John 4:5-14 "So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, 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. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 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." The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and livestock.? Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
There are many things to point out about this story, but I would like to focus on things that I have not heard discussed and that helped me understand this story more clearly. Jesus said in verse 10, "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." The gift of God and the living water are references to the Holy Spirit. Jesus clearly defined this in John 7:38-39. He said the rivers of living water are a reference to the Holy Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Jesus also mentions thirst in verses 13-14. In Matthew 5:6, Jesus said "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled (filled with righteousness)." This helped me to see more clearly from this story that understanding righteousness is the key to allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. Jesus is the One who gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit. But He is the One who would bear our sins first and give us the free gift of righteousness. This is what then allows the Holy Spirit to do His work in our hearts and lives. The Holy Spirit then becomes a fountain of water springing up within us to everlasting life, satisfying our thirst and cleansing us from the inside to the outside. This ties to what we learned in John chapter 1, that Jesus would take away the sin of the world and baptize us with the Holy Spirit. Let us see this process in the Samaritan woman, even though she could not yet receive the Holy Spirit because He was not yet given, because Jesus had not yet become our sin sacrifice.
John 4:15-30 "The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." Jesus said to her, "Go, call you husband, and come here." The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither worship on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He." And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman: yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or "Why are You talking with her?" The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" Then they went out of the city and came to Him."
The woman asked for the water so that she would not thirst. Then Jesus, in a kind manner, revealed both her past and present. He did not condemn her though. Then Jesus tells her about God and reveals God as the Father. Then He reveals Himself as the Messiah. Her response is not shame but excitement. She went and told the whole city about Jesus. Jesus extended grace and righteousness to the woman and she believed and trusted in Him. Notice the pattern. Jesus reveals righteousness to us first, then introduces us to a loving heavenly Father. When we see that Jesus knows about our sin but has forgiven us and given us the free gift of right-standing with God by His grace, our lives are transformed. We experience joy, and our natural reaction is to tell others. We learn to worship the Father for who we are in the spirit and in truth. We are made righteous in our spirit. All our sins are forgiven and set aside. We worship Him through this gift of righteousness, and He leads us to walk out the truth in our actions. That is holiness or sanctification.
I became a Christian when I was 18. The Holy Spirit came to live within me. A short time later I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and prayed in tongues, as the disciples experienced in Acts chapter 2. Yet I did not have a clear understanding of righteousness through much of my adult life. I believed my past sins were forgiven, but I was taught that my present and future sins caused me to be out of fellowship with God each time I sinned, until I got the sin confessed. Within a few years, I lost much of my joy and enthusiasm for the Lord. God dwelt in me through the Holy Spirit, but it didn't seem to make much difference in my life. I prayed in tongues and was faithful in church. But because of the way I was taught, I spent much of my adult life in condemnation, not understanding His grace and gift of righteousness. Only when I came to a clear understanding of righteousness did my joy return and I started to share my faith again. Our foundation must be correct, or the rest of our lives will be unstable. Our foundation is righteousness. Jesus paid for the sins of our entire lifetime, past, present and future. He paid for every sin we have ever committed in the past and every sin we will ever commit in the future. He set them all aside and is not dealing with us according to our sins. He is dealing with us through His grace and His gift of righteousness to us. Knowing this has brought lasting peace and joy to my heart. Understanding righteousness is what allows the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. I believe this is the main point of the story of the Samaritan woman.
Keith Oliver
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