Sychar's Sinner Saved
(No. 2277)
INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, OCTOBER 9 1892.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING, APRIL
13, 1890.
"Jesus answered and said unto her, If you knew the gift of God, and who
itis thatsays to you, Give Me to drink; you would have asked of Him,
and He would have given you living water." John 4:10.
I COULD not help saying, in the reading, that the woman's answer to our
Lord was, at least, somewhat abrupt, if not really rude, but, with
great meekness, Jesus took no notice of it so as to blame her for her
tone, or for her unkind manner. He was too intent upon saving her soul
to care about a little rudeness on her part. Learn a lesson from your
Lord's conduct! When you are dealing with souls, do not always expect
them to yield to you at once. Do not expect them, even, to receive your
expostulations with thankfulness. Be prepared to be repelled and even
to be ridiculed. And when it so happens, do not be put out of temper,
or out of heart, but go straight on with your work whichever way they
may go.
Our Savior, instead of being vexed at the rudeness of the woman, said
to her, "If you knew." "Ah, poor Soul, you do not know to whom you are
speaking thus rudely!" "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that
says to you, Give Me to drink; you would have asked of Him, and He
would have given you living water." Oh, that we might have a passion
for the souls of men! May we be vehement in our desire, with a love
that burns like coals of juniper! May we not be put off by any
discouragements, but let us resolve that before we have done with any
poor sinner, we will do all in our power to bring him to Christ, so
that, if men are lost, it shall not be our fault–and if they are
saved, we will, at least, have this part in it–that we have set Christ
plainly before them as their soul's only hope!
Now, our Savior, having thus set us an example of great meekness, went
on to read this woman's heart in a amazing manner and, reading her
heart, He foretold what her action would be when her ignorance was
removed. It is a difficult thing to tell what people will do under such
and such circumstances, for men and women are very unaccountable
creatures. But the Savior made a prediction as to what this woman would
do. That will be my first point–Jesus foretold what her action would
be when her ignorance was removed. And then, secondly, I will show you
that the fact justified the prediction. As soon as the woman knew who
it was that spoke to her, she asked Him for the Living Water–Jesus
gave it to her and she went on her way rejoicing!
I. First, then, JESUS FORETOLD WHAT HER ACTION WOULD BE WHEN HER
IGNORANCE WAS REMOVED. He saw in her a kindly disposition towards right
things, but she was hindered by her ignorance. If that hindrance could
be taken away, she would at once travel in the right road.
Let me mention the points of saving knowledge which it was desirable
for her to know.
These were, first, the nature of salvation. "If you knew the gift of
God." Thousands of people in the world do not know what salvation
means. They conceive, if they have any notion of it at all, that it
means escaping from Hell and going to Heaven when they die, which is a
very imperfect and incorrect idea of salvation. "The gift of God is
eternal life"– and that is salvation! God gives to all who believe in
Christ a new life, a vital principle, something to be within them
always–the reigning and ruling principle of their lives. Salvation
means salvation from sin. To the drunk, it is salvation from the drink.
To the swearer, it is salvation from a profane heart. To the unchaste,
it is salvation from impurity. It means deliverance from the power of
evil in the life and submission to the power of that which is good and
gracious, by which sin shall be cast out.
Do you remember the meaning of the name, Jesus? "You shall call His
name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." The
salvation that we have to preach produces a change of heart, a renewal
of nature, a deliverance from the
power of the devil and brings the renewed man under the supreme power
of the Holy Spirit of God! If some men knew this, they would begin to
seek for it. Are there not many here who feel that they ought to turn
over a new leaf and they do not know how to do it? They have not the
power, even though they have, in a measure, the will. Now, salvation
brings you both will and power–it saves you not only from the wrath to
come, but from the sin that is now within you. That is the nature of
salvation.
This woman did not know the freeness of salvation. "If you knew the
gift of God"–"the gift of God." She thought, perhaps, that it had to
be bought with money, or procured by sacrifices, or attained by good
works after a long period of preparation. The Savior assured her that
salvation was the gift of God–freely given, not because it is
deserved, but because God delights to bless even the unthankful and the
evil! Given, not because of penances, or austerities, or myriads of
prayers, or floods of tears–but freely given to every soul that is
willing to accept it by faith in Jesus Christ! Oh, if many knew this,
they would seek to have it! But they do not know what salvation is. And
they do not know that it is to be had for nothing and to be had on the
spot. "If you knew the gift of God."
