The Holy Samaritan Woman
The Gospel of the Samaritan Woman is read during the Great Lent to give us hope in repentance, regarding the sinful city of Samaria. It also gives us an idea about the work of God in hearts and His power to transform them. So, let us speak today about Samaria and the Samaritan woman.
The Holy Samaritan Woman¹
The Story of Samaria and Its Paganism:
Samaria was the capital of the sinful kingdom of Israel — the city filled with high places for idol worship — which Omri, king of Israel, made his capital (1 Kings 16:24).
This sinful kingdom and its capital have a story…
It began in the days of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, the son of David the prophet. When he reigned and the people asked him to lighten the yoke that his father had placed upon them, he answered harshly, “My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins… My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions” (1 Kings 12:14). So ten tribes revolted against him under Jeroboam son of Nebat, and they established their own kingdom — the Kingdom of Israel.
Rehoboam remained in his kingdom, which was called “the Kingdom of Judah,” with Jerusalem as its capital. Jeroboam settled in Mount Shechem. When he saw that the people longed to go to Jerusalem to worship and offer sacrifices to the Lord, he made two golden calves and said to them, “Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:28).
Thus the Kingdom of Israel began its life in idol worship… But the story did not stop there; it developed further.
The kingdom was against Solomon and the house of David. Out of hatred for this house, Israel rejected all the Scriptures written by Solomon and David: the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon, the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, the Wisdom of Solomon, and the Book of Ruth, the grandmother of David; and the Books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles that spoke about God’s choice of David, his life, and the lives of his descendants. Afterwards, they also rejected all historical and prophetic books concerning the kings and prophets of Judah.
Their faith was thus limited only to the five books of Moses, while they stayed away from Solomon’s temple, the Levitical priesthood, and its sacrifices. Samaria became the center of all this during the reign of Omri, one of Jeroboam’s successors, who spread idolatry to the greatest extent.
For all these reasons, the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans; they despised and avoided them. Thus, service in Samaria was difficult and exhausting. That is why, when Christ sent His disciples on their first training mission, He said, “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans” (Matthew 10:5).
Avoiding contact with the Samaritans became a tradition passed down through generations — deeply rooted in hearts and beliefs — until Christ came!
The Most Sinful in Samaria:
The pagan, sinful city of Samaria, which did not recognize the Temple, the sacred books, or the prophets — toward this city Christ turned, and found something good in it. What good could You find, O Lord, in Samaria? It was this sinful woman!
The woman who was the very center of corruption in this sinful city — she was the one the Lord approached and found to be the door through which He would enter the city, the person who would carry His message to it!
This woman, who lived in impurity with five men, and the one she was with now was not her husband — this adulterous, corrupt woman — the Lord found something good in her and walked miles on foot to meet her. He chose her among all the inhabitants of the city to be His messenger to them all.
The Lord saw in her deep darkness some shining points that He nurtured with His care and compassion. Despite her sin, He found in her a heart ready to receive Him.
He saw that she was not entirely devoid of good traits: she knew something of Scripture, she knew the well of “our father Jacob” from which he and his sons and livestock drank. She had some idea about places of worship — this mountain or Jerusalem — and knew her fathers’ traditions and held to them. She was a woman who debated about religion. And beyond all this, she was waiting for the Messiah and said, “When He comes, He will tell us all things” (John 4:25).
Indeed, she was sinful, but perhaps she sinned out of weakness and external pressure, while her heart still carried a good disposition and a quick response to God’s work.
Peter the Apostle denied Christ, cursed, and swore, saying, “I do not know the man,” yet he loved Christ deeply. Peter also sank in the water while Christ was with him! Weakness — weakness of faith. There are people whose hearts hold love, but their wills are weak. They want to do good but cannot, for their will is frail.
To such weak ones Christ came — to strengthen the love in their hearts and heal the weakness in their will.
The Five, the Sixth, and the Seventh:
Christ came to this woman as if to say: “Listen, my daughter, you have lived with five men, and the sixth with you now is not your husband. You found no rest with these six who represent earthly life and preoccupy you with the flesh and sensuality. Now, after all your toil with these six, it is time to rest in the seventh.”
The earth too, after laboring six years in sowing and reaping, rests in the seventh year. And the servant who is enslaved for six years is set free in the seventh. So you also will find your freedom and rest in this Seventh One who speaks with you — who is unlike all other men — who speaks to you of something new, of the Spirit, of living water, and eternal life.
The number five often symbolizes the bodily life — the five senses, the life of the flesh on earth. The five foolish virgins and the five wise ones lived on earth, in the world of the senses, in the realm of the body. You, too, tried this life and found no rest. You tried the five but were not satisfied, for “whoever drinks of this water will thirst again.”
You tried the sixth, perhaps representing the sixth sense — psychic awareness — “which is not yours,” and still found no rest. For neither the body nor the soul can satisfy you, but only the Spirit — the Seventh, who speaks with you.
The sixth sense, the inward one, did not help you either, for it worked against you. The number six symbolizes the completion of earthly work. Now, your earthly work is enough — let heavenly work take over.
You have labored, my daughter, during your six past days — symbolizing the world, material things, and distractions. You will find rest only in the Seventh, for the Lord sanctified the seventh from the beginning, and in it is rest.
