John 4:39

As a result of the encounter Jesus has with the woman at the well, many of the Samaritans in town put their trust in Him solely on the basis of the woman’s simple testimony, “The Man told me everything about myself!” John 4:39 EFP

Talk about a harvest!  The clueless disciples are undoubtedly amazed as the reality of the events of the day become apparent.  All they saw earlier that day was an unsavory woman talking with Jesus who upon their righteous and pompous arrival run off as if on a mission.  She even forgot her water jar in her rush to escape from their threatening presence.

Now they see an avalanche of people, young and old, come out to meet the Man who “told [the woman] everything about her” without ever having met her before.  They come out in droves; it seems that way considering Sychar is just a little town!  This is the harvest Jesus has been talking about.  I don’t know what they are thinking, but it must have been a combination of elation and joy and amazement and awe.  They get a taste for what it means to sow souls for life.  They get a front row seat as the power of the Gospel makes an appearance.  It must have been a festive moment—a veritable party in Sychar.  The kingdom of God announced by John the Baptist has now arrived in the hamlet where Jacob had once dug a well, not knowing that one day springs of living water would gush from that very spot and flood the entire city.

There is something special about hearing words of love, compassion, and hope from someone who knows everything about you.  God, whom Jesus came to reveal, knows everything about me.  He has seen me at my worst.  He has heard the unspoken words that inhabit my mind and often escape into my conscious thoughts.  He knows my checkered past.  He knows my tortured journey.  He sees beyond the veneer of my soul.  But he also sees me through His divine eyes of love.  I am that soul baked underneath the sun of censure and failure.  I also bear that solitary semblance of shame.  I come to the well of promise but it does not deliver.  I keep coming back, but it only serves to remind me that I will have to come again—my parched soul demands it.  But I, as the woman at the well, am rescued from the coals of condemnation and given a taste of everlasting water.  I will come back for more, and bring others with me, not because I have to, but because I want to have and share more and more and more.  I pray my witness and testimony will also cause others to place their trust in Jesus—my Savior, and my Lord.

John 4:38

“I am the one who sends you to harvest what others have worked hard to prepare for you.  You didn’t do anything to get the fields ready.  All you do is reap the benefits of their hard labor.” John 4:38 EFP

No doubt Jesus sees things differently than me.  This statement is so typical of Him.  Think about it—hasn’t he been describing the path from the sowing to the harvest of souls for the kingdom?  Has he not strongly implied that in light of the events of the day with the Samaritan woman he is reaping what others have sown?  Is there not a strong hint that John the Baptist is the one who has prepared the way for the success of that specific day and many more to come?  And then this statement….”I send you to reap the benefits….”

I send you to reap the benefits.  Yes, Jesus is talking about the future, but he is throwing in the events of the day in the mix.  He is modeling the concept of “who gets the credit.”  In the previous verse we see the concept of “all the credit is God’s.”  Today we see Jesus model “the credit is everyone’s.”  The disciples were out foraging for bread!  They come back and wonder out loud what Jesus is doing with “the woman.”  What do they do?  Nothing!  But Jesus includes them in the reaping.  They are there—that’s it, but they share in the benefits of the reaping time.  They probably don’t totally get the concept that day, but in time they will.  If their Master could share the credit with them, when in fact they have had no substantive or direct impact on the results of the day, should they not also learn that the work is not about the credit, it’s about the harvest.  We all share the credit, and then we give it to God!

The disciples still have a lot to learn about sharing credit.  So do I.  They are still trying to figure out this kingdom where credit and position do not matter.  It’s not about temporal power or societal prestige or human recognition.  It’s all about God’s power, and His prestige, and His recognition. Jesus once said, “In the same way let your light shine for those around you as you do good works, so that those who see them will recognize the heavenly Father in you, and give him glory.” (Matthew 5:16 EFP)  I do well to internalize this example.  It is one of the occupational hazards of ministry.  He gets the credit.  He shares it with the church.  We give it back.  Only He deserves it.  I like that!

John 4:37

“So you see the adage is true—‘One person reaps what someone else sows. That’s just the way it usually goes!’” John 4:37 EFP
 
Although the adage quoted above is not a classic rhyme as is the example above, it is nonetheless a well-known verse Jesus quotes.  He is pointing out the obvious to his clueless disciples—this is not a new concept.  You may not have seen the process in its entirety, but it still is what is taking place.  Someone else sowed the seed that I am reaping today.

The disciples are confused because they only see what is before them.  They have not been paying attention over the past few weeks since they joined the band of Messianic brothers.  Had they been more observant they would have picked up the clues from John the Baptist’s preaching that he was setting the stage for something greater and more earth-shaking.  John had even said, “The One who comes after me will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.”  (Matthew 3:11)  That’s pretty specific.

