In which city did Jesus meet the woman at Jacob’s Well?
Yes! Jesus had the powerful encounter with the woman at Jacob’s well in the city of Sychar.
Read about this incident in John 4:1-26.
In the Lucado Encouraging Word Bible, Pastor Max Lucado has this to say about the woman at the well:
“The last thing she wanted was to see anyone, which is why she always fetched water in the hottest part of the day. But when she got to Jacob’s well, a man was there, slumped wearily against the stones. A stranger. Obviously Jewish.
She waited for him to scowl, scramble to his feet, make some derogatory comment about Samaritans like her, and walk away. Only he didn’t. When he politely asked her for a drink, her jaw dropped in shock – and her water pot nearly did too.
Smiling at her reaction, the man said something like, “Actually, come to think of it, you’re the one who should be asking me for a drink. I could give you living water.”
It was all so unexpected, so strange. It was like he could see straight into her parched soul. Sense exactly how she felt. Like a dried-up pond in July, her heart felt cracked and broken, her hope evaporating by the day, her life slowly leaking away.
When he started rattling off the intimate details of her checkered romantic history, it all clicked. Of course, he’s a prophet. She felt embarrassed, even though nothing about the stranger’s tone or demeanor was harsh.
She tried clumsily to change the subject. He wouldn’t let her. Without the slightest hint of condemnation, he kept bringing the conversation back around to her dehydrated soul. “I can make it so you’ll never thirst again,” he promised. “And I can even turn your heart into a fountain that refreshes others.” The more he talked, the more she sensed something welling up inside her. His words seemed to her like a gushing river. She wanted to drink them in and swim in them forever.
And so the woman ran eagerly back to town to find the very neighbors who typically went out of their way to avoid her. “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did,” she shouted. “Could this be the Messiah?” (Jn 4:29).
They did come and see. “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.” (Jn. 4:39).
Are you thirsty today? Are you weary of solutions that only leave you more parched than before?
The offer still stands: Come to Jesus. Take a drink. Become a river of life.
About this resource
The Lucado Encouraging Word Bible is an exhilarating experience of reading the story of God’s love in His Word. Featuring the notes and encouragement of beloved pastor Max Lucado, this Bible chronicles the real stories of real people and a God who really loves them.
