Out of the Flames (John 4:1-42)
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jeremy_2_04-25-2025_123125: [00:00:00] I wanna look at a story today that I think we've interpreted the wrong way for a really long time, and this is a fascinating story that has remarkable implications for you and I. It's found in John chapter four. We'll begin reading in verse one.
Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John. Though Jesus himself didn't baptize them, his disciples did. So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria on the way. Eventually he came to the Samaritan Village of Sychar near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Now, Jacob's well was there and Jesus tired from the long walk. Sat weirdly beside the well about noontime. Soon, a Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus said to her, please give me a drink. Now, he was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. The woman was surprised for Jews [00:01:00] refused to have anything to do with Samaritans.
She said to Jesus, you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me? For a drink and Jesus replied, if you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me and I would give you living water. But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket, she said, and this well is very deep.
Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you're greater than our ancestor Jacob? Who gave us this? Well, how can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed? And Jesus replied, anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again.
It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life. Please, sir. The woman said, give [00:02:00] me this water then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to get water. And then the story turns. Go and get your husband. Jesus told her, I, I don't have a husband. The woman replied, Jesus said, you're right.
You don't have a husband for, you have had five husbands and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now. You certainly spoke the truth. Now, there's a lot of details in this story and a lot of attention is given to the time of day. This is happening at noon now. You wouldn't go get water at noon in the heat of the day unless you were an outsider, unless you were marginalized, unless you didn't fit in with everyone else.
Why was she. Marginalized. Now, traditionally the way we've explained this story is we assume, well, she's just a overly sinful woman. She's gone through all these men and you know, can't keep a husband and just keeps going guy after guy and not [00:03:00] even living with, who she's with now, and that's why we assume she's marginalized.
But how should we understand her situation? I'd actually suggest it's a little bit different than that. See, I think the most likely explanation to make sense of this story, this is not in the text. But just as we use our imagination to put these clues together is the reason why she probably had so many husbands is because she was unable to conceive, she was unable to have kids.
Now you have to realize her husbands divorced her. It wasn't the other way around. And how do we know that? Because in ancient Israelites society, women could not divorce men. In fact, there's this passage in Deuteronomy 24 that says this. Suppose a man marries a woman, but she does not please him.
Having discovered something wrong with her. He writes a document of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house. When she leaves his house, she's free to [00:04:00] marry another man, but if the second husband also turns against her. Writes a document of divorce, hands it to her and sends her away. Or if he dies, the first husband may not marry her again for she has been defiled.
Doesn't that sound an awful lot like this woman's situation? I. That we find here in this story. Now, Jesus stated that she lived with a man who is not her husband, and we often hear that as him calling out, you know, premarital sex or having a relationship outside of marriage. But there's any number of reasons why she may have been living with a man likely for her own survival.
Again, women were marginalized in that culture. If you did not have ties to another man, so maybe she's living with a relative or maybe some other situation she's in just to survive in that culture. I don't think Jesus is pointing out how sinful she is. I [00:05:00] think Jesus is pointing out that he sees her, that he knows her pain, he knows her story.
The author, Parker Palmer has said, the human soul doesn't want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed exactly as it is, and I think that is what's happening here. Now, we keep reading in verse 19. Sir, the woman said, you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship while we Samaritan's claim it is here on Mount Gar where our ancestors worshiped and Jesus replied, believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.
Now, this is a crazy thing to say. This would've been refuting centuries of disagreements between these two groups of people. He says, you Samaritans know very little [00:06:00] about the one you worship. While we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes from the Jews, but the time is coming indeed, it's here now.
When true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, the Father is looking for those who will worship him That way, for God is Spirit. So those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. Now the woman said, I know that the Messiah is coming. The one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.
And then Jesus told her, I am the Messiah. And just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, what do you want with her? Or Why are you talking to her? The woman left her water jar beside the well. That's why she was there and ran back to the village, telling everyone, come and see a man who told me everything I ever did.
Could he possibly [00:07:00] be the Messiah? So the people came streaming from the village to see him. Now if this woman was a huge sinner and a social outcast because of it, I doubt she would have this effect on the entire village. Instead, what I think is more likely is that this woman was probably known for being depressed, known for how life had been hard on her, and then suddenly they see her filled with joy and they're trying to figure out what.
Happened to her. What changed her? We've never seen her like this. And then they come running to see Jesus, this man who had this effect on her. And then we close up the story in verse 39. Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, he told me everything I ever did. When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village.
So he stayed for two days [00:08:00] long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, now we believe not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves, now we know that he is indeed the savior of the world. What if this story of the Samaritan woman is a story about Jesus mercy and compassion for those who have been hurt?
A story of how to have a hope and a future when you think there is none. So what pain have you experienced in your life? Remember that Jesus is fully aware of your story, and I believe he wants to bring healing to you and to the people around you through your story. Pain takes on a purpose when given to Jesus, and that's what we find in this story.
Now don't miss an important detail. Though the woman at the well situation didn't [00:09:00] change, she didn't suddenly get pregnant if that was indeed the issue. She didn't suddenly find a husband who would love her. Instead, she found joy in the midst of her pain. And this is what's available for you and I when we experience Jesus today.
I wanna close with a quote from someone named Stephanie Sparkles, who in the midst of battling cancer, had this to say about her journey. She said, I love when people that have been through hell walk out of the flames carrying buckets of water for those still consumed by fire. Your pain takes on purpose when given to Jesus.
I'll see you next week on Rebuilding Faith.
