“The world ofsinners loved by God includes not just respectable insiders seeking truth
(Nicodemus) but broken outsiders running from the truth (the Samaritan woman).
None of us are beyond the need of God’s grace and none of us are beyond the
reach of God’s grace. Jesus has come to seek and to save both the “found”,
those who presume they already have a relationship with God, and the lost,”
those who realize they don’t.”
This passage of scripture is profoundly beautiful to me.
I think in order to fully enter into the text we must place ourselves in the
Samaritan woman’s shoes. She was looking for love & life in all the wrong
places. Can you relate? I know I can. Before Christ I was constantly running
after that which would bring fulfillment and satisfaction. I was ambitious: I
had to be the best student, most accomplished gymnast, most fit, prom
princess…you name it and I wanted to achieve it. I was running after these
things to bring some sense of satisfaction, and when I achieved all of them I
was left feeling empty.
“For my people
have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
Jeremiah 2:13
To seek and search for such fulfillment and end up empty
can leave one feeling devoid of hope. It leaves one asking the question: is it
possible to find that joy and satisfaction that our hearts crave?
Perhaps the Samaritan woman was wrestling with this
question as she went from man to man…would she ever find the life her heart longed
for?
In this story we see God’s heart for those who are lost.
We see firsthand how Jesus would speak to someone weighed down in sin. Would he
condemn her? Would God tell her that he hates her sin but loves her? Would he
pass her by as he sees better discipleship prospects? The answer might surprise
you.
First, He speaks to her. This may not seem like a big
deal to you, but it was a HUGE deal in this culture. Jewish religious leaders
limited speaking to women in public. His disciples are even surprised (John 4:27).
Jesus is first confronting sexism. He is showing that women are of value.
He speaks to her and she is surprised. Verse 9 tells us
that Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus is breaking down walls here.
He is not only confronting sexism in this interaction, but also the racism that
was prevalent. No doubt his disciples would have been confused. Jesus is
showing us that God’s heart is not just for the Jews but for the whole world.
He breaks down these walls and He cares for the person. He
does not condemn her, but He invites her into something radically different. He
knows that which will truly satisfy. Those broken cisterns she has been running
to? They will leave her empty, but He has something better. Something eternal.
Something we often miss.
Her offers her "living water". Who is the
fountain of living water? He is the fountain of living water. He is offering
her a relationship with the only One that will bring true satisfaction to her
soul. He is offering her Himself. If we come to believe in Jesus and His death
for us on the cross and resurrection from the dead, He sends the living water
of the Holy Spirit into our hearts. The Holy Spirit is the very one who unites
us with Him.
And He makes this offer to her. This is beautiful. He
knows the depths of her sin and brokenness and He reaches in. That is the kind
of God we have. No sin is too great to repel Him. Nobody is beyond His reach.
Let this encourage you today. God did not send His son into the world to
condemn the world but to save the world through Him (John 3:17). He invites us
into something better. Something satisfying and beautiful. Stop running to
broken cisterns. Come to Him, the fountain of living water and experience the
all satisfying delight of communion with the One True God.
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