Divine Appointments
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria on the way. Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?” Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!” Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him.
Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”
Recap the story
What jumps out at you as you read this story?
Is there significance in the phrase that Jesus “Had to go through Samaria on the way” (v. 4).
Why do you think Jesus had to go through Samaria?
Jesus HAD to go through Samaria
Did he really HAVE to? There are other options, but they do take time...
Probably a time frame issue
Possibly a deep compulsion to go through Samaria
He arrives is Sychar in the heat of the day after a journey and sits at the well
A woman comes to draw water - at the hot time of day
What might cause someone to come to draw water during the hot time of day?
Why would she not come at morning or evening - when it would be more convenient?
Jesus has a divine encounter with this woman
How did God use human needs to bring about His plan for a Divine Encounter?
This encounter is brought on by HUMAN NEED
Jesus is thirsty
She needs water for her household
Both have a need and that need provides the opportunity for God to work
What were the elements of the conversation between Jesus and this woman?
Jesus offers her a Spiritual solution to her spiritual problems - using water as a metaphor
She doesn't get the metaphor - she's thinking about a physical problem
So, Jesus shakes it up and gets to the heart/root of the issue. Go call your husband...
She admits she has no husband. Jesus confirms that he knows this, but he fills in the details that she left out.
Now the woman knows Jesus as a prophet. So, she asks a question about worship. She could ask this question because, if Jesus is a prophet, he would know, or have a greater chance to know, the answer.
Jesus has brought up a moral issue about her husband(s) and relationships. She could be shifting the conversation towards religion to divert from her.
She also could be saying, “What do people know about morality anyway. Our group says we have to worship here, your group says you have to worship there. No one knows anything, we all just disagree. So, maybe the lessons on morality and purity are pointless...”
Jesus answers he is the Messiah.
What does the woman do when Jesus reveals that he is the Messiah?
What was the result of this Divine Appointment? (See vs. 29-30 & vs. 39-42)
Some thoughts...
Jesus went to where she was.
This shows that the gospel of.Jesus the Messiah is for ALL. outsiders, insiders, slave, free, men, women etc...
He was willing to have a conversation with a woman who has a poor reputation. He was willing to encounter someone others would not.
She goes and tells everyone!
She is a Person of Peace.
Someone who is intrigued by the gospel message and who becomes a bridge/evangelist to the broader community.
Many believe because of her testimony
Now we understand the real reason WHY jesus HAD to go through Samaria.
To encounter HER.
SHE WAS A DIVING APPOINTMENT.
Look back and see the PURPOSE of the appointment
Have you ever experienced a divine appointment?
A time where you knew you HAD to do something, but you didn't realize then, only after the appointment, that this was orchestrated by God's plan.
You just HAPPENED to be in the right place at the right time.
You just HAPPENED to be thirsty, or hungry, or in a hurry, or told to slow down, or wearing a Grizz shirt in Bozeman, for just the right time.
Think of Queen Esther...
Have you thought about the Divine Appointments God provided for Queen Esther? (See Esther 4:13-14)
Have you thought about how God used her at just the right time?
Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
She was alive and was made queen for JUST THE RIGHT TIME!
Divine Appointments!
We all have them.
We all have probably been someone else's divine appointment too.
Have you ever thought that YOU might have been a Divine Appointment?
You were a divine appointment at some point in time too.
Think of the people who encountered you at JUST THE RIGHT TIME...
Divine appointments!
Jesus's meeting with the woman makes sense if you look backward from the end of the story... how true that is for our stories and our encounters. Our stories make sense when we look back at them from where we're standing. Our encounters with others make more sense when we telescope backward...
What might God be saying to us through this Divine Appointment?
What does this have to do with our Divine Appointments?
Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to be your receptionist?
Are you allow God to schedule your appointments?