The need to Go through Samaria

The Need To Go Through Samaria

John 4-1-10 NKJV

4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew 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.”

I wonder if you have ever had a moment or gone through a season where you have questioned the love and presence of God. Moments when you’ve asked God are you really there? Those dark moments when life felt everything but fair. Moments when you weren’t quite sure if God was still listening or present. It’s hard during certain seasons not to question the loyalty of God when the unexpected happens. As a husband, father, child, sibling, and pastor, I have listened to the stories of countless persons who have questioned the love of God. Especially when marriages end in divorce, when children who were raised in God-fearing families and bible believing churches to love God proceed to go down an unrighteous path. When leaders we love and trust fail us. A longing for something good evades us. When the loss of a loved one is too hard to bear, and the pain won’t ease. Our world is filled with situations that are hard to understand. We are constantly encountering circumstances that seem unfair, but it’s not because God does not love us. Sometimes we doubt God’s love for us because of our own insecurities. At other times, we doubt his love because our sin seems too big to forgive. Honestly, at times, we have a hard time wrapping our minds around the notion that the creator of the universe truly cares about us, especially when In many ways, you and I are both unlovable. So how could God love me? How could God love you? Here’s the answer: God loves you, not because of who you are or what you’ve done. God loves you because of who He is. Today, I want to encourage each of us that God still loves us and desires to be with us despite our circumstances. In John chapter 4, we see the love of our savior in action. We see a relevant portrait of a loving and caring savior. This text allows us to see the heart of Jesus for those living in the margins. Jesus and his disciples are departing from Judaea for Galilee. John 4:4 says, “And he must needs go through Samaria.”No matter our age, life is made up of things we must do. For Jesus, Samaria was a must-stop on his way to Galilee. He sensed a divine appointment that awaited Him in Galilee. Judaea was the headquarters of the religious establishment of the day, and Galilee—where Jesus was heading—was much more Gentile territory. If you were to look at a map, the most direct route to travel from Judaea to Galilee was to travel through Samaria. In Jesus’ day, there was Galilee in the north, Samaria in the middle, and Judea in the south. The easiest and quickest way to get to Galilee from Judea was to go due north right through Samaria. However, because of the rift between the Jews and Samaritans, everyone traveling past one of these places would go a longer route. Jews would go all the way through Peria to get to Galilee to avoid Samaria. Instead of taking a three-day travel straight through Samaria to Galilee, it took most people six to seven days because they wanted to avoid Samaria. Their geo-political stance and religious beliefs were different. They allowed what should have been uniting them to divide them. They were divided due to a 700-year-old issue that they refused to let go of. Jesus, therefore, takes an unconventional path. He wasn’t interested in the common way. His interest was to confront, not avoid. Not only that, He saw the urgency of the hour and the great need that existed. 1. Jesus was compelled to deal with what others ignored. He models for us what It means to have the courage to face people and issues that others avoid. While others were satisfied with the avoidance. Many today are avoiding conversations they need to have, avoiding people they should be talking to and with. Many are avoiding places where they should be investing. As I look at the text, "Can I ask you who the Samaritan" is in your life? Who is that you absolutely dislike and even feel defiled by? Who and where do you not want to share the Gospel with? Who is it that you keep going out of your way to avoid? Who is that has you still not been sleeping well because of unfinished business? Jesus models for his disciples the need to never be afraid to go where others are not going and share with those that others are reluctant to share with. I'm thankful we have a savior who models for us how to reach those for whom others see no value in. Jesus shows us that it is necessary to heed the call to go not just to Jerusalem and Judea but also to Samaria and the uttermost parts of the world. Thank God for men and women who are determined to reach people with the good news and the love of Christ. For those who are sold out for the gospel. The story of the woman at the well teaches us that No one Is Beyond The Reach of Grace. God loves us and Seeks us in spite of our bankrupt lives. God values us enough to actively seek us, to welcome us to intimacy, and to rejoice in our worship. As a result of Jesus’ conversation, only a person like the Samaritan woman, an outcast from her own people, could understand what this means. To be wanted and cared for when no one, not even herself, could see anything of value in her—this is grace indeed. We all have the human need to fit in, to be loved, and to be accepted is so incredibly strong. We thrive to be accepted. We ned to be loved. We desire to fit in. Otherwise, we are rejected, and we are not cared for. We will not survive. As we grow up, we learn from our families that in order to keep the unit intact, we must agree to certain ways of  "behavior". In the therapy world, we call these "unspoken pacts." Everyone in the family knows what they are expected to do and who they are expected to be in order to keep things in "homeostasis." Homeostasis is the attempt to keep things stable or the same. Even when "keeping things the same" might mean that someone in the family suffers. A family system is VERY strong. And, it's desire to maintain "homeostasis" can make it difficult for members of the family to grow and adapt. This is where we first develop a fear of being disliked. We don't want our parents to reject us, so we do whatever it is we are expected to do to be accepted and loved by the family. Jesus does exactly what His father calls on him to do. He enters a bankrupt woman’s community and offers her an opportunity to cross over to the other side. Jesus came to Jacob’s well at noon, the heat of the day. Every woman in Middle Eastern culture drew water early in the morning or late in the evening. Who in the world would come at the heat of the day? Someone who didn’t want to be seen by anyone. Someone who was an outcast. The person who may have been insignificant and neglected by others was important to Him. Why? Luke 19:10 tells us: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Jesus went from the religious crowd in the previous chapter (Nicodemus) to someone who couldn’t even explain the gospel. One was a respected ruler, the other, a social outcast. One was a moral man; the other was an immoral woman. Do you know whom Jesus chose to love? He loved BOTH! This woman lived a wicked life, but Jesus died for the wicked. There is no one beyond the need of grace, and there is no one beyond the reach of grace. Jesus didn’t get into a political discussion about how awful her Samaritan ways were. He knew she needed only what he could offer—the water of life.

Jesus goes through Samaria to show us The Importance of Missions. He shows us how important it is not to lose sight of the lost people. The question before us today is, has the church lost its passion for lost people? Do we see others around us who are like the Samaritan woman who is seeking living water? Do we see people as Jesus sees them? Jesus’ mission must be our mission—to win the lost at any cost. Can I ask, how do we see people that God has placed in our everyday path? The gospel has no prejudices. It’s for everyone. “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth…” Acts 17:26. Red, yellow, black, and white—they are all precious in His sight. Jesus loves everyone! In John 4, Jesus broke down every imaginable barrier so this woman could hear Him. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the WORLD…that WHOSOEVER…”Jesus chose to minister to this woman and not argue over religion and the whole region is blessed as a result of his decision.