"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."
-John 4:10
Dearly beloved Reader,
Today has been a very special day, I have seen that the effects of my baptism are evident, in each and every interaction, my prayer is that Jesus will continue to draw me closer. I pray that He would increase and that I would decrease. I am thrilled to report that it is with love joy that His servant publishes this work, the desire of my heart is that this will be a blessing to any who shall read it.
Today's morning studies have brought your servant to the 19th chapter of the Desire of Ages; which is such a blessing as it discusses Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well.
In John the fourth chapter Jesus has labored long and become thirsty, there is a woman drawing water from the well, but she is a Samaritan and the Jews and the Samaritans have a bitter history. Some of the Samaritan ancestors were actually Jews but because of their sinning God allowed them to be taken by a heathen tribe and over time the heathen and Jewish religion became intermingled. While the Samaritans claimed to be worshiping the Living God they were bowing down to graven images. When the temple was being rebuilt in Jerusalem they had sought to assist only to be turned away by the command of the prophets, which lead them to hate the Jews and they built a temple of their own on a nearby mountain, but they worshiped idols there and it never had the blessing of God.
"To offer a drink to the thirsty traveler was held to be a duty so sacred that the Arabs of the desert would go out of their way in order to perform it. The hatred between Jews and Samaritans prevented the woman from offering a kindness to Jesus; but the Savior was seeking the key to this heart, and with the tact born of divine love, He asked, not offered, a favor. The offer of a kindness might have been rejected; but trust awakens trust. "
-Ellen G. White Desire of ages 179-180
The Savior bids the woman, "Give me a drink." John 4:7 The woman startled says "How is it that You being a Jew, ask a drink of me, a Samaritan woman?" John 4:9
Jesus however knows only love for all people, and not actually answering her question He offers her something greater than she can offer Him; saying, "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." John 4:10
The woman perceives the "solemn import" of the Savior's words, but she does not comprehend them.
Rather she says, "Sir You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than out father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock." John 4:11,12
"She was looking backward to the fathers, forward to the Messiah's coming while the Hope of the fathers, the Messiah Himself, was beside her, and she knew Him not."
p. 180
I ask you the very question sister white went on to ask, "How many thirsting souls are today close by the living fountain, yet looking far away for the wellspring of life?"
The woman had at first presented an almost sarcastic view, thinking Jesus to be some pride filled Pharisee; but then when He offered her the cup of living water she realized that this was no racist Pharisee, but this was surely a man of God, her manner of speaking had changed now to inquisitive, even curious. Then in John 4:13, 14 Jesus does not answer her question directly, but rather chooses to offer her deeper truth promising that if she should drink from the water He gives, she shall "never thirst again."
Understand that "Everywhere men are unsatisfied. They long for something to supply the need of the soul. Only One can meet that want. The need of the world, 'The Desire of all Nations' is Christ. The divine grace which He alone can impart, is as living water, purifying, refreshing and invigorating the soul."
Jesus' promise that the woman would never again thirst at first strikes one as odd seeing as how the more God reveals His truth and His word, and His love, the more the human longs for it, but in reality it is simply a fact because, "He who tastes of the love of Christ will continually long for more; but he seeks for nothing else. The riches, honors, and pleasures of the world do not attract him. The constant cry of his heart is, 'More of You.' And He who reveals to the soul its necessity is waiting to satisfy its hunger and thirst."
p. 181
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 your husband, and come here."
The woman answered and said, "I have no husband."
-John 4:15-17
The woman now desires to draw from the living well, the Savior; but she cannot understand what Jesus truly represents until she has become convicted of her sins. Jesus will not give her the truth until He has laid this conviction on her heart, and she has accepted His saving grace.
He tells her that she must go get her husband, but not wanting to get distracted she tells him she doesn't have one to keep the conversation from any pursuit in that direction; but the one who reads the hears responds in His loving way.
Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' four you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you have spoke truly."
-John 4:17,18
Oh the height of Jesus' love, higher than the heavens above! Jesus saw all this woman's sins, He saw what kept her in chains, just like He does with each of us all beloved! With awe she now looks upon the Savior who knows the secret she hoped would never be known. Jesus does not however leave her in sin! GOD FORBID! He gives her, just as He does all of us, the chance to accept his free gift of grace and leave her life of sin behind.
With awe she tries to change the subject, she says, "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."
John 4:19,20
Oh that I could have the patience of Jesus, this is my prayer, that He would impart this gift of patience onto me!
Jesus allows the woman to steer the conversation, His love for her is so great, He cannot bear that she not receive the truth she longs for. She now sees that Jesus is clearly at the level of a prophet, and He has shown no ill toward her people like the other Jews display, no prejudice exists in the Savior; but now it is time for Him to tear down her wall of prejudice towards the Jews. Jesus replies with love, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither 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."
-John 4:21-24
Jesus calls to attention the fact that the Samaritan religion with its graven images is no more than idolatry like every other graven image; it doesn't matter what you call a statue, the moment you bow down to it, you have committed idolatry. That said, Jesus does not say, "You're not a Jew you don't get in." Like the Pharisees and the Jews of the time, the barren fig tree. Now, He says, "Come unto me all ye that are heavy laden and I will give you rest." Matt 11:28
Or more specifically, the Savior says, "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."
John 4:14
"Jesus had convinced her that He read the secrets of her life; yet she felt that He was her friend, pitying and loving her. While the very purity of His presence condemned her sin, He had spoken no words of denunciation, but had told her of His grace, that could renew the soul."
p 184
Now the woman "Began to have some conviction of His character." a question began to arise in her mind, "Might not this be the long-looked for Messiah?"
So she brings up the subject "I know the Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). When He comes He will tell us all things." John 4:25
Jesus then reveals to this humble woman of Samaria what He did not openly state to His own people. His own people who desired to be dazzled by signs and wonders, and who even after that would say, "Prove to us that You are the Son of God." "Prove Your Messiahship now!" To them He pointed to the prophecies, to them He offered signs and wonders, and still they rejected Him.
Yet to this woman He who knows all said, "I who speak to you am He." John 4:26
How wonderful a thought! The woman rushes into the city proclaiming the coming of the Savior, telling all "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
John 4:29
The disciples worry about Jesus who now is invigorated despite having not eaten and still not having drank water either. "Rabbi, eat." they say to Him.
But Jesus is satisfied to share His gospel with souls, and He says, "I have food of which you do not know."
John 4:31,32
Then Jesus gives His disciples a parable, this is a parable that they must relate to because the Savior knows that they would not have approached this Samaritan woman who now is sharing Christ. He said,
"Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest?' Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look ant the fields, for they are already white for the harvest!"
Then the Samaritan woman returns, with the wheat fresh from the harvest. "She (the Samaritan woman) proved herself a more effective missionary than His own disciples."
p 189 In that the moment she heard the truth she shared it.
Jesus tarried in Samaria for two days and many people were converted. Imagine, that one Samaritan woman, by the Jews rejected, who would have gone unnoticed by at that point, even the apostles, yet she became an instrument by which the Savior brought a multitude to Himself.
When Jesus brings His children home, by God's grace beloved, I pray that I will be under the tree of life and see that woman with the multitude that she showed to the Savior that day.
Thank you for reading and I pray you're blessed.
Sincerely,
Kevin Hughes, with the Historic Message Church
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