John 4:11-18, A Spring of Water

11 The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock." 13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water." 16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." 17 The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true." 

Like Nicodemus, the woman does not seem to understand Jesus’ water allusion. Practically speaking, the well was likely 100 to 200 feet deep, and Jesus had no bucket or rope to get to the water, which leaves her perplexed as to how he can give her living water. But Jesus keeps pressing the point. Then he asks her a question about her husband. Jewish law made no room for common-law marriage, so she was correct in saying she had no husband. But her life was in a relational mess and apparently had been for years. 

In the midst of her messy life, Jesus offers her hope. A spring of water welling up to eternal life must have sounded like a healing balm for a life of pain—the pain of failed relationships and the pain of being an outcast. That she came at noon (the sixth hour) to the well in the heat of the day meant she was avoiding other women in her town, who most likely wanted to avoid her as well. 

Jesus models evangelism for us at the well. He meets this woman in her daily life, engages her in conversation, makes space for her to share her deepest needs, and then shares naturally with her his divine knowledge with a directness filled with kindness. The last step of evangelism, pointing people to Jesus as the Savior, comes next, but we cannot get there until people know we care about and respect them, no matter what their situation and condition is.