John 4 (2026)
Jesus Christ, we turn to you this day to be refreshed by God’s living
Word in the Scriptures. Let the Holy Spirit open our eyes to your truth
and shine truth on the way you set before us. Amen.
The woman at the well is one of the stories that is well known to us
Here we have Jesus talking to a complete stranger and expounding a new
theological idea
Now to those of us who live in Atlantic Canada striking up a conversation
with a stranger is not unusual We talk with those we don’t know about the
weather, about what was on Compass last night, about community events
But the expectations in the day that the gospel story happened were different
Men did not talk to women publicly, especially women they did not know
And the fact that this woman was a Samaritan was another reason to avoid
her She was an unbeliever An outcast A heretic because the Samaritans
worshipped other gods in addition to the one true God
Popular acceptance is also that this woman was not of good character
because she had had 5 husbands And the man with whom she stayed was not
her husband There have been assumptions that she went from one marriage
to another Finally moving in with a man “without the banns”
Such assumptions overlook the role women played in ancient society
And the legal power they did not have
If this woman had been married and her husband died The next brother
would be expected to marry her This was to provide for her as much as
anything. In addition to this, most women did not do business
A widow might beg if she had no son to care for her A wife on the other
hand could expect a certain level of support There were laws to protect a
wife
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If a woman was widowed, and her former husband’s brother was already
married, she could be taken on as a second wife Given the level of health
care in the day that this story took place It would not be unbelievable for a
woman to have 5 husbands if the brothers all died
And as for the one with whom she now stayed not being her husband
Was he a cagy brother-in-law who didn’t want to marry her, given the life
expectancy of her husbands? Or was he her father-in-law?
There is also a lot read into the fact that this woman came to the well in the
middle of the day Apparently, there were few people out at that time
Most people fetched water in the cool of the day, even so Jesus was out at
this time And as for this woman Was she an outcast in her household?
One who went out at midday because no one wanted to be around her?
Was she an extra mouth to feed? A woman with no husband and no son to
care for her? There is much that we don’t know about this woman
There is another theory on the woman’s status which invites us to look at the
original Greek text Apparently, the word anar which is translated husband
when Jesus says the woman has had 5 husbands, can also be translated
“master” If we understand her to have had five masters, they can be
understood to be the five Baals or the 5 gods of the Canaanite religion
The woman had worked her way through all of the five masters of the
Canaanite religion, and none of them has been her true master
If we work with the translation of anar as master rather than husband, then
in verse 16 Jesus tells her to call her master
And her response “I have no master” is a recognition on her part that she is
still searching
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This woman is a religious seeker of truth who recognizes Jesus as a prophet,
and she is eager to hear his teaching Whatever the reasons for her being at
the well when no one else was there She was there And she was talking to
Jesus As she spoke to Jesus She knew that he was someone who could tell
her everything she had ever done He cannot be the Messiah, can he? she
asked. The people of the town came out with her to hear Jesus
Did they see joy and hope in this woman that had not been there before?
What compelled them to leave their homes in the middle of the day to go
and talk with a man they had never seen or heard Whatever there was about
her story It was enough to compel them to come and see for themselves
It is clear in this story that the Samaritan woman is searching for God
And in the way Jesus is with her there are lessons for us
This woman is on the fringes Many people are looking down on her
The Jews would avoid her because she is a Samaritan And she is not a part
of the crown Sometimes we may feel that is where we are
We can put high expectations on ourselves as to what we should and
shouldn’t do We can be slow to forgive ourselves when we fall short
We may feel that God has no patience for someone who is so consistently
not getting it In the face of whatever self-doubt or self-accusation we may
have, God loves us and wants to hear from us While we may need to learn
the same lesson over and over God will keep giving the same lesson until we
get it Good teachers do that, and Jesus is the best teacher
In a pale way, God’s patience with us as learners is sort of like my
experience learning to knit This example is a very simplistic one, but I hope
it helps you get the point Learning to knit was a long road for me
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I used to watch Nanny Renton’s fingers fly, and I wanted to be able to knit
like that To make socks, mitts. hats. scarves and baby sets
I set out to learn The path was a struggle
I wondered how people could possibly knit to relax when the process was
the opposite of relaxing for me I dropped stitches I increased stitches
My tension was too tight I carried the yarn in a way that wasn’t supposed to
happen If there was a mistake I made it
Nanny gave me some tips, but still I struggled I got a book on the subject
And other good knitters gave me tips as well Eventually, I got to the point of
being a pretty good knitter Nowhere near the category of my grandmother,
but I have made some garments that people have worn
In the same way that it took me a long time to learn to knit
It can take us a long time to learn that God loves us enough to want to hear
from us often That God wants to hear from us even when we get it wrong
We may feel like Johhny Cash that we are C+ Christians
Johnny knew God and he knew himself He knew that he had broken
promises, broken hearts and had become an addict
Out of the midst of that self-recrimination he reached to God and found the
strength to live a life defined by forgiveness and grace rather than a life
defined by blame
I think that one lesson we can take from the story of the woman at he well is
that we are never beyond God’s care Jesus took time to talk to the woman at
the well and he will take time to talk with you too
Jesus offered the woman living water This living water is the source of the
water of life Living water is the fulfilment of the promises of scripture Isaiah
58:11: and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose
waters never fail.
