Purpose Is In The Details

⁶ And there was Jacob’s Well. Jesus then wearied in the journey, sat thus on the Well: it was about the sixth hour.

⁷ There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said unto her, Give me drink.

⁸ For his disciples were gone away into the city, to buy meat.

John 4:6-8

Believe it or not, Jesus always had a purpose for everything He did regardless how seemingly insignificant.  In today's passage, Jesus and the Disciples walked to Samaria to Jacob's Well.  It was then that Jesus told His Disciples that He was hungry and they needed to go find something for Him to eat.  What's the significance of this?  Jesus needed the Disciples to be out of the way so He could talk with the Samaritan woman without the Disciples freaking out because Samaritans and Jews did not usually interact or even like each other.

The Disciples went off into this "foreign" land in search of something kosher for Jesus to eat (and good luck with that search.  That's like sending the newbie mechanic to find a left handed ratchet set.)  Once they were off on their mission, Jesus sat on the well.  Now, here's where a bit of controversy comes about; many of the older translations of this passage have Jesus sitting ON Jacob's Well, while the later translations have Jesus sitting near or next to Jacob's Well.  What does it matter?  Good question.  If Jesus sat beside Jacob's Well or near Jacob's Well, He could have been easily brushed off and ignored.  However, since He sat ON the well, He had to be acknowledged (being "in the way").

Therefore, when the Samaritan woman came to get water from the well, she HAD to interact with Jesus.  Now it's also interesting that this woman came in the heat of the day to get water when most of the others came early in the morning to get their water.  This is an indication that this woman wasn't particularly accepted by the others. And Jesus was at the well at the precise time this ostracized woman came to get her water, just so He could talk with her.  

It's also noteworthy the reason Jesus sat on the well, scripture tells us that Jesus was weary from His travels.  Jesus, being human and prone to the same human limitations as we, was tired of walking and stopped to sit down and rest a bit.

And here's the good part: Jesus knows all about our human frailties because He was just like us when He was here, so He gets it.  But Jesus also has a plan for us and will make sure that the plan is completed in our lives before we are called home.  To be honest, that brings me a lot of relief (from trying to be perfect) and comfort (knowing that Jesus knows ALL about my struggles).