But there is an added perspective here.  It refers to the insignificance of who gets the credit.  There is no “bean-counting” in the kingdom when it comes to credit.  There is no running tally on the souls ushered into the kingdom for the sake of providing earthly or heavenly recognition.  The credit is 100 percent God’s!  Who God chooses to use to plant the seed; to water the seedling; to weed the maturing plants; or to harvest the crop is meaningless because is it God who chooses and equips the workers.  The work is His. The souls are His.  The Spirit is His. The credit is His.  I simply ride the crest of the divine wave and rejoice that I can be witness to His life-giving reaping of souls for the Kingdom.

John 4:36

“Even as we speak the reaper of souls for life is drawing his wages.  He is now presently harvesting souls for eternal life.  This is reason to celebrate for both the one who sows the seed and the one who reaps the fruit of their labor!” John 4:36 EFP

I have always associated the reaper of souls with a negative connotation. The black-hooded and faceless character with a sickle in his hand (her hand?) doing the dastardly death duty.  It just goes to prove how twisted is the material that emanates from the demonic PR department.  Here Jesus is referring to himself as the “reaper of souls”, not for death but for life.  The disciples are out hunting for bread to eat while Jesus, the reaper of souls for life eternal, is busy at work doing what he has been called to do.

Jesus uses some very interesting language in describing this reaping.  For one he refers to the reaper “drawing his wages.”  What are the wages he draws?  If Jesus is the reaper of souls for life, what are the wages he receives?  I can only surmise from my limited perspective that he is referring to the woman, who even as they speak, is running to her village to share of the encounter she had with someone who appears to be the Messiah.  The harvest has already begun.  Every day of his ministry is reaping time.  By that definition John can be considered the sower.  He is the one who prepared the way for the Messiah.  He plants the seeds of repentance; Jesus comes and begins to reap souls for His Kingdom.  John never totally grasps the breadth of his work or the far-reaching impact of the ministry of the One who came after him.  He dies before the first-fruits are harvested.

The message given by Jesus to his disciples does not end with them.  It remains for me today.  It doesn’t matter who sows the seed or who reaps the harvest; what matters most is that there is a harvest.  The celebration is for those who take part in the labor that leads to the harvest.  Everyone has a part—large or small only from our perspective.  In God’s eyes the labor is equally valuable and the celebration for the souls saved is equally shared by all who experience the joy of seeking and saving the lost.  This is not a labor done to gain salvation or to earn God’s favor.  It is a labor of love done to share the salvation bestowed by God on us to others who are searching for more than the dry and desolate existence masquerading as the life they have endured.  Showers of blessings are upon us now!  Let’s get the word out.

John 4:35

“Haven’t I heard you say,” Jesus continues, “’the harvest is just four months in the future?’”  Well then, hear me when I say ‘Open your eyes and you will notice the fields are ready for the harvest today!’” John 4:35 EFP

The disciples, in what would soon become a pattern that would endure throughout Jesus’ ministry, have totally missed the point.  Jesus recognizes an opportunity to “seek and save” a lost soul and all the disciples see is a wasted trip into town.  Jesus anticipates the arrival of a woman who needs to hear good news amidst the arid landscape of a life lived in servitude to a series of men who literally possess her only to dispose of her when they have had their fill.  The latest in the series of men does not even consider her worthy or marriage.  She doesn’t care.  The woman is tapped out.  Jesus brings a sudden torrent of hope to her parched life.  The disciples only see the awkwardness of the moment—a Jewish man in proximity to a Samaritan woman.  What will people say?

Jesus gently rebukes them.  He points out the inconsistency in their ability to prognosticate the harvest long before it arrives, yet their failure to see the promise and potential of a soul ready for the Kingdom.  Their self-interest and prejudice keeps them from appreciating the spiritual landscape of souls waiting to be brought into the storehouse of God.  “Open your eyes!” he challenges his crew.  “You’re missing the opportunity to make a difference!  Open your eyes!”

I wonder how often I’ve needed to hear Jesus telling me to open my eyes.  How many times have I been so consumed by the expedient, that I overlook the important?  How many times while seeking my daily bread and have I missed out on a heavenly sustenance that makes the earthly variety pale into insignificance and irrelevance.  Lord, help me see the opportunities to be used by your Spirit to reach a person for your Kingdom in surprising settings.  May my soul be satisfied by the food Jesus made his daily bread on during his time on earth.