Further, it was necessary for this woman to know the Person of Christ.
"If you knew who it is that says to you, Give Me to drink." Some do not
know who the Christ is. Though He has been here and lived, and died,
and is gone to Heaven and is preached by tens of thousands of
preachers, and His blessed Book is with you to this day, yet you do not
know that the Savior is God over all, blessed forever, the second
Person of the sacred Trinity, the Son of God and yet Man! He took upon
Himself the nature of man, was born into this world, lived a suffering
and obedient life, died an ignominious and painful death! And now He
has risen from the dead and He is sitting at the right hand of God,
even the Father, and will shortly come to judge the quick and the dead
according to our Gospel. Now this is He, this God, this Man, this
Mediator between God and men who is to be trusted! He was commissioned
of God and, therefore, He was called the Christ, the Anointed. He has
come into the world on purpose to do the will of Him that sent Him and
to finish His work. Oh, you sons and daughters of men, if you would be
saved, you must come and trust yourselves with the Incarnate God who is
bone of your bone, and flesh of your flesh!
This woman also did not know the freeness of Christ, for when our
Savior said, "If you knew the gift of God," He really meant Himself.
Paul said, "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." This is He,
the Gift of the Father! Christ has not come into the world simply to
save the rich, or the learned, or those who struggle through many
examinations to obtain a high degree of human wisdom. He died, also,
for the poor, for you who know your own ignorance and bewail for you w
ho know your sinnership and repent of it. He came not call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. God has given His Son Jesus
Christ, freely given Him! You may have Him for the asking! You may have
Him for the taking! "Whoever believes in Him has everlasting life." And
if you will but trust Him, there is eternal life for you! It was
important that this woman should know this. "If you knew the gift of
God, and who it is that says to you, Give Me to
drink."
If you look at the text, you will now see the conduct which follows
this saving knowledge. Christ foretold what this woman would do when
her ignorance was removed. What would she do? Well, first, she would
forget about the idea of giving Christ anything! He began by saying to
this sinful woman, "Give Me to drink," but He afterwards said, "If you
knew the gift of God, you would have asked of Him."
I am continually hearing, from converts and others, the expression, "/
gave my heart to Christ," as a description of conversion. Now I do not
find fault with that expression, for we must give our hearts to
Christ–but very seriously let me say that I am afraid that that phrase
will do much mischief unless it is well guarded and looked after. The
Gospel is not, "Give your hearts to Christ, and you shall be saved."
The Gospel is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ"–that is, TRUST
Him–"and you shall be saved." When you do that, you will be sure to
give Him your heart, by-and-by, if not at once. Salvation is not by
your giving anything to Christ, but by Christ giving something to you!
I am glad that you have given your heart to Christ–but have you
learned, first, this lesson–that He gave His heart for you? We do not
find salvation by giving Christ anything! That is the fruit of it, but
salvation comes by Christ giving us something–did I say something–by
Christ giving us EVERYTH/NG! By His giving us Himself!
I used to notice that a good deal of Sunday school teaching to the
children was, "Dear child, love Jesus." That is not the way of
salvation! The way of salvation is to trust Jesus. The fruit of
salvation is that the dear child does love Jesus, but that is not the
way of salvation. The way of salvation is to take Christ, to trust
Christ. When you are saved, the proof of
it will be that you will give your heart to Christ, but do not let us
turn things upside down lest, beginning with a little blunder, we
should go on to some great error and set up, again, the ruinous
doctrine which once sank the world in dark-ness–the doctrine of an
imaginary salvation by our own works!
Next, the text suggests the idea of asking of Christ as the first thing
for us to do. How many there are who know that salvation is a gift, but
they never seek it! They know that it is all of Grace, but they never
ask for it. An occasional prayer, when you are half-asleep at
night–now and then an expression of a wish that you were better–that
is all the effort you put forth. The Lord says, "You shall seek Me, and
find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart." Men seek
after gold as if they had a thousand hearts–but they seek after Grace
as if their heart were cut into a thousand pieces and only one solitary
thousandth part of it went after the blessing! This woman did really
ask of Christ, and asked with earnestness. And so must you. If you did
but know Christ. If you did but know the value of His salvation. If you
did but know the freeness of it, my Hearers, you would get to your
knees and you would never rise from them again till you had found Him
who alone can save your souls!
