Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well” (Joh 4:6).1
The first well in the Bible was actually named by a woman (Gen 16:7-14). On the run, as an outcast from those who had used and abused her, Hagar was found by the Angel of the Lord at a spring-fed (Heb.‘ayin) well (Heb. bĕ’ēr). While Abraham’s seed would be blessed through Isaac, this woman, outside of Isaac’s lineage, received a blessing at Beer Lahai Roi, immediately acknowledging that the One who spoke with her had omniscient, personal knowledge of her and her life – “Thou God seest me” (Gen 16:13). Without spending too much time here, we can see the parallels with our passage, can’t we? The Samaritan woman was also an outcast who, though outside the tight circle of Jewish tradition, came into great blessing as a result of God’s visiting her at a spring-fed (Gk. pēgē) well (Gk. phrear). Further, we are impressed when she also acknowledged that the One she was talking to knew all about her and her life – “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did” (Joh 4:29).
Our Samaritan conversation is actually the last in a series of biblical well encounters. Men on search missions travelled long distances, and through the providence of God met certain women, outsiders, so to speak. In each case, after the meeting, the stranger was blessed as an act of complete grace. While each of these previous “spring stories” has beautiful devotional applications, our purpose here is to notice some of the similarities these stories share with John chapter four.
God had promised Abraham that, against all natural odds, Sarah would bear him a son. That promise was fulfilled in Isaac. If the greatest test in Abraham’s life was the offering of his son in the land of Moriah, the greatest joy was when they returned together. Isaac had been to the altar, yet he lived! This remarkable son needed a wife, so Abraham sent an unnamed servant to find one (Gen 24). The parameters of the search were specific: find a bride for Isaac from outside the borders of Canaan – a wife from without, if you will (24:3). And that’s just what he did.
At a well in Haran, this diligent man, armed with the wealth of his master, looks for divine direction. As Rebekah comes to the well, little does she know that today’s routine jaunt to fetch water will be life changing. She obliges the man’s request for a drink, and after a short conversation becomes certain that his purpose involves more than just water. Eventually, she leaves the well to tell the news of a man with great stores of wealth who had come representing a benevolent father. Upon hearing her words, her brother Laban runs “out unto the man, unto the well,” opening up an invitation for lodging (vv28-31). Not long after, Rebekah learns that the wealth on display is connected to a person (v36) and she is presented with a choice: take the son or remain in her comfort zone and miss the great blessing. When she says, “I will go,” the outsider is brought in!
About 1900 years later, we have a similar scene. Without lingering in digression, we see the pertinent points. The Man sitting at Sychar is also on a mission: to do the will of Him who had sent Him and to complete His work (Joh 4:34). And again, as He asks for a drink, the woman’s errand goes from being a mundane water collection to a destiny-changing experience! With the wealth of heaven comprising the gift of God, and the Father’s search for spiritual worshippers as His purpose (v23), she is made aware that this gift is connected to this Person (vv10,26). After He makes Himself known, she takes the news to others, and the men of the city, responding to her word, invite the Lord to stay (vv29,30,40). Another woman, on the outside of recognized boundaries, is brought into boundless blessing by meeting a stranger at a well.
The story of Jacob and Rachel is similar. Having been told not to seek a wife outside the borders of the promised land (Gen 28:1), Jacob’s journey is interrupted by God’s declaration of Jacob’s future possession and descendants (vv13-14). By necessity, his future spouse would be brought into this lineage. Although her father’s interference later complicates Rachel’s story, here, she meets the man on his mission at a well. When she learns who he is, she immediately runs to tell others (29:12) and a man then runs out to meet Jacob and offer him a place to lodge. Many of the details are pleasantly familiar to us in our study of John four. And yet again, a foreigner is brought in. Of course, the story of Moses and Zipporah comes to mind in this thread of women at wells, and while it bears less resemblance to the others, it still ends in a stranger’s blessing.
Joseph didn’t find his wife at a well, but we do get food for our John four study tucked into Jacob’s dying words of prophecy (Gen 49:1-27). On his deathbed, Israel lamented Reuben’s instability and the cruelty of Simeon and Levi. He talked of Judah’s praise, Issachar’s servitude and Asher’s bread. For his sons, he saw a future full of lion cubs, ravenous wolves, hinds let loose and heel-biting serpents. But among all of these, there would be something unique: a grapevine planted by a spring, growing at such a rate that even walls cannot contain its fruit (v22). While scholars may debate the meanings of the words Jacob uttered, for our purposes we will stick with the translations found in the majority of English Bibles.
And so we read, “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall” (v22). With these words, Jacob envisages Joseph’s posterity multiplying in number and strength in the future, but he also gives us insight into Joseph’s history and character. The picture is of a vineyard hedged by a wall, intended to keep the growth within the boundary for protection and practical purposes. The fruit was for those inside; the wall made sure of that. Planted in that vineyard would be many vines, but this specific one is situated by a spring that continually provides it with moisture for growth and production that never stops. Despite the driest droughts, this vine keeps growing and producing until it goes over the wall, and even those on the outside can enjoy its fruit.
This is Joseph. The son whom the father had sent for the welfare of his brethren didn’t stop at just his brethren. He went further – further in suffering and further in glory than any son of Jacob had ever gone. As Joseph looked back on his life from his exalted position in Egypt, he rejoiced in his firstborn son, knowing that God had “made me forget all my toil” (41:51). But beyond just comfort concerning his past, God made Joseph a blessing in the present when he could say, “God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction” (v52).
God had planted him there, in the land of his affliction, where every condition was contrary to growth, and yet “the LORD was with Joseph,” and there was fruit. Eventually, Joseph’s wisdom and understanding would be used to preserve life in a scene of dearth and death. We know that Israel became a focus of this salvation blessing, as Joseph summarized, “God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity” (45:7). But remember, the walls around Jacob’s family did not constrain the branches of Joseph’s salvation. Through the times of grievous famine, those branches spread out over the wall into the entire world, so that every Egyptian who came in obedience to Joseph would say, “Thou hast saved our lives” (47:25). The saviour of the world would later protest that God meant these circumstances not just for Israel’s sake but “to save much people alive” (50:20).
Do we see this in Samaria’s saga? Certainly, we do. The Gospel records show our Lord Jesus, the “True Vine,” growing and spreading His bounty, primarily “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mat 10:6; 15:24). But here we see our Fruitful Bough sitting by a well, with His branches of blessings about to shoot over the confines of the strict Judaistic religious divide that kept Samaritans on the outside.
“Salvation is of the Jews” (Joh 4:22) was a known fact, and yet the Saviour of the World would never be limited by religious dogma or cultural differences. This well, being spring fed, reminds us of the power of the Spirit of God using the Word of God to accomplish God’s purpose. No temple rituals here, no law-keeping needed – just the Spirit of God using the Word of God to bring the blessings of the Son of God into all the world! He had nothing to draw with, and the well was deep, but there was a spring supplying this Fruitful Bough that continually proves to be a source of everlasting blessing to all who believe, even to this day. No social constraints, no religious fences, no racial limitations – just branches of blessing running over the wall.
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
