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Dig into the Scripture

Proper etiquette is called on as Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman. As a man talking to a woman, it would only be proper to speak with her husband. His request also put her on the spot, and she was forced to admit her unmarried situation. Although she didn’t yet admit to any more than she had to.

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’;

Jesus knew her condition completely. He doesn’t pull any punches, or ignore the elephant in the room. He tells her what she has avoided confessing thus far. Namely, her sin, and the reason she was an outcast, even among her own people. . she was a 5 time loser in the marital department, and starting her next one off in a sinful condition.

18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

What would you do if a total stranger just told you about some of the most personal, and private matters in your life? Would you think he was a prophet? Would you try to blow smoke to hide the matter, or change the topic to one that was controversial enough to take the focus off the tender spot? , one that you possibly didn’t really care about. But would be right up the religious alley of a prophet? That’s what this woman did/

19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

Jesus isn’t falling for it. He knows the time has come for his kingdom/ it’s not a matter of place. God is everywhere. He let her know her religion was confused. Her people had bad theology. There is no other way, but for salvation to come from the Jews. A historical fact for people of the time, and it is Jesus himself who is the only door to salvation for the world. He doesn’t condemn her, but lets her know its time to worship in spirit and truth. God the father is looking for those who are looking for him.

21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
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 is seeking such people to worship him.

What does it mean to worship in spirit? He knows the heart and mind. There is no lying to God. We need to be completely open in coming to him. There isn’t any hiding, he already knows all those secret sins, so admit them freely to him.

24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Calling on her religious upbringing, the woman laid it on the line. She knew about Messiah, and his role at demystifying life’s secrets. But Jesus is more than that/

25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”

Jesus openly told her that he is indeed the Messiah she was told about. This represents a challenge. In the other gospels, Jesus went out of his way to keep his identity a secret. For religious Jews to hear such a claim would be dangerous. For Samaritans though, the time was right. They were ready for the news. It’s not that Jesus didn’t reveal himself on a few occasions, but not often, usually in parable, or in letting his listener draw their own conclusions as the Holy Spirit led.

26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Where had the disciples gone? Why did it take all of them to go to town to find food? They may have been right to be surprised at his talking to this strange woman, but they respected Jesus to let it be, and not ask questions.

27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”

The woman took the moment to slip back into town,. as she discretely left the disciples, she sounded the alarm to any who would hear… Messiah had come. Come and see! Did you notice? In her excitement, she forgot her water jar. Water was her purpose in going to the well, but she was the purpose Jesus picked this unlikely route, to meet her at this particular well.

28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,
29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

For such deep theological matters, the men wouldn’t want to simply take the word of an outcast woman. They began coming from the town to see Jesus first hand.

30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

As the transition between the woman’s departure. And the arrival of the men, the disciples concern was the welfare of their master. Eat. What kind of food did he have that didn’t know about? How about spiritual food? Has someone brought Jesus food? Jesus, the son of God, the bread of life, the well to drink and thirst no more. To do the will of God was all the food he needed.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
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, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

It’s now Jesus turn for redirection from a trivial topic to an eternal one. Just as a seasonal harvest has its proper time, the spiritual harvest of the Samaritans was at hand. None of the disciples had asked about the Samaritans,. Or seemed to care much for them, other than to do business to buy food.

35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

Jesus must have seen the Samaritan men rushing toward him as a field of ripe grain, ready to harvest. The pay off was now, for those who reaped, and for those who sowed the seed of truth so long ago. The disciples could help now, in reaping, being paid, and celebrating in the new additions to the kingdom.

36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and 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.”

Due to one humble testimony of the woman, and direct contact with Jesus, many came into his eternal kingdom that day. The men of the town responded to her announcement, but their faith isn’t rooted in the word of another, or secondhand information. They all received direct contact with Jesus the Messiah.

Is your faith built on the word of a parent, or friend, or a Sunday school teacher you barely see once a week? The seed has been planted. Its a start. It’s time to come and see Jesus for yourself. Here’s how you do it. Open your bible, and read his words for yourself. Not just the letters in red, all the words are his. All the words of the prophets, and the apostle’s who wrote scripture are his. Come into direct contact with Jesus. And for those hard sayings and challenges, find fellow believers, and be an active disciple, learning from, and encouraging one another.

39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”
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 indeed the Savior of the world.”

Invite Jesus to stay, and he’ll stay for longer than only two days. Through his Holy Spirit, he’ll stay with you forever.

Credits:
Scripture in the show notes is from the English Standard Version (ESV).

Scripture in the podcast is from the KJV.

Thanks to our favored bible teacher, J Vernon McGee. His ministry is still go8ing strong, visit and support Through the Bible ministries.

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