Let me ask you unsaved ones, do you cry to God for mercy? Are you in
earnest about it? Does your very soul go up to God in prayer? If not,
do not wonder that you still remain in the gall of bitterness! How can
you expect God to give to you that which you do not value enough to
heartily ask for?
This woman, when her ignorance was removed, would be led to put asking,
first, and then really to ask. And, next, receiving would graciously
follow the asking! I call your attention to the words, "You would have
asked of Him, and He would have given you." Dear Hearer, if you had
asked, you would have had! "You have not because you ask not." Sitting
in that pew, tonight, without God, without Christ–it is because you
have not sought Him, you have not cried for Him! Had you sought Him,
you would have found Him, "for everyone who asks, receives; and he who
seeks, finds; and to him that knocks, it shall be opened." I do not
like merely to utter this Truth of God–I wish I could press it home
upon your heart and that you would feel that if you have not asked, it
is right that you should not have received–and that if you had asked,
you would not have asked in vain! "You would have asked and He would
have given."
Then she would have received and the preciousness of the gift would
have been apparent. The result would have been that she would have been
a happy woman, greatly prizing the gift of God, greatly valuing the
dear Savior, singing in her delight because she had found Him who could
take all her sin away and send her back to Sychar a renewed woman.
Instead of being a destroyer of the souls of men, she would become a
herald of the Cross to them and the means of their salvation.
So our Savior pictured what she would have done. I wonder whether it is
true about any of you, here, that you have only kept from prayer
because you have not known better? Have you not found Christ because
you really did not know anything about Him? You have been making
mistakes and blunders and that is why you are not saved. Now we have
explained the matter to you and you can see it–I trust that not
another day will begin and end without your seeking and finding
Christ–and so entering into eternal life.
Now consider the line of action which this teaching suggests to us.
If it is, in many cases, the fact that nothing but ignorance is keeping
men out of eternal life. If it is true of many that if they did but
know, they would ask and they would receive, then if you have not found
Christ, be wise enough to try and learn all about Him! Do not remain in
ignorance where that ignorance is not bliss, but endless woe. Wake
yourself up and say, "If I can find out what salvation is, I will find
it out, even if I have to burn the midnight oil, and wear my eyes out
in searching through the sacred Book. I will hear as well as read. I
will know all that I can about salvation and about this Jesus, the Son
of God, the unspeakable Gift of God." Well, take care that you go where
Christ is most preached! A little girl heard her mother say, "We went
to the House of God to hear about Jesus." "Mother," she said, "at the
place where Aunty goes, they do not hear anything about Jesus, I am
sure, for I went with her many times, and I never heard anything about
Him."
Do not go to places where Christ is not preached! Let those go who have
no souls to be saved, if there are such people, but you, dear Hearers,
are in an anxious state. You need to find salvation and, lest ignorance
should hinder you, take heed what you hear and take heed how you hear.
I was but a child when I first began to seek the Savior, but I have a
distinct recollection that as soon as the sun shone into my little
bedchamber, I was awake–and what was I reading? Dod-dridge's, "Rise
and Progress of Religion in the Soul," Alleine's, "Alarm to the
Unconverted," and books of that order! I
read when I was but a child, in the hope that I might somehow find
Christ and be saved. When I went to a place of worship, I took no
notice of the music of the organ, or the eloquence of the preacher. I
kept listening with this one thought in my mind–"Oh that I might but
find salvation! Oh, that I might but find Christ!" Whenever that is the
case with anyone, depend upon it, sooner or later the ignorance that
bars the way will melt and disappear! And you will ask, and God will
give, and there will be joy in Heaven and joy in your own heart because
you are saved!
