August 2009

devotional image
"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
Matthew 6: 28-29


The Samaritan Woman

The Samaritan Woman:  Questions and Statements

 

            During her encounter with Jesus at Jacob's well, the Samaritan woman begins her conversation with the following questions. 

 

"How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?"  John 4:9

 

"Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.  Where then do You get that living water?"  John 4:11

 

"Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?" John 4:12

 

            Next come her statements.

 

"Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." John 4: 15

                       

"I have no husband." John 4:17

           

"Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain,

and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." John 4: 19

           

            The woman's questions, coming first in the narrative, indicate that she is trying to determine just who this Man is.  What's He doing at this well, anyway, telling (not asking!) her to give him a drink? He must be just another one of those self-righteous, self-important Jews she's dealt with in the past.  What does He mean by ordering her around like she's a servant? And can't He see that she comes here at noon instead of in the early morning?  Doesn't He know that she does this to avoid the scorn and harsh words of the other women who disapprove of her lifestyle?  Doesn't He know that she's an outcast?  And then she realizes that He does know.  "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband, in that you spoke truly." John 4: 17b-18. Boy, does He know!  And she is awed and humbled by this, first of all by His knowing,  but more so by His choosing to talk with her anyway.  And He's not just another man seeking her out because of her reputation.  He has no ulterior motives.  He's not one of those falsely religious men who use religion as a cloak for their sin, He's a truly righteous Man.  She's seen few, if any, like Him before. Her heart is softened and I hear the tentative hope in her voice when she says,

 

"I know that Messiah is coming.  When He comes, He will tell us all things." John 4: 25

 

            And then to her, this Samaritan woman of ill repute, Jesus says more clearly and directly than He does to anyone else in recorded Scripture,  "I who speak to you am He."  John 4: 26

            Can you imagine the joy she felt as her heart confirmed what her head had been suggesting might be true? How did she respond?  Well, at this point the disciples returned from the city, so the woman said nothing else to Jesus.  Instead she,

 

". . . left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?"  John 4:29

 

            I see the fact that she left her waterpot as an indication that she accepted Jesus' offer of living water that day. Would she need physical water again?  Of course, but on that day, she had a more excellent water to think about!

            Do you have questions for Jesus?  Are you afraid to ask them because they might sound disrespectful or somehow "wrong" to ask?  Do you believe certain things to be true, or feel angry about things you perceive as injustices, but hesitate to speak about these things to God in prayer?  In the past, I have kept things like that inside and unspoken, but the relief I've felt when I've finally spoken them to God in prayer has been immense.  Of course, He already knew what was in my heart and mind.  My act of telling Him wasn't to inform Him of something He didn't already know.  Telling Him wasn't for His benefit, it was for mine.  Being honest with ourselves about who we are and what we think and feel is the first step toward gaining victory over wrong thoughts and feelings.

            If you have questions, I encourage you to speak them to God with the boldness of the Samaritan woman. Jesus, the One who says, "I who speak to you am He," is waiting to listen and guide you to the answers that will bring you peace.

 

Daye Phillippo

July 2009