John 4:7-10 - Meeting the Samaritan woman

4:7,8

There are several unusual things about this. The first is that the woman came at midday. This was the worst time to come for water, it being about the hottest point of the day. Most folk came early in the morning or towards the evening. The reason that this woman came at this time was probably either that she didn’t want to meet other people, or that she had been shunned by them. This would be because she had had so many husbands and was now just living with someone. Sometimes the circumstances of our life, or the sins of our life, cause us to isolate ourselves or to act in odd ways, but if Jesus wants to meet us then He will do so. Note that all this has situation has been set up by Jesus, the woman was not seeking God.

The second odd thing is that Jesus speaks to her. This is doubly odd. For one thing it was not the done thing for men to speak to strange women, and for another it was not in order for any Jew to speak to a Samaritan. Jesus does not let Himself be bound by human conventions.

The disciples were out of the way, having gone to get some ford from the village. There are times when God needs us out of the way so He can get on with things!

4:9,10

The woman was amazed that Jesus spoke to her. As pointed out in the previous verse, the reason for her amazement was that she was a woman and He was a Jew. God does not act in the way we expect Him to. The woman’s error here was that she was viewing Jesus as just a normal man, but someone far greater was standing (or sitting) before her. If we view Jesus just a as a normal man we will miss what He has to give us.

“If you knew the gift of God”. We so often have a completely wrong view of God, not appreciating what or who He is, or what He is doing. Something tremendous was about to happen in this woman’s life. The woman had come to get normal water, but Jesus was offering her living water. This tells us various things. First, the normal things of life point to something greater. We all need water and know that we need water, but there is something far greater and better that God wants to give us. Next God wants us to ask. God is never embarrassed by us asking Him for things. If we ask He will give.