Here at the Well
John 4:1-42 (NIV)
Jesus Talks With a Samaratain Woman
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritanwoman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirstyand have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now comewhen the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
The Disciples Rejoin Jesus
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Many Samaratans Believe
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Lyrics
VERSE 1
I was traveling down a road, hot and forsaken
Every day’s a little longer year to year
Then one day, I met a man who asked for water
I thought Him mad, but I was glad, that He was here
I tried to turn away and avoid His gazing eyes
He spoke to me in ways I’ve never recognized
Telling me to ask for things I’ve never known
As if I’m to know this man who doesn’t curse me or throw stones, He talked of
PRE-CHORUS 1
A well that will never run dry
A water where thirst is no longer required
CHORUS
Here at the well I found my freedom
Here at the well I’m no longer enslaved to my past
Here at the well I met Salvation
And I’m goin’ to tell everyone in my path
VERSE 2
I heard of a man we’ll worship come one day
A man who will explain the truth and set our hearts aflame
He’s the King of Kings, Messiah Lord of all
While these truths are great, I won’t test fate, who am I to speak when called, then
PRE-CHORUS 2
He turned and said, “look at Me
I, the One speaking to you, I am He”
CHORUS [2X]
Here at the well I found my freedom
Here at the well I’m no longer enslaved to my past
Here at the well I met Salvation
And I’m goin’ to tell everyone in my path
BRIDGE
Look what I have found
Look what He has done
A spring of living water
Given through the Son
CHORUS [2X]
Here at the well I found my freedom
Here at the well I’m no longer enslaved to my past
Here at the well I met Salvation
And I’m goin’ to tell everyone in my path
OUTRO
And I’m goin’ to tell everyone in my path
Dive Deeper
“I was traveling down a road, hot and forsaken”
Put yourself in the shoes of the woman at the well. She is walking to get water from the well in the middle of the day; it is probably very hot outside. She is tired from her trek to the well, and the last person she wants to see is a Jewish man (the Jews and the Samaritans did not get along or associate with each other). When Jesus asks the woman, “Will you give me a drink?”, she must be surprised. She questions how He could even think of asking her for a drink, Him being a Jew and her being a Samaritan. Jesus, on the other hand, does not care where this woman comes from. He treats her like He would treat any Jew or human being. Jesus did not live His life according to the standards that culture set before Him. He brought Himself down to be a person in flesh and to love all without hesitation.
“A well that will never run dry”
Then, Jesus starts talking about this “living water.” The woman at the well is pretty confused by What Jesus is talking about. Questioning His authority, the woman asks Jesus where He could possibly get this “living water.” Jesus responds by saying, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Jesus is saying that He is the only one who can truly satisfy us. As humans, we attempt to satisfy ourselves using the things of this world. No matter how much we have, we always end up feeling empty, desiring more and more. We have a never-ending thirst inside of us. But, if we hand our lives over to God and dedicate ourselves to serving and glorifying Him, He fills us up. Jesus is a spring of water that never stops flowing. He lived a perfect life and ultimately sacrificed His own life on the cross to save us. Jesus has the ability to truly satisfy our longing hearts with this overflowing love.
“Who am I to speak when called?”
After the woman hears about this living water that Jesus speaks of, she desperately wants to know where she can find it. Jesus then tells her to get her husband and come back with him. When the woman tells Him she has no husband, Jesus responds by saying, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.” This woman is obviously not living a virtuous and noble life. She has made mistakes in her past and is currently making mistakes. Knowing all these things, Jesus still wants to love and accept her. God knows every mistake and sin that we have ever committed, and yet He is always there with open arms waiting for us to come back to Him. There is nothing too unrighteous for God to forgive. We have a Father who is full of patience and grace. It is never too late for us to ask for forgiveness because Jesus has already paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross. Jesus is our salvation. No matter what bad things we have done in our lives, no matter how many sins we have committed, and no matter how lost we may feel, Jesus is ALWAYS there waiting for us to reach out to Him.
