A fornicating female preacher

As a Christian, I have heard many sermons and lessons taught on Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well. Most of these sermons overlook an essential part of the narrative and thus fail to see an important message that the Gospel teaches.

God used an outcast, sinful woman to preach the good news of the Messiah.

For John to tell this story in the Gospel is shocking in its own right. He was one of the disciples rebuked by Jesus in the narrative for lacking in the area where this woman abounded.

Many readers of this article are probably familiar with the event, but for the benefit of those who are not, I include this summary. The gospel writer tells the story of Jesus traveling through Samaria from Judea to Galilee (John 4:3). Some scholars believe that Jesus disrupted the norm in traveling on this path because the Jewish opinion of the Samaritans was negative. They would typically travel out of the way to bypass Samaria. Though, not all scholars agree that enough evidence exist to justify this conclusion. However, Samaritans were not accepted in Jewish circles or the temple because they were Jews who had married non-Jews.

Jesus shows His humanity on the journey and grows tired, thirsty, and hungry (John 4:6).

His disciples went into town to purchase food while Jesus rested at the well of Jacob. While he was there, a woman came for water, with whom Jesus began a conversation. The conversation revealed that the woman had been married five times and was living with a man to whom she was not legally married. Her lifestyle explains why she came to the well during the hottest part of the day and not in the early morning when the other women came to get water. This way, she avoided their ridicule. As Jesus and the woman continued to converse, He offered her living water, and she recognized him as the expected Messiah (John 4:7-26).

Later, the disciples returned from the city with food, and Jesus refused to eat. He said, "I have food to eat that you do not know about" (John 4:31). Then He told them to lift their eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest. Jesus had sent them to harvest what they did not work for. However, others have worked and entered into their labor. (John 4:31-38). In the following verse, the Gospel writer tells the reader that many Samaritans believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony (John 4:39).

Jesus praises this woman for having done the job he expected of the disciples!

The sermons in this passage often emphasize Jesus' compassion for people outside of Israel and the power of his forgiveness. In addition, certain teachings of this narrative focus on Jesus as the Messiah and the future destruction of the temple. However, the part often overlooked is the reprimand that Jesus gives to the disciples as he praises the woman for her actions. Jesus told them, "I sent you to harvest what you did not work for." When Jesus sent the disciples into town, he gave them an opportunity. They had an opportunity to harvest souls for God's Kingdom. Instead, they merely brought back physical food. For this reason, Jesus did not eat the food they brought Him.

As readers, we come up against unanswered questions. Why did the disciples not preach to the Samaritans? Was there confusion among them about the mission of Jesus? Were they impeded by the traditional racist views of Jews towards Samaritans?

Regardless of the answers,

God was able to use a marginalized woman to carry out His will.

A woman scorned and abandoned by society because of her sinful lifestyle met Jesus and was convinced he was the Messiah. She left her water pot and went into town to tell everyone. Sometimes we forget that God can use anybody to carry out His will. He may use a female fornicator who draws water from a well or a man named Saul on his way to persecute the church.

I pray that we never become the one who prevents the good news from reaching the lost. Or the person so fixated on the material world that we neglect the more substantial food that Jesus seeks.