Jesus And The Samaritan Woman At The Well – Beautiful Feet!
Shane Johnson shares the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well from John’s gospel, chapter 4. Follow Shane’s thoughts as he continues on from the story of Jesus and Nicodemus from John 3. The plan of salvation is clearly laid out for us in the Gospel of John, and no more clearly than here in this passage.
Jesus At The Well Of Sychar
John chapter 4 says that Jesus was so wearied when he came to a well in Sychar at high noon that he sat thus against it. We can only imagine what “sat thus” might have looked like. Was he drenched in sweat? Were his feet dirty and grimy from the arduous journey? Was he dehydrated and too weak to draw himself a drink? Had he wearied himself so much in order to speak with another soul that he was suffering from exhaustion and dizziness? We may never know but we can marvel at the lengths he travelled to speak with even one soul.
Reaching a Soul
Which begs the question: are you and I anything like Him? When is the last time you endured the heat or the cold in order to reach a soul? Have you ever sweated or ached or suffered discomfort for the sake of bringing the gospel to one person. It is my belief that Jesus did this often. He cannot deny himself. It is his nature to love and to love to the uttermost. In his dealings with the Samaritan woman, whatever her name might have been, we see his love to the utmost was tried but firmly endured as a rock.
Jesus, The Everlasting God, Reveals His Humanity
Isn’t this the same One we read of in Isaiah chapter 6, the train of whose robe filled the Temple? Isn’t this the same One of whom we read, “the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary? Yet in His humanity He subjected Himself to weakness. In order to prepare Himself as a sympathetic high priest He exposed Himself to the hardships we face in this fallen world. The Lord of Eden sat down thus at a well amidst a broken paradise, a broken paradise that He Himself had come to fix, one soul at a time.
So we see Him there thus at the well. He had come to earth. He had come to Bethlehem. He had come to Nazareth and He had come to Galilee. Now He had come to Samaria to a woman who had had five men and the one she was presently with was not her husband. Little did she know she was about to meet a man who loved her completely, warts and all. While the people of this world may reject us, God travels to us to invite us to be with Him.
Jesus And The Samaritan Woman At The Well
When Jesus asked her for a drink she responded with, How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from Me, a Samaritan woman? How is it? He did it because He had created her, He had loved her, and He had watched over her.
Like Hagar of old, who also went out alone into a desert place, God’s eye was on the Samaritan woman to satisfy the thirst that lingered in her soul. The thirst, not for a relationship with yet another man, but a relationship with the living God, the fountain of living waters, whom to know is life eternal. Jesus told her that “the water he gives will become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Beautiful Feet
So that is our Lord. Our Lord was the first to have beautiful feet, as it written,
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.
Isaiah 52:7
Our Lord’s feet may have been caked with mud, they may have been dry and calloused, they may even have been blistered and bleeding but praise God, they were shod with the gospel of peace.
Step after loving step our Lord took as he travelled toward Samaria, to a woman who no one else had any time for. Drop after drop he sweat as he journeyed under the burning midday sun to speak with a woman He wanted to be part of the bride of Christ. After a few more years those same feet would be pierced, and not only sweat but blood would flow down from those feet which had travelled so far to give so much to a sinner who deserved so little.
Jesus Greater Than All
The woman asked, Are you greater than our father Jacob? He was not only greater than Jacob, but greater than Abraham, greater than Moses, greater than all. The woman was concerned the well was deep and the Lord had no bucket with which to draw.
But all who come to him are abundantly satisfied and will never thirst again. In fact, our relationship with the Lord is the only relationship that will never dry up. Spouses may fail us, children may leave us, parents may pass away, but the Lord forever remains. He alone is the deep sweet well of love, from which, if a man drinks, he will never thirst again. The well indeed is deep and will never run dry.
Our Lord is the inexhaustible One, the perpetual fountain, the infinite resource for all our personal needs. All things were created by Him and all things were created for Him.
What does “living water” mean to you? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.
Shane Johnson
Shane Johnson has been commended from Bethel-Park Bible Chapel since 1999. He resides in Brantford, Ontario with his wife Shelly and his five children.
He has his Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a minor in History. His passions are teaching children, inspiring young people, writing, music and playing soccer.
Shane is a regular contributor to our Christian internet radio station, HopeStreamRadio through his program entitled “Christ Up Close.” He has also produced “Raising Fathers,” and “Proverbs-Wisdom for Fools.”
You can find his producer’s page at: https://www.hopestreamradio.com/producers/shane-johnson/
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Image Credits
Jesus And The Samaritan Woman At The Well – Guercino
Dirty Feet – Gilles Van Leeuwen
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