The woman at the well. John 4:1-26

     This passage offers hope to the believer and the unbeliever. The story begins with Jesus stopping at the well in Samaria where He comes to find a Samaritan woman. She recognizes that He is a Jew and asks why He is associating with her. Jesus responds with a question and an answer, which is if you only knew who was asking you for a drink you would understand the gift that God offers. Jesus explains to the woman that the gift of God offers her eternal life through Living Water and that she will never thirst again. The woman questions Jesus because of her past. Jesus responds with how He knows all about her past which included her five husbands and the one she lives with now who was not her husband. Jesus offers forgiveness for her past, which gives hope for the unbeliever today. It should also encourage the believer who may have sin in their life as well.The story of the Samaritan woman is one that should minister to all people. She is the classic example of someone who thinks that they could never be forgiven. In that day, an adulteress woman was often stoned to death. Adultery was seen as a horrible sin. If Jesus could forgive her sin, it should show us that he will forgive any of ours.