The Samaritan Woman Encounters Jesus

[0:00] What was the first thing Jesus said to the woman when he met her at the well? Will you give me a drink? So Jesus didn't go there to find this woman to say, turn and repent and do this and do this and do this.

[0:16] The first thing he said to her was, can I have a drink? And the woman said, the woman said, why are you asking me?

[0:28] I'm a Samaritan woman, you can't ask me. And that was a problem during those times. I've been doing a little bit of reading on the Samaritans and exactly what the situation was.

[0:41] And actually we start centuries before when the Assyrians invaded Israel. And there's a strategy that is used right throughout history by invading forces.

[0:56] The Germans did it in World War II. The British did it when they were colonizing. The Romans did it. The half of Western Europe have done it. The Babylonians did it.

[1:07] The Assyrians did it. In World War II, there is, I don't know if any of you have heard of the term, the Lebensbaum. But these are children from, there were between 8,000 and 12,000 in Norway.

[1:19] And there were others all over Western and Northern Europe. But these were children born of a Norwegian woman or a French woman who had given themselves, sometimes willingly, sometimes not, to one of the occupying Nazi German soldiers.

[1:35] And that was difficult enough because they were immediately ostracized by their own neighbors, their own friends, their own family, because they'd given themselves to the enemy.

[1:49] But those children, after the war ended, some of them were fortunate enough to be given a place, to be allowed to have a place in school. Many of them weren't. But those who were, were bullied.

[2:01] They were attacked. They were ostracized, persecuted. Many of them were raped. They were even incarcerated. Purely because they were a child of the occupying force, of the enemy.

[2:16] They were seen as half-breeds, as traitors. And that has happened right throughout history. And that is where we begin with the Samaritans. When Assyria invaded Israel, most of the northern parts of Israel were scattered.

[2:33] They didn't make it into Judah. But then we have Samaria, which comes just north of Judah. And several of the people stayed there. And they gave themselves to the Assyrian soldiers.

[2:46] Some of them willingly, some of them not. But then there were children born of those relationships. Immediately, those children were ostracized by the Jews.

[2:59] Because they were half-breeds. They were filthy. They were traitors. They had compromised God's chosen bloodline. They were hated by the Jewish people.

[3:11] But actually, there is more to it than that. Because in time, we know this from some of the minor prophets who wrote at the later end of the Old Testament, or later books in the Old Testament, that actually the Samaritans, they built themselves their own temple on their mountain, which was the mountain where Jacob's well, or near where Jacob's well had been built.

[3:33] But they worshipped God there. Whereas the Jews said, actually, we have to go to, we can, we have our synagogues. We have our places where we can go and worship. But we have to go to the temple in Jerusalem regularly, because that is where God lives.

[3:47] The Samaritans built their own temple. They built themselves up. They had their own Pentateuch. That's the first five books of the Bible written by Moses. They rewrote them, and they believed that they were the books.

[4:02] They were what Moses wrote. They had built themselves up to be a sect of Judaism. By the time of, by Jesus' time, the rift between the two of them was huge.

[4:15] They hated each other. They both believed that each other were wrong. The Jewish people saw the Samaritans as half-breeds, as traitors, as people, as I said, as people who have compromised God's chosen bloodline.

[4:31] But it didn't come much better the other way around either. So for Jesus, a Jewish man, to talk to this Samaritan woman, let alone ask them for water, was something that was unheard of.

[4:44] Most of the Jewish people, if they were traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem, they would have gone all the way around Samaria, and that would have been a long journey. But they decided to go through.

[4:55] Jesus decided to go through. And he sent the disciples off to get some food while he stopped at a well to rest. And he spoke to the Samaritan woman. The Samaritan woman said, you can't talk to me.

[5:07] Your own people hate me. Your own people think that I'm not worthy of God. You should not be talking to me.

[5:18] And Jesus said, I know. Can I have some water? But it was worse than that. We know from the passage that Peter just read to us that the Samaritan woman was fetching water at noon, the hottest time of the day.

