At the Well: Unexpected Sources

Why did the woman leave her waterpot? Where did she go? John 4:28-30 tells us:

“The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, ‘Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’ Then they went out of the city, and they came to Him.”

The woman left her waterpot because she went to go tell others about Jesus. This woman who just earlier in this same day had been the sinning woman who had five husbands, was now living with a man who was not her husband, and had to go to the well on her own because she was such a social outcast was now the witness to the grace of Jesus Christ.

It is unlikely that any of these Samaritan men thought this woman would be the witness that would bring the good news of Jesus Christ to their land, but that’s what happened. The woman witnesses. She is an unexpected source, but she is listened to. The men go to see Jesus because of her.

We may be sinners. There may be people around us who know the ways we’ve stumbled, and we may fear what they can say about us if we ever confess the name of Jesus. We must not let that stop us. Jesus used this woman as an unexpected source, and He can also use us. He can use those around us we have always known to be great sinners. We should not be afraid to listen to unexpected sources of wisdom in our day.

Jesus can use us to witness to His power no matter the depraved state we were in before we knew Him. How evil we were before we knew Him demonstrates His power, for when we’ve changed as this woman did it shows just how good Jesus is. He can turn us sinners into good. He can transform us. He can witness through all of us.