7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Shocked and surprised at this orchestrated encounter by Jesus, the woman at the well certainly had her curiosity piqued. Ever about His Father’s business, Jesus forgoes traipsing into the city with His disciples to fetch food in lieu of the good work that must be done at the well – redeeming the time for the days are evil. I wonder how many golden opportunities I have forgone in order to quench my earthly appetite. Scripture tells us:
15 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Eph 5:15-17 (NIV)
We are to look therefore, very carefully how we are to walk through this life - making the most of all our opportunities.
“We see here how divine Providence brings about glorious purposes by events which seem to us fortuitous and accidental.” Matthew Henry
Paul adds these words in Colossians:
5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Col 4:5 (NIV)
Jesus tells us in the gospel of John that He came to do His Father’s will and we as His disciples are to do likewise:
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. John 6:38 (NIV)
In our verses for today we find Jesus breaking the normal prejudices of the day. He was a Jewish Rabbi speaking to a Samaritan woman who was also a stranger. This totally caught her off guard as a Rabbi would have never spoken to- much less asked for a drink of water - from a Samaritan woman. As usually, Jesus headed across the prejudice religious boundaries of His day.
“The normal prejudices of the day prohibited public conversation between men and women, between Jews and Samaritans, and especially between strangers. A Jewish Rabbi would rather go thirsty than violate these proprieties.” Bible Knowledge Commentary
Jesus did not suffer prejudice well, particularly religious prejudices. Indeed, His actions set the trend to break that bondage which many clung and quite frankly, still cling to. Time after time He sets forth that example. Paul gives us a greater clarity to the absurdness of a “better than thou” mentality through his words in 1Corinthians:
7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? 1 Cor 4:6-7 (NIV)
“Quarrels about religion are usually the most implacable of all quarrels. They plainly show that however true their religion may be they are not truly religious.” Matthew Henry
Stooping to teach a single person, and a woman at that, Jesus opens the conversation by asking something of her using this as an entree to teach her divine things. Amazed at His willingness to cross religious boundaries, Jesus captures her attention and eventually her heart.
“I simply argue that the Cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles; but on a cross between two thieves; on the towns' garbage heap; at a crossroad, so cosmopolitan they had to write his title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek... at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. And that is what He died about. So, that is where church-men ought to be and what churchmen ought to be about." Rev. Dr. George McLeod, Minister, Church of Scotland, 1895-1991