Title: The Joy of Meeting the Lord
Contents
John 4:3-15, 28-30
the joy of meeting the Lord
Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of 'The Scarlet Letter', a masterpiece of Puritan literature, was able to make a name for itself as America's best novelist because he met good friends. He met three good friends in college. The first was the Horatio Bridge, a friend who helped Hodon make his literary debut by paying for the publication for poor Hodon, and the second was the poet H. Longfellow. He is a friend who devoted his life to writing the foreword to Hodon, who made his literary debut later than him, and the third friend is Pierce, who later became the 14th president of the United States, and helped Hodon like a brother. With their help, Hodon shined. It was a good meeting that made Hodon one of America's greatest novelists.
In the Bible, there are many stories of people who lived a happy life through good encounters and stories of people who lived an unhappy life through bad encounters. Judge Samson met a bad woman named Delilah and was reduced to a plaything of an enemy country, and ended in a tragic end. King Ahab married a bad woman named Jezebel and became a model for the bad king, ending an unfortunate end. Daniel met good friends named Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah and revealed the glory of God in Babylon, where he was taken hostage. .
The story of a good meeting is also recorded in the text God has given us today. It is the story of the meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman.
1. Jesus comes to us first.
Read verses 3-4 together. “He left Judea and went back to Galilee, and had to go through Samaria.” Amen. When Jews go from Judea to Galilee, they generally do not take the quickest route through Samaria, but rather go back east by the Jordan River or west by the Mediterranean Sea. The reason the Jews go so far is simply not to meet the Samaritans.
There is an old feeling between Jews and Samaritans. When Israel was divided into north and south, the southern kingdom had Jerusalem as its capital, and the northern kingdom of Israel had Samaria as its capital. The northern kingdom was destroyed by an Assyrian invasion in 722 B.C.E. Assyria, which destroyed the northern kingdom, moved the Israelites to Assyria, and the Assyrian Empire to Samaria. The Israelites who remained in Samaria became mixed race as time passed by marrying Gentiles living in the land. However, after 150 years, the Jews of the southern kingdom that were destroyed by Babylon were taken to Babylon, but they kept their lineage until the end.
So the Orthodox Jews ignored the Samaritans, who had lost their pure blood. When the Jews returned to their homeland under the guidance of Ezra and Nehemiah and rebuilt the destroyed temple, the Samaritans tried to help rebuild the temple, but the Samaritans, who were of mixed orthodox Jews, refused to participate in the rebuilding of the temple. So the Samaritans built a temple on Mount Gerizim to replace the Temple in Jerusalem around 400 BC and worshiped there.
The apocryphal book of synod 50:25-26 says, “There are two nations that I hate in my heart, and the third cannot be called a nation. They are the inhabitants of Mount Samaria, and the Philistines, and the foolish men of Shechem.” Because of these old feelings, the Jews never traveled to the land of Samaria. But Jesus goes on the road to Samaria and asks the Samaritan woman for a drink. Let's read verse 7 together. “A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus asked for a drink.” Amen. When Jesus asks for a drink, the Samaritan woman is startled and asks Jesus, “Why are you a Jew, asking for a drink of me, a Samaritan woman?” This verse clearly shows the long-standing envy and antagonism between the Jews and the Samaritans.
Jesus values one life more than the world. That is why he wants all people to become children of God and go to heaven. You don't want to lose even a single life. So, speaking of the story of the shepherd who left his ninety-nine sheep on the mountain and went looking for the one lost sheep, he said, “Truly, I say to you, if you find it, you will rejoice over it more than the ninety-nine that have not gone astray. It is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of them should be lost” (Matthew 18:13-14).
