Gtcotr/ss041821
This morning we are going to be reading a passage from the fourth chapter of the Gospel of John. While you’re finding our text let me share a couple of pictures with you. I apologize for their quality, but it was a hazy day.
This is a picture overlooking the modern-day city of Nablus. Nablus is situated in a valley between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, about 35 to 40 miles north of Jerusalem in the region of Israel we know as Samaria.
The Bible refers to this city by a few other names. You may have read about the city of Shechem where Abraham built his first altar to Jehovah after entering the land God promised to give to him and his descendants. This is that city of Shechem. In fact, if you look closely near the bottom of the picture, just a little left of center, you may see a ring of stones. This is the spot where Abraham built his first altar recorded in Genesis 12.
Here is a closer view of the archeological ruins of the altar.
The city is also referred to in the Gospel of John as the city of Sychar. Today about 800 Samaritans still live on this hillside in the city of Samaria, just above the old city of Sychar. Some years ago we produced several television programs from this place. This is the site of the first mission outreach from the first Church in Jerusalem in which Deacon Phillip, turned Evangelist Phillip, went down to Samaria and preached Christ to them and they all got saved. You can read about it in Acts 8.
This area is such a Bible rich place. Jacob originally bought a piece of ground from a man named Shechem. 450 years later the children of Israel buried the bones of Joseph here when they conquered the Land of Canaan under Joshua’s leadership. For several years now, this area has been under radical Palestinian control and it has not been a safe place for people to visit. However, the tomb of Joseph is still an attraction for those who brave the journey under armed guard. The last time I visited Nablus, 14 or the 18 political seats were held by members of Hamas. Nonetheless, there are about 800 Samaritans who still live and worship in the old city of Samaria which sits on the top of Mount Gerizim overlooking Nablus.
There
are several other important biblical sites associated with this relatively
small piece of land in Israel. One of which is Jacob’s
well.
If you will look closely at this picture you can see in the very middle a larger building with several little red dome-type roofs. This building is built over Jacob’s well. This well supplied water for Jacob and his sons as well as their sheep. During the New Testament period, and still today, the Samaritans believed they were the original descendants of Jacob and therefore rightful heirs to the covenant of God instead of the Jews who worshipped in Jerusalem.
The Jews in Jesus’ time, and indeed even today, believe the Samaritans are not the true or pure descendants of Jacob but were a mixed race of people who were living and worshipping in doctrinal error. Jews who traveled from the Galilee region to Jerusalem avoided traveling through Samaria out of concern they might become unclean and therefore unable to enter the temple to participate in feasts or prayers once they arrived in Jerusalem.
Suffice it to say the Samaritans didn’t like the Jews either and so they were continually divided over racial and religious lines. Both groups believed the other group to be prejudice and intolerant. They both worship Jehovah but won’t worship together. How silly is that!
It seems that early in the second year of Jesus’ ministry, He and His disciples went to Jerusalem. No doubt they followed the preferred route along the eastern bank of the Jordan River southward to Jericho and then up from there to the city of Jerusalem avoiding Samaria all together. The journey took about a week to walk.
Once in Jerusalem, Jesus ministered to people and taught the word with authority and gathered quite a following. When the Pharisees took notice of Jesus and how many people were being baptized, Jesus decided it was time for Him to return to the Galilee and continue His ministry there.
Let’s pick up with this account in John 4:
John 4 NKJV
1 ¶ Therefore, when the Lord
knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples
than John
2 (though Jesus Himself did
not baptize, but His disciples),
3 He left Judea and departed
again to Galilee.
4 ¶ But He needed to go
through Samaria.
5 So He came to a city of
Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his
son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there.
Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well.
It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to
draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
8 For His disciples had gone
away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria
said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan
woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to
her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says 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 nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You
get that living water?
12 “Are You greater than our
father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his
sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to
her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
14 “but whoever drinks of the
water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give
him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
If you have not read this account before or aren’t familiar with it, I encourage you to take some time and familiarize yourself with the whole story. There are so many life principles which can be drawn from the encounter this Samaritan woman had with Jesus.
