June 21, 2005

 

…so He came to a city of Samaria…near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. And it was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” … Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

--John 4:4-10

 

Many of you have probably heard of the Good Samaritan who came alongside and took care of the man who was broken and wounded on the Jericho road. But today I want to tell you about the “Bad Samaritan.” She is the lady mentioned in the passage of Scripture above.

 

Jesus met this woman by divine appointment at Jacob’s well. This woman came to the well in the middle of the day at the hottest hour indicating she was a despised woman in her own community. She was immoral. She had been married five times, and the man she was living with at the time was not her husband. She had a terrible reputation.

 

When Jesus told her to give Him a drink, she was cynical in the question she followed with. She must have been wondering if He was trying to hit on her, since she got that all the time from other men who met her by the well. That’s when Jesus dropped the bombshell—He zeroed in on her greatest need, looked beyond her scorn, and went right after her heart.

 

You, like this woman, may have tried all kinds of things to quench your thirst and you may have been to many wells in your life. Maybe you identify with the woman’s immorality. Her beauty had probably faded and sin had hardened her face. She had no doubt cried out many times in brokenness. She had been chewed up and spit out by society, but yet she found herself face-to-face with Holiness in that moment. And instead of condemnation, God offered her a way out.

 

If you are in search of living water, then look to Jesus. This passage of Scripture doesn’t stop here, but instead it goes on to tell of great victory and triumph over sin through forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. I’ll talk more about this tomorrow. But for today, ask God to bring you to a place where you can meet Him face-to-face with all of your sin and all of His glory, so healing can take place.

 

YOU MAY HAVE BEEN DUMPED BY THE WORLD AND WASTED AWAY IN LIFE,

BUT JESUS CAN QUENCH YOUR THIRST WITH A DRINK OF LIVING WATER.