John 4:1-42 – Eyes Wide Open
This week we are starting our series designed for the 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting. Our theme for the year is “Declare His Name: Aligning Our Lives with Christ’s Passion”. It’s about looking at who Christ is, and what He came to earth to do. So, for the next few weeks leading up to Easter, we will examine how Jesus lived on earth, how He spent His time, and what qualities made up His character.
The 1st truth of the series, Aligning Our Lives with Christ’s Passion, is this: People are important to God, and they need to understand the full extent of His personal care and involvement in their lives. Simply put, people matter to God. And they need to grab hold of what that means for them. They need to realize how much God wants to be part of their lives.
Today’s story from John 4 describes an incident from early in Jesus’ ministry that gives us a glimpse into Jesus’ heart. It shows that people really do matter to God. Let’s go through this passage: v1-3. Opposition had just arisen to Jesus’ new popularity, and since it was so early in His ministry, He left the region for awhile. It’s funny. We often think opposition to what we are doing means we are doing something wrong. That’s not the case. The most common opinion is not always the right one.
V4 – Jesus went through Samaria. Geographically speaking, Samaria was a non-Jewish region between 2 Jewish regions. Most good Jews went around it for reasons I’m about to describe. But Jesus was not like most other Jews. He chose to go through it, taking his disciples with Him. In fact, His vision and passion drove Him to it.
V5-6. The sixth hour was 12 noon. I don’t think this was accidental. He arrived at a time of the day when most people did not want to go to the community well. It was the hottest part of the day, so it likely would not have had a huge crowd there. But there was one person there.
V7,8 – a Samaritan woman showed up. This unnamed lady would become the 2nd main character of this story. And Jesus spoke to her. He asked her for a drink. Now, you have to understand how significant this was, for so many reasons. 1st, she was a woman. Men were not to speak to woman who were not their wives or daughters. Jesus broke that taboo. 2nd, she was a Samaritan – v9. Samaritans were half-Jew, half-Gentile. They were not pure anything. They were mutts, mongrels, unable to fit in anywhere. 3rd, she was poor. Unlike earlier times, women of any position at all would not have drawn their own water. And poverty was a sign of disobedience, not being blessed by God for their faithfulness.
The 4th reason that it is significant that Jesus spoke to this person is that she was divorced – v18. Multiple times, actually. You don’t have to go very far to find someone who’ll look down on you for being divorced. And 5th, she had a shady reputation. She was living with someone she was not married to. That’s why she showed up at noon-time, thinking the well would be deserted. She didn’t want to see other people and be reminded of her shame.
There were plenty of good reasons why a good Jewish boy like Jesus would have no dealings with this person. And yet there he was. The conversation wasn’t short, either. Jesus spoke about water. And not just any water, but living water – v10,13. Jesus spoke of God’s gift, and the woman was unaware that the gift was right there speaking to her. And she wanted this gift, this water that would refresh her over and over again. She wanted to get rid of feeling guilty in front of others – v15.
But Jesus wasn’t about to let her off the hook – v16-18. He told her, in essence, that He knew her. She didn’t have to hide because she just couldn’t hide. Note this: Jesus knew her sins, but He loved her anyway. He knew who she was, and where she lived, and still He loved her. He cared for her, and wanted to be involved in her life. He didn’t expect her to clean up right away, and He didn’t tell her to. Why?
Because Jesus knows that when a person falls in love with Him, he or she will eventually do anything that He asks. He doesn’t give the heavy hand, saying, “You have to give up this or that right away.” On occasion, He said that to people who asked to follow Him, yes. But in this case, He said, “Love me first. Then, you’ll follow me because you won’t be able to picture your life any other way.” What this woman needed was not more rules. She needed to be loved and accepted, despite her past, even her present. She needed to know that she mattered.
