem of old. I looked in the wilderness. I looked in the
tabernacle. I looked in the temple. But all I could find were mere shadows of my
true well.

And still … I am thirsty

And then I found the most unlikely place. The most discounted, rejected, and
uncomely place.
And in the most unlikely place, I found her, the most unlikely woman.
A woman who was repulsive to the religious, unwanted by the upper class, and
persecuted by the pretentious.
And yet SHE was chosen by my Father before time to be my WELL!
She, and only she, could contain my Life!
For my living water can only be poured into a living person, that is, a living well!
And this well is made up of many living stones who all contain the water of my
life.
And I have washed them by my word and made them clean to contain this water.

And yet I … am still thirsty!

So I filled this woman, this well, with my living water so that from within the
deepest part of her, rivers would come gushing forth.
And she was abundantly supplied to overflowing.
And then I asked her:

“Woman… would you give Me a drink?
“For I am thirsty!”