One thing more. If you discover the Truth of God, then go on learning
more about it so that you may tell it to others. It is of the nature of
the Grace of God, when it gets into one heart, that it needs to flow
into another. The woman of Sychar believes in Jesus. Now she must go
and tell the men of the city about the Christ. I wonder whether she
went to the men with whom she had sinned? Women did not often speak
openly to men in those Oriental regions, but this woman did. She had
broken through the laws of decorum and of the Word of God, so away she
goes and says to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that
I ever did: is not this the Christ?" Go on learning about Christ, I
say, that you may teach it to others–and never think a day is well
spent unless you have spoken to someone about your Master, unless you
have at least dropped one tiny seed somewhere to bring forth fruit to
His praise! Our Savior predicted that the woman would ask and that she
would receive if she could but get rid of the ignorance that weighed
her down.
II. My second point is that all this came true. THE FACT JUSTIFIED THE
PREDICTION. When this woman's ignorance was taken away, she did what
Christ said she would do!
First, let me remind you that what she did know stood her in good
stead. She was not converted when she came to Christ–very far from
it–but she did know something about Him, for she said to Him, "I know
that Messiah comes, which is called Christ." It is a good beginning
when you know anything. I heard, yesterday, a piece of bigotry
concerning Dissenters which astonished me for the moment, and then I
said, "I am rather glad to hear it, for I like to meet with men,
nowadays, who believe anything–for the majority of people do not
believe anything at all! And there is hope for a man, or a woman, who
really knows and believes something." If you have one solid bit
somewhere, we can get a fulcrum for our lever and so can move you. This
woman said, "I know that Messiah comes." Teachers of the children in
the Sunday schools, it may be years hence, but if you have taught a
child to really know something, that knowledge may be the beginning of
his salvation. It was partly by common tradition, partly by
conversation and partly by the belief of her associates that this woman
came to say, "I know that Messiah comes."
Then she had got into her head another thing, that when He did come, He
would tell them all things. "When He is come, He will tell us all
things." In effect, the woman's belief led her to say, "When the
Messiah comes, we shall all be set right. Now, we Jews and Samaritans
have had a quarrel about where we ought to worship. The Samaritans say
that Mount Gerizim is the place where the blessing was pronounced, and
that we ought to worship here. They only believe, as you know, in the
Pentateuch. Those five books of Moses do not say much about Jerusalem,
or about a Temple. Clinging to that grand old Pentateuch, I believe in
worshipping here at Gerizim. But the Jews say that we ought to worship
at Jerusalem. Well, when Messiah comes, He will tell us all things."
She had that idea firmly fixed in her mind. Where did she get it? I
will read you the passage in order that you may see how a single text
may give a hook on which a soul may hang. One single text may be a
little bit of solid rock on which you may plant your lever and begin to
lift the heavy weight of an immortal soul! In the 18th Chapter of
Deuteronomy, beginning at the 15th verse, we read as follows–"The LORD
your God will raise up unto you a Prophet from the midst of you, of
your brethren, like unto me; unto him you shall hearken; according to
all that you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the
assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the Voice of the LORD my God,
neither let me see this great fire anymore, that I die not. And the
LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken."
They need a Mediator–they shall have a Mediator to speak to them from
Me.
NOW, here is the special verse, "I will raise them up a Prophet from
among their brethren, like unto you, and will put My words in his
mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." This
woman pulled the text about a little, but she gathered this from it,
"There is a great Prophet to come, God's anointed Prophet, the Messiah,
or Christ; and when He comes, we shall know Him by this, that He will
tell us all things. He will more fully expound the Truth of God about
which we may now be in doubt." That is what she knew and that helped
her a great deal.
But, next, what our Lord told her was a still greater help to her, for
He directed her to Himself. He began, first, by preaching the Gospel to
her. He would give her Living Water and if she drank it, it would
remain in her forever a well of water, springing up unto everlasting
life. And He was ready to give her this Living Water then and there.
Next, He unveiled her life before her. He told her that she had had
five husbands and that the man with whom she then lived was not her
husband. With two or three strokes He drew her portrait. She marveled
at this. It is a great thing for a man to see himself–it is a greater
thing for him to see his Savior. After you are once converted, do not
study yourself. Study your Lordl God has given one objective for the
soul's eye to rest upon, and that is Christ! Keep your eyes always
resting upon Him. But, in order to her conversion, she was made to see
herself, a wretched woman, living in abominable sin–and she was
astonished at the sight! But even that helped her.
