John 4:7-9 7A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8For his disciples had gone away into the city in order to buy food. 9Then the Samaritan woman said to him, “How do you, a Jew, ask from me, a woman of Samaria, for a drink?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
The story takes a surprising twist in verse 7 while Jesus was at Jacob’s well resting. John uses vivid historic present tense verbs to make the scene alive and moving. The hour was around noon when most people of that culture would have been eating and resting. John offers several explanatory side notes as he retells this story, such as in verse 8. The disciples were not present because they had gone on into Sychar to buy food, which in itself would have caused strict Jews like the Pharisees consternation because Jews typically did not eat “defiled” food from the Samaritans. Camping near the well would have been a convenient stopping place, but the group needed something to eat. The surprise comes with a lone Samaritan coming to the well at this lonely time. The speculation about her reason for coming at that time has been that she did not want to be around other people. Women usually came to a well like this in groups and earlier in the day.
Jesus initiates the conversation by asking for water. He was likely capable of getting water himself, but perhaps the well was deep and the woman had the means to draw the water up from it. Jesus introduces the central topic the discussion he will have with the woman. As far as witnessing technique, he found common ground with the woman in order to start a deeper conversation.
The woman was obviously surprised by Jesus. Somehow, she could tell that he was Jewish, perhaps by his clothing or mannerisms. Here he was a Jewish man alone at the well asking her, a lone Samaritan woman, for water! Multiple social taboos were broken, and her social sensitivities were confused. John adds another explanation in verse 9 for his readers who may not have known the animosity between Jews and Samaritans. The verb translated as have no dealings with (sygchrōntai) can also mean sharing in a common eating vessel or have some type of association. This small comment adds more intensity to the growing plot.
The merging of Jesus’ humanity and divinity is on display in these opening verses of this story. He lived in a specific time and social context that normally would have kept him away from people like this woman. He was physically tired and thirsty. He also knew what this woman needed most and came with the message of eternal life. Jesus as the Word from God came right at the level of this woman to meet her deepest need. Social barriers often create fear of rejection for believers and causes them not to share their faith. Jesus sets the example in this story of not letting such walls to stand because the woman’s need was greater than what people thought about proper behavior.
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