September 26, 2020
Jesus was becoming very popular and the religious leaders became aware that more people were coming to Jesus and being baptized than were being baptized by John the Baptist. Wanting to avoid controversy Jesus left Judea and headed for Galilee – Scripture tells us that He HAD TO GO through Samaria. The Holy Spirit was leading Him to a divine appointment……. {John 5:19}
Background:
Samaritans were the descendants of foreign captives – brought into the region by the Assyrians – and the remnant of Israel who were living in the region after the destruction of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC. Over time these groups intermarried and their children adopted a form of the Israelite religion.
Tensions with the Jews began after the return of the exiles in 537 BC {2 Kings 17:24-41; Ezra 4:1-2}. The Samaritans offered to help rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Their offer was refused, so they built a rival temple around 450 BC on Mt. Gerizim mingling the worship of God with the worship of idols. This temple was destroyed by the Maccabees in 110 BC. As a result, the Samaritans sought instruction from the Jews concerning true worship, however, they clung to idol worship and refused to acknowledge that the true and only Temple was in Jerusalem.
By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, Jews and Samaritans despised each other.
Jacob’s Well was located in a valley between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal – near the ancient town of Shechem. It was the location of significant OT events {Gen. 12:6; 33:18-34:31; Deut. 11:29; 27:4; Joshua 8:30-35; 24:32}.
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It was the heat of the day and Jesus was exhausted by the time His little group came to the town of Sychar, so, while the disciples went to buy food, He rested at Jacob’s Well. Not long after, a Samaritan Woman came to draw water and Jesus did the UNTHINKABLE…. He asked her for a drink.
SW: You’re a Jew. I’m a Samaritan WOMAN --- and you’re asking ME for some water?
J: If you knew WHO it is that is asking for water, you would ask him for the living water he desires to give you.
SW: You don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where are you going to get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well?
Jesus seemed to have the same problem everywhere He went – being misunderstood. He was talking about the living, purifying, refreshing and transformational water of His GRACE {unmerited favor}, realized through the power of the Holy Spirit that would lead to salvation and everlasting life.
• Isaiah 12:2-3 - Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
• Isaiah 44:3-4 - For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. 4 They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.
• JC Ryle {Holiness 317}: Christ is that Fountain of Living Water which God has graciously provided for thirsty souls. From Him there flows an abundant stream for all who travel through the wilderness of this world. There is an endless supply of all that men can need – pardon, absolution, mercy, grace, peace, rest, relief, comfort, and hope. It is His office to receive sinners. It is His pleasure to give them pardon, life and peace. And the words of the text are a proclamation He makes to all mankind – “If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink”
All she saw was a weary, thirsty traveler asking for a glass of water….
Jesus didn’t immediately satisfy her curiosity about who He was, but with great sincerity said:
J: Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. As a matter of fact, it will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
Finally, He had her attention and her curiosity was aroused. It began to dawn on her that He was not talking about the water found in Jacob’s Well. She still didn’t understand that Jesus wasn’t talking about a glass of “miracle” water that would forever satisfy her thirst, yet with remarkable faith she asked for the water He was offering:
SW: Sir, give me this water so that I won't have to keep coming to the well….
Jesus changed the subject:
J: Go get your husband……
SW: I’m not married
J: You are correct, ma’dam…. The truth is you’ve been married 5 times and the man you are living with is not your husband.
Wait, what??!! How IN THE WORLD does He know that?
SW: Sir, you are clearly a prophet. {she changed the subject and pointed to Mt. Gerizim} Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but the Jews say we have to worship in Jerusalem.
J: Dear lady, a time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. Samaritans worship what they don’t know, but Jews worship what they know because Salvation is FROM the Jews {referring to himself}. The time has come when true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth, because those are the kind of worshippers the Father desires. God is spirit and His worshippers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
SW: I know that the Messiah {called Christ} is coming and when He comes, He will explain everything to us.
J: You’re speaking to Him….
Just then the disciples returned from town and were astonished to see Jesus talking to a WOMAN!!
She dropped her water jar and ran back to town:
SW: Come back to the well with me!! I just met a man who told me everything I have ever done. Could He be the Christ?
The towns people headed for the well. Meanwhile, Jesus’ disciples were encouraging Him to eat something:
J: I have food to eat that you know nothing about {The disciples wondered if He had gotten food elsewhere}. My food is to do the will of Him Who sent me and to finish His work. The calendar shows that harvest is still 4 months away, but open your eyes and look at the fields!! They are ripe for harvest!! Even now the reaper is earning his wages because he is harvesting the crop for eternal life. And the sower and the reaper will rejoice together. The saying is true that one sows and another reaps. I have sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, but you are reaping the benefits of their labor.