Then the Savior took her off from all outward religion. He said to her,
"Woman, believe Me, the hour comes when you shall neither in this
mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father." Jesus told her
that the hour had come when the true worshippers would worship the
Father in spirit and in truth. Notice, too, that Christ took her off
from the Samaritan worship. He said, "Salvation is of the Jews." But
then He took her off the Jewish worship, too, and said, "Neither in
this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem." It is all very well for you to
try to convert a Roman Catholic into an English Churchman–that is,
converting him from a Samaritan to a Jew. It is all very well for you
to turn him from a Wesleyan into an Independent, or from an Independent
into a Baptist, or from an Arminian into a Calvinist. The fact is,
though, you have to get him off everything but Christ! And you have not
done your work until you have brought him to know that no profession of
religion, no outward ceremonies, whatever, can save the soul. "They
that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth: for the
Father seeks such to worship Him."
The Savior had done this woman great service. He had preached to her
the Gospel, unveiled her sin, taken her off herself and off all
external religiousness. Then came the main point of all–He revealed
Himself to her, unveiling the sacred majesty of His Divine Glory. He
said to her, "I that speak unto you am He." When she said, "I know that
Messiah comes," He at once spoke that grand word, "I am He." Now, dear
Friend, if the Lord has given you only to know one Truth, hold on to
it! And may He teach you more of yourself, more of Himself and bring
you to know that Jesus Christ is the one and only Savior even as He
brought this woman to know it!
Well, once more, her own experience of Christ settled her faith. I do
not know whether you see my drift. The woman had the idea in her mind
that when the Messiah came, He would tell all things. She listened to
Christ and when He drew a picture of her entire life, something began
to whisper in her heart–"He is telling you all things that you ever
did. Is not this the Christ?" And when Christ said to her, "I that
speak unto you am He," the work was completed and off she went and said
to the men the first thing that she could think of. She said, "You know
that the Messiah, when He comes, is to tell us all things. Moses said
that in Deuteronomy. You remember the passage in the Pentateuch! Now,"
she said, "I have met with a Man who has told me all things that ever I
did. At least, He has told everything in one particular line. Do you
not think that this could be the Messiah?"
In her poor, womanly way, she had argued herself into that belief–and
I think that it was a good, reasonable argument, too. I have known many
a soul get to Heaven with no better guidance than some one text of
Scripture. One Truth of God will guide a man to Heaven, though 50 may
feed him better than one. When a bridge is to be made across some deep
chasm, what is to be done? The first thing is to shoot an arrow across,
or a gunshot that will carry a thread. When you have a thread across,
you can pull a string over the gulf. When you have the string across,
you can pull a thicker and stronger cord across. That can pull a rope
and that rope can carry a bigger rope that can bear a cable! And,
by-and-by, when you have got your cables across, you can begin to make
your iron bridge.
Now, in this woman's heart, that one belief, "I know that Messiah
comes, which is called Christ," was like the thread shot across the
chasm! "When He is come, He will tell us all things," was like the
piece of string. And when she found that she had met with One who did
tell her all things, she had a cable across the chasm! This is the way
in which God removes ignorance! This is the way in which God builds up
faith–little by little–and I, therefore, pray any of you who believe
even a little, to hold on to it, and not to give up! Search the
Scriptures. Hear the Gospel until you believe a great deal more and,
believing that Jesus is the Christ, sent of God to save sinners! Trust
Him wholly. Trust only Him! And so you shall enter into eternal life.
I think that I hear one ask, "Do you mean to say that that woman was
saved?" Yes, I expect to meet her in Heaven. Among the fair daughters
of the New Jerusalem, the woman that was waiting at the well will
surely be found! "But she was such a shocking character," says one. She
was a shocking character–I hope that there is not any woman here half
as bad as she was, though there may be, and there may even be some
worse than she was–but she was saved and so will you be, if you go the
same way that she went. There may be men here who are steeped in vice
much worse than this poor woman ever was. You generally blame the woman
and the man is allowed to go scot-free. But tonight, man or woman, I do
not care which you are–even if you have committed the same sin–the
very same and are guilty in the sight of God, and before your own
conscience, yet listen to two things that Jesus said to that woman.
The first was, "Woman, believe Me." Woman, believe Christ. Man, believe
Christ. Never mind me. Never mind ministers or priests. Believe Christ,
the Sent One of God, for He cannot lie! He speaks the truth! Believe
Him and believe in Him, that is, trust Him, rest upon Him for
salvation!