[5:34] The majority of the people, when they were collecting their water, would have gone first thing in the morning when it was cooler. So why was she there in the middle of the day when it was hottest? Because she was practically ostracized by her own people.

[5:48] We don't know why. We don't know whether it was because her own people, the people that her own neighbors, probably former friends, decided they wanted nothing to do with her, or whether it came from her side, when actually she decided that she was ashamed, and therefore couldn't see, couldn't look her neighbors in the eyes.

[6:11] She knew that everybody, everybody knew the type of person she was. Everyone knew about her marriage life. Everyone knew that she was sleeping with somebody who she wasn't married to now.

[6:28] Everybody knew how bad she was in their eyes. And Jesus said, I know. I know everything you've ever done. Can I have some water?

[6:44] Skipping on a little bit, we're going to come back to the living water, because actually that is an important part of this, a really important part of this passage. But looking even more at the Samaritan woman, Jesus asks about her husband.

[6:56] And she says, very truthfully, I don't have a husband. And Jesus says, I know. I know you've had five husbands. I know the man you're with now you're not married to. But actually later on in the passage, the other Samaritans from her town said that, she said to them that, this man has told me everything I've ever done.

[7:17] Not just the people she's married to. Everything she's ever done. The woman might have said to Jesus, I can't be, you can't stop and talk to me.

[7:28] I am a sinful person. I am an awful person for the things that I've done. And Jesus says, I know. I know everything you have ever done. I know every time you have ever lost your temper.

[7:43] I know every time you have lied or you have cheated. I know every time you have looked down upon somebody or you have stepped on somebody to get ahead. I know every time that you have envied, every time that you've lusted, every time that you have been greedy.

[8:01] I know everything you have ever done. And all of the good things as well. Can I have some water? Because that's what Jesus says to us.

[8:16] Jesus chooses to speak to each and every one of us, to each and every one of you. And when he does, he's not waiting to decide whether you're worthy of his time.

[8:28] He knows exactly who you are. He knows what everyone else says about you, what you think or say about yourself. And he knows everything you have ever done.

[8:40] And yet he still asks you that same question. Can you give me some water? Going back a little bit. They were sat by the well. And as we know from reading throughout the four Gospels, Jesus uses these really simple things to make a point.

[9:01] There were two types of well that they had back in those times. They didn't have pumps or filters or any of the other fancy things that we can give to people and we can build for people now.

[9:16] There were two types of well. There was the static water well, or as we call it today, the dug well. It's because it's just a hole dug in the ground, not because, as I once had somebody say to me, the idea was invented by somebody called Doug.

[9:31] It was just a dug well, a hole in the ground where water could collect. It was filthy. It would have been filled with bacteria. The water wouldn't have been clean.

[9:42] It wouldn't have been particularly nice. They would have drunk it because you've got to have water. This is why so many people, this is why wine was drunk so much during that time, because actually wine was clean.

[9:56] Wine wouldn't make you ill. It wouldn't potentially poison you, but there would have been bacteria in this water and it wouldn't have been particularly fresh. Eventually, the water would just run out.

[10:08] If you have too much time of no rain, the water's gone. Then you've got to travel even further to find the next well and hope that there is still water there. We can assume that this well, the Jacob dug that they're sat by, is a static water or a dug well.

[10:28] We don't know for sure, but I believe actually some people have located that well. Well, many people have located that well. I think you can actually go there if you go out to Israel today.

[10:40] But there was another type of well, and these wells existed as well. It's called the living water well. This was where they would find a stream. Typically, they would follow a stream downhill from the nearest lake, and they would dig down until they reached that stream.

[10:58] And that is where they would draw water from. That water would have had less chance of having bacteria because it's flown, it's filtered by the rocks that it's flowing through.

[11:09] It would have been cleaner. It would have been fresher, and it would take a lot more time. It would take a much bigger drought for that to ever stop flowing if it's coming from the lake.

[11:22] So for all intents and purposes, it never runs dry. So Jesus talking about the living water is significant, particularly to this Samaritan woman, because they knew all about that.

