John 4:7-14 - Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing

Stay focused on knowing and sharing the gift of God.

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Gospels: Week 8 — Mercy, repentance, and the Good Shepherd

Photo: Kahleed Ashi via Unsplash

CONTEXT: As He travelled back to Galilee, Jesus took a shortcut that led Him into Samaria - distant cousins of the Jews who were looked down on.

John 4:7–26 (NASB95)

⁷ There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

⁹ Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

¹⁰ 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.”

¹¹ She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? ¹² You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?”

¹³ Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

Canons of Dordt

Point II, Article 5: The Mandate to Proclaim the Gospel to All

It is the promise of the gospel that whoever believes in Christ crucified shall not perish but have eternal life. This promise, together with the command to repent and believe, ought to be announced and declared without differentiation or discrimination to all nations and people, to whom God in his good pleasure sends the gospel.

Summary

You've likely learned before from this famous narrative that it was quite shocking for Jesus to be talking to a woman from such a despised, menial background - one who was such an outcast that she was forced to draw water all by herself at a time when the other women had already finished the chore. These things are true enough, and certainly add some depth to the encounter.

But John, as he reports this encounter to us, doesn't seem very fixated upon these ancillary details. You can, if you like, take away a lesson or two about how you should be more open to interact with people far outside of your comfort zone, but that's not really the impetus that John - who's inspired by the Holy Spirit - had for including this conversation in his gospel account.

John, as he recounts what Jesus said, wants you to first notice her ignorance. If you knew the gift of God, Jesus explained to her, your attitude would be much different. Outside of God's grace, all she noticed was Jesus' external features - primarily, His Jewish ethnicity and lack of regard for societal norms. When Jesus offers her living water, all she, unable at this point to recognize God's gift, responds with are the physical barriers preventing its access - the fact that the well is deep and that Jesus had nothing to draw with.

As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that this Samaritan woman has multiple problems and relationship issues, having been rejected by multiple husbands and now sinfully living with another man who'd likely cast her away some day too. Although Jesus makes reference to these things, they're not His primary concern.

It's not that He doesn't care - in fact, this narrative makes His compassion abundantly evident! It's just that Jesus tackles her biggest problem first.

She needed to first know the gift of God - salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone.

  Dig Deeper  

You probably know - or at the very least, encounter - lots of people with lots of big problems. Maybe you're the one with the big problems!

The Bible brings an abundance of good advice and solutions to the practical and pressing problems people experience. So it only makes sense that the better you know your Bible, the better you'll be equipped to apply it to such issues. That's part of the reason for you to keep reading it everyday!

But, like Jesus does here, always be sure to keep the Bible's main thing the main thing. Always first connect people to the gift of God - that is, Jesus - before simply pursuing solutions to their problems. Always do all that you can to point them to this living water which springs up to eternal life, otherwise they'll always thirst again, no matter how valid and Biblical your practical advice may be to them.

What Jesus wanted this Samaritan woman to know, and what the Holy Spirit - through the Apostle John - wants you to know is the same conclusion that this woman would soon come to herself: that Jesus is the Christ sent to bring salvation to all who trust in Him.

AAA Prayer (About)

• ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who sent His Son, through whom we've been given living water;

• ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will know the gift of God well and be ready and willing to share it with others;

• ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:

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