Destined for More: The Woman at the Well

There are times when the writers of the scripture don’t bother with names. Noah’s wife. Lot’s wife. We have stories about their lives, but their names remain a mystery.

The “woman at the well” is one such person – someone whose story is pivotal in the New Testament scriptures. And yet, she does not get named at all. We get to know that she is a Samaritan – the people the Jews hated. We are told that she is living with a man she is not married to and that she previously had five husbands.

We know a lot about this woman, who had so many strikes against her, just not her name.

The woman at the well is singled out for a hugely important, face-to-face, one-on-one conversation with Jesus. She, of all people - a woman, a Samaritan, a divorcee, and adulterer, who was seemingly so full of shame that she would not go to the public well when other women would typically be there – was gifted with being the first person to whom the scripture records Jesus saying, “I am the Messiah”. Wow.

And she believed Him. And so she took off to her village to tell everyone there about meeting the Messiah at their local watering hole.

Jesus gifted the woman at the well with knowledge and an opportunity to spread the Gospel. And she gratefully did just that. Through her, a whole Samaritan village came to meet and hear the Messiah. Could anyone else have been so effective?

John 4:26, 29 [NLT] 26 Then Jesus told her, "I AM the Messiah!" ... 29 "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?"

Jesus saw the woman at the well for more than her list of sins and mistakes. He saw past her pain and shame. He knew her and love her anyway. It seems very likely that He knew her name and maybe even used it. But none of those who recorded the life of the Messiah for us bothered to use her name.

In the past, I’ve struggled with remembering names. I have to work at it, repeating the name over and over in my mind so that it sticks. I’ve also tried the association trick to help me remember a name by associating it with something I won’t forget.

It is important to know that God never forgets a name. He knows your name. He knows all the names of all the stars (See Psalm 147:4).

God never forgets a name. He never overlooks a child who meets Jesus at the well. You are destined for more – just like the woman at the well.

I welcome your comments and questions. You can write me in the comments section, or any time at Nancy@DynamicChristianMinistries.org