Welcome! I’m so glad you’re joining us for this seven-week Bible study based on Love Letters from God: Bible Stories for a Girl’s Heart. We’ll be studying the lives of seven incredible New Testament women. It’s the perfect way to journey through Lent together.
The Samaritan Woman at the Well: The Thirsty Girl
Read: John 4:1-29
Israel, March 2015. The coach pulls to a stop, the doors open and we all spill out, cameras at the ready. We are British and America tourists, anxious to capture a photograph to prove that we’re standing beside the famous Jacob’s Well.
It wasn’t in the middle of a field, as you might expect. The well where Jesus sat, over two thousand years ago, and had that holy conversation with an unknown Samaritan woman, is now located in a church which serves to preserve this holy site.
We dropped a stone down the deep, deep shaft, and heard it splash 135 feet below. It was Betsy who turned the crank to wind the bucket back to the surface. And she tasted that water. I tasted that water. My sister tasted that water. We all tasted that water: the very same water that Jesus drank, all those years ago.
Don’t you think that’s incredible! After more than two thousand years, Jacob’s Well is not dried up. The water is still flowing. And if that’s not a picture of God’s never-ending, everlasting, soul-quenching love for us, I don’t know what is.
Let’s find out more about our Thirsty Girl…
The Samaritan woman who came out to Jacob’s Well in the heat of the mid-day sun is sadly not named. It’s widely believed that she came to draw water at that time of day because she knew that others wouldn’t be there. This is a woman who has been married five times, and so it’s easy to imagine that she was normally ostracized, and perhaps didn’t have many friends. But at Jacob’s Well, she would find the greatest friend anyone could ever have.
The very fact that Jesus strikes up a conversation with her is unorthodox. Jews and Samaritans did not mingle, and a Jewish man speaking to a Samaritan woman would have been unheard of.
But during the conversation, we learn that this woman is not uneducated. She is knowledgeable about Jacob, immediately recognizes that Jesus is a prophet, and she knows about the Messiah, the Promised One who is to come. She’s also truthful, and doesn’t lie when Jesus enquires about her husband.
But it’s when Jesus says these beautiful words that the woman’s eyes are opened and she begins to realize just who it is that sits beside her:
I, the one speaking to you—I am he. John 4: 26
Is it any surprise that upon hearing those words, the woman springs up from the well, and leaving behind the one thing that was important to her before she discovers who Jesus is, runs back to her village where she loudly proclaims the gospel to all she meets?
Friends, I don’t know about you, but I have been that thirsty girl. I have so often needed to drink from that life-giving, hope-giving water.
I have carried heaviness in my heart that felt like a water jar. In fact, I am, right now, carrying heaviness in my heart that feels like a water jar.
And I so need Jesus to show up today. I so need him to sit beside me and talk to me. I so need Jesus to reassure me that just like he knew that woman: everything about her, everything she’d been through, everything she was going through… so he knows me.
He knows, he knows what I’m carrying. And he is the only one, the only one, who can take that heavy burden from me.
And when he does, as I know he will, I’m going to realize that all along, the burden I was carrying wasn’t all that important. What’s important is knowing who Jesus really is.
Because when we know that, we can also trust that he carries us, and our burdens high on his strong shoulders…
Friends, Jesus is the only One who offers that life-giving, thirst-quenching water of life, that everlasting love that never, ever runs dry.
Questions For Reflection:
- How are you hoping to draw closer to Jesus during the next 40 days of Lent?
- The Samaritan woman met Jesus in the course of her everyday routine. Where, in your everyday routine, would you like Jesus to sit beside you?
- What do you imagine Jesus would say to you?
- What heavy burdens do you need to hand over to Jesus?
Going Deeper:
- Re-read the story slowly, or listen to it here. Close your eyes, and try to imagine the whole scenario at the well. Put yourself in the shoes of the Samaritan woman. How do you feel at each stage? In what ways do you identify with her?
I’m sure, as Jesus sat beside me, he would say, “Don’t try to do it all yourself. I am always with you. Let me help you.”
I hope to stop at least 3 times each day, to really be with Jesus, study the scriptures with a devotional, and realize that I always have a friend, and Savior, to help me through this human life.
Glenys, please know that you will be in my prayers for whatever your burden is.
Peggy, that’s a great idea, to stop 3 times a day. Thank you for your prayers. I need them. I felt like I wrote this particular study today for myself.
We are all so very thirsty! Thanks for feeding our souls with your wonderful reflection and children’s books!