Here Christ began to lift the woman into the spiritual realm. He spoke to her about living water and explained that “whoever drinks of this world’s water will thirst again,” for sin produces pleasure, pleasure leads to practice, and practice breeds more pleasure — a cycle without end. Eternal thirst without satisfaction.
The first man led her to the second, then the third… until the sixth — without refreshment. True refreshment exists only in the living water. Such is the nature of sin: the more one loves it, the more one thirsts for it; and the more one takes of it, the more it inflames the desire. Only the water that Christ gives can quench it. Whoever drinks of it will no longer return to sin nor draw again from Jacob’s well — who himself had four wives contending over him, and summarized his earthly life in the sorrowful phrase: “Few and evil have been the days of the years of my pilgrimage” (Genesis 47:9).
How marvelous is the Lord, who speaks to this sinner about living water and worship in spirit! Truly, this story shows that God never despairs of anyone.
He did not despair of this sinner who had lived with five men, and the sixth with her was not her husband. God never despairs of saving any sinner, no matter how deep or long his past in sin, no matter how poor his experiences, no matter how dominated by the body or thirsty for the world’s water.
Therefore, the Lord began His conversation with the Samaritan woman by saying, “Give Me a drink.” He did not mean to drink water, for He has the living water; rather, He meant to “drink her” — to be refreshed by her soul!
He said to His disciples, “I have food to eat of which you do not know” (John 4:32). The Lord longed to be refreshed by this soul, created in the image and likeness of God.
Truly, this divine image had been covered by the dust and filth of the world, but the Lord was able to cleanse it and restore it to its original rank — to shine again as the image of God.
The Lord’s words, “Give Me a drink,” remind me of His other saying: “Assuredly, I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). Naturally, He will not drink literal wine in the Kingdom, but this has a spiritual meaning. He had said earlier, “I am the vine, you are the branches” (John 15:5). What, then, is the fruit of the vine?
The fruit of the vine — the clusters of grapes — represent the believers. They pass through the winepress alone, crushed by tribulations and trials, pressed under the weight of the Cross. Their juice is the fruit of the vine, from which the Lord will drink anew in His Father’s Kingdom.
This is the drink by which Christ is refreshed. And this new Samaritan cluster must also pass through the press — she must press herself, her desires, and renounce her sinful relations. Through this sacrifice, the Lord “drinks” her: “Give Me to drink” — give Me your heart, that I may drink of its love.
But the Samaritan woman raised an obstacle: “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (John 4:9). For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
It is the nature of sinners to raise problems along the path of salvation. But Christ’s method is to offer salvation, ignoring such obstacles. He focuses on the positive work and allows no negatives to distract or delay Him.
He did not answer her question directly — what mattered, my daughter, was the salvation of your soul. Why concern yourself with Jews and Samaritans, this mountain and Jerusalem, or old enmities? Leave such debates — care for your salvation! Why live outside yourself, wasting time on arguments? Enter into your depths, not the deep well — and draw from the living water.
It is remarkable that this Samaritan woman, while living in deep sin, discussed theology! She engaged in doctrinal debates that had nothing to do with her salvation. It was an intellectual activity — a trap many fall into — spending their lives in argument without concern for spirituality or the living water that wells up to eternal life.
This “living water” refers to the work of the Holy Spirit in us, as the Lord said: “He who believes in Me… out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” He spoke this of the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive (John 7:38–39).
But the Samaritan woman was too distracted by two things: bodily lusts and doctrinal debates. She was preoccupied with this well and its history, this mountain and Jerusalem, Jews and Samaritans, and what she had inherited from her fathers. Moreover, she presented obstacles — the simplest being that “the well is deep and You have nothing to draw with” — as if doubting the Lord’s power to save her. Yet she hid her real problem — her sinful life — and never mentioned it.
Thus, the Lord wanted to speak to her plainly, moving her away from disputes and into her own heart, that He might address her directly about her salvation — the very matter she hid, for which He came.
So He drew her toward confession, saying, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” She answered, “I have no husband.” That was a confession, as far as she could make it — admitting that the man with her was not her husband.
Here the loving Father encouraged her confession and self-revelation:
“You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
“Well said… you spoke truly.” It was an encouraging tone, without reproach or harshness — comforting the woman and calming her. She replied, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.” Faith had entered her heart. Yet one problem still troubled her conscience: whether worship should be on this mountain or in Jerusalem. The Lord solved it, teaching her that what matters in worship is that it be “in spirit and truth,” not the place.
Then her spirit was released, and the Lord revealed Himself to her. She recognized Him as the Messiah. She left her water jar, left the well, left the debates — and went to proclaim Him to the people: “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
She left her jar, for she no longer needed that water; she had finally found the fountain of living water. She entered a new life; Christ became her all in all. Her pride was not wounded when the Lord revealed her sins — she rejoiced and humbly declared before everyone, “He told me all that I ever did.” In her confession, she was freed from all she had done.
How marvelous is the Lord, who transformed this woman from sin to evangelism!
She went about preaching Christ’s name and calling others to Him. Here lies the difference between carnal love and divine love: carnal love is selfish — it seeks possession and refuses to share the beloved with others. But whoever loves God calls everyone to love Him too — and in this, he rejoices.
Blessed is the Lord, who loved the Samaritan woman and drew her to His love, so that she despised all worldly love and went about preaching Him and His love.
¹ Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, El-Keraza Magazine, Year 6, Issue 16, April 18, 1975.
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