Day 10 - John 4:1-18
17 Jan 2017
John is the master of the double meaning. He writes statements that can be taken one way, only for the reader to realise they should be read another. Verse 4 is one of those stamens. “And he (Jesus) had to pass through Samaria”. Yes, it is true Jesus is travelling to Galilee. The quickest route was through Samaria. Yet as we read this chapter we see that was not the only reason Jesus came to this town. He also had a divine appointment with this woman.
As we’ve seen, John is showing us what belief in Jesus looks like. It may surprise us though that we see it in a woman like this. After all, a man like Nicodemus was a likely candidate for faith in Christ. He was respected. He knew the Scriptures. In contrast We don’t even know this woman’s name. She was a Samaritan (looked down on by the Jews as they had strange views about God and the Old Testament). She was a woman - Jewish rabbi’s avoided speaking to the opposite sex. Worst still, she had a past. 5 husbands……and more. Yet Jesus goes out of his way to speak to her.
Jesus brings a challenge to this woman. The conversation in verses 7-15 looks at the start as if it is just about water (after all, they are at a well in the heat of the day). However Jesus is really talking about himself. Just as every human being needs water, every human being needs Jesus. We are spiritual as well as physical beings, created for him. Jesus has come to satisfy that deepest of all needs.
Yet why does this woman not come to Jesus? Jesus explains in verses 16-18. It may seem tactless to bring up her marriages. We might be tempted to think he does it simply to condemn her adultery. But it is likely he does it to show how she has been trying to satisfy that deepest need in her life. We try and satisfy ourselves with all kinds of things - money, career, entertainment. This woman may have been using relationships. But they don’t truly satisfy, all they do is quench (for a time) our thirst for Jesus (the one who really can satisfy us).
Where are you trying to find true satisfaction? In Jesus? Or in something else?