Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well. It was about the sixth hour.
There cometh a woman of Samaria, to draw water. Jesus saith to her: Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone into the city to buy meats. Then that Samaritan woman saith to him: How dost thou, being a Jew, ask of me to drink, who am a Samaritan woman? For the Jews do not communicate with the Samaritans. Jesus answered, and said to her: If thou didst know the gift of God, and who he is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith to him: Sir, thou hast nothing wherein to draw, and the well is deep; from whence then hast thou living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered, and said to her: Whosoever drinketh of this water, shall thirst again; but he that shall drink of the water that I will give him, shall not thirst for ever: But the water that I will give him, shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting.
In The Bible, men and women often met at the well: the servant of Abraham (looking for a wife for Isaac) finds Rebecca there, as did Jacob and Rachel, and Moses and Sephora. It was a place of social interaction, first encounters, and the initial steps leading to courtship. Therefore, the significance of Christ’s conversation with the Samaritan woman is not overlooked by the startled Apostles; nor by the Samaritan woman. Because, in a very real sense, by specifically pointing out the past and present sexual indiscretions of this very worldly woman, Christ is offering Himself as a new bridegroom. Here, the well serves as a metaphor for the pit of sexual dysfunction and constant erotic longings. Yet, the water from the well of homosexuality, porn, and perversity never satisfy the spirit. As someone, like the Samaritan woman, who spent years and years constantly returning to the same old supply, I found that my restless dryness could never be alleviated; until, one day, Christ was waiting for me. When everyone else had counted me out for damned, regarded me as untouchable, and unworthy of help, the Lord talked to me – offered another source of satisfaction – and gave me the choice. Because, as for the Samaritan woman, and for all of us, Christ wants to be the new well from which we draw from: a font of everlasting happiness and peace.
Author’s note: Like the woman at the well, I was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of Christ upon the scene; for, I thought I was just going about my daily business. Yet, Christ saw the fatality and desperation of my heedless ways. He pitied me; therefore, He spoke to me. That is why I was saved; because Christ pitied me.