[11:36] They knew all about where they were getting their water from and what the other options, or maybe they weren't available options, were. But actually, Jesus isn't just saying, yes, I asked you for a drink, but if you knew who I was, you'd ask me to get you a drink instead because I know a better place to get it.

[11:55] He's not just saying that. He's talking much more, much deeper, much more personal than that. And actually, I think Jesus is talking about where are we turning to be refreshed?

[12:08] Where are we turning to be fulfilled? Water is one of the most fundamental needs that we have. So where are we getting that need fulfilled from?

[12:20] Today, there are all sorts of places where people go. There's the song, Good, Good Father. One of the verse lines in that says, I know we're all searching for answers that only you provide.

[12:35] Because everybody is searching for answers. Everyone is looking for that something that makes our life worth it, that fulfills us. Some people look to success, to money, to power.

[12:49] Whether it is being successful in business or whatever work it is that will bring you that money, that power, some people will look there for that fulfillment. And they're not fulfilled until they own a mansion, until they have more money than anyone else, until they are running the top of their own multi-million pound business.

[13:13] But that fulfillment is empty. It's hollow. Research has been done for the last 20 years where actually that have shown time after time after time that getting to a certain point where you've got enough money to be comfortable, to live off, to not have to worry about bills, about food, about all of that, that is important.

[13:37] But beyond that, adding more money to that doesn't increase your happiness. It doesn't increase your sense of fulfillment. It's empty. It's hollow. There's no meaning to it.

[13:48] Other people turn to drugs, to alcohol, to sex. They look for that hit. That's something that's going to give them a high, that's going to elevate them, that's going to lift them beyond how they feel in their day-to-day life.

[14:07] But every time you do that, you've got to go back for more. And every time you go back for more, it needs to be bigger. It needs to be stronger. It needs to be a better high.

[14:17] It needs to be a longer-lasting hit. Because that is only temporary. It's only going to last, you might be able to get it to last for a few minutes, a few hours, but eventually it wears off.

[14:30] And actually most people probably then feel, if they're relying on that for the hit, they typically feel worse afterwards. And then you get addicted because you constantly need to go back for more because that's the only place you can get your fulfillment from.

[14:47] People turn to approval from others. If only I can do the right thing so that other people love me. If only I can say the right thing so that other people will agree with me, will stand up and will back me up and will be by my side, then I will feel fulfilled.

[15:06] As long as I am accepted by as many people as possible, then I'll be fulfilled. But the clue in that is I started with, if only I can.

[15:19] Approval from others is conditional. About a year ago, I was, in fact, a year ago today, I was asked by two of my closest friends if I would be the godfather to their son. And in the year since then, I've probably got, well, I've come the closest I've ever come and to have a tiny glimpse of what it might be like to look at somebody through the eyes of a parent.

[15:42] To actually, to look at my godson and know that I will, like, I will support him and I will encourage him and I will love him and I will accept him and I will approve of him no matter what.

[15:55] Because he's my godson. Not just that's my role as his godfather, but actually, the day that I was asked to do that, the day that I said yes, that's the relationship that I formed there.

[16:09] Like I said, that's a tiny glimpse. I'm sure for those of you who all have been parents, it's like that but times a thousand. That no matter what they do, you will always love them.

[16:20] You will always accept them. But most of our relationships aren't like that. That unconditional love, that unconditional relationship is fairly unique.

[16:32] I would say I've seen it come from two places, my parents and God. We might try to say that I'm going to be behind you and I'm going to support you no matter what.

[16:44] But when push comes to shove, does that really happen? Approval from others, other people, is conditional. Some people look to themselves for fulfillment.

[16:58] They say, if I can only be happy with myself, if only I can reach my own goals, if only I can approve of myself, then I will be fulfilled. But actually, if somebody who is like that, has been like that, I've been a bit of a perfectionist for most of my life, I can tell you that that's probably the most unattainable on that list.

[17:24] Because no matter how good I do, I could always do better. No matter what grades I got at school, I always could have done better. I can always work a little bit harder.

