She Left Her Waterpot

Three guys were out having a relaxing day fishing. Out of the blue, they catch a mermaid who begs to be set free in return for granting each of them a wish. Now one of the guys just doesn’t believe it and says, “Okay, if you can really grant wishes, then double my IQ.” The mermaid says, “Done.” Suddenly the guy starts reciting Shakespeare flawlessly and analyzing it with extreme insight. The second guy is so amazed he says to the mermaid, “Triple my IQ”.The mermaid says,”Done”. The guy starts spouting out all the mathematical solutions to problems that have been stumping all of the scientists of varying fields: physics chemistry, etc. The last guy is so enthralled with the changes in his friends, that he says to the mermaid, “Quintuple my IQ”. The mermaid looks at him and says, “You know, I normally don’t try to change people’s minds when they make a wish, but I really wish you’d reconsider.” The guy says, “Nope, I want you to increase my IQ times five and if you don’t do it, I won’t set you free.” “Please,” says the mermaid, “you don’t know what you’re asking...it’ll change your entire view on the universe. . .won’t you ask for something else. . . a million dollars, anything?” But no matter what the mermaid said, the guy insisted on having his IQ increased by 5 times its usual power. So the mermaid sighed and said, “Done”. And he became a woman.

I. Discrimination, (Jesus did not discriminate)

Joh 4:4 And he must needs go through Samaria.

Scrupulous Jews would always avoid Samaria.

The necessity to go through Samaria may have been because He was sensitive to God’s will for Him.

Joh 4:5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

Joh 4:6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

Joh 4:7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

Joh 4:8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

Perhaps she was avoiding other women who might come at cooler times during the day.

Most Jews would not think of asking a favor from a Samaritan for fear of becoming ceremonially defiled; many Jews assumed that all Samaritan women were in a perpetual state of ceremonial uncleanness. (4:27, “his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman”)

Three things about this woman seem to put her at a distinct disadvantage.

First, she is a Samaritan.

In his book, Living Faithfully, J. Allen Blair tells of a man who was struggling to get to Grand Central Station in New York City. The wind blew fiercely, and the rain beat down on him as he lugged his two heavy suitcases toward the terminal. Occasionally he would pause to rest and regain his strength before trudging on against the elements.

At one point he was almost ready to collapse, when a man suddenly appeared by his side, took the suitcases, and said in a strangely familiar voice, “We’re going the same way. You look as if you could use some help.” When they had reached the shelter of the station, the weary traveler, the renowned educator Booker T. Washington, asked the man, “Please, sir, what is your name?” The man replied, “The name, my friend, is Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt.”

Second, she is a sinner guilty of sexual immorality, (Luke 7:36-50)

The Pharisees had a very simple system for being holy—they simply kept their (physical) distance from sinners. They thought sin was contagious, and that one could catch it by merely being close to sinners. This is one reason they are so distressed when they see our Lord having such close contact with “sinners.”

and third, she is a woman.

Christ has done more to Liberate women then anything or anyone.

The place of women in that society was not as it is today. A possession or beast of burden.

A missionary said he couldn’t get used to the native man’s sorrow when his wife gave birth to a daughter instead of a son. Over and over he was appalled at the native’s apparent lack of love for the women in his family. “The first jolt came early in my missionary career when one day I saw an empty-handed man leisurely walking behind his wife who was carrying a heavy pack on her back. As I watched, they came to a stream which had to be forded. Likely as not sharp rocks and uneven river bed would make the crossing painful and hazardous. So I wondered if that would bring out any chivalry on the part of the husband.