Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
We have an intensely personal contact with Jesus in the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4.
(1) He "knew" something--jealousy developing; the Pharisees knew that His disciples were baptizing more people than John the Baptist. He gets out of town for Galilee.
(2) "He needed to go through Samaria." Why? Maybe the shortest route; probably He wanted to win some Samaritans.
(3) It was hot weather, twelve noon, He was walking, "wearied from His journey." You'd be tired, too, and hungry. Jesus, the Son of God, Commander of the heavenly host, has humbled Himself to be one of us! He sits down by the town well, thirsty, hot, tired.
(4) A five-time-loser lady comes to draw some water, flippant in her disdain for a strange man with whom she doesn't want to make eye contact (the man is a Jew). Get the water and get away.
(5) The Savior of the world notices her, cares for her soul. But how to make contact?
(6) Heavenly psychology: ask for a favor--even the heathen can't refuse a drink of water. (But He is doomed to stay thirsty, for in the end she forgets to give it to Him.)
(7) He is "meek and lowly in heart," but promises her the sky--"living water," something the legendary "Messiah" alone will be able to give. But He lets her know He is Somebody. He has caught her with his "hook," she bites.
(8) Then He appears untactful, ungracious, even persnickety--opens a "can of worms" about her marital status. Why not first win her to Christianity and leave her to work out her morals? Why pain her at the beginning? Answer: the Holy Spirit's first job is to "convict of sin," and cohabiting without marriage is. Thus He proves that He is the divine Son of God.
(9) The disciples have left Him while they buy safari groceries in town; coming back, they haven't a clue what's going on. The Samaritans are in process of making an amazing theological discovery.
(10) The Samaritans discover who the disciples' "Master" is, whom they hadn't realized--He is "the Savior of the world." It took Paul years later to explain what that means in his Galatians and Romans.
We are still trying to realize who He is--is He the Savior of the world, or has He merely made an offer to be?
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 11, 2006.
Copyright © 2011 by "Dial Daily Bread."
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