And people around you need to know they matter. Just like you matter. Who you are matters to Him. What you are becoming matters to Him. Ron McClung is a former pastor of 33 years and is the District Superintendent of the Iowa-Minnesota District of The Wesleyan Church. He wrote these words: “God sees the dream in our hearts. People all around us have dreams of being better than they are, of doing better and climbing higher. Yet, sometimes we don’t recognize the dreams because we don’t see them clearly as God does. Jesus probably surprised His disciples when He told them, “You are the salt of the earth . . . you are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13, 14). Yet that is exactly what they became. He saw them as individuals who were competitive and petty at times. But He also saw the dreams in their hearts. Later, in the power of the Holy Spirit, they rose to greater heights than they or we would have predicted, based on their earlier behavior. You have a dream in your heart too. God sees it and in His power you can fulfill it.”
Granted, this woman wasn’t quite ready to accept it all yet – v19-20. She threw up a distraction. Jesus got too close to her heart. He cut too close to her privacy. But Jesus would not be moved – v21-24. Jesus said, in essence, that God cares little if a person is a Jew or a Gentile, an insider or an outsider, someone who fits in with the religious folk or not. Fitting in with a good crowd is not what makes a person good or not. What God wants is for people to seek Him. What God wants is a heart that goes looking for Him. God seeks those who seek Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.”
Well, the woman seemed to warm up to this thought, that God did not see racial barriers, that you did not have to be on the inside to be right with God – v25. And Jesus revealed Himself to her – v26.
By this time, the disciples returned from their errand of getting food – v27. The disciples wanted to snap at her or question her worth. But Jesus saw the real her, the original her, the potential her. She left and shared a simple testimony, and all the townsfolk eventually came to see Jesus as well. Jesus stayed there 2 days, all because of one woman, and many came to believe in Him because of it. Jesus used a divorced woman to plant a church.
But the disciples at first missed the point. They ran off at the first because they were hungry. They were initially distracted from Jesus’ vision by other things. They missed the point of Jesus’ coming because they were distracted by other, so-called important things. But Jesus showed them what fed Him: v34. Jesus was not motivated by His next meal. He was not motivated by hanging out with religious people. No, what fueled Jesus was doing what God wanted Him to do. Listen, you may try to do good things, but unless those good things are God’s specific plans for you, you will not be happy. You will not be satisfied until you know that you are doing what God wants you to do.
And what it takes is for you to open your eyes: v35. Look around. See the lostness in people. See the hurt. Look past the present and see the potential. See who people could be if Jesus changed them. We need to see people through the eyes of Jesus Christ, the Lord of all who loves and invites everyone. People matter to God, and they need to know it. And the only way for them to know is if we say it. Yes, it takes courage. Yes, it is a high calling. But don’t underestimate the power of your testimony. The woman shared what she knew, and the town was changed. You don’t have to be perfect, just concerned.
In conclusion, I’d like to share one last story. Christian author Max Lucado tells a parable that was related to him by a rabbi whom he met on an airline flight. In the parable, a CEO has an office on the top floor of a Manhattan skyscraper. Most people have not seen him, but they have met his daughter, who works in the building for her father.
Unfortunately, she exploits her family position by making demands on people. She orders the guard at the front door to go down the street and buy her a Danish. Reluctantly, the guard leaves his post and does as he is told. Meanwhile he is thinking, “If the daughter is so bossy, what does that say about her father?”
The daughter next encounters a secretary who is carrying an armload of papers. Stopping her, she orders her to forget her project and instead clean the daughter’s office. Since this is the boss’ daughter, what choice does the secretary have?
The daughter goes through her day, behaving in this irritating, demanding way. She never uses the name of her father to order people around, but the connection is obvious: “If she is so bossy, what does that say about her father?”
Now suppose the daughter undergoes a change of behavior. Suppose, instead of ordering the guard to get her a muffin, she brings him one. Suppose, instead of ordering the secretary to interrupt what she is doing, instead she helps the secretary. She expresses concern for the families of these employees, brings them coffee, and generally greets everyone in a spirit of concern and kindness.
Although she does not use the name of her father, now people are saying, “If the daughter is so kind, what must the father be like?” The rabbi pointed out, “They’ve not seen him. They’ve not met him. But they know his child, so they know his heart.”
The heart of the Father is love and compassion acted out with courage. Jesus dared to go against the norm and against the grain to let a person know that she was important and that she mattered. Will you do the same?
