Questioning Jesus Woman At The Well Series

Questioning Jesus, Woman At The well

John 4:4-30, 39-42

February 24, 2008

Last week - Nicodemus

Nicodemus-was a religious professional

-who came at night

-curious/interested in Jesus

He wanted to get in on.

Participate

Become involved in a relationship with Jesus and leave religion behind.

His question of Jesus was how can I have the life you offer?

How can I be saved?

Jesus says - born again/born from above.

How?

Water and wind

(Surrender yourself in water) (Swept away by God)

At the close of that conversation, Jesus says these words - that to many of you are familiar

"For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

"For God so loved the ________ that He gave his one and only Son, that ________ believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

For God so loved the world

Cosmos

For God so loved every think and everyone that he had created that he gave his one and only Son, that

Whoever -you

Me

Your neighbor

Your child

Your boss

Your spouse

That whoever and it doesn’t matter who

That whoever - notice there is no parenthesis following the word whoever like

(Except Finish people)

(Except murderers)

(Except lobbyists)

That whoever - no matter who you are.

Where you’ve been

What you’ve been into

That whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

We believe that Nicodemus hears these words and takes them to heart. The love of God touches him and he becomes a changed man.

In some sense, this story of Nicodemus isn’t too messy, I mean Nicodemus is a good man - a holy man - a righteous man - Jesus would find him much easier to love - especially compared to the woman in the text we just read.

In that text, it is quite the opposite. It’s a text about a woman who had made bad choices, had been in bad relationships, who was currently making poor relational decisions.

That was a woman that had a reputation. Her town knew about her.

Had you asked someone in her town about her, they wouldn’t have had too many respectable things to say about her. Most - including you and me had we been her neighbors saw her as in a cycle of mistakes.

A spiral of downward choices and consequently with her history stacked against her concluded

She’s a mess

She’d be a drain

She doesn’t contribute

She has little hope how could anyone love her?

When you and I read and recite John 3:16 together we say tat God loves the world.

He loves everyone in it.

When I close the service, I quite often will say, "He’s crazy about us."

And yet it is easier for us - is it not - to love the world - than to love certain ones in the world. -especially one like her.

It can be quite easy for us to believe that God loves the world but if we were honest we might say - "But how could God love someone like her?"

They’re a series of mistakes.

A perpetual wrong doer.

Sure God loves the world but how can he like certain individuals?

Are we tracking?

It is quite easy for me to say I love the Clear Lake community.

It may be quite easy for you and me to say we love our entire family.

I love my class.

My teammates.

My Co-workers.

My neighbors.

Those in my club.

And yet if we were honest, there are often a few that we say we love but in reality, we really don’t like them.

We love our community but there are certain individuals that we may really struggle with.

You like your classmates, but not all of them get invited to the party.

You/we love our extended family but when or if so and so come the dynamics change.

Is not this true?

And so when the Son of God was given to the world - sent to the world - we would affirm he was given in love but our human side would say - but surely, he won’t or can’t love her.

Surely, Jesus will see her life and bypass her.

She’s not good enough.

Her story to messy

Her past too heavy.

Her wrong decisions too numerous.

And yet the text says - in verse #4 - that Jesus had to go through Samaria.

The Greek literally says, "And it was necessary for him to pass through Samaria." The RSV, NEB, LB all say this.

Jesus had to go through Samaria. The KJV says, "And he must of necessity on need go through Samaria."

But here’s the deal. He didn’t have to. Jesus didn’t have to go through Samaria. We know from the text (v. 3) that Jesus was in Judea and that he was headed to Galilee. Judea was in the south and Galilee was in the North.