Title: Samaritan Woman
Around the time, there are many stories of eavesdropping on the X-Files articles of the Ministry of Investigation in every media outlet. Wiretapping is illegal. If caught while wiretapping, despite the imprisonment of up to 10 years, it is still being sold in Cheonggyecheon. Usually, a wiretapping device is found in one out of five households, and it is said that some of them have a house installed separately by a married couple. Interestingly, divorce rates and wiretap penetration rates are similar. Everyone, be careful. Perhaps you are being eavesdropped.
But rest assured. The fact is that we are already being tapped into everything in our lives. It is a fact that even hidden thoughts that we did not say before the Lord are being tapped. Thankfully, the Lord does not use us as tools of intimidation like humans, even if he knows everything about us, but uses them as data to know and solve problems.
Everyone who encounters Jesus will face the true face of himself, not the pretense of himself. We are eavesdropped by the Lord and we want to deny and deny, but we see facts about us. Today's text is the story of a Samaritan woman meeting the Lord. You can see this in this story too. This woman who met Jesus, who is the truth, also shows her face to face with the truth. Like this woman, let us see ourselves before the Lord.
1. The Lord dealt with the Samaritan woman naturally and humanly. (Verses 7-15)
The Lord is meeting a Samaritan woman. The Lord started the conversation by saying, “Give me some water.” He spoke to the woman in a natural and plain way. You started from the woman's point of view. This kind of the Lord's evangelism is the attitude we should all have.
However, when the Lord asked for a drink, the woman protested, “As a Jew, why do you ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” John explains this in verse 9, "For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans." Nevertheless, the Lord aroused her curiosity again, saying, “If you had known the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” What are “gift of God” and “living water” here? The gift of God is the Lord Himself, and the living water points to the Holy Spirit.
The woman protests one more word while understanding the Lord's words only in a worldly and human way. “Lord, there is no vessel to draw water, and this well is deep. Where can I get living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well, and he and his sons and his animals ate from it?” asks. Because this woman sees the Lord as only a Jew.
The Lord did not answer the woman's question, and said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never thirst. He does. The woman still did not understand the word of the Lord, but she wanted to have what the Lord said. “Lord, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or come here to draw water.”
Some of us will come to church because we are drawn to the human and material things. There are some people who attend church knowing that they will be at peace and receive material blessings when they go to church. If any, he is at this level.
2. The Lord now allows a woman to see the moral truth about Himself (verses 16-19).
The Lord suddenly changes the center of the topic. Verse 16. “Go and call your husband.” This woman must have been startled by the Lord's words. It was because the Lord had pierced her in the most painful place. So she immediately muffles, "I have no husband." Then the Lord immediately said, “You are right in saying that you do not have a husband. You have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband, so you are true.” The woman was even more amazed by the Lord's words about her life, admitting the truth about herself by saying, “Lord, I see that you are a prophet.” "you are right. That's what I look like. I am such a sinner. Everything you said is true.” Gentlemen, for this woman, this was the thing she hated the most and most hated to admit. So she avoids people and comes to draw water at noon, when no one comes to draw water.
It is the thing women hate to hear the most and hate to even think about, but the Lord is putting her morally in the face of who she is as a woman. The Lord's concern is to point out the most important sin of this woman and have her admit it. Therefore, the saying, “Go and call your husband” means “You are committing the greatest sin in the matter of your husband. Therefore, admit your sins against your husband, repent, and confess.” Jesus is revealing the true moral figure of a woman, just as a doctor in a hospital diagnoses and picks up a disease.
Ladies and gentlemen, everyone who meets Jesus sees his or her own moral side. Just as Zacchaeus reveals our greed for money, the Lord shows us who we are. Just as the Samaritan woman confronts and acknowledges who she is, it allows us to see who we really are. Therefore, those who do not know who we are cannot be said to have met Jesus. Those who believe in Jesus know who they are. Because Jesus makes us know who we are. Guys, who are we? We are sinners. No matter how much we want to admit it, we are not enough people to reach the glory of God. No matter how much we wear masks and dress up, everyone, we are sinners before the Lord.
But look at the Samaritan woman standing before the Lord sharply revealing her shameful shame. Although the Lord knows all of her sins and points them out, the woman does not leave the Lord. It is because their sins are pointed out, but they feel the love of the Lord. Had she felt reproach or condemnation, she would have left the Lord immediately. The Lord does not condemn women, but rather loves them. Doctors diagnose our disease in order to cure it. In verse 4, the Lord deliberately passed through Samaria to meet the woman.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is through acknowledging who we are that we experience the Lord's love. The Samaritan woman began to gain freedom from it when she admitted her sin before the Lord. What we conceal or deny is to give strength to sin. But when we acknowledge and admit, we begin to be freed from sin.
3. The Lord leads the woman into a true worshiper of God. (verses 20-26)
The woman first asks a spiritual question, thinking that the Lord is no ordinary man. Verse 20. “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place of worship is in Jerusalem.” Hearing the word of worship, the Lord speaks revolutionary words. Soon, “Woman, believe me. The hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know, and we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. The hour is coming and is now, when those who truly worship the Father will worship in spirit and truth. The Father is looking for those who worship him like this.”
The most important thing here is that it is important to worship in spirit and in truth wherever you are. The words “spirit and truth” are not human spirit and human truth. This is because no matter how hard you try and be sincere, there is no one to have fellowship with God. “Spirit and truth” should be interpreted as “Spirit and truth”. The truth is the revealed word of God, and the Holy Spirit is responsible for guiding Christians who believe in the Lord into the truth. Therefore, we worship God, the Spirit, according to the word of God's revelation and guided by the Holy Spirit.
The Lord tells the woman that God is looking for people who worship like this. This is not just a statement. The Lord is inviting women with this past to this worship service of “in spirit and in truth.” The woman's sins are forgiven, she receives the Holy Spirit, and she is calling for salvation to worship God.
Ladies and gentlemen, this woman is still a little confused. Her sins were exposed and she was invited to worship in "Spirit and Truth." I asked a question about the Messiah who made this possible. “And the woman said, I know that the Messiah is coming, who is called Christ; and when he comes, he will tell us all things.” Hearing the woman's confession of the Messiah, the Lord declared, "I am the one you speak of." The woman met the waiting Messiah. You are meeting the Messiah promised in the Bible. Although not recorded in the Bible, this woman must have known and believed that Jesus was the Messiah. They would have become saints who worship God in spirit and in truth.
Ladies and gentlemen, the direction of our lives is determined by how we respond to the truth the Lord has shown us. Our quality of life is determined. Our destiny is decided. Please do not avoid it and face the truth. who we are And I want you to face clearly who Jesus is to us.