Scripture Read for Sunday, Feb. 27th
John 4:5-42 (The Message)
The Message - Eugene H. Peterson
5He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.
7A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" 8(His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
9The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
10Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."
11The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this "living water'? 12Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?"
13Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. 14Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst--not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."
15The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!"
16He said, "Go call your husband and then come back."
17"I have no husband," she said.
"That's nicely put: "I have no husband.' 18You've had five husbands, and the man you're living with now isn't even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough."
19"Oh, so you're a prophet! 20Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?"
21"Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. 22You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God's way of salvation is made available through the Jews. 23But the time is coming--it has, in fact, come--when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.
"It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. 24God is sheer being itself--Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."
25The woman said, "I don't know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we'll get the whole story."
26"I am he," said Jesus. "You don't have to wait any longer or look any further."
27Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn't believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.
28The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, 29"Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?" 30And they went out to see for themselves.
31In the meantime, the disciples pressed him, "Rabbi, eat. Aren't you going to eat?"
32He told them, "I have food to eat you know nothing about."
33The disciples were puzzled. "Who could have brought him food?"
34Jesus said, "The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. 35As you look around right now, wouldn't you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I'm telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what's right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It's harvest time!
36"The Harvester isn't waiting. He's taking his pay, gathering in this grain that's ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant. 37That's the truth of the saying, "This one sows, that one harvests.' 38I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others."
39Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman's witness: "He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!" 40They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. 41A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. 42They said to the woman, "We're no longer taking this on your say-so. We've heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He's the Savior of the world!"
Comments and Questions:
There was intense hositility between the Samaritans and the Jews. Although they both believed in the same God (Yahweh), the Samaritans worshipped in the hills instead of at the Temple in Jeruselum. The fork in the road just outside of Sychar is where stands to this day the place known as Jacob's well. In Genesis 33, Jacob had bequeathed the ground to Joseph and after his death Joseph had been buried there (Joshua 24). It was a very important historical place in Jewish history. It was also a very deep well - over 100 feet down. Without something to draw water with it would be impossible to drink from this well. Hence the need for bucket which the Samaritin woman supplies. After traveling all day, Jesus stopped to rest while the disciples went on into town to get something to eat. It is then that the Samaritan woman and Jesus get into an extended conversation.
Parts of the Bible are literal, factual, and specific. Jesus, for instance, is a specific flesh and blood human being who was crucified. At the same time, as John's Gospel attempts to point out, Jesus was more. Jesus was also a spiritual reality sent by God. And here we have the constrast beteween the literal mind and the symbolic mind. Here we have two kinds of water. Without physical water a person will literally die of thirst. And, yet, our soul thirsts for another kind of water. The water of the spirit. Without this "living water" we die spiritually.
What is this water? How do we obtain it? What does Jesus mean when he says, "anyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will will never thirst -- not ever."
At first, the Samaritan woman does not understand. Gradually, Jesus discloses who he is ... and she begins to "get it." Is this how it is for us? Is understanding who Jesus is - a gradual process? Are we ourselves, so it seems, standing by the well wanting to drink? Are we thirsty for more than material things which never seem to be enough? What do you think?
The Message - Eugene H. Peterson
5He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.
7A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" 8(His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
9The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
10Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."
11The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this "living water'? 12Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?"
13Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. 14Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst--not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."
15The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!"
16He said, "Go call your husband and then come back."
17"I have no husband," she said.
"That's nicely put: "I have no husband.' 18You've had five husbands, and the man you're living with now isn't even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough."
19"Oh, so you're a prophet! 20Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?"
21"Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. 22You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God's way of salvation is made available through the Jews. 23But the time is coming--it has, in fact, come--when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.
"It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. 24God is sheer being itself--Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."
25The woman said, "I don't know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we'll get the whole story."
26"I am he," said Jesus. "You don't have to wait any longer or look any further."
27Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn't believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.
28The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, 29"Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?" 30And they went out to see for themselves.
31In the meantime, the disciples pressed him, "Rabbi, eat. Aren't you going to eat?"
32He told them, "I have food to eat you know nothing about."
33The disciples were puzzled. "Who could have brought him food?"
34Jesus said, "The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. 35As you look around right now, wouldn't you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I'm telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what's right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It's harvest time!
36"The Harvester isn't waiting. He's taking his pay, gathering in this grain that's ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant. 37That's the truth of the saying, "This one sows, that one harvests.' 38I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others."
39Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman's witness: "He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!" 40They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. 41A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. 42They said to the woman, "We're no longer taking this on your say-so. We've heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He's the Savior of the world!"
Comments and Questions:
There was intense hositility between the Samaritans and the Jews. Although they both believed in the same God (Yahweh), the Samaritans worshipped in the hills instead of at the Temple in Jeruselum. The fork in the road just outside of Sychar is where stands to this day the place known as Jacob's well. In Genesis 33, Jacob had bequeathed the ground to Joseph and after his death Joseph had been buried there (Joshua 24). It was a very important historical place in Jewish history. It was also a very deep well - over 100 feet down. Without something to draw water with it would be impossible to drink from this well. Hence the need for bucket which the Samaritin woman supplies. After traveling all day, Jesus stopped to rest while the disciples went on into town to get something to eat. It is then that the Samaritan woman and Jesus get into an extended conversation.
Parts of the Bible are literal, factual, and specific. Jesus, for instance, is a specific flesh and blood human being who was crucified. At the same time, as John's Gospel attempts to point out, Jesus was more. Jesus was also a spiritual reality sent by God. And here we have the constrast beteween the literal mind and the symbolic mind. Here we have two kinds of water. Without physical water a person will literally die of thirst. And, yet, our soul thirsts for another kind of water. The water of the spirit. Without this "living water" we die spiritually.
What is this water? How do we obtain it? What does Jesus mean when he says, "anyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will will never thirst -- not ever."
At first, the Samaritan woman does not understand. Gradually, Jesus discloses who he is ... and she begins to "get it." Is this how it is for us? Is understanding who Jesus is - a gradual process? Are we ourselves, so it seems, standing by the well wanting to drink? Are we thirsty for more than material things which never seem to be enough? What do you think?
posted by Anonymous at 1:39 PM
2 Comments:
With respect to this week's question and last week's sermon on the journey of life, I have felt for decades that the Bible, especially the Old Testament, is a story of the process of God teaching humanity. At each stage we get what we should be able to absorb, go with it for a while, fall down, cry for help, and get the next lesson. So Jesus starts with the woman where she's at, gets through to her, and takes her a little way.
I think most of us who live inthis world only get an occasional sip of the Living Water. It must be true that Jesus was able to give a full drink, but it doesn't appear that even his disciples took it until after the Resurrection. We are not so close to God.
Doug Miron
Our Mathis Texas service included passing out empty communion cups and singing "Fill My Cup Lord" The seron title was "A drinking Congregation" which caught peoples attention. I have always liked to think that this was one of the first times that Jesus really announced the fact that his message and his sacrifice was not just for the Jews. We too easily find ourselves spilling the contents of that cup of living water and forgetting that it is available to all.
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