A Woman at Jacob's Well

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

Tuesday, October 30, 2012         A Woman at Jacob's Well 

Page 63-64   Matthew 4:12, Mark 1:14a, John 4:1-42

Samaria is a region of land between Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee. The inhabitants believed they could trace their ancestry all the way back to Abraham, just as the Jews did. However, the Samaritans did not practice their religious faith in the same manner as the Jews, and since the Jews had returned to Israel from exile in Babylon several centuries before, there had been enmity between the Jews and Samaritans.

In today’s passage, Jesus is ignoring many of the social customs shared by the Jews and Samaritans to make the point that God has opened his Kingdom to all people, everywhere. (Devout Jewish men did not have social interactions with women in a public setting, certainly not if they were alone, and most certainly not with a Samaritan.) As we will see however, while the invitation is delivered to people as they are, to accept the invitation and enter into the Kingdom of God, it is necessary to turn your life around, and embrace the values of God’s Kingdom, just as this Samaritan woman did!

The phrase ‘living water’ was a common way of referring to running water, as in a stream or river. Such water was considered to be pure and fresh as compared to standing water in a pond or well. Jesus was telling the woman that worshipping God in truth and spirit was not about where you worshipped. It meant turning away from her present life, which was symbolized as stagnant water, and receiving God’s new life, which Jesus symbolized as living water.

Today people still grossly misunderstand Jesus’ simple teaching to the Samaritan woman. Many people love their local church or denomination (or non-denomination) more than they love the Kingdom of God. Many people think worshipping God in truth and spirit can be accomplished apart from God’s chosen means to build his Kingdom, which is through the local church.

The Samaritan revival began so innocently. The woman simply told her neighbors and friends how she had experienced Jesus. She had no great theological insights or understanding. She had an encounter with Jesus and told others about her wonderful experience. Can starting revivals be so simple?

Jesus’ visit to Samaria ends with an important statement. “Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world”” (John 4:42). The Samaritan woman’s experience served as an invitation to her neighbors to come and see for themselves that Jesus is the Messiah. This statement evidences the personal responsibility exercised by the woman’s neighbors. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he teaches “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate” (Matthew 7:13).  The narrow gate opens when we make our own personal confession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah.

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

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The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

October 31, 2012    I Was Welcomed in Galilee & Healed a Nobleman's Son

Page 67-68   Matthew 4:13-17; Mark 1:14b-15; Luke 4:14a, 31a; John 4:43-54