John 4:34

“My food,” Jesus continues, “consists of acting in accordance to the will of the One who sent me to finish the work he entrusted to me.” John 4:34 EFP

Jesus begins to fill out the gaps in the disciples’ understanding.  No need to get all flabbergasted.  “Listen,” he clarifies, “the food I am talking about is not something that is bought or sold. You don’t eat it on a plate and you don’t need a table to serve it up.  It’s a spiritual thing!”  Jesus is in the zone.  He is in a time and space where food doesn’t matter.  He is focused on the prize—on the goal.

Professional athletes and seasoned warriors are familiar with term “In the Zone.”  It’s as if they lose themselves in the competition or in the battle.  They describe it as if they have been raptured up in a dimension where reality is blurred by their complete engagement in the activity at hand.  In Jesus’ case the “zone” is the mission he has taken upon himself.  He knows the purpose.  He is familiar with the mission.  He is very much aware of the stakes.  He knows the plan has been designed in the highest levels of divinity.  Nothing matters more than completing the mission, winning the battle, and retrieving the sequestered race from the clutches of the enemy.

Do I echo the words of Jesus when referring to my purpose on earth?  Do I see my mission as clearly as he did?  Sometimes the thought as overwhelming!  How can I be so swallowed up in the things of God?  Do I even know the task he has assigned me?  Am I consumed by my desire to complete the mission?  I am certainly challenged by the scenario.  I know I want more than I have now!  There has to be more!  Perhaps there is a place where many sit and bask in the glow that comes from above; but few are those that pursue the light with a passion that consumes them until nothing is left but the evidence of their impact on those who were changed by their God-enlightenment.  I want that!  I want to learn to pursue the light and live out His will in me until it consumes me.

John 4:33

The disciples are confused.  They ask each other, “Do you think someone else brought him food while we were gone?” John 4:33 EFP

It’s quite clear that Jesus and his followers are on different planes.  Jesus is talking on a spiritual plane while the disciples are earthbound in their understanding.  Jesus has just finished letting them know that there is a sense of satisfaction that is lost on those who settle for the readily accessible and easily understood.  “You have no idea what I’m talking about, but I have food you haven’t tasted yet!” 

They would someday, but they certainly had no idea what he was talking about at that moment.  When he says he had food they immediately begin to wonder out loud who could have brought him sustenance.  I would not be surprised at all to discover they may have gotten more than a bit annoyed that someone had made their trip into town superfluous.  They may have gone through a number of scenarios, none of which made sense to them.  In the end it doesn’t matter, because they are dealing with the knowledge Jesus has just given them as mere information to be processed.

The apostle Paul would one day echo the sentiment when he says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV)  It is easy to fall prey to merely dealing with the crumbs of a flesh-anchored world when the banquet of the spiritual realm awaits us if we are willing to delve in completely and dig a little deeper into the Word.

John4:32

But Jesus is not interested in food at the moment.  “What you don’t realize,” he responds, “is I have access to food you don’t know about!” John 4:32 EFP

Well, I guess that settles that!  I give the disciples the benefit of the doubt; they are honestly concerned about Jesus level of hunger.  They went to town to find food for themselves and for the Master.  They probably ate already, so their hunger has already been satiated.  They have the food; Jesus is hungry.  Why not eat?  The pesky woman is gone.  There is no one to interrupt the moment. “Eat up, Teacher!” is their logical suggestion.

I wonder how Jesus says these words.  Is he frustrated by their insensitivity towards the woman?  Is he disappointed by their failure to seize the importance of the moment?  Is he saddened by their inability to grasp the reason he had come into the world?  Perhaps it is all of these emotions that are wrapped up in Jesus’ response.  I can see him saying through his melancholic eyes, “You don’t get it, do you? There are things that satisfy my soul more than food ever will.” 

There is a sense of satisfaction that overwhelms all other emotions and needs.  That sense comes from touching a life with the Good News.  Jesus knew it.  The apostle Peter and the preacher Paul both were acquainted with that passion.  Many laid down their lives convinced of this truth. It is a fire in the belly!  It is a deep-seeded passion for saving souls.  It is an unquenchable belief that God calls all his followers to press on, to endure, to persevere, and to give witness to the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  That is Jesus, who in the end valued the lost over his appetite, his safety, and his life. 

John 4:31

Meanwhile back at Jacob’s Well, the disciples approach Jesus.  “Eat something, Rabbi!” they insist.  John 4:31 EFP

Lost in the commotion of arriving disciples, fleeing woman, fast-approaching townspeople, and abandoned pottery, is Jesus.  He has not had a morsel of food to eat all day; and as far as we can tell, he never did get that cup of water from the now-absentee woman.

