Daily Bread 2010 - John 4
Daily Bread 2010 – John 4
Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman
1The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
11"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Jesus went through Samaria, which used to be the capital of the Northern Kingdom of the tribes of Israel. But as the temple was destroyed in 733 B.C., it became of a mixture of all kinds of ethnicities. At the time of Jesus, the Jews living in Samaria could have had some Jewish roots mixed in with the indigenous people of Samaria. Since these Jews were not purely of Jewish descent, Jewish law would have dictated that Jesus observe distance, especially with a woman.
But Jesus sees this woman’s true need. She needed the “living water” that only he could provide. Jesus knows this woman’s past, and so he continues to engage her and reveal her true need. He realizes that she has tried to find meaning in relationships and the five husbands she has gone through show that she isn’t very good at doing relationships. The woman is intrigued and eventually reveals that the Samaritans are also looking for the Messiah. At the end of the conversation, Jesus reveals that He is the One they are looking for. She goes and tells her friends about Jesus.
We see today as well, many people look for ultimate meaning in a relationship. Although relationships with our family and spouses and children are of utmost importance, they do not fill the need in our soul for our relationship with God through Christ. People who think that by getting married all their needs will be met will either have adjust that attitude, or try to make their spouse someone they were never intended to be…God!!
God, we thank you for relationships: relationships with our family, friends and members in the church. Help us to put these relationships in their proper perspective as gifts from you, but not a replacement for our relationship with You. Help us to love others around us out of the love you give us, as we drink of the living water You provide in Your Son. In His name we pray, Amen
Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman
1The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
11"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Jesus went through Samaria, which used to be the capital of the Northern Kingdom of the tribes of Israel. But as the temple was destroyed in 733 B.C., it became of a mixture of all kinds of ethnicities. At the time of Jesus, the Jews living in Samaria could have had some Jewish roots mixed in with the indigenous people of Samaria. Since these Jews were not purely of Jewish descent, Jewish law would have dictated that Jesus observe distance, especially with a woman.
But Jesus sees this woman’s true need. She needed the “living water” that only he could provide. Jesus knows this woman’s past, and so he continues to engage her and reveal her true need. He realizes that she has tried to find meaning in relationships and the five husbands she has gone through show that she isn’t very good at doing relationships. The woman is intrigued and eventually reveals that the Samaritans are also looking for the Messiah. At the end of the conversation, Jesus reveals that He is the One they are looking for. She goes and tells her friends about Jesus.
We see today as well, many people look for ultimate meaning in a relationship. Although relationships with our family and spouses and children are of utmost importance, they do not fill the need in our soul for our relationship with God through Christ. People who think that by getting married all their needs will be met will either have adjust that attitude, or try to make their spouse someone they were never intended to be…God!!
God, we thank you for relationships: relationships with our family, friends and members in the church. Help us to put these relationships in their proper perspective as gifts from you, but not a replacement for our relationship with You. Help us to love others around us out of the love you give us, as we drink of the living water You provide in Your Son. In His name we pray, Amen
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