The Samaritan Woman

Last night, I had the awesome opportunity to get together with a couple friends and have a study on a passage of scripture. Each person came prepared to the study by reading the chosen passage fully and in detail. Unfortunately, I didn't do my homework. i hadn't even looked at the passage once before going. I was even contemplating the idea of not going. I hadn't gone for weeks to the study and for some reason last night, I felt that I just had to go. I felt that if I did not go, I would be missing out on something great- something valuable that I could use in my daily walk. Boy was I glad I went!

If the title hadn't given it away to you yet, the passage we focused on was John 4 verse 4-42, the account of the Samaritan Woman. As usual we started off with the first verse in the passage-verse 4. Little did we know that by this little verse is where we would stay for the next hour. At the end of the study, I was simply amazed. I have no other words to describe how amazing it was just to see how much I learned from this one teeny tiny so often overlooked verse.

John 4:4 you ready for it? Here it is:

4."And He had to pass through Samaria."

"What?" you say. "You spent one hour, on...THAT?" Trust me, if I were reading by myself I definitely would not have spent an hour on that verse. I would have looked right past it and ran straight to the part where He met the lady. Each person present at the study brought different truths to the table that they gained during their personal study. Here is a compilation of all the wonderful lessons I was glad I didn't miss out on.

The first observation is that Jesus Had to pass through Samaria. That tiny word- Had, gives a world of meaning to that sentence. Jesus was on his way to Galilee and just like today, there are more than one ways to reach a certain area. Normally, Jews would travel on another road with the sole purpose of avoiding Samaria. The Samaritans..they were, well...Samaritans. Ew, filthy, wicked, immoral. The very name-Samaria means "Watchtower", or "Guardianship". And the place where Jesus went, Sychar, well that means "Drunken". The Jews wouldn't dare think of associate with a Samaritan let alone travel through their country. It was a preposterous notion! So what do we see our Lord doing and why is He doing this strange thing? You can see here that He's going against the norm. Think about it, when wasn't He doing a strange thing like going against all preconceived notions of how things were supposed to be done? But why exactly would he take the road through Samaria? The answer is quite extraordinary- For one soul. Yes, for ONE SOUL. 

Jesus had a purpose in mind for taking the road that He did. Jesus was willing to break any barrier be it racial, traditional or cultural all for the sake of one soul. He is God. He knew what the circumstance would be. He knew that the Samaritan woman would come to draw water at that exact well, at that exact time. And He knew that through her, the message about the Messiah could be spread to others in that town just like her.

 

Like Jesus, do we ever pay attention to our circumstances and with perspective? Let me expand on that statement. Jesus knew the circumstance right? He knew what was going to happen and what was happening. And we already stated that He had a purpose in doing what He did- to spread the good news and ultimately bring glory to God. Although we don't know what will happen, we know what's happening. In daily encounters or conversations, God could be lining one up for you in your circumstance but we may not have the right perspective to handle it in the right way. So a heart that might be open to receiving the Gospel would be left out in the cold world while we fail to realize our circumstance with the right perspective. (I hope you have understood that I'm talking about sharing Christ to others) Jesus did exactly that with the Samaritan woman. 

But many times its so hard for us to talk to others about Christ. We already touched upon the fact that Christ was willing to break any barrier (racial, cultural or traditional) for the sake of one soul. What we must realize is that when God looks at people, He doesn't see a person. He sees a SOUL. That one's lost, that one's mine, that soul is saved, that soul is perishing. When Christ saw that woman at the well, He saw a perishing soul. What's more? When He saw that perishing soul, He didn't rush up to her exclaiming, "I am the Christ!! Believe in me and be saved!!" No, our Lord asked her for a sip of water. In our day to day life, if we're looking to share Christ with others, we can't expect to share Christ with that person and nothing else. We must see the soul but at the same time, love the person. Most people won't even accept a cup of water from a stranger let alone someone who is known to be immoral. It's amazing that Christ is willing to sit, talk, share a cup of water with her. He showed his love to her before explaining who He was. If we have any hope of bringing souls to Christ, we must also show Christ-like love to them. 

Christ had the wisdom to speak to her. He knew exactly what to say to her, something familiar to her of-course. The mountain where she worshiped is a well known topic to her. He didn't talk about far fetched things that would be hard for her to understand. When talking to people about Christ, we must try to talk in a way that the hearer will understand. 

Christ came to Samaria. Christ met her where she was at, even though the hour was late and He didn't expect her to come in search for Him.When sharing the Gospel with others, don't expect a homerun every time. You may be one piece on that person's journey. But hey, remember that you're being used-and God will honor you for that desire to be used. 

So some take home challenges I got from this:

Christ took the path through Samaria for a reason. Even though it was uncomfortable and out of the norm, He took it. My prayer should be to be comfortable with uncomfortableness. 

Christ had the wisdom to deal with people and the right words to say. I can get that same wisdom as long as I'm in the book and out of the picture.

Christ knew the circumstance and handled it with perspective. I should pray and actively look for the circumstance (opportunities to share) and have the right perspective (I may not get a home-run but I'll still be in the game).

I don't know whose reading this, but whatever I just wrote, hopefully it encourages you as much as it is encouraging me. I hope that by writing this post, I can look back at this throughout the week and remind myself of all the great truths I learned last night from this one tiny verse. I don't wanna be 90% interpretation, 10% observation and 0% application. If you remember me after reading, please say a prayer that I can actually use this in my day to day life. Also, I want to add that none of what I wrote above were my ideas or what I came up with. Let me remind you, I've read that one verse plenty of times before and never have I spent an hour dwelling or meditating on that verse. This is simply what the Spirit revealed to the people at the study last night. It's truly a blessing from God to be surrounded with and learn from people who are actively seeking the heart of God. Last night showed me exactly how much juice can be squeezed from one verse and trust me there was more to be squeezed. It's truly is a testament to how rich the word of God is.