The Gift of God

 

Text: John 4:1-42

 

¹ When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, ² (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

 

Jesus ministry was very fruitful. It was much better than the one for John the Baptist. John said that Jesus must increase but he must decrease. This should be the drive of our service to the Lord, He must increase but we must decrease (John 3:30)

 

³ He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.
⁴ And he must needs go through Samaria.

 

Samaria is in between Judea and Galilee. So Jesus had to pass through Samaria. You can see even the Son of God did not have shortcut in His ministry. We must be prepared to go all the way. All things have been arranged by the Father for a purpose. God can arrange miracles for us but there are times when He makes us to go through it all.

⁵ Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. ⁷ There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

⁸ (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

 

When Jesus came here on earth, He emptied Himself all divinity and was subject to all human weaknesses just like us today. He was subject to those weaknesses but He never ceased to serve God. For example you can see in the verses above that:

 

1. He was tired, until He could only sit.
2. He was thirsty, that is why He could ask for water from the woman. He was not afraid.
3. He was hungry, that is why the disciples had to go and buy food for Him.

 

What can you do when you are tired, thirsty and hungry? Can you still seek the lost and do the will of God.

 

The woman came at noon. This was unusual because women used to come in groups and only in the morning or at evening. But she came alone, because she was lonely and guity of some things which others used to prick her heart. May be they called her, husband stealer. But because she also had needs she used her mind and sought for the most convenient time to meet her physical needs. But the lonely sinner met the lonely saviour. 

 

⁹ Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

The woman could know Jesus was a Jew because of the way He was dressing. Our physical appearance speaks. What we wear can identify who we are. We need to be good epistles to be read by all men, so that they can see our works and glorify our Father in heaven. Our attitudes can be influenced by our history and culture. This thing of “we” and “you” was still there in the days of Jesus. The Samaritan woman said “we have no dealing with the Jews”. Be careful what you despite, because God can use any container to pack His blessing. Prejudice is a thief of blessings, and it can hinder the spread of the gospel. It makes people so inhuman that they can not even give free water to the thirsty amongst our society.

 

You can be sure at this juncture she has refused to give Jesus water. Based on the ground that He according to her He is a Jew, But Jesus is the wisdom of God. I am telling you that He shall fight with wisdom and get not just water from the woman but also get the woman and the water. How did He go about to overcome this prejudice?

 

¹⁰ Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

 

How did Jesus overcome prejudice?

Jesus identified that the weakness of the woman was based on ignorance. He said “If you Know the gift of God”. The Bible says that my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). I think it is not that people are blank in knowledge, but they have a wrong knowledge.

Any knowledge which does not motivate you to action is probably wrong knowledge; Jesus said if you knew the gift of God you could have asked! Why? Because it’s a gift, not a reward and Gifts are free. My desire and prayer to God is that today you might know the gift of God and know Jesus who is ready to give you that gift of God.

 

Here Jesus gave only three conditions for one to receive the gift of God.

1. You must know the gift of God.
2. He said if you knew who it was who was taking to you.
3. You could have asked for the gift

 

In other words Jesus was saying, “stop looking at me as a Jew and you shall see what God has wrapped inside me”. Dear brethren you have had the African day, the Asian day and today is the western day. In each of these people is a gift of God. If you stop looking in the physical you shall marvel at what God has wrapped inside each one of us.

¹¹ The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? ¹²  Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

 

The woman was a real analyst and a practical historian. She looked at Jesus and saw no hope of Him being able to help her. She said Jesus has nothing in His hands, that His environment seems too difficult for Him to make anything good out of it.  So she challenged Him to identify Himself who He was “are you greater than our father Jacob? We always boast of our fathers, wow, my country!, my father! My continent! We are the first world!. This “our father syndrome” must be dealt by knowing Jesus.

 

¹³ Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: ¹⁴ But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

 

Jesus speaks assuredly to her directly that; she shall never be satisfied by drinking that water. Nothing in this world can satisfy the heart of man. Jesus has come to make us to be satisfied. Not money, not fame, not knowledge, but relationship with God. Solomon is a classic example of a person who had all but ended up saying its vanity of vanities, its all running after wind.

 
¹⁵ The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

 

When Jesus offered the only thing the woman was thirsting after, she went for it!..She said “ sir give me this water!”. But Jesus could not change the requirements of God even to a single woman. The order has always “repent and believe the gospel.”. The gospel makes us to change identity but we can not change the identity of the gospel.

 

 

¹⁶ Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

 

Jesus knows us. Amen. You might not know Him but He knows you. Jesus always wants the gospel to have the right foundation, call thy husband.

 

 

¹⁷ The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: ¹⁸ For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

 

Jesus knows what you do and how serious you are in that relationship.

 

¹⁹ The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. ²⁰ Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

 

 

She was a religious woman, even with the five husbands. She knew about worship. But not enough for her to be able to worship, It has confused her. Can you see that any time you mention anything to Jesus you shall know that He knows more than you can imagine. The only problem is to ignore Jesus. If you take your thirst away it shall be a lost opportunity.

 

²¹ Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. ²² Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. ²³ But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. ²⁴ God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
²⁵ The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. ²⁶ Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.²⁷ And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? ²⁸ The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, ²⁹ Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

 

Her destiny and identity was changed by an encounter with Jesus Christ.

 

 

³⁰ Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
³¹  In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. ³² But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. ³³ Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? ³⁴ Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
³⁵ Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. ³⁶ And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
³⁷ And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
³⁸ I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.
³⁹ And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.
⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.
⁴¹ And many more believed because of his own word;
⁴² And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.