Jesus answered and said unto her, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." John 4:10
Why is it that Jesus values that which is not valuable to the world? He goes out of his way to talk to people who the world would say were nothing, loosers, outcasts, people who have a past, people who think little of themselves and have been told by others that they are even less. Yet Jesus, the King of Kings, the bright and morning star, all that is holy and good, seeks out these people in the time of his walk here on earth and today. First Corinthians 1:26-29 says that he chooses those who are "foolish," "weak," "base," "despised," "nothing," failures, if you will, so that no one can say, "Jesus loves me because I am worthwhile. I am beautiful, talented, brilliant, funny, educated, wealthy and therefore Jesus loves me. Jesus saw something fantastic in me, that is why he died in my place." No, he died for us while we were yet sinners, when we were his enemies. Romans 5:8
Here he seeks out a woman who probably felt pretty low about her life. She had been married five times which even in our liberal age would be the subject of jokes and mocking. The man that she is with is not committed to her. She has to go out to draw water in the hot sun because the women of the town probably do not want to be seen with her even just to be kind. And not only that...she is a Samaritan! Could you get any lower in that society?
This woman is told that she needs to know the gift of God. What is the gift of God? Surprisingly, we find the answer in 1 John 4:10. "Here in is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." Jesus is in fact the gift of God, the Son of God and the propitiation for our sins. Jesus says to the woman that the gift of God is who is speaking to her. The living water is the Holy Spirit which Jesus gives to those who believe in Him. He is the baptizer in the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives this gift to people like the woman of Samaria. People who wouldn't think they deserved such a gift.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Tikva- I agree with your article. Where you said..."People who wouldn't think they deserved such a gift". They will have a even higher estimation of the "Gift of God" then those of high standing in the community who think much of themselves. We need to think less of ourselves and more of Yahshua. Like Yochanan (John the Baptist)we must decrease that Yahshua may increase.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the teaching.
Shalom.