John 4 records an occasion when Jesus had a conversation with a woman at a well. It turned out to be quite an important conversation, not only for that woman, but for everyone who wants to learn about eternal life, the mission of Jesus and the importance of spreading the good news about the salvation that is available through him.

It was noon when Jesus sat down at the well, and he was tired and thirsty. This points to the human nature of Jesus. Although he was fully God, he came to earth in the form of a human (John 1:1,14). Therefore, Jesus experienced the difficulties of life just like the rest of us.

When a Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water, Jesus asked her to give him a drink. This was highly unusual, since Jews and Samaritans did not associate with one another. After talking about water for a while, Jesus tried to shift the conversation to the spiritual, by suggesting that he could give her “living water”.

The woman could not seem to get beyond the physical to address the spiritual. Like most people, she was more focused on the basic needs at hand than on more important and more long-lasting spiritual matters.

When Jesus saw that the conversation had stalled, he told the woman to go get her husband. She replied that she did not have a husband. Jesus answered that she was right. In fact, she had had five husbands, and the man she lived with now was not her husband. Technically, she had told the truth.

It is difficult for people to be completely truthful with Jesus. Even though he knows all about them, they somehow think they can hold back information from him, facts about themselves that they would rather no one else knew. However, we can’t fool Jesus. When we encounter Jesus, we must confront the sin in our lives. There is no getting around that fact.

The woman now recognized that Jesus was a prophet, so she started talking about spiritual matters, pointing out the differences between the Jews and the Samaritans. Jesus went beyond her comment and asserted that the time had now come when true worshipers would worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth. These are the kind of worshipers that God seeks.

At that point, the woman said that she knew that the Messiah was coming, and that he would explain everything. Then Jesus plainly declared that he was the Messiah.

This news impacted the woman in such a way that she left her water jar behind and rushed back to tell the people in her village about Jesus. Because of her witness, many people in the village came to hear him for themselves, and many of them became believers in Jesus, professing him to be the Savior of the world.

From this important conversation, we learn that Jesus seeks to bless everyone, regardless of their background, with eternal life. We also learn that, although physical needs do exist, spiritual needs are far more critical, and they must not be neglected. Finally, we learn that it is of the utmost importance to share with others the good news that Jesus really is the Savior of the world!