Clip from final scene of "Shrek"
Fiona: "I was supposed to be beautiful"
Shrek: "But you are beautiful"
Unconditional love. It’s the deepest longing of our hearts, because each of us harbors deep inside the fear that if others really knew us, that they would want nothing to do with us. In today’s conversation with Jesus, a woman with a past meets up with Jesus and finds that here is someone who loves her even though he knows her deepest darkest secrets.
Transition: In spite of all of the flaws in her, Jesus offers what counselors call unconditional positive regard. Jesus loves her
In spite of Her Pedigree
v. 9 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.)
The Jews of Jesus’ day considered the Samaritans something almost subhuman. You see during the period of the exile the jews of Samaria had intermarried with the gentiles that the Assyrians had resettled there, because of this the people were "mixed race" and the Jews who had kept themselves "pure" throughout the exile had nothing but disdain for the "half-breed" Samaritans.
When traveling from Jerusalem to Galilee they would cross the Jordan river to avoid passing through Samaritan territory. It was said that to eat with a Samaritan was like eating swine’s flesh.
So when Jesus spoke to this Samaritan woman, she was taken aback--why would a Jew speak with a Samaritan? She was supposed to be inferior. But Jesus doesn’t seem to have any interest in her heritage. In spite of her Pedigree...
Jesus Offered Her a Possibility
v. 10 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."
Jesus had room for people like her, he wasn’t concerned with what the world said about her status. He was concerned about here as a precious soul--as precious as the souls of the Pharisees who took such pleasure in considering themselves superior.
You know Jesus still has room for the outcasts of society--and for the outcasts of religion. It doesn’t matter if you grew up in a church going home or in the home of an alcoholic or both, it doesn’t matter if you’ve dabbled in the occult or Wicca or even if you’ve never been to church before this morning. Jesus offers you a possibility, He offers "living water" a drink that satisfies not just the body but the soul and fulfills our deepest needs.
In spite of your Pedigree He offers a possibility. Next we see that Jesus cared for the woman at the well...
In Spite of Her Past
vv. 16-18 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."
Here were all the secrets of her life--known by a stranger. All the things she wanted to keep hidden from the world, because if people knew--they’d want nothing to do with her. In fact in the text itself there seems to be evidence that this was exactly the case. It is midday when this conversation with Jesus takes place. Not the time of day that you would expect a woman to be coming to draw her water for the day--that was a morning chore, but it’s likely that this woman came so that she could avoid the other women who knew her secrets and probably made little attempt to hide their feelings about her.
But here is a stranger, Who somehow knows about her past yet he...
[Jesus] Offered Her a Promise
v. 14 whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
To a woman with a past Jesus offers a promise of a never-ending future. Jesus hasn’t reserved this promise for the select few who are good enough. Jesus said the healthy don’t have need of a doctor but the sick. He also said that he had come to seek and save the lost. Jesus doesn’t ask you to clean up your life before you come to Him--you’re not able to do that on your own. He wants you to come to Him just as you are so that he can change you from the inside out.
Last week I mentioned briefly a man named John Newton, but this morning I’d like to share more of his story. John Newton was born in London England on July 24, 1725, the son of a merchant ship commander. When John was eleven years old he went to sea with his father. After his father retired, John signed-on as a crew member on a British war ship. Finding the conditions aboard the ship to be harsh and difficult, John deserted ship only to be captured. He was then publicly flogged and demoted from midshipmen to seaman and then reassigned to work for the captain of a ship carrying slaves from Africa to the new world (America).
Seeing his condition, a friend of John’s father obtained his release from the slave trader. Despite the cruel and despicable conditions John witnessed on the slave ship, he ultimately became the captain of his own slave ship. As the captain of a slave trading ship, John Newton’s ship would anchor off the African coast. There African tribal chiefs would bring to the ship men and women of rival tribes that had been captured or taken prisoner. The captives would be loaded in the ships cargo hold where they were kept below decks, chained together to prevent suicides. To save space, the slaves were laid side by side, row after row until as many as 600 men, women and children were packed in the cargo hold of the ship.
After the human cargo was aboard, the ship set-sail for what would eventually become America. Two out of every ten slaves aboard the ship died as a result of the harsh treatment. When a slave became ill during the voyage, he was tossed overboard to prevent the spreading of any infection. Captain Newton showed no compassion or remorse for the misery and suffering of those he was carrying in bondage. Upon arrival at his destination, those enslaved were traded for sugar and molasses. From there, John would return to England, unload the sugar and molasses and then once again sail to Africa to pick-up another load of human cargo bound for the new world. This was the pattern of operation for slavers.
In his early years, John received some religious instruction from his mother who died when he was young. After her death, John appeared to set aside any religious morals or values he may have been taught. But on a homeward leg of a voyage from the Americas to England loaded with sugar and molasses, John Newton’s ship encountered a violent storm. Waves crashed over the deck as the wooden sailing ship was tossed back and forth like a child’s toy on the turbulent ocean waters. As recorded later in his personal journal, John Newton noted that all seemed lost, and it appeared the small ship would surely sink. Then in the midst of fear and uncertainty, John Newton called out to God, "Lord, have mercy on us." As the ship floundered in the storm, John Newton gave his life to Christ.
He soon realized that his new life in Christ was incompatible with his chosen profession and eventually ended up a pastor who also wrote songs. His journal entry from the day after that storm had changed his life became the inspiration for the best known of his songs, "Amazing Grace"
Grace means that God offers us a gift we don’t deserve, the promise of eternal life, purchased by the blood of Christ, which paid the price for our sins. God’s Amazing grace is still amazing, and most amazing of all it’s for you no matter your past... You still can take part in the Promise
Well Jesus’ revelation was a little much for the woman and she doesn’t know what to do with it so she changes the subject and in doing so she reveals to us some of her understandings of religion, which gives Jesus the chance to show that he cares for her...
In Spite of Her Preconceptions
vv. 19-20 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
Realizing that she’s stumbled upon someone special, the woman decides to ask some of her religious questions... This is the same thing that happens to doctors at dinner parties--"Hey, I’ve got this pain right here..." She says "Since you’re obviously a prophet let me get something straight here, which religious teachings are right, what do we have to do, where do we have to go to be accepted by God."
This is the heart of man’s attempt at religion. It’s got to be about us, what we do where we go what we can do to impress God with us. This is her preconception. I think it’s an honest question, it shows a heart that genuinely wants to understand the things of God but it betrays the same lack of understanding that’s at the center of all man’s attempts to create a religious system or plan. But Jesus, doesn’t get frustrated with her, rather He simply shows her the truth--"Look it’s not about Geography," He says, "It’s about relationship... And then he reveals the most important thing of all it’s about relationship with HIM. In spite of her preconceptions...
Jesus Offered His Presence
v. 26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
She says, well all this religious stuff will get sorted out when the Messiah gets here. And He says, "You’re looking at Him, I’m right here." And he says that this morning to you. You may be saying in your heart--"I’ll get this religious stuff straightened out later." But Jesus says "I’m here now!" He offers you a relationship with Him. With the one who died on the cross to pay for your sins. He offers you a hope and a future, He offers you an everlasting Promise and He offers His very presence.
Prayer
Maybe you’re here and you’ve never accepted His offer, I’d like to invite you to do that today. Maybe you have accepted his offer of salvation, but somehow you’ve simply had a hard time accepting His unconditional love toward you, I believe the Holy Spirit is here to break down those barriers today too.