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Later in John Jesus will say, “As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s
heart shall flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38b). “The claim, loaded
with Messianic imagery, is two-fold. 1) Jesus is the Messianic source for the
water of life. 2) Those who drink from the source will themselves become
springs of living water!”
(Lindsey Scott, Moravian Seminary found at Working Preacher)
As the woman talks more with Jesus he talks to her about where we worship
God In this conversation Jesus both shares a profound truth and pinpoints
one of the points of disagreement between the Samaritans and the Jews
“Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father
neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not
know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the
hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the
Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship
him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and
truth.”
The Jewish people felt that God was to be worshipped in the temple in
Jerusalem, this was the place of gathering and of celebration
The Samaritans gathered and celebrated on a mountain, but Jesus said that
God desired people to worship in spirit and in truth
I have been talking about having the word of God hidden in your heart
during the season of Lent
This is one of the verses that is hidden in my heart
“God is a spirit and those who worship God must worship in spirit and in
truth” I first heard these words used as a call to worship
Often these were the words that Laurence Blaikie used to call us to worship
at St Andrews, Moncton
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When I read them in my Bible as a teen that jumped off the page like old
friends Worship is about spirit and truth not location
This is part of the great truth shared with the Samaritan woman as she spoke
with Jesus The Samaritan woman engages with Jesus and receives living
water and life changing truth, and then she rushes to share it with her
neighbours She goes back to the city and says “Come and see a man who
told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, [k] can he?”
As we read further we are told, “They left the city and were on their way to
him.”
The Samaritan woman Accepts the truth that Jesus teaches And she takes
that truth to her friends and family Even so, we today have had living water
Will we hoard it or pass it on?
One way we pass on the living water is through our support of our church
missions Through Presbyterians Sharing we help provide online learning for
adults to help them grow in faith We support inner city ministries to bring
the gospel to those who are on the fringes And we support education events
such as the clerks conference, which gives support, fellowship and education
to those who serve presbyteries and synods Through the giving of
congregations across the country we support the work of the seminaries
And we train and equip chaplains to serve in prisons, hospitals and the
armed forces There is a lot of ministry that happens because we are stewards
of what God has given to us
In addition to these worthy works we are called to share living water with
those who are here close at hand
At the Total Charge Annual Meeting we talked about how we might touch
the lives of those who live nearby
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How might we partner with groups in the community to be doers of the
word?
When we share living water we are bringing the gift of life to others We are
invited to live the words of the hymn
Lead me Jesus I will follow
Down the dusty pathway all along the sea
Teach me Jesus to be loving, your disciple I will be
Prayer
Revealing God,
we seek to offer you our prayers in spirit and in truth.
We thank you for the truth of your love
which welcomes us as we are, not as the world tells us we should be.
Thank you for the truth of your mercy
which embraces us even when you recognize our mistakes and
failures.
Thank you for the truth of your purpose
which gives us meaning and direction for our lives.
And thank you for the truth of your vision
which gives us hope for our future even in challenging times.
Revealing God,
we seek from you truth for our times.
We are surrounded by claims of truth and much that misleads.
We pray for those who feel overwhelmed by so much information:
Grant us all the ability to discern fact from fabrication,
And to recognize self-interest disguised as sincerity.
Revealing God,
we seek from you truth in our history.
We know that most history has been written by the winners,
so give us the willingness to hear the stories that have been silenced.
We pray for those who have stories that are difficult to tell.
Grant us both the courage to speak and to listen,
and the wisdom to recognize truth even when it makes us
uncomfortable.
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Revealing God,
we seek from you truth in our characters and shared humanity.
We hear voices that are fearful, critical and cynical,
so help us listen for voices of respect, generosity and filled with hope.
Show us the potential we have to work together,
to find common cause even among those with different perspectives,
and accomplish more than we can imagine right now,
because, together, we have been created in your image.
Awaken in us and among us the potential to serve you
in serving one another,
for this is the way you revealed to us in Jesus Christ, both Friend and
Saviour,
in whose name we pray, Amen
COMMISSIONING AND BENEDICTION
As we continue our Lenten journey, remember the words of St
Paul: that “suffering produces endurance, endurance produces
character, character produces hope, and hope does not
disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit.”
And so may God’s love strengthen your endurance,
Christ’s mercy refine your character,
and the Spirit’s power enliven your hope this day and in every day to come.