WORDS OF WISDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT WE SHOULD LEARN FROM THE WOMAN AT THE WELL!!!!!!!!!! The story of the nameless Samaritan woman at the well, recorded only in the Gospel of John, is a revealing one, full of many truths and powerful lessons for us today. The woman at the well follows on the heels of Jesus interaction with Nicodemus, a Pharisee and prominent member of the Jewish Sanhedrin (John 3:1-21; cf. John 4:4-42) we read about Jesus conversation with a line Samaritan woman who had come to get water from a well (known as Jacobs well) located about a half mile from the city of Sychar in Samara. This was an extraordinary woman, not so much because was a Samaritan, a race of people that the Jews utterly despised as having no claim on their God, but because she was an outcast and looked down upon by her own people. This is evidence by the fact that she came alone to draw water from the community well when during biblical times drawing ester and chatting sat the well was the social highpoint of a womans day. However, this woman was ostracized and marked as immoral, and unmarried woman living openly with the fifth in a series of men. In spite of the similarities in the two meetings with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman, there are differences in the way Jesus unveiled grace to them. While Nicodemus needed to see himself as a sinner in order to understand grace, the Samaritan woman, who knew she was a sinner, needed to see herself as a person of worth and value. And this provides us with one of the most powerful lessons in all of Scripture. This story teaches us that God finds us worthy of His love in spite of our bankrupt lives. God values us enough to actively seek us, to welcome us to intimacy, and to rejoice in our worship. As a result of Jesus conversation, only a person like the Samaritan woman, an outcast from get own people, could understand what this means. To be wanted, to be cared for when no one, not even herself, could see anything of value in her, this is grace indeed. But there are many other valuable truths we learn from this story. We learn that: 1) Only through Jesus can we obtain and receive eternal life (John 4:13-14; John 14:6) 2) Jesus ministering to the outcasts of the Jewish society (the Samaritans), reveals that all people are valuable to God and that Jesus desires that we demonstrate love to everyone, including our enemies (Matthew 5:44; John 4:7-9). 3) Jesus is the Messiah (Matthew 27:22; Luke 2:11; John 1:41; 4:25-26) 4) Those who worship God, worship Him in Spirit and truth (Psalm 145:8; John 4:23-24) 5) Our testimony about Jesus is the midst powerful tool we have to less others to believe in Jesus, And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, he told me all that I ever did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abide there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world (John 4:39-42). Additionally, we learn that Jesus dialogue with the woman at the well presents us with three absolute truths about salvation: 1) Salvation comes only to those who recognize their desperate need for the spiritual life they do not have. Living water can be obtained only by those who recognize that they are spiritually thirsty. 2) Salvation comes only to those who confess and repent of their sins and desires forgiveness. Before this immoral woman could embrace the Saviour, she had to concede the full burden of her sins. 3) Salvation comes only to those who take hold of Jesus as their Messiah. For the absolute truth is that salvation is found in no one else (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Do you thirst for water? Follow Jesus, Hes the refreshing stream of water that will quench your thirst!
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 19:31:11 +0000
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