Many from the town believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony and they urged him to stay with them – he stayed 2 days and many more became believers. They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."
One Encounter with Jesus Can Change Everything!!
Wrapping Up
Last week was the story of Nicodemus. This week, the Woman at the Well. I believe Scripture was written intentionally and it would seem that John is comparing the 2 events:
Nicodemus:
• Was a wealthy and respected religious leader.
• He came to Jesus at night because he was afraid.
• Jesus tossed him an intellectual hand grenade when He said, “You must be born again.”
• His initial response was one of wounded pride and skepticism.
• It took him 3 years to finally and fully reveal his heart conversion.
Samaritan Woman:
• Was a peasant, a woman and a member of a hated minority.
• Jesus met her at a well in the heat of the day.
• Jesus tossed her a life line when He said, “…. whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. As a matter of fact, it will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
• She did not wait around for “proof”. She accepted the message and responded with joy. It took her ½ a second to drop her water jar and run back to town to share the Good News.
• She was bold and fearless and her testimony instigated a revival in her village.
One of the beautiful things about Jesus is that He treated people as individuals. Nicodemus and the Samaritan Woman could not have been more different so Jesus presented the Gospel to her in a totally different way than He presented it to Nicodemus.
Our evangelism efforts should never be “one size fits all”. Different individuals and people groups will require different Gospel approaches. We should never become so wedded to the presentation that we lose sight of the message = Jesus.
The one you are living with is not your husband:
We have all been taught that this precious lady was a degenerate and immoral woman. Why?
• She came to the well at noon – in the heat of the day – the implication being after the “respectable women”.
• She had been married 5 times and was currently shacking up with #6.
THEREFORE, by our standards, she was a social outcast. But I wonder if we have judged her wrongly?
• Houses had no running water and it would be shortsighted to assume that a family would use only 1 jar of water a day. And MAYBE, just MAYBE, like Jesus, she had a divine appointment at THAT well AT noon……..
• The text does not indicate the circumstances of the endings of her 5 marriages:
o She might have been a widow - Women often married at thirteen or fourteen, very often to older men, making widowhood common in the first century. Additionally, widowed women had no rights, so it was in their best interest to remarry. She could easily have been widowed more than once.
o She might have been divorced – Divorce was generally the exclusive right of the husband. Can’t have children = divorce. Burned the toast = divorce. After having been divorced 5 times she may have decided that shacking up was a better option.
• While Jesus did reveal her past and current living arrangements, He did not condemn her for them. Instead it revealed to her something about Him, “I perceive you are a prophet.”, and was the backbone of her testimony, “I just met a man who told everything I have ever done. Could He be the Christ?”
• The townspeople did not treat her as a social outcast – The entire village believed her testimony, dropped what they were doing and followed her back to the well – not the response expected if she had truly been an outcast.
Worshipping in Spirit and Truth:
She raised the issue of where people ought to worship – Mt. Gerizim or Jerusalem. Jesus responded by saying, that WHOM you worship and HOW you worship is far more important than WHERE you worship.
In other words, God is not confined to a building and authentic worship is not limited to 9-12 on Saturday morning at your local church.
The Samaritan’s erred when it came to TRUTH. They worshipped what they did not know.
The Jew’s erred when it came to SPIRIT. They worshipped what they knew, however:
• Matthew 15:7-9 - You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"
Genuine worship is a heart and head deal. Our personal knowledge of WHO GOD IS fills us with awe and gratitude and we are moved to worship Him.
We don’t worship because we HAVE TO ----- We worship because WE WANT TO. We… Can’t… Help… It...
That is the kind of worship the God of the Universe longs for.
• Isaiah 12:1-6 - In that day you will say: "I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. 2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. 6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."
The Harvest is great:
The disciples were concerned about food – Jesus was concerned about doing His Father’s will.
The disciples were not concerned about the salvation of the Samaritans – Jesus was – “the fields are ripe for harvest”.
The disciple’s vision was stuck in the present – Jesus’ looked to the future when the seeds planted that day would be ready for harvest – “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."
This encounter by the well lit a fire in Samaria. Just before returning to Heaven, Jesus told his disciples, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the earth” {Acts 1:8}. Later, in Acts 8:1-25, we read that after persecution broke out in the early church, Christians were forced out of Jerusalem. One of the first places they went was Samaria.
• Ellen White {AA 106.3-4} - Christ's message to the Samaritan woman with whom He had talked at Jacob's well had borne fruit…. And when His disciples were driven from Jerusalem, some found in Samaria a safe asylum. The Samaritans welcomed these messengers of the gospel, and the Jewish converts gathered a precious harvest from among those who had once been their bitterest enemies.