Isn’t that the truth Patricia! Bless you for your encouraging words about my books.
Jesus does know you Glenys and he knows exactly what you are going through. You and David are doing mighty things for God, which the enemy must be so mad about, and so you are in a spiritual battle but Jesus has overcome that so that we can have life and have it to the full! “Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.” It’s my birthday today and I’m remembering a very special birthday spent with you in the Holy Land when we remembered our baptism together in the River Jordan. Put that picture in your mind and the doves that flew overhead as we were raised from the water – Jesus will give you that peace, the peace which passeth all understanding. Praying for you xxx
Thank you Pauline. I have got that beautiful picture in my mind. It makes me smile every time I think about it. And I do feel more peace today 🙂
thanks for your words of sharing.
I would love to have Jesus beside me all the time! In fact I believe he is!!
I would be happy for him to share his his words for my decisions, which seem like they are hard!!
I think of the words “the other side of Christmas or the other side of Easter”
To me that means, remembering “why” Christmas and “what happened” at Easter. Both wonderful blessings for our lives and to remember what we have because of Christmas and because of Easter!!!
Thank you Mary Jane!
Glenys, I am sad to hear that you are carrying a heavy load right now and I am sure that you know that Jesus has his loving arms wrapped around you and is helping you get through it. I have several heavy loads that I carry with me but I continue to hand them over to God, ask Him to help me and ask him to increase my trust in Him. I know He is always with me but I am especially aware of His presence each morning when I spend 30 minutes or more reading several devotional books and the scripture that accompanies each days reading. And then lifting up people on my prayer list.
Of course my favorite book is “Jesus Calling” a wonderful book given to me by you, my loving friend. I have given copies to a couple friends who were going through a difficult time because I know how much this special book helps me through the bumpy road of life.
I am looking at 3 different Lenten studies that I used in the past and plan to chose one to study again this year.
Thank you for this study and for the insights you share. You always open new doors for me.
Blessings and hugs.
Thank you so much Anita, for your encouraging words. I appreciate you! That 30 minutes with God each morning is your ‘Jacob’s Well.’ 🙂
Glenys, I hope you are feeling your burden lifted a bit today. Look for what God may be wanting you to learn which sometimes helps to turn the burden into a positive learning experience. Stay strong.
Questions:
1. What am I doing to draw closer to Jesus during Lent- Trying times of silence. That is a focus in the Lent study we are doing at St. Tim’s. I am at the first stage; trying to decide when my set aside time of silence will be.
2. Where would I want Jesus to sit beside me?- At work. I tend to fall short working in the “real” world.
3. What would he say? (at work)- be patient, be kind, remember “they” are my children, too. There are times in my work when I am working on resolving a problem for a client when I don’t have patience with the person on the other line. Sometimes, I show a “know it all” attitude with “I can’t believe you processed this wrong” and I forget they are only trying to resolve my problem. I need to visualize that I am speaking to Jesus asking him to fix this problem and maybe I would be kinder.
4. I need to hand over to Jesus the strain on Mike of the care of his father. Much too lengthy to explain but it impacts almost all aspects of our life and it is very stressful for Mike. It just doesn’t seem to have an end. I need to try and see what God is trying to teach me in this situation and I don’t do that. I think too much of what I have to give up.
Going Deeper: I think my first meeting with this stranger I would be scared. A stranger is talking to me who I am not to associate with. Will he attack me? Rape me? How does he know things about me? Then there MUST be something kind in his eyes or voice that takes away that fear. A comfort level is established and he is saying things that match my understanding of God; unlike other Jewish beliefs. He must be MORE. I don’t know how I identify with the woman, but I think we can meet Jesus in some unexpected places, people, and situations that may indeed start out uncomfortable or even scary.
Thank you, Glenys for this study. I enjoy mulling over your writing, then reading the scripture and answering the questions; even if I don’t reply back I always complete the questions for myself. I also enjoy keeping the connection with you.
Wow Lori, I am so blessed by your deep thinking about the questions, especially the ‘Going Deeper’ part, where you thought about how the woman felt when first encountering Jesus. This is what I LOVE about Bible study… that God reveals different things to different people, and we all learn from each other. Thank you for your encouragement to me. God is good. I do KNOW that God can bring good out of any situation, it’s just being IN it, and having to trust for that outcome that’s the hard part. . Thank you for praying for me in my need, as I will be praying for the needs you have expressed here. God bless.