A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
John 4:7-10 ESV
She preached on this passage today… and she tells us… Jesus took a road less traveled… one a self-respecting Jew wouldn’t have traveled…
Jesus took the long… hard… way through Samaria… to get to Galilee… It’s not the way most Jews would’ve gone… because as the text says… Jews avoided the Samaritans… they had no dealings with them…
But Jesus… He went… where no self-respecting… self-righteous… rabbi would go… As the Rabbi… He went where His Father led Him by the Holy Spirit… and He had an appointment at this particular well… at this particular time…
She went on to tell us this Samaritan woman came to the well this time of day to avoid others… The woman came in the heat of the day… to escape notice… unwanted attention… from those in her community…
But Jesus… met her there… at the well… to bring her good news… news of Living Water…
If you know the rest of the story… you know she rejoiced at being found out… at hearing Him say… I who speak to you am He… the Messiah… the Christ… who was expected by both Jews and Samaritans…
The woman went back to her village and shared the news… shared her testimony of His knowing all about her past… about Him offering Living Water…
So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.
John 4:28-30 ESV
The first evangelist in Samaria… she forgot about drawing water from the well… and drew people out to the Source of Living Water… because what she heard was really… really… really… good news…
And I wonder about those who listen… who don’t hear the good news in His words… who won’t follow Him on the long… hard… way… to where no self-respecting… self- righteous Believer would dare to go…
Do they not know…? have they not heard…? or come face-to-face with the truth…?
For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
Romans 3:22-23 ESV
His news is really good… only if we have embraced the truth… we are really bad… and desperately in need of a Savior…
I say this because I’ve been there… a time when the offer to follow Jesus looked ridiculous… I knew where He ended up… on a painful road… leading to a painful end… hanging on a cross… No thank you…
But today… after following Him 25 years… I hear Him inviting everyone to this well… to let Him reveal your sins to you… so you might receive the Living Water of His grace… just like the woman at the well…
Because the one who preached… told us… Jesus longs to have an encounter with us… in our weariness… in our desire to escape others…
So I challenge you today… Go to the well…
Go to the place where you hide… where you try to escape your past… your present… your future… and see if Jesus shows up…
When He does… don’t run… don’t ignore His presence… engage Him in conversation… let Him reveal your heart… just as He sees it… and receive what He has for you…
Overflowing… everlasting… healing… purifying… grace…
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'”
John 7:37-38 ESV
Come and see… it is… really… really… really… good news…!
Consider reading the whole story… of Jesus and the woman at the well… John 4:1-42… Ask who you are in the story… Listen for what Jesus has to say to you…
[Feature Image Photo by mrjn Photography on Unsplash
Jeremiah's Menu 