November
13,
2023 Monday
Message:
John
4:7
NLT: “Soon
a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Please
give me a drink.”
John
Ch. 4 begins with an account of Jesus’ encounter with the Woman at
the Well. Those
26 verses teach about non-Jews accepting Christ. So this week, let’s
look at what happened that day and how it applies to us.
Jesus
hometown was in Galilee, in the northern part of Israel.
But
the Temple was in Jerusalem, in Judea, far to the south.
In
between the two was Samaria, and most Jews had no time for
Samaritans. The Jews were a prejudiced lot, dismissing outsiders, and
in fact outright avoiding them. Jews were God’s ‘chosen people,’
and no one else mattered.
Galilee
is straight north of Jerusalem. But if
a Jew had to travel from Jerusalem to Galilee, they
typically wouldn’t
head north. They would go west a considerable distance to the
Mediterranean Sea, then north up the coastline, and finally east to
Galilee, adding about a third to the distance traveled, but avoiding
Samaria.
Jesus
and his disciples, on the other hand,
took
the short route straight through the middle of Samaria, arriving at
the village of Sychar.
Jesus
settled beside Jacob’s well while the disciples searched for food.
A Samaritan woman approached, and Jesus asked if she could ladle him
something to drink.
There
are several lessons here.
First,
if more people are to learn about Jesus, learn about salvation, we
might find ourselves speaking to people we’d
normally avoid. It’s the right thing to do. It’s what Jesus did!
The
fact
that
the woman was from Samaria didn’t prevent Jesus from spreading the
Good News. Next thing – she was a woman and Jesus was a man, and it
wasn’t customary for
people
of the opposite sex to strike up a conversation, to dialog with one
another.
It
wasn’t considered ‘proper.’ Again
this custom didn’t inhibit Jesus or the woman.
The
last
thing is that she in fact gave Jesus the water. Her life was a mess,
but she had a heart of gold.
She
chose to do the next right thing, traditions and laws be damned!
She
got Jesus the water he needed. They probably shared the same ladle!
Jesus
told believers to take the Good News to all nations, so don’t be
surprised if you find yourself with people who don’t look like you,
dress like you or speak like you.
Accept
the mission on which God sent you.
Don’t
let bad rules or outdated traditions slow the spread of the Gospel.
And
when in doubt, be helpful. Do the next right thing. That’s what
Jesus and the woman did.
More
tomorrow!
Blessings!
Pastor
Norton Lawellin
Jesus
in the City Fellowship
