Study 10 ("Meet needs")
We looked at John 4 for lessons on our witnessing:
4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.[a]
7 A woman from Samaria came 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 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.[b] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
1. Jesus "had to pass through Samaria". This might have been the most geographically direct route from Judea to Galilee, but also one that a Jew might avoid just to not get into contact with Samaritans. Our Lord always followed His Father's will. Our human "had tos" (= obligations) are on another level also God's "had tos" (= opportunities). So we should not be discouraged when inconveniences, obstacles and delays come our way. They may be God's way of opening doors to sharing the gospel.
2. Jesus showed a combination of boldness and vulnerability when He initiated conversation with the Samaritan woman. (c.f. his first words to Zacchaeus Lk 19:2). We need not be timid in asking for help from people to initiate a conversation about the gospel.
3. He displayed a gift of divine knowledge that opened the heart of the woman. She had been divorced five times (women of that time generally did not initiate divorce). The man she was living with did not even think it worthwhile to commit to her in marriage. This unconventional living arrangement may have been the reason why she chose to come to the well in the hottest hour of the day. Her broken relationships would have defined her deepest wounds.We may not have revelation of others' needs to this extent of precision, but we can be certain that, despite their protestations of contentment, non-Christians do have the underlying deep need to be reconciled to God. We should be sensitive in our approach to people, asking God for discernment into their situation.
4. Jesus graciously took on an apparent distraction and dealt with a theological question with respect and in detail. This leads me to suspect that the woman honestly wanted to ask something of a Jewish prophet (her first and only chance!), because Jesus dealt unmercifully with the dishonest and insincere. The Lord was clear in his theological exposition that a) He was right b) she was wrong and c) God sought after her as a worshiper. In doing this He took an answer to an apparently unrelated question to again point out the woman's need.
We spent time asking what we could do when those we are witnessing to don't acknowledge any need for God at all. They are content with their lives and see no point in committing themselves to Christ.
We said that:
1) We can ask them to reconsider the meaning and purpose of their lives.
2) We can point out the intellectual and logical excellence of Christianity (we have a foundation for origin, meaning, morality and destiny).
3) We must live lives that are consistent with the gospel.
3. We trust in the convicting power of the Holy Spirit through prayer.
4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.[a]
7 A woman from Samaria came 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 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.[b] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
1. Jesus "had to pass through Samaria". This might have been the most geographically direct route from Judea to Galilee, but also one that a Jew might avoid just to not get into contact with Samaritans. Our Lord always followed His Father's will. Our human "had tos" (= obligations) are on another level also God's "had tos" (= opportunities). So we should not be discouraged when inconveniences, obstacles and delays come our way. They may be God's way of opening doors to sharing the gospel.
2. Jesus showed a combination of boldness and vulnerability when He initiated conversation with the Samaritan woman. (c.f. his first words to Zacchaeus Lk 19:2). We need not be timid in asking for help from people to initiate a conversation about the gospel.
3. He displayed a gift of divine knowledge that opened the heart of the woman. She had been divorced five times (women of that time generally did not initiate divorce). The man she was living with did not even think it worthwhile to commit to her in marriage. This unconventional living arrangement may have been the reason why she chose to come to the well in the hottest hour of the day. Her broken relationships would have defined her deepest wounds.We may not have revelation of others' needs to this extent of precision, but we can be certain that, despite their protestations of contentment, non-Christians do have the underlying deep need to be reconciled to God. We should be sensitive in our approach to people, asking God for discernment into their situation.
4. Jesus graciously took on an apparent distraction and dealt with a theological question with respect and in detail. This leads me to suspect that the woman honestly wanted to ask something of a Jewish prophet (her first and only chance!), because Jesus dealt unmercifully with the dishonest and insincere. The Lord was clear in his theological exposition that a) He was right b) she was wrong and c) God sought after her as a worshiper. In doing this He took an answer to an apparently unrelated question to again point out the woman's need.
We spent time asking what we could do when those we are witnessing to don't acknowledge any need for God at all. They are content with their lives and see no point in committing themselves to Christ.
We said that:
1) We can ask them to reconsider the meaning and purpose of their lives.
2) We can point out the intellectual and logical excellence of Christianity (we have a foundation for origin, meaning, morality and destiny).
3) We must live lives that are consistent with the gospel.
3. We trust in the convicting power of the Holy Spirit through prayer.
Comments
Post a Comment