Digging Deep Wells
Joh 4:6 – 26 NLT
This story is an example of Deep calling to deep. The deep things of God calling to the deep things of man. I have come to realize that when it comes to God, we as people, are never the initiators. He always initiates. Whatever stage or season you find yourself in in your relationship with God, He initiates it. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the one who calls, and we are the ones who answer. With the story of the woman at the well, it was the deep things of God calling to the deep things of the woman. Before we go to deep into that, let’s explore the significance of the well.
The Greek word for well is pege (paygay) which means spring or a fountain. It is a source of supply. It speaks of a gushing and a flow. It speaks of a well that is connected to a spring, ensuring there is a constant supply of water. A well is where people go for refreshing. But unlike the taps that we are used to, these wells required a lot of effort. You had to draw the water out. It took a lot of energy and a lot of work to draw and bring the water back home. I am originally from Zimbabwe and when I used to visit my grandparents, I used to see a lot of women doing this. I got the opportunity to do it when I went back home a couple of years ago and let me tell you it wasn’t easy, it’s is a real workout and there is no other way to draw the water out but to work for it. It is the same water that was used to cook, drink and clean In the bible, water generally represents the Word of God i.e. Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. Paul speaks about being made clean by the washing of the word while Jesus spoke about those who believe in Him having rivers of living water flowing out of them, referring the Holy Spirit who was to come. So, this is where Jesus met the woman, at the well. And not just any well, but Jacob’s well. When you look a bit further into it, all biblical scholars point to Gen 33:19 – 20 when speaking about Jacob’s well. These verses speak about how Jacob bought a piece of land from the father of Shechem for 100 pieces of silver and there he built an altar. Again, this is where Jesus met the woman, at a source of water, a source of the Word of God, a Source of the Spirit of God, at the altar…and there deep called unto deep.
Like I said, God is the initiator of relationship, He is the initiator of depth. Jesus began digging first when he asked the woman to give him a drink. He initiated the conversation. The bible tells us that the woman was surprised because Jews refused to have anything to do with Samaritans. But isn’t that what God does, he bends the laws of societal norms just to have your heart.
What I love about this story, is that Jesus dug first, and the woman dug deeper. She asked, WHY? Why are you asking me for a drink? Asking WHY is a request for more information to better understand a situation. It is a question that is asking for depth. But the woman didn’t know what she was asking for. Jesus dug deeper and said, if you knew WHO you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water. That is so amazing. Where she asked why looking for reasons, Jesus beckons her and says, get to know the WHO and the WHY will be understood. If you know a person, it is easier to perceive their why. So, Jesus dug deeper and told the woman, you are asking the wrong question, you should be asking WHO.
The woman at the well still didn’t get it. She didn’t understand it. She begins to think of the HOW. She says, ‘You don’t have a rope or bucket…and the WELL is DEEP?’ She was worrying about the logistics of how the water in Jacob’s well would be drawn, not realising she was speaking to the well of Living water. BUT JESUS DUG DEEPER STILL.
Jesus responded by redirecting her thinking from natural water to living water. A water that “becomes a fresh bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” This line was the hook, line and sinker. The woman wanted what Jesus had because she never wanted to come and get water again. Why? To understand this, we have to look at the woman a little bit further.
Jesus read the woman like an open book. In the privacy of their conversation, Jesus revealed to her that she had had 5 husbands and the man she was with wasn’t even her husband. That would give you a bit of insight into how society would have viewed her. More so, what’s interesting is the time she went to draw water. It was midday. The sun was high. Generally, women go to draw water early in the morning and maybe towards the evening, but very rarely do they do it in the afternoon. You can imagine that people, particularly women, used to look at her with judgement in their eyes, to the point where she preferred to go do laborious work in the middle of the day. But something about the way Jesus spoke to her, caused her not to be afraid to dig deeper. Something about the way he spoke about her life, the way he told her where she had been and where she was, removed any fear from her. Jesus went into her depth, revealing her life. Showing her where she ends, before pouring into her. Realizing his depth went further than her own, the woman continued to press in. She began to ask about relationship and WORSHIP, she dug deeper.
Jesus answered by showing her His depth, a never-ending depth. He began to show her about true relationship with the Father. A father who says its not where you worship that matters but how…. That he wants you to worship in spirit and in truth. In the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the assurance of salvation through The Truth who is Jesus. He showed her that the father wants relationship that is unlimited by the constraints and restraints of religion. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration,” in spirt and in truth.
The woman was still blind, but she dug deeper one more time… I know the Messiah will come and he will explain everything to us.” It was at this point that the purpose of deep calling to deep was fulfilled…at the revelation of the Messiah as Jesus said, “I AM the MESSIAH”. This is one of the few instances where Jesus explicitly says to someone, I AM the Messiah. In fact, this is the only verse I have come across so far where Jesus, unprompted fully reveals Himself. In other instances, he had read a scripture describing Him, somewhere else, Peter had the revelation and Jesus confirmed it, and elsewhere people asked him, and he said I AM. Here the woman didn’t ask are you the Messiah. It almost seems like she was saying look I get what you are saying, but I know the Messiah is coming and when He comes, He will explain things to us, and we will understand. Remember up to this point, the woman thought Jesus was a prophet. But there is a way that he spoke. The way he said I AM THE MESSIAH, spoke to her spirit. Deep connected with deep and it changed her from the inside out.
At the revelation of the Messiah, the woman forgot why she came to the well. The word of God says she left her jar beside the well and ran back to the village. She had received the rivers of living water and she had been transformed from the inside out. She, who would wait until midday to get water, was now running in broad daylight proclaiming, 'Could this be the Messiah,' and many Samaritans in the village believed in Jesus because of her. Those who looked down at her, those who scoffed at her now said “Now we believe not JUST because of what you told us, but because we have heard him for ourselves.” That sentence is amazing. What they are saying is even if all we had was your testimony that would have been enough. Your testimony is a reason why we believe.
Jesus beckoned to the woman and the woman responded by asking for the deep things. Jesus gave her the deep things. He showed her that it is not deep calling out to shallow, but the deep things of God calling to the deep things of man as He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the one who calls out first. He initiates the digging, by digging into us. The ultimate goal of depth is found in the revelation of Christ saying, “I AM the Messiah.” And it is upon this rock that Christ builds his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.ll will not prevail against it.
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