Episode One: The Samaritan Woman at the Well

In our first podcast episode, Gershon Nimbalker, Common Grace's National Director, and Erica Mandi Manga, Young Adults Pastor at St Paul's Castle Hill in Sydney, discuss Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4.

Together, they reflect on the beauty and boldness of this encounter - where Jesus crosses cultural, religious, and gender boundaries to meet a woman on the margins with gentleness and truth. Rather than shaming or silencing her, Jesus sees her, empowers her, and entrusts her with good news that ripples out to her whole community. Their conversation reflects on what this story means for power, safety, belonging, and the breaking down of barriers today - and how becoming more like Jesus might lead us toward a more courageous, boundary-crossing love.

Listen to this podcast episode below 

You can also download the episode via this Google Drive link.

A transcript of this conversation can be downloaded here.

Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptising more disciples than John - although in fact it was not Jesus who baptised, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered, “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 to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

“I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

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.”

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

John 4:1-30

Reflect:

Did Gershon and Erica's discussion of John 4 make you think about the passage in a way you hadn't before?

What part of the discussion between Jesus and the Samaritan woman most impacted you?

What social and religious barriers does Jesus begin to break down in this passage?

How might we in the Church learn from Jesus' model in the way he treats the Samaritan woman?

Pray:

Good God, thank you that Jesus saw and loved people as individuals, especially those who were on the margins. Help us to see each person in our lives as valuable and loved by you. When our interactions with those different to us are awkward or difficult, give us the mind of Christ to show gentleness, truthfulness, and real care. And most of all, keep us connected to Jesus, from whom the living water that we all seek and require continually flows. Amen.

Go Deeper:

The Samaritan Woman of Sychar (John 4), a short article by Marg Mowczko, bible scholar and writer.

Lynn Cohick, Women in the World of the Earliest Christians: Illuminating Ancient Ways of Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009), p. 123.

Gail R. O’Day, “John” in Women’s Bible Commentary, ed. Carole A Newsom, Sharon H. Ringe, and Jacqueline E. Lapsley (Louisville: WJK, 2012).

SAFER is a free online resource created by Common Grace to help Australian churches understand, identify, and respond to domestic and family violence. SAFER is used globally by people seeking to better understand what God has to say about domestic violence, and what Christianity has to offer those who are experiencing violence and those who are using violence.

Equip yourself to respond with compassion and confidence through Ridley’s free Responding to Domestic and Family Violence course, presented by Erica Mandi Manga. This faith-informed training includes a vital lesson on spiritual abuse and is essential for anyone seeking to support victim-survivors and help create safer communities.

Creating Safer Environments through our Preaching – The Woman at the Well, 1 Corinthians 8, Matthew 5 - Safe Spaces Toolkit video; Yvette Cherry (National Director Australian Baptist Women), Megan Powell du Toit, (Baptist Minister & Academic) and Erin Martine Hutton (Baptist Accreditand & Academic).

Erica Mandi Manga (née Hamence) is currently the Young Adults Minister at St Paul’s Anglican Church, Castle Hill. As both a minister and writer her work explores the intersections of faith, justice, and safety. The founder of Common Grace’s Domestic and Family Violence Justice Team, Erica has contributed to key resources including SAFERresource.org.au and the Renew guide. Her writing and teaching focus on non-coercive pastoral care, spiritual abuse, and the ways Christian communities can respond with compassion and wisdom to those experiencing violence.

Gershon Nimbalker is the National Director of Common Grace. With over 15 years of experience in advocacy, policy, and research, he has led numerous grassroots movements campaigning on social justice issues. Gershon lives on Awabakal Country in Newcastle, NSW, with his young family.