John 4:5-14
Misconceptions are very common in our lives especially when
we are dealing with our thoughts about God and the way that He works. The Jews had many misconceptions about
Messiah and what He would be like. They
had many traditions that had been established through the years and it was almost
impossible for them to consider anything outside of those beliefs. They had a very limited view of who could be
acceptable to God and had a very short sighted view of what in meant to be
accepted by God. Jesus did not conform
to any of these traditions and as we study His life and ministry we begin to
see just how many misconceptions there were about who He was and what He had
come to do. We too struggle with these
same types of misconceptions. God has a
mission that He desires to accomplish in the world today. As believers we are expected to be fully
engaged in that mission. Too often we
begin to focus on our own little world and our own lives instead of looking to
the eternal destiny of the nations.
There are many lessons that we can learn about God and His mission from
the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan Woman. We will look at two of those lessons today.
THE GOSPEL IS FOR EVERYONE: The Gospel is offered to all
people without discrimination. The fact
that Jesus decided to go through Samaria on His way to Galilee was very unusual
for the Jews of that day. Samaritans
were seen as half-breeds and completely undesirable. Most Jews would go out of their way to avoid
going through Samaria. When Jesus
decided to stop outside of the city for a rest this was even more surprising. While Jesus is resting by the well the
Samaritan woman comes to draw water. She
must have been surprised to see a Jewish man sitting at the well at that time
of day. It was rare for a Jew to come
through the city, much less stop. What
Jesus does next is even more surprising: He asks her for a drink of water. It was a complete surprise to her for a
Jewish man to ask a Samaritan woman for anything. She is completely surprised by the way Jesus
was treating her. Jesus wanted to
demonstrate that God loves and desires to be reconciled with people of all
nations, all races and all genders. This
is the mission that God is looking to accomplish in the world today. We are all the most comfortable when we are
associating with people who are similar to us.
God calls us to break out of our comfort zone and be engaged in His
mission. We must never discriminate as
we proclaim the Gospel and we need to be intentional proactive in taking the
Gospel to those who are different than us.
THE GOSPEL IS FOR EVERMORE: The Gospel makes an offer that
is eternal in duration. It is so easy
for us to become focused on the immediate.
The Samaritan woman was surprised when Jesus talked to her in the first
place; but she was even more taken aback when He started talking about living
water that would quench her thirst forever.
She could not take her mind off of the water in the well and all the
work it took to draw water from it. She
is immediately interested in this water because it would bring her relief from difficult
work. Jesus wants her to begin looking
at and living life from an eternal perspective.
The goal of the Gospel is not to provide temporary comfort and relief
from difficult circumstances in our immediate circumstances. God wants to give us eternal life in His
presence where we are perfectly reconciled to Him through faith in Jesus. Since “earthly life” is all that we know and
experience today it is easy for us to begin to focus on it instead of “eternal
life.” Food, water, rest and comfort are
all desirable and even necessary aspects of our lives on earth. But we must not allow these things to take
priority over that which is eternal.
Following Christ will often involve pain, suffering, hardship, illness
and even premature death. All of these
things ought to fade from our minds when we consider the glory of
eternity. God’s grace reaches beyond the
scope of our lives on earth and promises us a future that is eternal and
glorious for all who trust Christ.
APPLICATION: Do not get stuck in the rut of thinking that we
can only share Christ with people who are similar to us. Look for people that are very different from
us and make an effort to befriend them and show them the love of Jesus. Make God’s mission a higher priority than our
own comfort. Live in light of
eternity. Don’t allow the sufferings of
our present circumstances discourage or distract us from the mission God has
called us to advance.
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