The disciples do the right thing—they suggest he have something to eat.  They know he probably has not had anything to eat, since that is the reason they went into town.  Now, setting aside their obvious curiosity about the woman at the well, they change the subject to a more palatable one.  They quickly redirect the focus from the woman—the Samaritan cast-off, to something they consider a priority.  Their approach is formal, “Rabbi,” they suggest, “why don’t you take a bite?”  They probably want to pepper him with all sorts of questions about the woman, but they resist.  Instead they go to a safe and more palatable subject—food.

I confess that there are times I overlook the important in favor of the expedient; the significant over the comfortable.  I wonder what I would have done if I found myself in that identical situation.  Would I have asked Jesus, “Hey, what gives?” knowing that I might not want to hear the answer to the question?  Or would I have meandered into the default level-one question in order to avoid having to deal with a matter that may require I actually be interested.  There are things more important and pressing that the things I can see and touch.

John 4:30

The townspeople make their way out of town to meet the stranger.  John 4:30 EFP

I have to hand it to the woman—she is one very convincing lady.  I have no idea what she says.  I do not know who speaks to.  I do not know how many people turn her down.  All I know is that the narrative simply states, “They came out of town and made their way towards him.” (NIV)

There again, this is not just an example of an incredibly convincing woman; this is also a case of a town willing to take a chance on the word of a marginalized woman.  After all, they come out of their homes to meet with a total stranger on no the basis than the rants of a woman of questionable social fiber.  What possesses them to leave their comfort zone in the heat of the afternoon sun?  Is it pure curiosity?  Is it just a slow day in Sychar?  Is the woman that convincing?  Or is there a latent sense of need in their hearts?  Is there something in their souls that resonates with the needs of the fallen woman?  Did they long for the Messiah?  Had their longing been beaten down over the years of disappointments with false teachers and pseudo-spiritual leaders? 

I have to believe that even the most ardent opponent of God has a sliver of longing for something divine.  There is something in all of us that cannot be filled with anything or anyone else other than God.  Life can bash and bruise it.  Disappointment with God because of ignorance, misinformation, or familiarity that breeds contempt shows up in shades of virulent opposition and ritualism—even resignation to a life lived in virtual and vicarious experiences with a feel-good deity of fairy tales and horror stories.  The result is a need that remains unmet until the moment when we hear, feel, experience, or otherwise encounter the Good News of Jesus.  Sometimes that moment is made possible through the mostly unlikely source, even the personal testimony of an unlikely woman with a checkered past.

John 4:29

“Hey, check it out!” she shouts out, “Come meet a man who just told me everything I ever did without my telling him anything about me.  Do you think this could possibly be the Messiah?” John 4:29 EFP

I wonder who the woman approaches first when she goes back into town.  Does she knock on random doors?  Does she go looking for her estranged family members?  Does she find her ex-husbands?  Who does she share this news with?  Just that morning she was the pariah of Sychar—the woman whose existence was hardly acknowledged.  Now she becomes an evangelist? 

A more intriguing thought is, “What do people say back to her?”  How to they react?  Do they think she’s “lost her marbles?”  Do some people slam the door on her?  Do some reply, “Who cares?” Or “Everybody knows everything about you, woman!  Be gone!”  I only know that this woman has some serious “chutzpah.”  Apparently she doesn’t care what they think or say.  She is so blown away with the encounter she has just experienced that she is lost in the moment and she wants everyone else to experience it as well.

The outcast becomes the center of attention.  The marginalized one becomes the one who reaches out.  It’s interesting to note that she doesn’t tell people she has just met the Messiah, she simply invites them to come and find out if perhaps this is the Messiah.  The Messiah can speak for himself—literally.  Where is my passion?  Where is the out-of-my-mind desire to tell everyone I know about the One!  I am being challenged these days to move beyond the often safe and sanitized expressions of faith to which I have become accustomed and into the risky, unpredictable, and maybe even perilous life in the Spirit.  If I am wrestling with God, there is only one outcome possible—He wins!

John 4:28

The woman drops her water jar and runs back to her village carrying only some very exciting news to share. John 4:28 EFP

The woman who arrives every day about noon to the well to draw water goes home without water, and without her water jar.  We are not told whether she suddenly drops it as the significance of the words Jesus utters to her sink in.  She could have carefully put the jar down and then run off, but that seems unlikely.

After all, she just heard the most extraordinary thing she had ever her in all her life!  She just spent time speaking with the Messiah.  More importantly, the Messiah took the time to sit and talk to her.  The conversation she has with Jesus would have been an extraordinary conversation on its own had it just taken place with an interesting Jewish man sitting at noon by the well.  She had learned some thought-provoking concepts, after all.  But the realization that she is in the presence of the Messiah shakes her world.  Nothing matters anymore…or does it?

