Jesus Loves Women Part One- Jesus and the Woman from Samaria 

(John 4)

Did you forget you are worthy today? I have a feeling that might describe you, and I can relate. There are days when we wake up and have worthiness amnesia. We forget what we mean to other people in our immediate sphere, and most importantly, what God thinks of us. We go about our days, sometimes with a dark cloud hovering around us that blocks our vision and on days like this we aren’t able to live out truly who we are – daughters of the King.

Sometimes we get ourselves caught up in a cycle of sin, condemnation and shame, and we end up making choices that we never thought we would make. There is a woman in the Bible who is not given a name. She is the unnamed woman at the well in John 4:1-45, the longest conversation with a woman in the gospels.

I love this quote by Dane Orland in his book, Gentle and Lowly,

“But this is just how the Lord delights to work-taking the sidelines and the overlooked and giving them quietly pivot rules in the unfolding redemptive history” (p.59).

Perhaps like you and I sometimes do, on the morning that she met Jesus at the well, that unnamed woman woke up, living in that same cycle of sin, shame and condemnation, unable to see her way through a nameless and joyless existence. That happens to us when we are unable to know our worth. 

We don’t know a lot about her, but the passage says that she went to the well at noon, the hottest time of day. In those days, women would go to the well early in the morning when it was cooler. She may have gone at this time to avoid others, but little did she know that the One at the well meant to be there at the exact moment just for her, to remind her (and us!) of our worth. Before she even walked to the well, and started to collect water, Jesus saw her for who she was; a worthy daughter of the King. It’s the longest recorded conversation with a woman in the gospels, and it is a critical reminder of how much Jesus loves women and elevates them more than anything or anyone else can do in the world today!

He knew all about her,  yet he loved her. He told her things she couldn’t believe that he knew. In her surprise, she ended up running back and telling everybody about this man who knew everything that she did. Could he be the Christ?

“Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.” (John 4:29-30 ESV)

This woman became the first evangelist to share about The Goodness of Jesus! I love her bravery in going to tell others so they could know too,

“Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” (John 4:39-42)

Maybe today you need a reminder that no matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been, you are loved, and you are worthy. Recognizing our need for a Saviour and the sin that entangles us, cultivating a relationship with Jesus is the freedom that we so desperately need today. When we come to him with our burdens and we lay them down in his feet and ask the Lord to forgive us, he promises that we will be forgiven,

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)

The woman in John 4 is me, she is you. Caught up in a place she didn’t plan, a moment she likely wanted to retreat from, and longing for a safe place to land. That’s Jesus.

He has a plan.

He offers  forgiveness 

He is my refuge and strength 

He is my rock 

He is the great I AM

Like the woman at the well who encountered him, we too can meet the same Jesus right now, today!

My Refuge and My Fortress

91 

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 

I will say[a] to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

3 

For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
    and from the deadly pestilence.

4 

He will cover you with his pinions,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;
    his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

5 

You will not fear the terror of the night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 

nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
    nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7 

A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.

8 

You will only look with your eyes
    and see the recompense of the wicked.

9 

Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
    the Most High, who is my refuge[b]—

10 

no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
    no plague come near your tent.

11 

For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways.

12 

On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.

13 

You will tread on the lion and the adder;
    the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

14 

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
    I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15 

When he calls to me, I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble;
    I will rescue him and honor him.

16 

With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”