“Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria.” John 4:1-4.

This section, John 4:1-42, is really about the woman at the well, however, there is so much to be said about the deity of Christ that it needs to be divided up.

Many have confidently affirmed that Jesus never claimed to be God incarnate, this is not an error, it is a lie. The four gospels continually cry out, no, they scream out that Jesus is the God who created the heavens and the earth.

Miracle after miracle in, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John demonstrate His power over nature and men, sickness and disease. And perhaps this is the problem in itself, too many miracles.

We read of Him healing a leper as in Matthew 8, healing a deaf mute in Mark 7, healing a withered hand in Luke 6, turning water into wine in John 2, when read quickly and carelessly they all melt together and the message God has for us is lost.

Study the miracles in the Old Testament and you will see that Jesus’ miracles are done with a power and authority that none of the Old Testament prophets had.

“Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, ‘Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?’ The Jews answered Him, saying, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.’” John 10:31-33.

Not only did Jesus claim to be God, but in all four gospels it is the reason the Jews had Him crucified, for blasphemy and claiming to be God. Understand that the Jews knew when He claimed to be the Son of God; it meant that He is God, not just a son.

“God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high”, Hebrews 1:1-3.

It is stated above that Jesus is, “the express image of His [God’s] person”, it does not get any clearer than that. In the following passage Jesus makes His own claim to deity.

“Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, “Show us the Father”?’” John 14:8-9.

Having made a reasonable, though far from exhaustive, case for the deity of Christ, let us look at the man.

“He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria.” John 4:3-4.

“He needed to go through Samaria”, this is a significant statement, Samaria was in the way of Galilee, and Jews went out of their way to go around this area.

“For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” John 4:9b.

Samaritans were a Jewish mix of race and religion and for lack of a better word were considered a bunch of ignorant half-breeds.

Jesus’ meeting with this woman was decided upon in the counsels of the Godhead from eternity past. He also set an example showing us that no one is insignificant to God, and a soul is far more important than our own petty prejudices.

Can we overcome our prejudices to reach out to the one next to us to tell them of the Lord Jesus and His love for all mankind? Your name as well as theirs was known in the mind of God countless eons ago.

“So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour [noon]. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink.’ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.” John 4:5-8.

We have a good picture of the humanity of Christ here. We see that He was weary from the journey, He was thirsty (He asked for water), and the disciples had gone to buy food, so He was hungry.

He sits by the well in the heat of the day, perspiring, His sandals and feet covered with dust from the journey and He thirsts; how often we have felt this way.

This is not some austere far off God, but someone who has walked a mile in our shoes (both literally and figuratively).

“For we do not have a High Priest [Jesus] who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:15-16.

Again in Hebrews 13, it is said that:

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8.

Jesus will never forget what it was like living on earth as a man; He will never ignore us when we cry out to Him. His heart will never grow cold to us.

“Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord [Yahweh] been revealed? For He [Jesus] shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised and we did not esteem Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:1-6.

Jacob’s well is located roughly near or between Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal, it would be fascinating to know what He was thinking as He sat there by the well.

These two mountains have an interesting history, in the book of Deuteronomy, God, through Moses, instructed the children of Israel to perform a rite when they entered the land of Canaan after having wandered in the desert for forty years.

They were to gather between these two mountains, six tribes in front of Mt. Ebal on the north and six tribes before Mt. Gerizim to the south, whereupon the Levites were to call out blessings to Israel if they obeyed the Lord and those before Mt. Gerizim would call out “Amen!” to the blessings.

Then curses would be called out for disobedience and those before Mt. Ebal would call out ‘Amen!” All this with the Ark of the Covenant situated between them, perhaps on or near the very spot where Jesus now sat at the well.

Did He hear again in His mind the rolling thunder of the voices of some three million Israelites calling out “Amen!” as He had 1400 years earlier in that place? The references for this rite are located in, Deuteronomy 11:26-32, 27: 1-26, Joshua 8:30-35.

A Samaritan woman is about to engage in a meeting planned from eternity past that will affect all of her eternity future, which now, nearly two thousand years later, has barely begun for her.

Christ at the Well, John 4:1-8 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 7-24-12, updated on 7-5-17.

Scripture taken from the New King James version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Use by permission, all rights reserved.