The response she had to what Jesus offered seems quite normal to me however … what is normal to some people may not be normal to everyone.
During our recent mission’s trip to assist those dealing with the emergency needs of Native American Indian children in Arizona, we were fortunate to have Allan Morrel, a missionary to America from Honduras, lead the daily devotional time for our COTR Team. During one of the morning Bible studies, Allan encouraged us to realize that it should be normal for a Born-Again Believer in Jesus to do the things Jesus asked.
I came away from that time with a greater understanding of what a true encounter with Jesus offers each individual. People who have not met Jesus may feel it is completely normal to be prejudice, or to hate, or to harbor anger or resentment, to steal, to engage in immoral behavior, take drugs, cuss, lie, cheat, or live a selfish or sinful lifestyle.
However, When we meet Jesus, He changes our normal. Something powerful happens. Souls, minds, and hearts are transformed. We are no longer the same and we should begin to act like it.
This Samaritan woman came to the well believing one thing and she left a changed woman. In the rest of the story we find out that the woman had been married five times and was currently living with a man who was not even her husband. No wonder she came to the well at noon, she was most likely an outcast from the community and disallowed to draw water with the women and certainly not with the men! Who wants a husband-stealer at the early morning or late evening daily water drawing event … some man might feel obliged to carry her water home for her.
There is no doubt this woman did not have the best reputation, but something changed her life that day and her witness changed the whole town.
No doubt she had her reasons, and she had her beliefs … but Jesus changed all of that. One minute it was normal for her to hate Jews and the next moment she was introducing everyone she knew to Jesus, the King of Jews.
“Give me this water!”, she said. That’s what any sane and normal person should do when they find something they’ve always longed for but never knew existed. The Good News is, you can still ask for that water and you can still tell others where to find it.
Whoever drinks of Christ receives a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life! You see: When you receive Christ you don’t just get a drink of water, you become the fountain.
Something happens … something miraculous … something life-changing … something everlasting … something so powerful you should not be able to keep it to yourself.
This woman at the well had an experience and she wanted everyone to know it.
If
you are born again and …
·
You
don’t want to tell others about Jesus – that’s not normal.
·
You
don’t want to forgive others – that’s not normal.
·
You
don’t want to go to church – that’s not normal.
·
You
don’t want to read your bible – that’s not normal.
·
You
don’t want to pray – that’s not normal.
· You don’t want to financially support the work of the Lord – that’s not normal.
If
you are born again and …
·
You
are always angry, frustrated, aggravated, irritated, upset, worried, hard to
get along with, or afraid … something’s wrong with you … you aren’t living the normal
life of a Believer.
· The fountain of life within you should not be spewing muddy water.
If
you are born again and you …
·
Are
still getting drunk.
·
Participating
in office gossip.
·
Hate
people because of the color of their skin or their political views.
·
Still
doing drugs.
·
Living
an immoral lifestyle.
·
Cold
or ambivalent towards the things of Christ.
·
If
you are born again and you aren’t trying to make God smile.
·
Are
selfish, demanding, greedy, chasing money.
·
Abusing
others or living in sin
· That’s not normal for a Believer in Jesus or a Follower of Christ.
What can you do about it? Well, it might actually take a little work. Here is what the Holy Spirit gave us through the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:
Ephesians 4
22 Put off, concerning your
former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful
lusts,
23 and be renewed in the
spirit of your mind,
24 and put on the new man
which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let
each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of
one another.
26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the
sun go down on your wrath,
27 nor give place to the devil.
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather
let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have
something to give him who has need.
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your
mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to
the hearers.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by
whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and
evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians
5
1
¶ Therefore be imitators of God as dear
children.
2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering, and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
If you find you aren’t living like a normal follower of Christ should live, I mean like a disciple of Christ … like someone who has received the living waters springing up unto eternal life, here is what you need to do: (this is not a suggestion, it is a command from the Holy Spirit)
1.
Put off the old man.
2.
Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
a. Change your thinking
to think like Jesus.
b. Say no to sin.
3. Put on the new man which was created according to God.
You
can do this and believe me, you and everyone else, including Jesus, will be
happier and better off. Take charge of your life today …
