A drink before dinner is supposed to leave you wanting more . . . perhaps John had that in mind when he wrote the story of the “Woman at the Well” in Chapter 4. Scholars argue that John's Gospel is the place to start when you read the Bible for the first time. It has even been said that the entirety of the Gospel message is contained in this one story. Perhaps even Jesus had that in mind on this particular day – the desire to stimulate our appetite for more with a simple drink before dinner.
Jacob’s well is a site in Palestine about which there is no dispute. It was dug by the patriarch Jacob and is on the "parcel of ground" which he purchased from the sons of Hamor (Genesis Chapter 33). Experts tell us that the well is fed by underground springs, and its water is fresh and cool. Because the water is moving and not from a cistern, the people of Sychar (pronounced SIGH-car) called it "living water."
The village of Sychar where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman was located near Mount Gerizim, the site of the Samaritan temple - Samaria's holy place. Samaria was the northern kingdom of Israel. The Jews were descended from the returned exiles of the southern kingdom of Judah. Both the Samaritans and the Hebrews claimed lineage from the tribes of the Kings of Israel and Judah. The Samaritans built a shrine on Mount Gerizim and claimed that this was the proper place to worship Yahweh while the Hebrews claimed worship should take place in the temple in Jerusalem.
Both the Jews and the Samaritan argued over the place to worship as if that was the magic key to unlock eternity for them (sort of the first worship war). As a result, there was no love lost between these two groups. Jews normally avoided contact with their Samaritan neighbors by traveling longer routes (but that is another story).
In this story, Jesus had decided to go directly through the region of Samaria. Jesus must have been tired and thirsty when He sat down to rest beside Jacob's well. He sent his disciples ahead to buy food in the nearby city.
So what compelled Jesus to travel through Samaria?
Jesus meets us where we are. Jesus comes to you with a personal invitation. In all other stories, we see people coming to Jesus, but here in this moment we learn that Jesus will come to us – even if that places is in Samaria.
Why would a woman go to the well during the middle of the day? Woman went in groups for safety and to talk with their friends. This woman probably came at noon to avoid them. She hides her shame by coming to the well during the hot part of the day when nobody else would be around. Being a Samaritan woman, her status in town must have been one of the least respected. This woman at Jacob’s well isn’t even given a name in the Bible. Two times this woman is called the "Samaritan woman" or, in other translations, a "woman of Samaria" (John 4:7, 9). There is also the fact that she is not exactly well-to-do. Women of influence and affluence did not draw water from wells in those times. Then there is the inescapable hint of a disreputable life - She has had five husbands, and the man she is now with is not her husband (at a minimum, they are not married; at the worst, she is actually sleeping with some other woman’s husband).
An ordinary man could not know these things about her. She reasons from what He has told her that He could go on to tell her virtually everything she has ever done. Her sexual sins may be only the “tip of the iceberg,” but she is convinced He knows the whole iceberg. And she is right! But, she did not want to talk about her sin. For that matter does anyone?
She talked about the argument between the Jews and the Samaritans - She talked about the right place for worship. Jesus replied that a new time was coming and people would not worship at either place instead they would worship God in spirit and truth.
Jesus has a way of meeting us where we are and offering us what we need. It didn't matter to Jesus that she was a Samaritan, or that she was a woman, or that she was a sinner. When He looked at her, He saw her as a person created in the image of God. Jesus meets her where she is at and He even calls to her first. It is my firm belief that God meets us where we are in our life situation and where we are in our understanding and comprehension and just as she couldn’t hide her sins, we can’t either.
Jesus said it didn't matter where you worship as long as you worship the true God sincerely, in spirit and in truth. Then he came to the real point of the conversation. He told her something he had not told anyone else - He was the Messiah she was expecting. That changed her life completely. She was so excited that she left her water pot and went to the city to tell others about meeting Jesus by the well.
It is in that moment that the disciples return. The returning disciples are shocked to find Jesus talking to a woman not to mention a Samaritan woman. They didn’t dare to question the motives behind Jesus’ actions. They had learned that lesson already and would learn many times over in the time to come.
The woman says, “The Messiah could tell us this truth,” and Jesus replies, “I am in the Messiah.” It dawns on her; He is speaking a truth, He must be the Messiah, and she runs back to the village and tells everyone, “Come, there’s a man at the well who knew all about me, but he doesn’t even know me. Come, you need to come meet him, I think he must be the Messiah.”
This thoroughly powerless woman made such a powerful impression upon Jesus and her own neighbors that John included an interesting eyewitness detail about Jesus' itinerary: "He stayed two days" in Sychar. The woman embraced Jesus as the Messiah and her witness converted many other fellow Samaritans in town. Jesus loves us too much to leave us where we are and who we are so He waits patiently for us. Throughout the Bible it mentions thirsting after the Lord (Psalms 42:1; Isaiah 55:1; Jeremiah 2:13; Zechariah 13:1).
Our bodies hunger and thirst, but so do our spirits thirst for things greater than ourselves. Jesus offers each one of us the "living water" that is the life-giving action of His Spirit. God welcomes every person to drink deeply of what He alone can give us and in contrast to what all our culture offers — money, jobs, prestige, the proper zip code, the best university degree, or the latest diet — that can never satisfy. Jesus came to give this ‘living water’ that leaves us full!
Jesus is waiting by the well of your life.
He is ready to accept you as you are
He is ready to meet you right where you are
He is ready to accept you for who you are today for we are all sinners.
We all need Jesus in our lives. He is ready to offer eternal life to all who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Jesus may be willing to wait, but how long do you have to respond?
Is today the day?
Jesus, we come to you today like the woman at the well. WE are empty. Life has drained us of hope, of joy, of love. Life has left us empty and wanting. Lord, we declare that we believe you are the messiah the one we have been waiting for and we invite you to come and fill us – enter our lives – fill our spirit – that we might never thirst again. AMEN
No comments:
Post a Comment