In John chapter four we are introduced to a nameless Samaritan woman. She happens to be the recipient of a divine appointment that God set up for her to meet Jesus one day.

In their travels, Jesus told His disciples that He must go through Samaria, something the Jews did not do. After the long, tiring walk, Jesus sat down at Jacob’s well while the disciples went to buy some food.

Soon, in the heat of the day, a Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well. When Jesus asked her for a drink, she was shocked since Jews did not associate with Samaritans.

After conversing a bit, Jesus told her to go and get her husband. The woman told Him that she didn’t have a husband. Jesus answered that she was right, for she’d had five husbands and she was not married to the man she was living with now.

The woman realized that Jesus must be a prophet to know these things about her. After further conversation, Jesus revealed to her that He was the Messiah, and she ran to tell the towns people.

I want to take a closer look at this nameless woman. As soon as we hear she’s had five husbands and was now living with a man, what is the first thing we do? We judge her for her past, assuming she is an immoral woman. But we don’t know that from what scripture says.

There are a number of possibilities as to why she had five past husbands. She could have been widowed many times and existing in perpetual grief. It’s also possible that she was barren. One of the primary roles of women in biblical times was to bear children, especially sons, and husbands could divorce such women.

If one or both of these scenarios were correct, we can be sure that this woman was hurting and heartbroken. She would have been full of sorrow and heartache as one man after another left her, whether through death or divorce.

Of course, it is also possible that she was an immoral woman who was steeped in adultery. This would have given her husbands legal grounds to divorce. Even if this was the case, we can still be sure she was a hurting woman, full of shame and self-loathing, regret and remorse for the choices she had made.

There is also a possibility beyond immorality as to why she was living with a man now who was not her husband. Women had little means of providing for themselves without a husband or son to care for them. The man could have been a brother or other relative.

Also, men were able to take concubines into their homes, mistresses who had second place to the wives and were there only for the man’s pleasure. Women back then didn’t have much choice at times in how they had to live.

My point here is that we do not know this nameless woman’s story so we should not be so quick to judge. God, however, knew her story, whether she was a victim, a harlot, or somewhere in between. He didn’t look at her as the outcast that others saw.

God saw a hurting woman who was created in His image and He was filled with compassion for her. He loved her enough to send Jesus to find her that day, to meet her at that well and change her life. Lord, help us to be more like Jesus.