Often I get overwhelmed as I study and research information on a particular part of scripture.
Sometimes I get annoyed, even grieved at the way a variety of scholars perceive the people in the scripture story and how they interpret those people's needs and actions.
However, as I am not a scholar, but an ordinary person, who has for many years tried to imagine being somewhere in the place where the events are happening, I try to learn from Jesus how to see the people with his and his Father's eyes, and learn from the Holy Spirit how to write what I see.
As John 4:3-26 was the scripture used for the first sermon in October but has bearing on what I'm writing about, I'm going to mention verses from it mixed with verses from John 4:27-42 (NLT).
Jesus explains to the disciples: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work." (vs 34).
Also, (vs 38),
"I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest."
As I see it, doing God's will was why Jesus "had" to go through Samaria on the way from Judah to Galilee, because he, his Father and the Holy Spirit were "the others" that had already done the work of planting the seeds for the harvest.
Also, Jesus was to meet the un-named woman at Jacob's well, ask her courteously for a drink, and thereby open the conversation that led to offering her the gift of "living water" – which symbolizes the Holy Spirit. This led to asking him about himself, (vs 11-12).
When Jesus tells her what the water he gives does in a person, it encourages her to ask him directly for it, (vs 15).
After Jesus tells her what he knows about her life and past relationships, they get in a conversation about where and how to worship, (vs 16-24).
Then the woman said, "I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." (vs 25).
Then Jesus tells her, "I Am the Messiah"! (vs 26)
Thus she becomes the first person to be told directly that Jesus is the Messiah! She also becomes the first person to begin reaping what had been sowed.
The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?" So the people came streaming from the village to see him, (vs 28-30).
I love that the people listened to her, believed her, and came, "streaming" out to see Jesus. And that they begged him, a Jew, to stay in their Samaritan village, and he and, it appears, his Jewish disciples, stayed for two days.
Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, "He told me everything I ever did!" When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world." (vs 39-42).
by Carolyn Schmitt
