At my former church in Boulder City, NV, we had a beautiful statue of Jesus with the Woman at the Well, an unnamed woman in Scripture, but one whose life was dramatically changed by her encounter with Jesus. The following is an excerpt from my book, The Face of Jesus, 2^nd Edition. (link) This excerpt is written from the viewpoint of one of Jesus’ apostles and how they may have reacted to this encounter.

  “What a dreadful town. Even if it was the location of Jacob’s well. It certainly had nothing else to offer the weary traveler. No decent inns. Not even a real marketplace to buy a little fresh fruit, some olives, or a loaf of fresh baked bread. Well, at least they could get a drink from the well. We left Him there to get some water while we searched this God-forsaken village for some food to eat. We had been walking for a long time, and we were hungry. I wondered why we even dared to venture into Samaria. It wasn’t a hospitable place for good Jews like us. It wasn’t even safe to walk the streets of Samaria, for fear of being beaten or robbed. It was the armpit of the world!

While His friends went to look for food, He had a far greater mission to accomplish in this town. He knew they thought He was crazy for coming here. The Samaritans were surely not the friendliest people in the world. They hated the Jews. And the Jews hated them. He knew he was asking a lot of them to even follow Him this time, although He smiled at the thought of the journey which He would soon be asking them to take that would make Samaria look like heaven.  He knew she would be waiting there. Who she was, He wasn’t exactly sure, but He knew it was going to be the most important encounter of her life, and maybe even of His. He knew this had to be done to show His friends what real love was all about. If they could come to love, or even accept, a Samaritan, and a woman at that, they could do what He would ask of them later. 

Then she came, and the encounter was about to start. It was a long conversation, filled with emotions. Doubt on her part at first, and later, hope. Here was a Man, even though He was a Jew, who didn't know her, didn't know her long history with men, didn’t hear the whispers she knew they all shared behind her back. Therefore, she was here in the middle of the day rather than in the morning when the other women came to draw their water for the day, share the local gossip and some friendly banter among themselves. She wasn’t welcome in that circle of women and by this time, she didn’t even care. She just knew it was easier to draw her water at noontime, while all the other women were busy with the noontime meal and the heat of the day was the worst. Even though her water jugs seemed twice as heavy on the oppressive heat, she would rather carry those jugs through the sweltering sun than face the sneers or hidden glances of the other women. But there were never any men at the well, at any time of the day, unless they were travelers who stopped for refreshing drink on their way to the next town. What is He doing here now? Was this a chance to meet a man who might be her chance to get away for this Godforsaken town?

We finally located some food! A small basket full of dates, some almonds, a little dried meat, and two loaves of flat bread. As we started back to the well to get a drink and share our treasures with the Rabbi, so we could all sit down under the tree by the well and have a meal together, we were shocked to see Him there, talking to a Samaritan, a Samaritan woman! What on earth was He thinking? If her husband happened to come by and witness this encounter, we would all be dead! I just could not understand why He took these crazy chances all the time. It wasn’t the first rash thing He had done. It seemed like He was always talking to people He had no business talking to, challenging the authorities, even to the point of blaspheming against the leaders of the temple. Why couldn’t He just preach this business about love and peace to our own kind! Why couldn't He be satisfied with healing and helping the widows and orphans in our own community? Why did He have to drag us all over the countryside? He could, after all, preach in the temple, like any other rabbi. There were surely plenty of people in Nazareth that needed His touch, why Samaria of all places?

I sometimes thought the only one who really understood him was John. He seemed to go along with all these crazy ideas and never batted an eyelash over why we were constantly moving, constantly hungry and thirsty, and constantly pushing the limit of how much we could get away with. Maybe it was because I was the one charged with funding these ridiculous treks of ours that made me think it was a foolish idea. Or maybe I shouldn't have followed Him at all. But his invitation was so compelling. He filled an empty space in my life that I needed so badly to be filled. I never had a lot of friends, and the rest of the disciples were now my friends. Most of us, except for John, agreed that we were taking on more than we had bargained for and yet, none of us could turn away. We seemed to be compelled to follow Him no matter what. And now, here we were in one more dangerous situation!”

To learn more about those who encountered Jesus up close and personal and how they reacted to their encounters, pick up the book today.