Say what God?

This morning as I forced myself to push away my enthralling book, my buzzing phone, even my neglected journal in order to open that living, life-giving book: my Bible. I continue in my reading plan through John is this was next on the reading plan.

A Samaritan Woman Meets Her Messiah

4 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), 3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 But He needed to go through Samaria.

And you'll find out why!

5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied [Jesus was human after all!] from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jews had no dealings with Samaritan men, let alone a Samaritan woman, who held the lowest status of a Samaritan in the day!

10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

My Bible footnote says: "Living water springs from an unfailing source (Jesus, God) and is ever-flowing. Jesus, of course, was talking about eternal life."

11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

1. How often is God talking about the spiritual aspects of life while we call Him crazy, seeing only the physical?

2. To her question, Jesus had every right to say, "YES! I am greater than Jacob, I am your Messiah!" but he deals with this woman much differently. He shows her through their conversation that He most certainly IS the Messiah. (Messiah= savior, liberator)

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

How often is Jesus addressing the spiritual and we are focused on the physical? This isn't a wrist-slapper or anything, nothing that we need to punish ourselves for, it's part of our broken humanity, but it's just interesting to think about!

As I was reading this passage this morning I kept thinking, this happens with me more than I realize! God tells me to do something or says something to me and I'm caught up on the physical side of things.

 

For example:

 

He calls me into youth ministry. I'm thinking, "Uh huh, aaaaaaand? What else? Something's gotta pay the bills God, where is my profession going to come into play?"

 

For this the Bible says, "19Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:19-21).

 

This passage is saying, "Don't give priority to this, but give priority to that." Don't give priority to finances, but give priority to what I've called you to.

 

I do and guess what happens, the money comes together. It just does! People who have been in the actively in the faith for some time will attest to this!

 

And yet when I'm reading Jesus interacting with the disciples, I see how easy it is for them, like me, to get caught up with the physical. Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman about eternal life, about filling that hole in her life that she had been trying to fill with marriage after marriage, and the woman is caught up in the worries of this life.

 

But Jesus deals with her with all loving-kindness, patience, gentleness, goodness--with her best intentions in mind until He declares Himself to be the Messiah she has been waiting for, she believes, runs back into the village, relays all that she's just been told, and her whole city is believes and is saved.

 

I think Jesus had a spiritual purpose behind needing to go through Samaria, don't you? (Jesus was going from Judea to Galilee, but Jews often traveled along the Jordan River to avoid the detested Samaritans.) It would appear that God, through the physical, is doing a lot of spiritual work that He wants to see and participate in.

 

Prayer: Lord, give us spiritual eyes to see what You are doing in every person, in every situation, in every household Father. Thank You for relating the physical to the spiritual throughout Your living Word so that we could begin to grasp at what You are up to spiritually. Today may we see Your spiritual activity that we could be a part of it. We long to know You more. Amen.