The Gospel of John – Part Five
#samaritans #John4 #sadducees
Head – Helpful Information for Understanding Today’s Passage
Chances are, if you know anything at all about Samaritans it likely comes from the story of the Good Samaritan, which Jesus tells in the Gospel of Luke. So familiar is this story that in our culture, Samaritan has come to mean one who does good deeds. But, the story of the Good Samaritan is about a good deed being done by someone from whom you would least expect it.
In the first century, the Samaritans and Jews were two people groups living in hostility to each other. Yet, you and I would hardly be able to tell them apart. They were related ethnically, shared similar regions beliefs, and were culturally much alike. Yet, they knew the differences and these undermined trust and affection. Civility between the two was always low. Things would occasionally turn violent, with one group or the other attacking. Thankfully, it never became a full-blown conflict. But things were usually quite tense. As of today, there are more than a dozen regions where people groups are hostile to each other. Some of these situations will sit and simmer like they do in Tibet and Kashmir. Others will boil over, like they did in Serbia, Rwanda, and now in Ukraine.
Imagine a Ukrainian pastor telling the story of a good Russian or a Palestinian pastor telling the story of the good Israelite. That gives you a pretty good idea of what Jesus’ story meant.
Jesus telling the story of a Good Samaritan sounded strange to his Jewish audience. And a Samaritan prophet telling a story of a good Jew would have sounded strange to that audience.
Read verses 16-18
The second thing I want to tell you about this passage is that we have no idea why the woman at the well had five husbands. We can speculate all we want, but the text does not give us an answer. One curious note is that her story sounds similar to a story we read about in Matthew 22. The Sadducees tell it in order to mock the idea of the resurrection of the body:
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The same day some Sadducees came to him, saying there is no resurrection; and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies childless, his brother shall marry the widow, and raise up children for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us; the first married, and died childless, leaving the widow to his brother. The second did the same, so also the third, down to the seventh. Last of all, the woman herself died. In the resurrection, then, whose wife of the seven will she be? For all of them had married her.”
Did this woman have five husbands who all died at a young age? Was she the victim of a serial of divorces, initiated by men who thought they had a right to getting rid of a wife the way one might get rid of an old car? Or was this woman unable to stay faithful in a marriage? We simply don’t know. And, if she were no longer married, the most likely explanation of her current situation is that she was probably living with a brother or another male relative.
Whatever the explanation, life had not turned out the way she had hoped. Sad as it is to say, not all every dream comes true. Life does not always unfold the way we expect. And this was true for the woman in our story.
Read verses 21-29
Heart
Jesus knows a receptive heart when he sees one and he goes to the places where hope is needed most. He begins a conversation with the woman at the well. It is an odd and socially inappropriate thing for him to be talking with a non-related female in public. But he does, because he’s Jesus. And he begins to speak into her heart. He begins to speak purpose into her life. He validates her. He asks for her help. All of these things reinforce her basic humanity and worth.
Jesus ask her for a drink of water. She is stunned that a Jewish man would do this, and she questions him for doing so. He says to her, “If you knew who was speaking to you, you would ask him and he would give you Living water.” In other words, Jesus uses this opportunity to speak to her about her own needs. She is confused. What does he mean? But Jesus then begins to speak to her about the condition of her very soul, something he could not know without supernatural insight. Jesus knows her like he knows each of us. But, it is at this moment that the Holy Spirit moves in her heart and she realizes who he is. This is the real miracle. Of course, Jesus, our creator knows who we are. But it takes a work of the Holy Spirit for our eyes to open and recognize who he is . #holyspirit
When our spiritual eyes open, we must act on what God reveals. This experience is called spiritual awakening; but not everyone who wakes up stays awake. Some choose to close their eyes, forget what they have seen, and go back to sleep.
That is why the book of Hebrews quotes Psalm 95:8, saying, “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart.” God will pursue, but he will not overwhelm. Even when the experience is quite powerful, like it was with Paul and Jonah, God will not persist if the person continues to resist. Go back and read the end of the book of Jonah. The sad ending of the book is that it is unclear if Jonah will shut his heart to God. The book does not resolve the tension or answer the question.
In First Timothy, Paul writes to encourage his young protégé, Timothy. And he says, “I am giving you these instructions, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, having faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith.” Even though powerful words have been spoken over Timothy, he must decide whether or not to live into them.
Just because someone is awaken spiriutually and comes to know Jesus does not mean that they cannot again shut their eyes and harden their hearts. When the Holy Spirit awakens someone, that person must then respond to what is now known and seen. The woman at the well does respond and her faith comes alive and begins to set the region ablaze, as she goes off to tell others about Jesus.
When she goes off to tell her neighbors about Jesus, “She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! Could he be the Messiah?” They left the city and made their way to see Jesus.”
Hands – The greatest response we can make to Jesus is to imitate the woman at the well. When she meets the One who can make sense of this life, she goes off to tell others about the One who can do the same thing for them. In other words, Jesus goes to where hope is needed most and when it is offered and received, the one who receives cannot keep it for herself alone. She knows that others deserve to hear the news for themselves. And so, she goes where hope is needed most.
The church is most like Jesus when it goes to the places where hope is needed most. When we visit the sick and the dying, we are imitating Jesus. When we feed the hungry, teach children to read, lend a listening ear to someone who is struggling, we are imitating Jesus and joining him in his own work.
In fact, John Wesley, in his sermon on Matthew 25, said that serving others who are in need is one of the most reliable ways to experience the presence of God. If you are running a little empty in the spiritual life, or if God seems distant, one of the very best ways to rekindle that spark, and draw near to God is to go to the few places where is guaranteed to be found; among those who need hope the most.
Here is how Jesus himself put it:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Do you want to find Jesus? Do you want to experience the presence of God. I can tell you where you will find him. Among the people, and in the places where hope is needed most.