“I, the one speaking to you, I am He”
Jesus tells this Samaritan woman that “a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth.” The woman responds by saying that she already knows the Messiah called Christ is coming to explain everything to everyone. Then, Jesus reveals His identity to her when He says, “I, the one speaking to you, I am He.” God promised His people that He would deliver them the Messiah. God fulfilled His promise by sending His own Son, Jesus Christ, to the earth in human form to live a perfect life and die to save us from our sins. Jesus, our Savior, loves us more than we could comprehend. He has so much love that He was willing to lay His life down for us. The overflowing love Jesus has for us is never ending and does not depend on what we do. Let Him into your heart. Let Him revive and stir up your soul. Allow Jesus to enter your heart and mind and show you what true satisfaction and joy really feel like. He can show you the right way because He is the right way. Trust Him.
“I’m going to tell everyone in my path”
Imagine how this woman must have felt after she learned that she just met the Messiah! Picture her running back into town and telling everyone she passes what amazing things just happened to her. Jesus literally knew her life story without even knowing her and then told her that He was the Messiah that she has been waiting for. She must have been filled with so much hope and excitement! This is how we should feel, knowing the salvation we have in Jesus and all the good things He has done for us. Ask God to put a fire in your heart to share the good news of the gospel. We should tell everyone in our path about the sacrifice that Jesus has made and the salvation that He has given us.
Here at the well, this Samaritan woman found freedom and salvation. She no longer felt enslaved to her past because she saw that Jesus was her future.
Questions for Reflection
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In what ways do you relate to the woman at the well? Do you ever feel lost, unworthy, and confused? What parts of this story comfort you? How do Jesus’ words and actions make you feel?
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Where do you seek satisfaction in your life? Do you see a difference in how you feel when you choose to lean into God rather than depend on the things of this world for satisfaction?
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What makes you excited about God? How does give you hope? How can you share this hope with others so that they also feel excited about God’s never-ending and overflowing love?
Hiddens Features
Biblical Point of View(s):
The Samaritan Woman at the well, and those she goes to tell
Musical Explanation:
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This song is told from the perspective of the Samaritan woman
telling everyone in her town what had happened to her and who
she had met.
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In the second chorus of the song more voices join in to represent the others in the town who came to know Christ after her testimony and Christ staying with them.
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Through the song you see the woman at the well explain her outcasted nature in society, the water of eternal life from Jesus, and the salvation He provides to her as she believes in Him.
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You will hear this same vocalist (Giovanna Johnson) sing from the woman at the well’s perspective again in Two Coins as she sings the lines “still I know a man who came with everlasting hope for us”. These lines can also be from the perspective of Mary Magdalene and you will hear this vocalist sing from her perspective in At the End of the Road.
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In verse two the vocalist sings “While these truths are great, I won’t test fate, who am I to speak when called”. This line is referring to the woman’s beliefs. She is saying she understands these truths of a Messiah coming, but she is not going to abandon her life and cling/believe them since they have had no impact on her. Then she says “who am I to speak when called” meaning, even if she did believe these words and lived them out, who is she and who would believe her given the state of her life having had 5 husbands. This makes it all the more powerful when Jesus say “I the one speaking to you, I am He”.
How to sing:
This song is to be sung from the point of view of one who has just encountered the presence of God. Think back to the moment you accepted Christ into your life as your personal savior. In order to sing this song justly you must have had this encounter in your own life. There is to be these feelings of shock and awe for you cannot fully understand what has happened. The Lord met you (at the well) granting you eternal salvation and adopting you into an eternal relationship with Him. As you listen to/sing this song remember this moment in your own life for that day in your life Christ redeemed your heart. As you listen to/sing this song your tone of voice should be of one who cannot wait to tell everyone what just happened so they too can experience what you have just experienced and meet who you have just met here at the well.
