Message: In John 4 Jesus takes his disciples
through Samaria. This was no-no territory for the Jews. They did not associate
with the Samaritans and they hated them. And considered the unclean.Jesus
went to a well and sent his disciples to get some food at a nearby village. It
seems he set them off on this errand so he could have this encounter with the
woman at the well. That encounter was so personal that it may not have gone
well had the disciples been for it. It proved to be probably the most powerful
encounter of any that we read about because even though Jesus didn’t perform a
miraculous sign for this woman, like he had every other story, he got her
attention when he revealed what he knew about her. She was so moved that she
left her water at the well and told the village people about Jesus. When they heard
her story they came to see for themselves and they believed.
Promise: I can take Jesus at his word.
Warning: Even if I ask for a sign, I won’t be
fully convinced and will probably want another one just like the Jews.
Application: I love this story because Jesus met
the woman where she was and he didn’t deny her issues. He called them out right
there and she didn’t get offended. Instead it drew her attention and her
testimony impacted the whole village
without a single sign. Jesus was constantly slamming the Jews for wanting a
sign in order to believe. My challenge to
myself is to take Jesus at his word and quit asking me to prove things to me.
Her trust impacted an entire village! I wonder what my trust could do if I
actually took him at his word!