Biblical Evangelism

Part 6 - The woman at the well

The story of Jesus talking to the woman at the well is found in John chapter 4 verses 5 to 30 but in order to draw out the relevant points we shall look no further than verse 19 in our reading of this story.

These verses read as follows: "Then Jesus came to a city of Samaria that is called Sychar, near to the piece of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there and Jesus, being wearied by His journey, sat down at the well at about the sixth hour.

There came a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus said unto her, give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) The woman of Samaria replied: how is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, woman of Samaria? The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Jesus answered and said unto her, if you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, give me to drink; you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water. The woman said unto him, sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from where then have you that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, his children and his cattle?

Jesus answered and said unto her, whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give shall be in a person a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman said unto him, sir, give me this water that I shall not thirst again, or come back here to draw water.

Jesus said unto her, go call your husband and come back. The woman answered, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, you have spoken truly saying I have no husband: for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now are living with is not your husband. The woman said unto him, sir, I perceive that you are a prophet."

The reason why Jews have no association with Samaritans is because the Samaritans brought a curse on Israel by breaking the commandments of God and thereafter were considers as outcasts, scum, not even fit to be considered as part of the Jewish community. Jesus knew this yet sat down at the well during the hottest part of the day.

This shows how much God values everyone, even those that are considered to be outcasts of society today, and that he wants us to reach these with the true gospel of Jesus Christ also. In Luke chapter 14 verses 16 to 24 we read the parable of the great banquet, likened unto the Marriage Supper of The Lamb.

"Jesus said unto him, a certain man made a great supper, and invited many: he sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, come; all things are now ready.

They all began to make excuses. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go to see it: I pray you have me excused. Another said I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go to prove them: I pray you have me excused.

Still another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

The servant said, Lord, it is done as you commanded, and yet there is still room. The master said unto the servant, go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. I say unto you that none of those men who were invited shall taste of my supper."

When Jesus first met the woman at the well He could have told her that she is a sinner and needs to get right with God through true repentance,. But instead of this He started the conversation with her about something that was obviously relevant and important to her, then brought round the conversation to the subject He wanted to talk about.

There are many things that might trouble a person in society today, money matters, the prospect of unemployment, being an outcast of society or having a terminal illness. When we go out evangelising we need to speak to people first of all about matters that are relevant and important to them.

Once we have begun such a conversation if we keep our ears open to God it is quite possible that He will give us a word of knowledge that will prove to be the key to winning the person's soul for Christ just like happened here with Jesus.

Our job is not to persuade someone of their need for Christ or to convict them of sin, that is for God to do, what we must do is show them compassion, concern for their well-being and understanding. This will melt the hearts of many people. Our job is to listen out for the direction of God as to how we should speak to these people and let God get on with the job of leading them unto Himself.

It is the work of The Lord to bring a spirit of conviction and repentance on someone, we cannot do these things for ourselves and we should not even be trying, though we are permitted to pray about such things before, during and after any outreach. These are not alternatives but essentials that we should be praying throughout an outreach meeting whether in the church, another building or out on the street.

Some years ago there was an outreach meeting taking place in the open air of a major city. After walking the streets for several evenings confessing the sin of the nation, the sin of the city and their ancestor's sin along with their own sin the people were advised then to start spiritual conversations with people in the street.

One person, not use to sharing one to one with people, prayed that since he found it so difficult that God would send people up to him who would start spiritual conversations. Having sat down by the roadside after walking the street in prayer this is exactly what happened.

Whenever these things were done it was easy to start a spiritual conversation with someone in the street, indeed many of them would start one with you, when people did not pray no worthwhile conversations were started up and people discarded the leaflets that they had been handed into the waste bin.

These things may be co-incidence but it is much more likely that there is here a clear lesson in spiritual warfare and soul winning. Jesus told His disciples in Matthew chapter 12 verse 29 "How can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? Only then he will be able to spoil his house."

Again in Matthew chapter 18 verse 18 to 20 Jesus tells His disciples "Verily I say unto you, whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

You should not ask God to do the binding and loosing, doing that is clearly our job, God will when we act Himself on our behalf and authorise what we have asked provided that we are responding to His instructions in the situation and not acting on presumption which is always dangerous.

read part 7...