And then Jesus left her with this word ringing in her ears, the last
word that He spoke, "I that speak unto you am He." Believe that Christ
is He whom God has sent to save sinners! Believe that Christ is He who
took our sin, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!
Believe Him as He says, "I am He," and say to Him, "I, Lord, am like
this woman, one of the chief of sinners, but I believe that You are the
Savior of sinners, and I trust myself with You. Save me, Lord, for Your
own name's sake!"
Now, you see, I have brought the horses to the water. But I cannot make
them drink! I have set Christ before you, but I cannot make you have
Him! May the Holy Spirit help you to take Him, tonight, once and for
all! Do not go away till He has done so. Give not sleep to your eyes,
nor slumber to your eyelids till you have closed in with Christ and
accepted Him as your Savior! For when you fall asleep, tonight, you may
never wake up again on this earth. It will be a dreadful thing to wake
up in the land where hope can never come–where you shall see afar off
God's chosen ones, but, as for yourself, you shall be told that there
is a great gulf fixed between you and them so that they cannot come to
you, and you cannot go to them "Repent and believe the Gospel!" May the
Holy Spirit cause you to do so even now, for Jesus' sake! Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON JOHN4:1-42.
Verses. 1-3. When, therefore, the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard
that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (though Jesus
Himself baptized not, but His disciples), He left Judea, and departed
again into Galilee. Our Lord knew that the Pharisees would assail Him
now that He was prospering, and gathering disciples. He, therefore,
went away from them as He did on other occasions. Whenever the cause of
God grows, Satan is sure to be violent against it. Notice that our
Savior did not, Himself, baptize His followers. Now, if Baptism
depended upon the character or the office of the baptizer, Jesus would
certainly have done it! But to show us that the person baptizing does
not impart any Grace to the person baptized, our Lord baptized not, but
left that work to His disciples.
4. And He must needs go through Samaria. Men say that, "'Must' is for
the king." But our King puts Himself under an imperative, "must," under
a Divine necessity. Though obliged to do nothing, yet He obliges
Himself to do deeds of mercy and Grace.
5. 6. Then He came to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near
to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's
well was there. Holy men often impart an interest to the very place
which they inhabit. We should not have cared anything about Sychar, or
its well, if Jacob had not been there. Where godly men have been, the
ground is sacred. How much more so where the God of men comes to visit
us!
6. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the
well and it was about the sixth hour. Only half a day spent on His
journey, yet He is weary. See, Brothers and Sisters, how He was
compassed with infirmity! Our Great High Priest so truly took our flesh
that He was wearied with His journey. He that rolls the stars along was
weary in the middle of the day! So weary was He that He sat in the very
attitude of weariness, as best He could, on the curb of the well–
"Jesus, therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the
well."
7. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give
Me to drink. Wonderful words of condescension! The Creator is asking
drink of His creature! Perfect holiness is asking of a sinner! He
without whom there were no clouds, or rain, or springs, or wells, says
to a sinful woman, "Give Me to drink."
8, 9. (For His disciples were gone away unto the city to buy food). The
woman of Samaria said unto Him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask
drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans. In effect, the woman said, "Now that You are
thirsty, You can ask drink of me. But at another time, proud Jew that
You are, You would not speak to a Samaritan." Surely, this was rather a
gruff answer, if not really rude. If she had known who it was to whom
she was speaking, she would not have answered Him thus.
10. Jesus answered and said unto her, /f you knew the gift of God, and
who it is that says to you, Give Me to drink; you would have asked of
Him, and He would have given you living water. Something better than
the water from Jacob's well! Though you have denied Him a simple draft
of water, He would not have denied you something infinitely better,
namely, Living Water. She little knew what that Living Water was.
11,12. The woman said unto Him, Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and
the well is deep: from where, then, have You that living water? Are You
greater than ourfather, Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank
thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? That last word,
"cattle," lets us see wherein the water of Jacob's well could never be
compared to the Living Water that Jesus gives! If beasts can partake of
it, it is not that high and spiritual thing which immortal souls need,
which Jesus came to give. Unwittingly, the woman had answered her own
question, "Are You greater than our father
Jacob?"