[17:35] If ever, every promotion you get, you can always get the next promotion. Every person approves of you, you can always get another person to approve of you. Every car you get, you can always get a slightly better car.

[17:48] You can always get, you can always get a slightly bigger house. You can always earn a little bit more money. There's always more. There's always more. Self-approval, self-fulfillment is unattainable.

[18:01] The last one I've, the last one I came up with that people, that a lot of people look for today is actually finding fulfillment in truth. But in a post-truth world, what even is that?

[18:15] We live in a world where, we live in a world where society says that what's true for you is great, but what's true for me is going to be something different. So if I'm looking fulfillment in my truth, if I'm looking fulfillment in the idea that A plus B equals C, but Beatrice is saying, well, no, in my truth, A plus B equals D.

[18:35] And Emily's saying, in my truth, A plus B equals G. Then where do we go from there? I've spent the last week trying to find which film this is a quote from.

[18:47] I can't quite remember. I did think it was The Matrix, but I'm not 100% sure, so don't hold me on that. But there's a line that says, it must be difficult being the only person who knows the truth.

[19:00] Because if you're the only person who really knows the truth, because everyone else has their own idea, and they're not going to listen to you, because your truth isn't relevant to them, that's got to be a lonely life.

[19:14] If no one is ever going to agree fully with your idea of truth, that's got to be lonely. But there is one more place, and that's what Jesus says.

[19:27] If you come to me, if you knew who I was, you would ask me for your refreshment. You would ask me for your fulfillment, because I would give you a living water.

[19:40] It's not static. It's not dirty. It's not filled with bacteria. It's not going to make you ill. It's not temporary. It's not dependent on whether it rains or not, whether you're having a good life or not.

[19:54] But it's fresh. It will nourish you, and it will always be there, like a spring that wells up within you. The living water will always be there.

[20:06] Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Because if we turn to Jesus, then we can truly be fulfilled. But there is more to it than that.

[20:20] It's not just about turning to Jesus because he says we should, because the Bible says we should. We know that Jesus, we know that God created us.

[20:32] The video that we watched, you know me. You put me together. You knew my name before I was born. You know everything about me.

[20:43] You created me. That's what Jesus is saying to us. I created you. Who knows you better than the person who created you?

[20:56] Who knows you better than the person who knew what your parents were going to call you before your parents even knew whether you were going to be a boy or a girl? Who knows you better than the person who knows how many hairs there are on your head?

[21:10] I don't know if you've ever tried to count them. I was the type of child who did. I didn't get very far. Who knows us better than the God who created us?

[21:25] And that's what it means to get our fulfillment from God. We're not just turning to God because he is God, because the Bible tells us we should, or because the person standing up at the front preaching tells us we should.

[21:39] We're turning to God because he created us. He knows us. Jesus says, I created you. I know you.

[21:49] I know everything about you. I know where you are from. I know what everybody says about you, what you say about yourself.

[22:02] I know everything you have ever done, the good and the bad, the selfish and the selfless. the praiseworthy and the sinful.

[22:15] I know everything you have ever said. Every time you've honored somebody, you've praised somebody, you've encouraged somebody, but also every time you've criticized, every time you've lied, you've cheated, you've put someone down.

[22:30] And I know everything you've ever thought. Every time you have thought, wow, that person is amazing. And I just wish, I just wish that they'll have a good day today.

[22:44] But also every time that you've said, I wish I could have a car as big as theirs. I wish I could have a job that pays as well as theirs. I wish I could be as popular as them. Every time we've been envious, every time we've been greedy.

[22:58] Jesus says, I know you. Can I have some water? So where are you going to get your water from?

[23:10] Will you turn to those who are successful? Will you turn to celebrities? Will you turn to money, to power, to alcohol, to approval from others? Will you turn to yourself?

[23:22] Will you turn to this unreachable idea of truth? Or will you turn to the living water offered by the one who created you?

[23:35] Jesus says, I know everything about you. Can I have some water? Amen.