She was different from Rahab. She was even different from the adulterous woman in that she had had five husbands and she was done having husbands. All she had was a lover, I mean you know how sometimes a husband can be a drag, responsibility and all that. But you know if all you had was a lover, it would be pleasure all the way and no commitments, you could terminate the relationship (If you could call it that) anytime you wanted. But obviously Jesus was not in agreement, He wasn't a judge either, He never even so much as asked the woman to get rid of the lover and become religious, nope, He simply gave her 'Living water' His word.
Jesus was on a journey this day and he stopped by a well and obviously God had spoken to him this time to speak to a woman he shouldn't be speaking to. You know Jesus was Jew right! He should have been observing Jewish tradition, following the status quo but there, he was no rule keeper, love was his guide! Okay he stopped to speak to this woman and instead of preaching at her, he's asking for a drink of water (Verse 4 says 'And he must needs go through Samaria') what does that mean? (NIV says 'Now he had to go through Samaria') implying that there were other routes but apparently God was guiding Him. The Samaritan woman, thinking Jesus did not understand what should be done informed him that 'we don't mix like oil and water...' I mean your people and mine don't have anything to do with one another, society does not allow this.
Jesus ignores her and goes to the crux of the matter, he tells her that if she knew who was asking her for water, she would ask him and he would give her 'living water'
Hold up a minute! Who on earth asks you for something and while you are making excuses on why you can't receive it, he interrupts you and practically begs you to ask him for living water that he would have given you... (God is a good God, imagine a man going about looking for how to do good, he's saying, ask me and I will give it to you, just in case you are scared of asking for what I want to give you. "If you know who is speaking with you now, you would ask me and I would have given you"). I am so glad that God is good!
Notice he talks in the past tense and this woman is so divinely positioned that Jesus would meet her at the well and give her what the whole world needs.
What amazes me so much is that God would direct Jesus' journey so that he meets with a woman by a well to give her living water?
(I declare that I am divinely positioned to receive God's goodness for me and all my family and for my friends too)
This woman is stuck on the physical because honestly, i probably would have thought that way too. I would be thinking, i have the pitcher, you are just a tired man (verse 1-4 says somewhere that Jesus was tired. Tired and still wanting to do the Masters Will) with no pitcher to fetch me water so where do you think you are going to get water from? With what will you get the water?
Jesus who knew what he was talking about then promises her that his water is different from the water everyone else brings that the water he gives '...will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life' (John 4:14NIV). The woman takes a leap of faith and then says give me this water so I don't have to keep coming here to draw water.
What Jesus should have done now is bring out his magic pitcher or whatever it was he was going to use to fetch water (assuming we were dealing with the physical) Right? Wrong!
Jesus now goes on and asks her to go and call her husband and come back.
I would probably have been angry cause you have been enticing me with this special thing that would quench my thirst forever and now that i want it, you are asking for my husband but she doesn't, she tell him instead she said that she has no husband and it is true but she probably wanted to say she was unmarried, you know all the half truths we tell all the time.
Jesus then goes on and tells her pointblank that she has had 5 husbands and that the current beau is a lover. She simply acknowledges that Jesus very well might be a prophet. She then tells him the squabbles the Jews have with the Samaritans about the location of worship. Jesus then tells her that soon we would be worshiping in spirit and in truth seeing that God is a spirit. The woman then tells Jesus that she has heard about 'a messiah' and that when he comes he would explain everything to us.
Jesus then said simply '...I who speak to you am He' (John 4:26)
(Is it not amazing that he didn't say, woman, you have had five husbands and a lover and i have come to jugde you and soon hailstones will be falling on your head, he simply says he is the messiah and tells her how we ought to worship God and that is the solution apparently because the next thing we know, she is an evangelist, telling everyone in her town about this Jesus)
His disciples return immediately and then the woman does a strange thing, she leaves her water jar and goes into the town telling people that they should come see a man who told her everything she ever did that could this be the Christ?
It is funny that a whole town would flock out on one woman's word to come and see Jesus. The bible records that many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the woman's story. All he told her was 'i am he...' and i bet she did believe, you don't go calling people on hearsay, she believed but left it open for the others to believe.
I wonder why she would believe and the pharisees would not, why would a Samaritan town believe because honestly, i know Jesus gave them no physical water to drink, what he did give them was his words.
It then records that when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them and he stayed two days, not for food or because he was good looking but because of his words.
Is the word of God a quencher of the thirst inside you. Scriptures say 'out of our bellies shall flow rivers of living water...'
I sometimes wonder, where does the river of living water flow through? Our anus, or our mouths (I mean we have only that many exits from our body).
I am glad to announce to you that it is our mouth, whether it is tongue (speaking in tongues) or just speaking, our mouth ought to be blessing and we (i) really ought to abstain from back biting, gossiping or just running people down. It is so not cool!
Jesus words caused a woman to go to a town telling about him and the people begged him to stay with them because of his words again. What do people remember about you, about your words, not when you are on a stage or in the presence of admirers but from the people closest to you?
God has given us eternal life in his son, we have the ability to worship him in spirit and in truth, we have the comforter living in us 24/7. I put it to you that we are a breathing, walking, doing good Jesus on this earth, we give out eternal life, eternal verities just by our speech that is why our speech ought to be disciplined and our thoughts too...
The Samaritan woman is my inspiration for the week, she believed a simple 'i am he', i want to believe Jesus every moment and to live with this relationship we have really, knowing that he is not just a Jesus in some book but a person who is wholly concerned about me and the way i live my life and just loves me crazily. He justs wants to do good!
Jesus is my role model, i want to talk like he talks and act like he acts, everyday because i am living and producing the same living water he was producing.
I never want a farce, a fake life, a life that is not genuine, i won't stand for it! I am glad for living water that is in me! I give out life, i am a life-giving spirit
Jesus is just awesome!
(c) Tisha Smith
(c) Tisha Smith
