(b) They talked of
worship. vss. 20-22
This woman had been hit
right in her heart, and like a lot of us, she was a little bit
offended, so she offered-up a religious defense..."I already
have my own faith"! Pretty weak in the face of it, isn't it?
She knew that, at the very least, Jesus must be a prophet (vs.
19)...little did she know! but after all, she was standing right at
the line between lostnesss and salvation; right at that last point of
indecision that we all experience before answering the call of Jesus;
one last doubt to overcome; one last argument to offer. She was
making one last attempt to deflect the sharp prick of conviction by
bringing-up the age-old argument..."we, and thee". I
believe she had a real interest in religion, just as a lot of unsaved
people do, but her religion was one thing Jesus intended to ignore,
just as He had with Nicodemus, back in Chapter 3.3.
This is the way it has
always been with that small matter of faith. First, when we are
convicted, we think of prejudice...that Christians look down on us
in our unsaved state; that they think they are better than the rest
of us. Then we become preoccupied with our sin..."I'm too bad
to get saved; I could never give up all my bad habits; until, that
is, we come to our own faith and our own repentance, and realize that
there can be nothing, or no one, other than Jesus. But then where do
we worship?! In this mountain, or in Jerusalem?! When do we get
down to foccusing on the One we are called to focus on? Well, I have
to say that some never do. It usually takes a long time to break the
worst habit of all...putting self first, and giving Jesus the
leftovers...if anything at all!
I've come to the point
where I can see that irreparable damage could be done by occupying
people with the "your church/my church" argument. No one
church (that is, local body of believers) is any better than the
other, so long as gospel truth is being proclaimed. The problem is, too many people consider the local church to be
a stepping-stone to Jesus, when in fact, it often becomes a
stumbling-stone, when we make it about us rather than about Him!
Jesus, by His Spirit, is within our easy reach of faith! Just like this woman, we
need to be dislodged from the trenches, and that is exactly what
Jesus did, in this confrontation. He had no intention of allowing
Himself to get way-laid by the age-old argument of when/how/who. So,
instead...
(c) They talked of a
world-changing event! vss. 23-29
"...the hour
cometh..."; this woman's hour had come! Jesus had given her all
she needed to make an informed decision about salvation, and our Lord
could see that her heart had been prepared.
Do you realize that..."old
things shall pass away, and all things shall become new"?! A
new order, beginning with the crucifiction of Jesus, was being
ushered-in, and because of it, the "where" of worship (vs.
20) would be changed to the "how" of worship (vs. 23). No
more law, no more temple, no more priest and no more
sacrifices...just Spirit and Truth! Spiritual worship and true
worship! Completely opposite to the old way of doing things. Rather
than giving God a sacrificed animal, you give Him your very self; rather than circumcising your outward flesh, you circumcise your
inner self; rather than just worshipping certain days of the week,
and of the year, making every waking moment an act of worship of the
Lord!
I often hear such comments
as..."My, they have such a beautiful "church"...fully carpeted,
padded seats, well-equipped kitchen..."; and if you were to
respond with any word of objection they would say..."well just
look at Solomon's temple of the Old Testament!" Well that's
right... look...not one stone left upon another. Broken vessels!
Have you ever reallly thought about what it is that this new order of
Jesus' involves? Why, it's climax will result in everything we have
worked so hard for, and that is near and dear to our hearts, being
burned up...everything (2 Peter 3.8-13)!
Let's face it, these words
of Jesus leave us no choice...as vs. 24 says, we must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. In chapt. 3.7 we read that..."You must be born again"; in 3.14 we read that..."the Son of
Man must be lifted up...". Jesus has established for us
a pattern, a process and a priority that cannot be ignored! When
that woman asked Jesus "how?", back in vs. 9, He had
accommodated her; and when she had asked "whence?", in vs.
11, He had accommodated her again; and when she had said "where?",
in vs. 20, He had cleared-up that matter for her, too. And now, when
she had said "when", there in vs. 25, Jesus gave her a
clear statement of the facts...no more doubt as to Who this Stranger
was..."I that speak unto thee am He (Messiah/Christ, vs. 26)".
Verse 28 simply says that, that Samaritan woman simply left her waterpot, and went; and said in
vs. 29..."Come, see...", and vs. 30 tells us that..."they
went...and came unto Jesus". She left her valuable
waterpot...no more concern for worldly concerns, or for her sin,
either one. She had found the "well of water springing up into
everlasting life", vs. 14! And then she gave her own
invitation to the people of that town to "come".
That's the greatest word
in the gospel, isn't it? The last recorded word that this woman
spoke...a word of invitation to believe and receive Jesus! That
really speaks to my heart; it's the same word that Jesus spoke to me,
and He still speaks that same word to every man, woman child who would
hear!
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