She does the most extraordinary thing—she runs!  I don’t know, my first reaction would have been to sit down with the Messiah not to run from him.  I have so many questions to ask; stories to enjoy; advice on life to receive; insights into the future to ponder.  But no, not this woman, there is one thing more important to her than sitting with the Master—telling her people about what she just discovered.  In essence, she leaves Jesus in order to tell others about Jesus.  I don’t know if I would have taken the risk.  I probably would have asked Jesus to come with me into town.  The woman takes a big risk.  What if the Messiah is gone when she returns!  I have a sense the woman is right—this Messiah is not going anywhere anytime soon.  He had come to talk to her.  He would be there waiting when she came back with her friends and neighbors. 

John 4:27

It so happens the very moment when Jesus tells the woman he is the Messiah the disciples arrive on the scene.  Finding their Master talking to the woman, they choose not to question either Jesus or the woman with questions such as, “What do you want, woman?” or, “Jesus, why are you talking with this woman?” John 4:27 EFP

I had almost forgotten the disciples were even around at all.  Last time we heard from them they were on their way into town to find something for all of them to eat.  But now they appear at what appears to be the most inopportune moment.  Jesus has just told the woman that the person she is speaking to is the Messiah.  Now the moment appears to be short-circuited from an outsider’s point of view.

To the disciples’ credit, they resist the temptation to question either the woman or the Master as to the reason they are talking at all.  The questions are quite telling, with the potential question aimed at the woman being much more aggressive than the less-threatening question they felt like asking the Master.  I am curious what happened?  What do they do when they see Jesus speaking to the woman?  Are they still speaking?  Does the woman notice the band of brothers approaching?  Does she notice any unwarranted stares from them?  Is she fearful?  Is the comfort elicited by Jesus replaced with a flight reflex?

All I know from this verse is that the flow is broken.  That’s life.  Even in Jesus’ life experience there are examples of his purposes being interrupted by forces outside his control.  This seminal moment has come to a pinnacle and the moment is ruined by events he does not set in motion.  My immediate reaction would be disappointment that such a wonderful opportunity has been derailed.  Satan uses people and circumstances to negatively impact God’s purposes.  For the record, I do not believe Jesus was flabbergasted or unsettled by this interruption.  He knows God works through every circumstance or situation to accomplish his purposes.  I want to be there in my life.  I have a way to go, but I want it bad.

John 4:26

Jesus can hardly wait to say the words, “Woman, you are speaking to the Messiah.” John 4:26 EFP

Ding!  Ding!  Ding!  Ding!  The bells are ringing as the words she has been waiting to hear all her life are uttered in her presence.  Had Jesus led off by saying, “I am the Messiah, give me a drink of water, woman!” she may not have remained long enough to learn anything about the mysteries Jesus is sharing with her.  But because Jesus engaged her from a position of need and used a combination of gentle tugs and less-than-subtle revelations, she is still there in a state of total vulnerability longing to hear more from the Messiah.

“I am the Messiah!” Let the words resonate as they do with the woman.  She needs answers—the Messiah has them.  She needs someone to trust—the Messiah is trustworthy.  But Jesus has let her know the Messiah is much more than that.  The Messiah is the life-giver, the thirst-quencher, and the truth-revealer.  The Messiah is the conduit for salvation for everyone who is confused, thirsty, and death-bound. 

“Like the woman at the well I was seeking…” are the opening words of on old gospel song by Richard Blanchard.  I have either sung or led others in singing the song hundreds of times over the years, yet somehow today they ring as they have never done before.  I find myself at times like the woman at the well—living, but not quite alive; doing, but not really being; full of answers, but not in touch with the truth; going through the motions hoping deep-down for an encounter with the Messiah, so that he can make sense of it all.  Misguided and misplaced faith causes me to live this way. It is not a God problem—it is a “me” problem.  He is longing for the moment when he can finally break through and say the words, “I’m here—let’s talk.  I’ve been waiting for this moment all your life.”  To which I say, “Fill my Cup, Lord!”

John 4:25

The woman responds, “I have been taught the Messiah is coming soon, and when He comes He will make all these things clear to us.” John 4:25 EFP

The story is now at its apex.  The dramatic anticipation is thick as butter.  Jesus has by now destroyed all the woman’s previously misconceived notions about God, truth, worship, even the Jews. She has no place to hide, as she no longer can find refuge in arguments that have no validity.  She is left without her religious safety net—she is falling hard.

The she throws out her last salvo—the Messiah.  It’s as if she is saying, “You sound pretty convincing, sir, but when the Messiah comes….”  She is either pushing any decision into the future or fishing for a confirmation.  She either needs more information, more clarity of the issues, or she is hoping that she gets the answer she is hoping to get.  “If only the Messiah were here, he’d explain it to me….”

