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Ahhhhhh . . . Jacob's Well . . . Samaria . . . We drank from the same well as Jesus and many other Biblical people. We were told that this IS THE WELL. Where many other places in the Holy Land are determined to be "the place" by tradition - this is one of a few places they feel 100% sure is THE PLACE. There were only two wells in this area to provide water for many people - THIS WELL is THE WELL. THIS is where Jesus met the Samaritan Woman at the well. THIS is where He proclaimed Himself "the Messiah". We were blessed to be where Jesus was - to drink from the water in the well that Jesus drank from. It doesn't get much better than this!!! This location is in the West Bank, a short distance from the Biblical site of Shechem (Genesis 33:18-20), (John 4:4-6).
All of us (2 bus loads - about 70 people from here) had the honor to meet a 73 year old Greek Orthodox priest, Abuna (meaning "Father") Ioustonos, who has been at this church for 34 years. Here is his story translated to us through our guide.
This location has been been claimed by people of Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths. In 365 AD Queen Helena, wife of Constantine had a church built over the area of the well in order to protect it for generations to come - then the Persians came / killed / destroyed the church. Then Justinian came / rebuilt the church and the Samaritans destroyed it. During the 11th century Crusaders started rebuilding the church. In 1572 an earthquake destroyed it. In 1882 it became the property of the Greek Orthodox Church. In 1908 they received money from Czar Nicholas for reconstruction. In 1914 rebuilding stopped due to World War 1.
In 1967 Israel tried to take the church back and turn it into a synagogue.
In 1979 the priest was killed - chopped into 36 pieces (his remains are in a coffin inside the church). 6 months later another priest was killed. Then our priest who is telling this story came - he was stabbed and axed. Samaritans gave the land back to Palestinian authorities. Arafat came and asked for permission to finish construction. This priest was the architect, project manager and artist who painted all the pictures in the church. His coffin will also rest in this church.
As you can see - this church over this land has had a great deal of destruction heaped on it. Throughout it all, God saw to it that this well remained for generations to come to visit the place where Jesus proclaimed the Good News - the Messiah has come!.
The church houses the water jug / pottery vessel from the Woman of the Well. It is in a glass box perched high up on a wall. Constantine took it to Rome. This priest wrote to Rome (many times) for permission to receive the jar and place it with Jacob's well. Four years ago he was able to secure it.
From the church level we all (about 70 of us) climbed down the stairs, pictured above, into the small room where Reverend Don Piper (author of 90 Minutes in Heaven) read the Scripture about Jesus and the woman at the well (John 4:1-26).
Their day started as sunrise - about 6 in the morning - we are told it was about 6 hours into the day - or noon as we call it. No self-respecting woman would be out and about at noon time – unless you worked all night (as a ‘woman of the night’). Women typically gathered at the well in the cool of the evening. This is where they talked to each other / communicated what was going on / and . . . gossiped. We can assume there was a lot of gossip about this "Woman of the Well". But that didn't bother Jesus at all as he 1) talks to a Samaritan (no Jew would do that) and 2) talks to a woman (women were not spoken to by a man who was not her husband and certainly not out of the presence of another man). Not only that . . . but Jesus knows everything about her - about her 5 husbands and the man she currently lives with out of wedlock.
Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” . . . “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
"The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
WOW!!! Can you imagine that ?!?!?! How she must have felt ?!?!?! HOW WE FELT on our trip being at this same very place?!?!?!?! AMAZING and LIFE CHANGING, for sure!!!
In the pictures above, where you see the fire with Father Ioustonous he is preparing the jars. They are little jugs that he has filled with water from Jacob's Well. He then melts wax from a candle over the top to seal the water inside. Some of us purchased these to bring home . . . water from the well . . . where Jesus spoke to this precious woman.
May you be blessed by studying this story this week. I hope that this information fills you with awe as you journeyed with us (through this blog) to Jacob's Well.