I come from a community of women who joyfully serve their families. From my mother and grandmothers to my aunts and my sister — the women around me delight to pour themselves out for others. The way of Christ is to serve. Die to self. Wash feet. Self last.
So why in the world did Jesus do the total OPPOSITE with the Woman at the Well?
I’ve adored the Woman at the Well story since I saw it on the church’s original multi-media projector, The Felt Board. It wasn’t until recently, I became confused by this beautiful story’s beginning.
Why did Jesus ask a complete stranger to serve him?
John 4 tells us, Jesus was weary, and his disciples had left him for a Chick-fil-a run (my translation). He came to Samaria and sat down beside Jacob’s Well when a Samaritan woman approached to draw water. Jesus greeted her with 4 strange words: “Give me a Drink.”
Say what?!
I don’t always respond kindly to the men I love when they ask me for something, let alone a complete stranger.
A fleshly reaction might include:
Get a drink yourself, you’re literally sitting right by the well.
YOU get ME a drink. I’m tired too.
Jesus, you said you came to serve not to be served. Does that not apply when you’re thirsty?
This radical departure from Christ’s typical interactions has beautiful spiritual implications for women today. Here are a few:
- Jesus crushed racial and gender barriers. Unofficial caste systems drive daily interactions in many cultures around the world. I saw it in Bangkok, but it’s much worse in some countries. Certain higher classes of people won’t except food or drink from the lower class. A cup of water in the hands of the extreme poor is considered unclean. Elites will not allow their families to be served by those considered unworthy.
In the John 4 time period, Jews were repulsed by Samaritans. Samaritans were a Jewish/Gentile melting pot of people, thought to be impure. Though Jewish culture actually esteemed women better than surrounding pagan nations, there was still a huge equality gap between Jewish men and women. Imagine what Jewish men thought of Samaritan women.
This makes Jesus’ request for a drink not rude, but stunningly loving. In a few words, the messiah shatters the sinful barrier between cultures and genders. We can almost feel the shock in the Samaritan woman’s reply: “How is it that you a Jew ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?”
She is not offended by the request to serve him. Rather she is stunned that he requested it from HER: Here is our messiah, requesting a drink from a Samaritan, a woman, and (as we read later in the chapter) a scandalous, card-carrying) sinner. No one is disqualified from serving Jesus, once he has saved you.
- We can’t serve Jesus until he serves us.
Jesus bestows honor and dignity on this woman by asking her to serve him. But he immediately adds, “If you knew who it is that is saying to you ‘Give me a drink’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” I love the truth behind this. We can’t give Jesus a cup of water until he saturates us with living water. So often we try to serve from the flesh. We strive more. Check more boxes. Work harder. Sign up for more things. And we never stop to be filled by Jesus. We have no water to give in his name unless we drink from him first. We love because he first loved us. We serve because he first serves us. - The truly saved will always serve:
After encountering Christ, the woman leaves her water jug and runs to tell everyone about him, including the part about her own sin (John 4:39). When God saves us, we want to be used by him. We want to tell the world who we know. This will look differently for each of us, but those who have tasted living water will always run to tell others about it. - He has made you worthy to serve him:
Maybe you consider yourself disqualified from Christian ministry. You’re ashamed of your past. You think you’re too old or too young. You’re single or married to a non-believer. You don’t believe He would ask you to serve Him. If you’re saved and walking with Christ, this is a lie.
Read the story of the Woman at the Well and run to Jesus. He didn’t wait for his disciples to get back to ask for a drink. He asked this broken woman. In this moment. Then he gave to her more than what he asked from her.
Every one of us has reason to feel unworthy to serve him. The blood of Christ makes us worthy. Not our own intelligence. Not our charisma. Not our talents. Not our good-girl past. Not our picture-perfect feed. This woman had none of that. But she did encounter Living Water. It changed her. And she told everyone.
What is he asking you to do for his glory? Look to the cross and be saved. If you’ve already done that, John 4 says you have a spring of water within you, welling up for eternal life. He has a ministry for you. Leave your earthly water jug behind, and go tell the world.