John ch.4
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John
2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples),
3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.
When we realize this…the significance of the Old Testament…who and what it is pointing to…and those (the Remnant of Israel from generation to generation) who laid down their lives because of it: How can we ever possibly take the Word of God, or the Jewish people lightly! See also Luke 24:13-32, 45.
4 And he had to pass through Samaria.
Why?
In order to answer this question, we must first ask: who were the Samaritans?
Read 2Kings ch.17
6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
24 And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.
5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. (midday)
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)
Who is she?
1. A Samaritan: Despised and rejected by the pure-blooded descendants of Abraham - and a constant reminder to them of their exile and displacement.
2. A woman: culturally of less value and importance than a man
3. An outcast (see also vs 15). No woman would come to draw water in the heat of the moon-day sun - and by herself: Because this was a social occasion.
Now begins one of the longest and most amazing and beautiful dialogues between God and his Creation; and it begins with God asking one of his creation to meet a need! “Give me a drink.”
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
This at first seems a very peculiar statement for Jesus to make: “If you knew…” Unless, this was actually EXACTLY what she wanted! She wanted to know! She had been asking…praying to this distant God of Jacob - because she wanted to know!
“If you knew..” It is as if Jesus is subtlety saying: “The One you have been waiting for is here.”
11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?
Again: She wanted to know..!
12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”
“Are you the One - the Messiah?” She could possibly be wondering…because deep down she had been waiting…
13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.
The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Again, Jesus already knows she is thirsty…for so much more than water! Slowly and deliberately, in a way we have not seen him do before, Jesus is beginning to remove the veil.
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’;
18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
This is an obvious divine meeting, ordained by the Lord from the very beginning; for this woman, who was called by God from the very beginning.
And through the mystery of this conversation we begin to realize…that this woman sees:
Firstly: She sees a Jew (vs.9, 20 & 22)
It seems, as we read through this dialogue, that at some time over the course of her life, she has come to recognize that Salvation is of the Jews and that somehow, the Way to know Messiah/the Savior is through them. (This is further evidenced by the reference to Jacob as her “father” in vs.12). Which tells us that deep down, she desperately wants to know the God of the Jacob - whose name is Salvation.
Secondly: She sees a prophet:
vs 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
How could she perceive such a thing? - Unless she was actually looking for one!
“…even if you aren’t the Messiah, you are a Jew and a prophet - and can surely direct me to him”, she may have been thinking.
She is thirsty: for something more than water (vs. 11-12, 15) - to the point where she doesn’t even withdraw or recoil when the Lord reveals her sinful state… “I perceive you are a prophet” (help me Lord)…
It is as if she knows she has found someone who can hopefully lead her to this distant God she has heard so much about: Which is why she immediately follows up this incredible perception, with a question - about WORSHIP!
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
In other words: “I want to worship the Lord - Show me!”
She is hungry: for something much more than food (she wants to know the Lord)
Imagine her desperation - mixed with excitement - and also hope.
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
This is very good news for someone who, for much of her life has likely felt cut off and cast out. What is Jesus saying here? Physical, outward things do not matter anymore - Samaritan…outcast…sinner - it will no longer be an obstacle: the Temple…Jerusalem…Samaria: it is all about to become irrelevant: The Way to the Father is about to be opened - for everyone!
“The Father?” It is hard to imagine how the Holy Spirit is moving on this woman’s heart at this point; the revelation, the stirring of the hope being awakened deep inside: That this distant unknown God is not so distant…or unknown; and he is called “The Father”? We have never heard this title used before in the Gospel of John. And Jesus reveals it - to a Samaritan woman…
24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
It no longer matters if you are a Jew in Jerusalem, a Samaritan in Samaria, a Roman in Rome or a Greek in Macedonia! We must all without exception, be born again of the Spirit: for this is the Only Way to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth!
Thirdly & finally: She sees the Messiah (vs.25-26)
25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”
And here is where the truth within her heart finally comes out: “I know…that Messiah is coming.” She…out of all Samaria…out of all Israel…was one of a Remnant, who truly were not looking for him…waiting for Him!
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am
he.”
And here is where we finally understand - why “he had to go through Samaria”: This truly was a divine, God-ordained appointment: Jesus came to find her - because she was looking for him. (Jeremiah 29:13)
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