Even as I am tempted to ask, “What more proof does she need?” I am also reminded that I can also be quite obtuse when I don’t really want to make a decision that I know to be right, but that is to unsettling an option to consider.  I ask for more clarity, when it’s already there.  I require more proof, when the evidence clearly confirms it.  I stand convicted again in the presence of my Master.

John 4:24

 “God is spirit,” Jesus sums it up, “So it is necessary that those that worship Him do so in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24 EFP

Jesus repeats the previous statement for emphasis.  But I also believe there is more to it than that.  Remember, Jesus is talking about what is at the core of worship.  He is separating the act of worship from the location where worship takes place.  Jesus is further clarifying that it is what is inside the worshipper that matters to God and not so much the setting in which the worship takes place.

The reason for this emphasis on the intangible is clearly stated here—God is spirit.  He exists in a spiritual realm.  We obviously spend most of our time in the material world, where things, objects, and possessions are admired and valued.  Churches, mosques, temples, and cathedrals are monuments to the inability of man to capture God.  God cannot be contained.  Even the desert tabernacle that exhibited his presence, did not house the Almighty.  He once again repeats the dual elements of worship: spirit and truth.

Without annulling the previous statements regarding the spirit of seeking The Truth being at the center of worship, Jesus expresses it differently here.  Worship is my spiritual search for something—actually someone greater than me.  It is the opportunity for me to be lifted above the mundane and ordinary of life into the extraordinary realm of the divine and supernatural.  Only as I am willing to lose myself in a spiritual experience that seeks to connect with a Truth greater than what I can grasp through natural means can I truly experience worship.  Worship is not a theory to be understood, it is an encounter to be experienced.  I have to chew on this for a while.  Is there a whole other dimension that God is inviting me to enter where I can experience God and not just learn about Him?    I wonder what the woman is thinking right about now.  She’s still listening.  So am I.

John 4:23

“In fact, the time is soon coming—even as we speak,” Jesus is emphatic, “when those who seek to truly worship God the Father will do so in spirit and in truth.  You see, these are two things God values highly in those who worship Him.” John 4:23 EFP

Let’s summarize: Jesus is compelled to pass through the town of Sychar in Samaria to meet a woman of ill-repute who will appear at the well around noon that day.  Upon her arrival he requests of her a cup of water.  She brings up social barriers and he responds by offering her Living water instead, to which she responds by dropping the name of Jacob, the patriarch.  He implies that his water is better than Jacob’s water.  She proceeds to request some of this mystery water from Him, to which he asks her to call her husband, to which she, after hinting that he might be some sort of prophet, asks him if it is best to worship in Samaria or Jerusalem.  After telling her that the Jews have the inside track to the truth he adds that it is because salvation is coming through the Jews, which brings us to this seminal statement. 

Jesus is going back to her original question implicit in her statement about Samaria and Jerusalem.  “Which is better?”  “Which one does God prefer?”  The answer is, “That is irrelevant now.”  Number one, it’s irrelevant because we are talking here.  It doesn’t get any better than this, woman!  God is here.  Secondly, if Jesus were not there, it is not the location, but the spirit in which worship is offered to God and the truth onto which it is anchored, that makes worship…well, worship.  The two go together—spirit and truth.

OK.  Spirit and Truth are at the core of worship.  What does that mean?  I understand the text addresses both.  First, the text refers to those who seek—seek to worship God.  That is the spirit in which we approach God—seeking.  What are we seeking?  Truth, of course.  But as we learned before (John 1:14, 17), Jesus is full of truth.  He later states (John 14:6) “I Am the Truth….”  We are the seekers.  We are the ones in need of salvation.  John 8:32 sums it up when Jesus says, “The Truth shall set you free.”  Truth is not a doctrine—but all doctrine flows from Truth—a person.  Worship is the seeker seeking after The Truth.  And by beholding the Lamb, we are changed.  Worship is a gift we offer to God that changes us in the end. Wow!

John 4:22

“You worship God from your limited vantage point,” Jesus adds, “and we Jews worship God from a more informed position.  That may sound harsh, but there is a reason for this—salvation will come to everyone through the Jewish people.” John 4:22 EFP
 
Wow!  This must have been difficult for the woman to hear.  It even seems to have a twinge of superiority mixed in for good measure.  But Jesus says it without hesitation or apparent compunction.  He seems to be saying, “The Jews have the front row seats and the Samaritans are in the balcony.”  It could be argued, “At least they’re in the building!”  I doubt that is much comfort if you’re told you are by design in the “back of the bus.”

