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5 So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. 7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." 8 (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, "Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." 11 The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" 13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." 15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." 16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." 17 The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, "I have no husband'; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" 19 The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." 25 The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." 26 Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you." 27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?" 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29 "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?" 30 They left the city and were on their way to him. 31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, eat something." 32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." 33 So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him something to eat?" 34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35 Do you not say, "Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36 The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, "One sows and another reaps.' 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor." 39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I have ever done." 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world." (John 4:5-42 NRSV)
Happy Monday dear Friend! While that may sound like an oxymoron, for believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, His presence and peace in our hearts helps us face whatever today, tomorrow and forever may hold, for He holds us! I ask prayers for this old man as this coming Sunday, the 15th of March, I will be preaching at the three worship services at First UMC of Bastrop, Texas, using this text. May God give me the words and the grace as I preach His holy word.
It was about two years ago during this time of year that Nellie and I were in the chapel over Jacob's Well. Tour groups from all over the world crowded in to see this famous well. It has been there thousands of years as it is attributed to Jacob (Genesis 33:18-20). Lines allowed those who wanted a chance to drink from common buckets that were lowered and raised up from the water. We could imagine that that ancient well even today, was holy because our Lord sat by it. There is much to be said about this entire passage. It is a long passage, but it contains an entire important story we must know. The first is that the history of the Jews and the Samaritans is tainted. During the times of Jesus, there was little to no interaction between the two racial groups. Though they shared a somewhat common faith, the racial and historical differences were enough for either group to cross the street in order to avoid the other. That is why we see her asking Jesus, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" Good question. Jesus had asked of her, as she approached to draw water, for a drink. That's another consideration; Jesus would have had to drink from her bucket, which was strictly forbidden by custom and Jewish law. But the interaction shows us that Jesus respected no boundaries or borders. His mission had been to save the world, which means all people. And Jesus' request was not so much for a drink of water as an opening for Him to offer this woman the gift He brought to the world. He says, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." Jesus further explains,"those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." God makes it easy for all to understand that life requires water and bread, and both are used as symbols of the life without end that Jesus offers. Here at this significant well, the Samaritan woman who came to seek water for his thirst encounters He who offers living water.
We soon find that this woman had been looking for the fullness of life in the wrong places. Jesus knew her and her weaknesses in her life. He simply asks her to go and call her husband and return back with him. She replied that she does not have a husband. Jesus counters that she is telling the truth in saying she has no husband, and that she has had five husbands, and the one she had at the present time was not her husband. Jesus gives her credit for telling the truth. The moment is awkward as she is like the proverbial deer in the headlights. She thinks,then changes the subject, and declares Jesus to be a prophet. And that the mountain on which they were standing had special significance to her ancestors, and reminds Jesus that for the Jews, Jerusalem was the place for worship. Jesus again counters with the truth and tells her that the hour was fast approaching when they would not worship the Father neither on the mountain or in Jerusalem. And further, "You worship what you do not know, "for salvation is from the Jews; and the hour is coming, is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
This was a harvest moment. Jesus, as I mentioned above, has crossed a very obvious border that forbade interaction between Jew and Samaritan, but He did it to share the Good News with her. She detects the spiritual nature of Jesus and when He shares her life's weakness she believes Him to be a prophet. Jesus shares the truth of the living water that He could share with her and she's willing to hear more. The disciples arrive, and she returns to her village to share with all there, that she had found a man who told her about all she had ever done. She even asks, "He cannot be the Messiah, can he?" The disciples realizing they may have taken a bit longer on their excursion to secure food for Jesus encourage Him to eat and He replies that His food is to do the will of God.
When the Samaritans arrive to where Jesus and the Twelve are, they listen to Him and invite Him to stay with them for two days. And during those two days many came to faith because of what Jesus shared with them about His mission and ministry. And they said, "We know that this is truly the Savior of the world."
While in the Holy Land, we were taken to a Samaritan village where their high priest lives and leads their worship. Sadly, the high priest was away but the assistant priest led us on a tour of their worship space. They have a temple where worship can take place inside, but outside the temple there was a huge pit with iron grills. We were told they still sacrifice animals like Old Testament days, fully cooking the meat as an offering to God, then eating the meat when worship is over. We were also told the total number of Samaritans around the world was only 118. What that number is today I don't know. What we do know is that Jesus had His impact on believers of the area at that time and we trust God to carry on His work on those whose lives impacted others through the ages.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, shine on us Your grace and love. May we see beyond divisions and borders of all kinds, to see opportunities to love as You love, to care as You care. May we truly be ambassadors of love and peace to all. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Share the living waters of Jesus with someone who is thirsty!
Receive my blessings of peace and love,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
BONUS: A young couple planning their wedding meet at a coffee shop to discuss their wedding cake. They had the perfect cake in mind except the bride wanted a Bible verse to top the cake. They searched the scriptures and settled on 1 John 4:18 that reads, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts off fear." The two were so overwhelmed by the beauty and power of this perfect verse they wept and used the napkin on which they had written it. They took it to the baker and told him to place that verse on the wedding cake. On their wedding day, the ceremony was perfect and beautiful and as they entered the reception the two mothers were crying by the wedding cake. The MOB (Mother of the Bride) yelled, "What were you two thinking? Look at this verse!" The couple walked over and read, "For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband." The poor baker did not see that their tears had erased the 1 from 1 John and so went directly to John 4:18. Happy Monday!!