13, 14. Jesus answered and said unto her, Whoever drinks of this water
shall thirst again: but whoever drinks of the water that / shall give
him shall never thirst; but the water that / shall give him shall be in
him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. If Christ gives
you Grace, it is eternal life that He gives you! It is not a life that
can die. It is not a Grace that you can lose. It is everlasting life–a
supply of living water which turns to a spring or well–and always
remains within the heart that receives it.
15. The woman said unto Him, Sir, give me this water, that / thirst
not, neither come here to draw. She had caught the Lord's meaning so
far as the perpetuity of the water was concerned, but she still did not
know what the Living Water was. It was all a riddle to her, as I am
afraid it is to some of you. There is many a Doctor of Divinity who
cannot explain what the Living Water is.
16. Jesus said unto her. As she had apparently learned nothing by His
instruction, He now tried another plan with her and began to deal with
her conscience.
16, 17. Go, call your husband, and come here. The woman answered and
said, / have no husband. Jesus said unto her, You have well said, /
have no husband. Praise people whenever you can. There was nothing good
about this woman, but she had spoken the truth–"You have well said, I
have no husband." Our Lord purposely laid the emphasis on the last
word.
18. For you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not
your husband: in that said you truly. What an exposure of the life she
was living! Jesus laid bare what she and her companion in sin may have
thought that no man knew–"He whom you now have is not your husband: in
that said you truly."
19. The woman said unto Him, Sir. She is getting more respectful now.
When conscience begins to work, men treat the ministry with greater
deference.
19, 20. /perceive that you are a Prophet. Our fathers worshipped in
this mountain. How pleased she was to get away from that unpleasant
subject of her five husbands and the man who was not her husband! How
anxious people are to salve their consciences by discussing religious
matters of a general character! When you come a little too close to
them, they edge off if they can. So this woman said, "Our fathers
worshipped in this mountain."
20, 21. And You say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to
worship. Jesus said unto her, Woman believe Me. Our Savior gave the
woman good Gospel advice, "Woman, believe Me"
21, 22. The hour comes when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet
at Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship you know not what: we know
what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. They have the oracles of
God. The Savior comes of the Jews. They are right as far as they follow
the instruction they have received, and you Samaritans are wrong in
keeping to the Law of Moses, alone, and rejecting the rest of the
Scriptures.
23, 24. But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to
worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth All the true worship in the world is of
God's seeking. None would ever worship Him aright if He did not lead
them to it. He seeks them–and then they seek Him.
25, 26. The woman said unto Him, / know that Messiah comes, which is
called Christ: when He is come, He will tell us all things. Jesus said
unto her, / that speak unto you am He. Now her eyes were opened. That
last word had made her see!
27. And upon this came His disciples, and marveled that He talked with
the woman. How big they were, how wise in their own conceit to be
astonished that Christ was talking with a woman! The followers of
Christ often get much too big for their places–and too big to please
their Master, too. Though "they marveled that He was speaking with a
woman," as the Revised Version translates it.
27. Yet no man said, What do You seek? or, Why do You talk with her?
They dared not do that. They had too much awe of Him. But, do you know
I have often wished that they had done so? I should like to have read
what Christ would have said to them. How He would have reproved them
for thinking that He had degraded Himself by talking with a woman, or
with anybody. Our Savior would have vindicated woman's place in the
world in a way that one might have liked to have heard.
28. The woman then left her water pot and went her way into the cit.
Why should she stay any longer? The faces of the disciples did not look
pleasant, but their Master had comforted her. She would not stop to
lose that comfort by hard words from the disciples–she "went her way
into the city."
28-32. And said to the men, Come, see a Man which told me all things
that ever / did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the
city, and came to Him. /n the meanwhile His disciples prayed Him
saying, Master, eat. But He said unto them, / have meat to eat that you
know not of.
39, 40. 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 / did.
So when the Samaritans were come unto Him they besought Him that He
would tarry with them: and He abode there two days. Two days of
Christ's personal ministry–what might not come of that?
41, 42. And many more believed because of His own word; and said unto
the woman, Now we believe, not because of your saying: for we have
heard Him ourselves, and know that this is, indeed, the Christ, the
Savior of the world. Would God that many might be brought to know that
Christ, the Savior, tonight! Amen.