I can’t accept that Jesus was making a social statement and saying this is the way it is and will remain.  That may have ended the conversation in its tracks if it had been perceived that way by the Samaritan woman.  Yet Jesus is pretty much telling her, “You can’t see the entire picture from where you’re standing.”  Maybe she is about to turn on her heels and go back into town.  “Just another bigoted Jew!” she may entertained the thought.  But Jesus, never one to miss any possibility, follows up with “But there’s a reason for this…and it’s to your advantage.”  He then proceeds to make a veiled prediction of his death when he declares, “Salvation will come to all from the Jewish people.”  He is referring to himself!  That brings her back.  He’s talking salvation to all—not just the Jews.  He’s offering hope—not given just to the faultless.  He’s providing living water—for everyone without respect for power, position, or past; enough for even her!

Had she left half way through the statement she would have lost out on the Good News.  If her ears had shut down right after “your perspective is limited, compared to the Jews” she would have totally missed the “salvation to all” statement that followed.  It’s a danger I risk every time I read a tough passage in Scripture and don’t bother to follow through with the ensuing ones.  God does not always tell me what I want to hear—but He always has my salvation in mind.  It may be uncomfortable to take in, but I have to stick around for the Good News that will inevitably follow, maybe not when I want it, but it will come.  Why?  Because God is good—all the time.  No exceptions!  If it’s not good, it’s not from God.  Period!  Because even God’s bad (how I see and feel it now) is good (how he sees it now with the end in sight), because He works in all things for my good.

John 4:21

Jesus anticipates the question.  He tells her, “Listen, woman, trust me when I say the time will come when the worship of God will take place neither here or in Jerusalem.” John 4:21 EFP

Well, I guess the question is implicit in her previous statement, though she never really asks it.  “Which mountain is the right one?”  “Which tradition is God’s favorite?”  “Does God prefer Jerusalem or Samaria?”  “I know what your people say, sir, but what do you think God says?”  Jesus hears her questions loud and clear. 

Jesus answers with a preface that is equally intriguing.  What does he mean when he says worship will not take place neither in Samaria nor in Jerusalem?  Is this a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jews from Palestine?  Is this a prophecy of a time when worship will actually be absent from the land?  Or is it a descriptive assessment of what is to be in the days to come as a result of the present trajectory of religious bigotry and prejudice?  Will it not matter where you worship?  Is the manner of religious expression or the place of worship not important?  Enquiring minds want to know!

Come think of it, what is Jesus’ message to me?  Is this speaking to me as a spiritual leader of a congregation?  Is this bringing some sort of conviction to my personal veiled claim to religious superiority?  Is it saying religious differences are irrelevant?  I don’t think Jesus is going that far, since Scripture is unapologetic about its claim to be authoritative in areas of doctrine and religious practice.  So what is Jesus saying to the woman?  To me?  At this point I have to take him at his word when he says “worship” will not be defined by where it takes place—it is not worship simply because it happens in a place of worship or because someone somewhere has made a unilateral pronouncement.  Just saying something is worship does not mean such a declaration is honored by God.  Too much damage has been done to too many people by religious individuals who claim exclusive access to God, His will, and even his tastes.  You do not have to be religious to do evil, but when evil is done in the name of God, it becomes particularly heinous and disturbing to me.  I pray I will not fall into that temptation as I lead others.

John 4:20

“I have a question for you, sir,” the woman adds as her curiosity is piqued, “Our ancestors have worshipped on this very mountain for many generations; you Jews, on the other hand, say Jerusalem is the only appropriate place to worship.”  John 4:20 EFP

Obviously, this is not the woman’s question, but it is a very curious preface to her impending query.  I find it curious this is her first question after recognizing the extraordinary man to whom she is speaking is possibly a prophet. She could have begun this next phase of their conversation any way she wanted, but she chooses to talk about religious preferences.  I wonder why?

With all the personal stuff she is wrestling with, why bring up religious differences between people of common descent?  It must have been something that had been gnawing at her for years, maybe most of her life.  When did she first realize the schism between the southern and the northern people?  When did she pick up that her people were considered “less-than” the people of Judah.  Was she ever told the reasons?  Did she understand the history?  Is it just more fogging on her part?  Is it safer for her to talk about religious strife than personal struggles?  Maybe it is a combination of all these.

I believe these deep-seeded prejudices against her had left their mark.  Religious superiority leaves scars on both the perpetrators and the victims.  I am a Seventh-day Adventist.  I believe in the sanctity of the Sabbath.  I believe in a literal and visible second coming of Christ.  I can recite the list of doctrines that make my faith significant to me.  But does what I believe become the compound that separates and protects me from other “less-than” Adventists?  Is preference the definition of superior?  What is evident is that in the times of Jesus the lines of religious demarcation were already in place.  Things haven’t changed much today.  The question has not even been asked yet, and I am already looking forward to the answer.

