{"id":95,"date":"2016-01-15T07:37:52","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T15:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.smallchelle.com\/?p=95"},"modified":"2016-01-15T07:37:52","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T15:37:52","slug":"john-4-part-1-jesus-at-the-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smallchelle.com\/?p=95","title":{"rendered":"John 4 Part 1 – Jesus at the Well"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever passed by a well or fountain, surrounded by laughing children and their parents doling out pennies? Hopes, dreams, wishes, all bound up to a little copper disk at the fingertips of a child. Maybe you remember yourself at that age, looking down into the water, speckled with all the shiny wishes that had gone before yours. What did \u201clittle you\u201d wish for? Fame? Wealth? A better life? Where is our happily ever after? When did we stop throwing pennies? Sometimes when we pray do we feel like that? Like we throw God our pennies and hope for the best? Then we watch them sink like stones and get cynical and jaded when our hopes, dreams, and wishes don\u2019t come our way. Do we treat God like a simple childhood superstition? I have. And how poorly I underestimated God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the bible wells have a purpose. Water is a necessary element of life. Where there is water there are people. Where there is a well or spring there is provision for life. If someone digs a well it can be a symbol of land ownership and authority. If someone finds a spring in the desert it can mean the difference between life and death.<\/p>\n

The new testament is full of accounts where Jesus met with people at wells, pools, seas and rivers. In this series through John 4 we\u2019ll get a deep look at Jesus\u2019 meeting with \u201cthe woman at the well.\u201d Let\u2019s get started.<\/p>\n

Where in the World is Jesus of Nazareth?<\/h3>\n

\u201che left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria.\u201d John 4:3-4<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Since John wrote this after all these things happen I find it interesting that he made the distinction that Jesus \u201chad to\u201d pass through Samaria. By the end of this section of scripture we will see many lives change and many people in Samaria come to believe in Jesus as the messiah\/savior. But it started with a personal meeting with one woman who was broken and alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob\u2019s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.\u201d John 4:5-6<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This picture of Jesus is a little hard for me. It\u2019s the heat of the day. He\u2019s tired. Wearied. He\u2019s walked a long way. He\u2019s sitting by the well, resting his sore legs, possibly mopping sweat from his brow. He appears outwardly to be only a man, but in this we get a glimpse of why it says in Heb 4:15 that he is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. It\u2019s hard to think of Jesus in \u201cneed\u201d of anything. Here we see he wasn\u2019t some spiritual apparition, but a man that got tired, hungry and thirsty.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>\u201cA woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, \u201cGive me a drink.\u201d John 4:7<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At first glance this seems like our Lord is being a little bit demanding. But as the conversation continues we see this for what it is. An invitation to conversation and relationship. Not like the cold, humorless wishing well, that receives our coins with no guarantee that our desires will be met. Not even like the actual well, that requires you to let down a bucket and haul it back up to be rewarded with water. It is an invitation to know him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember verse 4 says \u201che had to pass through Samaria.\u201d When we met Jesus it wasn\u2019t by accident. It wasn\u2019t a coincidence. This isn\u2019t fatalism either. There is a God and He wants you to know that He already knows you, that He has everything you need, and that you are not alone. How many times did that woman come to the well alone? Not with all the rest of the women, in community and sharing life together, but an outcast. And on this day, this particular day, she shows up and a strange man, asks her for a drink\u2026<\/p>\n

Next Time<\/h4>\n

Next week we\u2019ll dig into the next part of this conversation. In the meantime, when we pray this week, let\u2019s ask God to show us where we\u2019ve been treating Him like a wishing well. He\u2019s inviting us into relationship, a beautiful two way conversation about who we think He is and who He really is. He\u2019s not far away, but right where you are\u2026 right at your lonely well. I hope you spend some time with Him. As always, Thanks for reading.<\/span><\/p>\n

Further Reading<\/h4>\n

Hebrews 4:14 \u2013 5:10 Jesus our High Priest and eternal source of salvation<\/a><\/span>
\n<\/span>A fun article about wishing well practices in Southern California by the Anthropology dept. at UC Irvine<\/a><\/span>
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<\/h6>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever passed by a well or fountain, surrounded by laughing children and their parents doling out pennies? Hopes, dreams, wishes, all bound up to a little copper disk at the fingertips of a child. Maybe you remember yourself at that age, looking down into the water, speckled with all the shiny wishes that…<\/span><\/p>\n

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