The Woman at the Well
She wasn't supposed to be there. And Jesus wasn't supposed to talk to her. But he went out of his way — through a place no self-respecting Jewish man would travel — just to meet her at a well at noon.
And what happened next changed everything.
In this message, Pastor Rich Johnson takes us into the longest one-on-one conversation Jesus has with anyone in the entire Gospel of John — and challenges everything we think we know about the woman at the well. She wasn't scandalous. She wasn't a cautionary tale. She was lost. And Jesus saw her — all of her — and stepped toward her anyway.
Read alongside John 3 and the story of Nicodemus, this passage shows us something John wants us to feel in our bones: the grace of God has no limits. Not for the religious. Not for the irreligious. Not for the educated or the uneducated. Not for the chosen or the rejected. Jesus goes out of his way for all of them.
In this message you'll learn:
- Why John 3 and John 4 must be read together — and what the contrast between Nicodemus and the woman at the well reveals about God's grace
- Why Jesus had to go through Samaria — and what that says about divine appointments in your own life
- The truth about the woman's five husbands that most preachers get wrong
- What it means that Jesus revealed himself as Messiah — for the very first time — to a Samaritan woman
- What jar you might need to leave behind at the well today
Whether your faith journey looks like Nicodemus — slow, quiet, and full of wrestling — or like the woman at the well — unexpected, unplanned, and completely disorienting — this message is a reminder that Jesus steps toward you. Every single time.
📖 Scripture: John 4:4-10, 25-30 | Galatians 3:28 | Exodus 3