The Woman at the Well

Today I read John 4 which is the account of Jesus teaching the woman at the well in Samaria. John is the only one to record this event, as he is with so many others as we have stated earlier. The Samaritans were of course Jews that had intermarried with Gentiles centuries before and so they were not pure blooded Jews. Because of this, the Jews did not like them at all. Most Jews would actually go all the way around Samaria, despite how much time that added to the journey. Jesus and His disciples just cut right through and took a break at Jacob's well. Jesus waited there while His disciples went to find some food.

Never one to let the grass grow under His feet, Jesus begins teaching immediately. A woman comes to the well and He teaches her the gospel. She doesn't understand it at first, although how many of us would have if someone at a well started talking about living water? I've always been impressed with how Jesus always gives the people a chance to act. Elder Bednar would refer to it as a chance to be an agent exercising their ability to act. Jesus tells this woman at one point to go and call her husband and return to Him. She replies back that she has no husband. Jesus tells her that she is being honest and truthful, because she has had 5 husbands, but the man she is currently with is not her husband. So obviously He knew for a fact she wasn't married but He still phrased it to her that way on purpose so that she would have the opportunity to tell the truth, or to lie.

This is the same situation as the woman with an issue of blood. Jesus knew exactly who had touched Him and removed strength from Him. But He wants us to act, just like Elder Bednar is always telling us. So instead of rebuking her for living with a man out of wedlock, He gives her a chance to reveal it herself. She is very impressed with His ability to know all about her and runs and tells everyone she knows about Jesus.

This is an excellent example of how testimonies are gained and strengthened. Most missionaries have seen examples where people investigating the church and perhaps even getting baptized are converted to the missionary themselves, not so much the Gospel. This can happen because the person understands that they feel the way they do when the missionaries are around and don't when they aren't. This can happen when they don't understand the workings of the Spirit. It can also happen when they don't have any friends in the ward or branch. Most people will only continue to go to church if they know someone or if they feel comfortable. They won't go just because of their testimony. It's sad, but there are literally thousands of examples in the church of it happening. It is most certainly nice and important to have friends at church, however our going to church should not be contingent upon them. We attend church because it is a commandment from God and because it is one of the main ways to keep our testimony strong.

Jesus ends up staying in Samaria for 2 days and many believe on His word, at first because of the testimony of the woman. But later because they hear Jesus for themselves and feel the Spirit testify to them that He is the Christ. It is so very ironic and funny to me that the Samaritans would recognize the Savior and the majority of the Jews could not when the Jews despise the Samaritans because they are not pure bloods. Very funny and ironic indeed.

After Jesus leaves Samaria, He and His disciples travel back to Galilee and meets a nobleman whose son is sick. He entreats Jesus to come down and heal His son and Jesus tells him that his son is made well. The man believes Jesus and heads for home. He is met by some of his servants who tell him that his son is made well. He asks them at what time his son began to recover and finds that it is the exact hour that Jesus told him that his son would be made well. This is an instance like I talked about a few weeks ago, where Jesus is quite cable of healing without ever touching the person. And yet, the most frequent way He heals someone is by touching. I think it is symbolic and to help the person in question. For example, every time Jesus heals a leper, He touches them. I think this is part of His compassion. Leprosy was so feared and they were considered unclean and were banished to the outskirts of town. No one would touch them, not even other lepers. I can only imagine how lonely that must be for those people. Jesus, knowing all of this, goes out of His way to touch these people and to give them some much missed human contact. He does it to be compassionate.

One of the things that I have always taken away from this chapter is that the Lord knows us. He knows our needs and our wants. He knows our triumphs and our sins. He is able to help us if we will be willing to reach out to Him. He knows how to succor us in our time of need. Are we fully taking advantage of that resource? If not then we are like a man dying of thirst in the desert turning his nose up at a glass of water because it is not cold. This life is hard enough, there is no need to make it any harder on ourselves. A man drowning in an ocean does not pause to examine the life line that is thrown to him, he grabs it immediately and holds on for dear life. So too should we be taking advantage of the one person in all of creation that truly knows what we are going through. Do not be so proud that you won't ask for help. You might be able to do it on your own, but why would you choose to when you can have help? I know I personally need all the help and advantages I can get, and unless you are some kind of superman or woman, you do too. Take His hand, it is outstretched and waiting to assist. Until tomorrow.