That's right. Jesus came as a human to lead us to the kingdom of God. How can you treat a Samaritan with prejudice when you value one soul and do not want to lose one? Jesus visits anyone. In verse 4 of the text, “they had to pass through Samaria” are the words of Jesus’ will to seek mankind. The word translated “I will” here is “day” in the Greek, which means “must do” in the present active voice. So, the Joint Translation translated, “To go there, you had to go through Samaria.” The KJV translates as “And he must needs go through Samaria.” These are the words of the will of ‘I must go to Samaria’.
There is another road from Judea to Galilee other than through Samaria. You can also go by boat. But the Lord says that we must pass through Samaria. Why did the Lord need to go to Samaria? Jesus knew that a woman in Samaria, where the Jews did not even care, had a spiritual longing for God, living in the swamp of sin. Because the Lord knew the desire of his heart, he would surely go there.
Our Lord knows the thoughts. You know my wish. You know what I pray for. You know my affliction. You know my hunger life. You know the way I go. Our Lord knows the tears we shed secretly. I know all of you who came to worship. "Lord! I know people who have a heart that says, “I cannot live without you.” The Lord knows me better than I do.
Many saints come to the chapel to worship, but some worship just habitually. Sit down in order, get up, sing a hymn, and close your eyes. We give donations as much as we can get our hands on it. It is not worship in spirit and in truth. But some saints say, 'Lord! I have to meet the Lord today.' Some people worship with me with the earnest wish, 'I need your salvation.' 'I need your help.' The Lord knows. The Lord knows the saints who come out before the Lord with trembling hearts in spirit and truth.
King Asa of Judah relied on God to defeat the invasion of Cush. But when Israel invaded, they did not rely on God and bribed Ben-hadad, king of Syria, to defeat Israel. At that time, Hanani the seer said to King Asa, “The eyes of the Lord go through all the earth to show power for those whose heart is devoted to him. You have done these things in vain, and from now on there will be war against you” (2 Chronicles). 16:9) was declared.
The Lord gives power to those who turn to Him. He rejoices in meeting souls who depend on the Lord, and he delights in those who long for and worship the Lord. So, after receiving our worship service, he said, ‘I must be glorified at Chuncheon Northern Church today. And in that place I will have to show favor.’ Dear brothers and sisters, I hope you will devote your whole heart to the Lord who is visiting us today. Please worship in spirit and truth. So, I hope that you will become saints who meet the Lord who comes to us.
2. The Lord who comes to us solves our problems.
Read verses 13 and 14 of the text. “Jesus answered and said to them, “Everyone who drinks this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never thirst.
According to verse 6, this Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well at about six o'clock. Six o'clock in Jewish time is noon in our time. This is a time when people are not active because it is very hot. Because of her weakness, she avoided being seen by others, and came to draw water while others were having a break. What is this woman's weakness? This woman has been through five divorces. And now I live with the sixth man, and I was not in a normal marriage with this sixth man either. So, how can you go out to draw water at a time when there are a lot of women? The well is the epicenter of rumors. The epicenter of all rumors about a mother-in-law who was fifty-year-old, about marrying an old virgin in the next house, about the cow next door giving birth to three young, and about the head-in-law's daughter being ruthless, is the epicenter of all rumors at the well. So, I had no choice but to go out to draw water during the hot time when everyone else was off.
However, a stranger is asking him for a drink. As I said earlier, Jews do not deal with Samaritans. But when a Jew asked him for water, he couldn't help but be surprised. So this woman says. “Why are you a Jew, asking for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” Jesus answered, “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 give you living water. would have given it to you.” The woman said, “Lord, when the well is so deep and there is no head, where do you say you will get the water from the spring?” And the woman said, “Our father Jacob gave us this well, and here he himself, his sons, and all the animals. You drank, are you greater than Jacob?” he asks. Then Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I will give him will never thirst. The water I will give him will become in him a spring of water springing up to eternal life."
When Jesus said, "The water I give becomes a spring of water that springs up into eternal life," the woman's eyes widened. So, he said, “Lord, give me such water so that I will not be thirsty or come here to draw water.” Many people sell fountains to solve problems. But most people