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Monday
Jun 27th, 2022
By: Matthew Sink
The Gospel of John-Day 16

John 4:17-30 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.

The woman left her water jar. That may be the most telling, poignant verse of the entire passage. She left her water jar and went to tell people about Jesus.

Remember, this lady came to the well in the heat of the day, presumably to avoid the verse people she is going to talk to. And she came, obviously, because she was thirsty. She needed water. That’s obvious. That physical thirsty can’t have changed. Neither has her relationship with the townspeople. But something has changed ... because her water jar is on the ground and she is telling her neighbors about Jesus.

The word “empty-handed” is key. Jesus changes the entire trajectory of a person’s life. The things that seemed so important no longer hold the same value. The things that seemed so terrifying no longer hold the same fright. After all, Jesus has Grace for everything you have done in the past, He gives Hope for the future beyond your wildest dreams; and in the present, right now, He transforms you from the inside out. Why wouldn’t you leave everything lying at his feet. What else could you possibly need?

After she met Jesus, the Samaritan woman left her water jar at the well and ran to tell others about Jesus. Jesus had told her about Grace for her checkered past, Hope for her future, and living water for right now. Those are the words of life we have been called to share. I’ve never seen a person come to Christ because of an angry political rant or because someone was hostile towards their lifestyle ... but people will respond to the Grace and Hope and Transforming-Power of Jesus Christ. Let’s be known for that message.