In a simple meeting by a well, Jesus reveals fully his mission and his identity. According to all the criteria of the surrounding society, the woman who comes to draw water is not a fit person for Jesus to be with. In the first place she is a Samaritan, member of a group that for centuries was the hereditary rival of the Jews. Second, she is a woman: her place is not to converse with a rabbi or even to speak to a strange man (see 4:27). In addition, she is probably somebody with a bad reputation, a “sinner”: she goes out at noon, an hour when she is fairly sure not to meet anybody on the road.

Without hesitating, Jesus enters into a relationship with this undervalued person. By expressing his simple human desire to drink, he shows his esteem for the woman, treating her as an equal or even as someone in a position of superiority, since she has what he needs. Her human dignity is thus fully restored and the foundations of a communion established beyond the boundaries of convention.

This communion is not, however, rooted in a human act of kindness. Although Jesus first appeals to the woman’s good will, to the generosity of her heart, this is only a first step towards helping her realize that the most important thing is to receive. He reveals a God who is above all a Giver, an overflowing source of life, and himself as the only one able to make this source well up. The encounter with Jesus and his request to drink lead the woman to discover her own thirst and open in her a void that God alone can fill.