Repentance for the Woman at the Well

I wish that we knew more about the woman at the well with whom Jesus spoke in John 4.  The encounter suggests that though she had serious sin to repent of, she was a woman of faith.  She knew about the patriarch Jacob whose well she was at, and she understood the religious traditions of both the Jews and the Samaritans: “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship” (v20).  She was humble enough to recognize that Jesus was different by what He knew about her, and though she might have been suspicious of Him using some devious means to know her history, she instead trusted He was from God said simply, “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet” (v19).  She also knew about the Messiah and clearly was hoping for his coming: “I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things” (v25).  And contrary to the Pharisees and scribes, she did not reject Him when He suggested her need for repentance. 

               The response of the woman at the well to the Savior’s mild rebuke was, as I interpret it, neither that a penitent soul ready to forsake sin nor of a hard-hearted hearer who refused to listen.  The Savior told her that to partake of the spiritual water He had for her, she needed to go get her husband.  He obviously knew that she was living in sin with a man who wasn’t her husband, and His words were a call to repentance—in order to come unto Him to partake of His salvation she needed to repent and live the law of chastity: “He whom thou now hast is not thy husband” (v18).  She had a rocky history of marriage with five previous husbands apparently, and the Savior clearly wanted to help her put her life in order.  Her response to His mention of her great sin was to recognize that He spoke the truth.  She did not deny that He was correct or try to cover up her sin, but she also didn’t want to discuss her need for repentance any more.  So, she did what she could think of to get out of the uncomfortable situation: she immediately changed the subject by talking about the mountain in front of them.  It seems that she wasn’t quite ready to start the repentance process.  We don’t learn from the text whether or not she actually changed her ways to follow Him—I wish we had the follow up story. 

               What we do know about what happened next, though, leads me to believe that she did repent.  After this brief encounter she immediately became a missionary.  We read that “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?” (v28-29)  The people did come to see Him because of His words, and “many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did” (v39).  She was clearly a powerful missionary and helped bring many people to the Savior even though her encounter with Him had been very short.  What happened to her after that we don’t know, but I’d like to think that the Lord blessed her for her willingness to share the gospel even when she knew very little.  Perhaps the Lord’s words to some of the Elders in our dispensation would have applied to her for her missionary labors: “Nevertheless, ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you” (D&C 62:3).