John 4:19

“Sir,” the woman says with a mixture of awe and angst, “I get the sense you are a prophet of sorts.”  John 4:19 EFP

The woman is giving in, but not more than she has to.  The Man has just revealed to her information he could not have known without some external intervention she can’t presently explain.  She senses something extraordinary is taking place and that this man she is talking to is no ordinary man.

Yet the best she can come up with, or is willing to concede, is not “Wow, you are a prophet of God!”  No, she responds cautiously; she takes measured steps in his direction.  “I get the feeling you are a perhaps a prophet.” It’s almost as if she wants to say, “Nice trick there—I see you have special abilities…but.”  She is not going to give in again to some smooth-talking man who says all the right things just to get her to open up and let him into her life.  Her track record is not good with men.  She has not quite figured out what this stranger is selling or what he’s after, but she still has her defenses up and they are not coming down any sooner than they have to.

The God Jesus has come to reveal to the world, however, is one who takes the initiative—a God who is on a “seek and rescue” mission.  He will try anything and more to draw me into a conversation of any kind, with the hope of reeling me into a relationship with him.  It seems implausible to believe Almighty God would be the one who seeks out mere mortals to make them his friends.  Yet I am the one with all the hesitation, the weak excuses, the veiled resistance, and outright rebellion.  “I get the sense that you are God…but….” I stammer and hedge.  I may be intrigued, curious, and even humbled, but I am not quite ready to let go of my past and give God entry to my personal space even when I recognize He has already been there.  Why am I so cautious?  What makes me afraid to give in?  Why is He so stubborn and persistent?

John 4:18

“The fact is although you’ve had five husbands, you are presently living with one who isn’t.  So, yes, you are technically telling the truth when you say you don’t have a husband.” John 4:18 EFP

Boom!  Can you imagine what races through the woman’s mind when Jesus utters these words?  Does she gasp?  Does she have one of those “let the earth open up and swallow me” moments?  Do her eyes well up with tears of embarrassment?

I’d like to think that Jesus speaks in such a way that it makes her smile sheepishly.  Like a very much loved little girl caught at the wrong time with her hands in the cookie jar of cookies meant for her.  She knows at that moment that she is guilty as charged, but she does not feel threatened or afraid.  The Samaritan’s heart is pounding and her brow is glistening under the bright noonday sun, but it is not out of fear, but out of excitement.

There is a holy fear invading her soul.  Like the guilty pair in the garden hiding from their Loving Creator, so the woman now stands before the one who knows her best and loves her most, disarmed, defenseless, but unlike the fallen couple, I don’t think she feels afraid.  His point is not to frighten her, but to let her know that she didn’t need to play games.  He knows!  Everything!  But he is not there to condemn but to save her. Boy, the grief I could save myself, if I could only grasp that concept, and internalize it.  God is here with me, there is no need to hide; he is not on a search and destroy mission—he’s on a search and rescue mission for me!

John 4:17

“I don’t have a husband!” the woman answers curtly. Jesus smiles back at the woman and replies, “Well, what you say is technically true—you indeed have no husband.” John 4:17 EFP

“I don’t have a husband!” is the initial and gut-level response of this wounded woman’s soul.  Denial!  Defense mechanism!  Fogging!  We’ve all done it at some point in our lives.  “I don’t have a problem!”  “I can handle my drinking!” “Porn doesn’t affect me at all—it’s just a stress-reliever!”  The woman could just as easily said, “Mind your own business!” 

Jesus simply asks her to bring her husband and she denies she has one—which, as far as we know, may be true.  We can’t get ahead of ourselves.  Shakespeare’s words in Hamlet would have been appropriate at this moment, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks….”  But most of us, most of the time, would rather throw out a blanket denial than address an area of growth with anyone, especially a stranger.  But denial simply pushes the splinter deeper into our thick skin of complacency, where it can fester and infect surrounding areas.

But note Jesus’ initial response.  Without really knowing what he is going to say next, he begins by affirming her statement—“I have no husband.”  He does not call her a liar.  He does not blow up her obvious attempt to protect herself.  He finds a way to disarm her.  “OK”, he may have thought to himself, “You want t play a little game?”  But he does not unmask her immediately, he affirms her assertion is true, albeit technically.  Jesus displays the heart of his Father, who is always seeking to engage us in a conversation.  He is the pursuer; I am the pursued.  When I throw up excuses or weak defenses in the face of his asking to intervene, He is patient and never overbearing.  But he doesn’t give up.  I, for one, am very thankful.