“Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore,
being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the
sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith
unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy
meat.) Then
saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest
drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with
the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift
of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have
asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto
him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence
then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater
than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and
his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of
this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well
of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto
him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto
her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered
and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have
no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast
is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto
him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers
worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where
men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh,
when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the
Father. Ye
worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the
Jews. But
the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father
in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto
him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he
will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. And upon this came
his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said,
What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? The woman then left
her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man,
which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out
of the city, and came unto him”.
John 4:6-30
Jesus was able to connect with the
woman of Samaria by communication. He communicated to the point of revealing
her needs to her. Jesus knew who she was by using the tool of communication.
Many Church/Christian leaders don’t communicate with the followers and so they don’t
know them and what they are passing through. Some discriminate among those whom
they lead, they select who they connect with. A Christian leader should not be
selective when it comes to connecting with those they lead. They should
communicated and connect with all classes and all races in their church.
In the above passage, Jesus initiated contact first and spoke with the woman first; leaders don’t need to wait for their followers to speak first but rather, should initiate a conversation with them. Even when Jesus spoke to the woman, he allowed the woman to communicate back to him and so could get answers from the woman pertaining her needs. Church leaders must learn not to only talk to their flock but should listen to them to get feedbacks from them.
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