Simplicity of the Gospel

Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." (John 4:10)

I love how God sometimes arranges for me to hear things from different places that all dovetail together to help me know Him better and understand His Word. I happened to be listening to some sermons lately while I drive to and from work by Bill Liversidge, and in one of them he discusses this story in some detail. To hear Bill talk about something from the Bible is almost a guarantee that you are going to learn something new, for Bill Liversidge is one of the best teachers in the world of the inductive Bible study method. Nearly everything he uses from the Bible is presented more or less using this method.

So when I heard him start talking about the story of the woman at the well a couple days ago I knew that I was in for some good inspiration and assistance in unpacking this story for me personally. I was thrilled that God had arranged for me to hear this right while I was studying it inductively myself. In addition, Bill shares many stories of his own both from the mission field and from around the U.S. more currently that illustrate the reality of the gospel and God's power to save and transform lives that are very vivid and compelling. I find myself drawn out to want to know God much more after listening to Bill's humble and strong testimony for God.

One of the things that he brought out about Jesus' first response in His discussion with this woman was that there are three things mentioned here that actually constitute the totality of the gospel and how a person is to relate to it.

1. If you knew the gift

2. If you knew who I am

3. You would have asked

Each of these are key elements to both understanding and responding effectively to the gospel. Remember, the word gospel simply means “good news”. And the most powerful good news that has the ability to totally transform everything about our perception of reality is to discover the real truth about how God feels about us. That in turn exposes myriads of lies about Him that most of us have believed all of our lives. For it really is the dark pictures of God that we have been taught from very early on that keep us from believing and trusting and resting in Him and letting Him save and transform us.

Jesus was not saying these things in an attitude of condemnation for this woman. He was not implying in the slightest that she should have known better, that there was something wrong with her for not being aware of the gift of God or who He was. He was simply introducing both the truth about how God felt towards her and the reality that this gift was literally standing right in front of her waiting to be recognized and accepted any time she was willing. And furthermore, Jesus was actually revealing and affirming that He knew her heart's desire because He declared that if she had the right information He knew that she would have already responded by asking Him to impart to her this incredible gift.

Outlined here is the wonderful simplicity of the gospel message as exposed by Jesus and amplified in the rest of the New Testament. Unfortunately we often make it so complicated that we confuse both ourselves and others with our complex explanations and convoluted definitions much like the Jews obscured the law of God with their multitude of rules and stipulations and regulations. The gospel is far simpler than most of us are willing to acknowledge and it is far more powerful than most of us can imagine. I realize that I am only scratching the surface of it myself and my heart yearns to be freed of the inhibitions that hold me back from plunging even more fully into this glorious reality and having my life become a vivid experiment of grace in the hands of a perfect Savior.

But I am not content to stay where I am spiritually. I continue to pursue to know the real truth about this gift of God and I crave to taste much more deeply of this living water that brings real life and deep satisfaction to the deepest longings of my soul.

Beyond that, I seek to know much more intimately the real truth about the heart of the one called Jesus who says that He can save me from this darkness, ignorance and fear that have kept me at a distance from Him all my life. I too live in a society full of prejudices, bigotry, misconceptions about God and distorted religious ideas just like this Samaritan woman Jesus was talking to. This is not just a story about some isolated woman centuries ago, this is a living story that can be reenacted and re-experienced over and over again by anyone willing to allow its message and power to come alive through their own encounter with Jesus.

There is one more element of this core presentation by Jesus that is very important beyond just knowing about the gift and knowing who Jesus really is. God is incredibly polite because He is perfect love and love is polite. Love always needs permission to move forward into the area of the heart. It can do all sorts of things to get our attention and educate us as to its intentions and desires, but to really connect and come in to fill our heart and create the bonds necessary to increase love, it needs our permission to form those bonds. Love needs to hear a request to come in and do whatever love does to bring life and joy and peace and all the things that love can bring to a heart.

You would have asked Him, and He would have given you...

And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. (Matthew 21:22)

Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. (John 16:24)

This brings me back to the main desire of the heart of God – joy. I have learned that the true definition of joy is the experience the heart feels when someone is glad to be with you, when you sense that you are the sparkle in their eye, the object of special affection in their heart and they long to just be with you all the time no matter what you may be going through or feeling. Jesus talked about joy a great deal and it was almost always in reference to wanting us to be with Him because He wants us to be where He is and experience His joy. This is brought out more clearly in the book of Hebrews.

...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

So, what I am starting to see here is that Jesus was demonstrating an attitude of contagious joy to this woman. Joy has an attraction about it that is very powerful like an emotional magnet, especially for people who have long been deprived of joy in their lives. This woman had become more and more emotionally and socially isolated as partly revealed by the fact that she was coming at an odd time of day to draw water and doing it alone. More clues are revealed later in this discussion that reinforce this. The Samaritan woman was likely starved for joy and Jesus was offering her something called the water of life that could satisfy this deepest longing of her heart. But it was not for hers only but anyone who comes to realize their inner need for real joy and accepts this standing offer of Jesus.

These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. (John 15:11)

Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. (John 16:24)

Jesus, I need much more joy in my own life. Your Word says that oil represents joy and that one of the only things that distinguished the wise from the foolish virgins in the parable of the ten virgins was that the wise had an extra container of oil. I am convicted that I do not have that extra container yet because I have so little joy in my life. I feel isolated inside much of the time and do not feel joyfully connected with Your body here on earth. I need much more joy in my soul.

You told this woman that there were three things in the gospel that need to be in place. Help me to be much more aware of these three things and to experience them myself. And as for the last one, I am asking you right now to give me that living water, give me Your heart of love and compassion and fill my life and heart and soul with floods of joy that will spill over and attract others to come for a drink too. You said that if we ask in Your name that we will receive. I am asking and I am ready to receive for Your name's sake, for Your reputation's sake.

Questioning God

She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You...?" (John 4:11-12)

I feel an old issue stir up here when I read these words. I remember a number of times throughout the Bible when people reacted to God's instructions or revelations by expressing doubts and asking questions. What has interested me is the contrast between how God responded to various people's questioning of His words to them.

Sometimes when people questioned God's ability to do what He says He seems to go along with them and answer their questions and try to explain Himself. Other times it appears that He gets angry with them and rebukes them for daring to question His words. This has presented a question of my own, wanting to know what causes the difference between these various situations. Many assume that maybe God is just arbitrary and that you had better not take a risk challenging anything He says, that we should just blindly obey everything irregardless. But there are also instances in the Bible when people seemed to engage in rather strenuous arguments with God and God appeared to even enjoy the tussle.

Again, our interpretation of these various encounters with God will be largely determined by our current picture of God and perceptions of how He deals with people in general. If our idea of God is someone who is very demanding and arbitrary, then these different stories will only serve to illustrate that capricious view of God. But if we are seeking to know God, to understand Him better, to make more sense as much as possible of His dealings with men so that we can relate to a rational, consistent, caring being who has our best interest in mind, then I believe that there will be both encouraging instruction and warning found in of these stories.

This is one of the stories where Jesus went along with the questioning and the final outcome proved to be very positive and inspiring. This was also the case with Mary the mother of Jesus when the angel came to tell her that she would give birth to the Son of the Highest. Other people that come to mind right away who had interesting interchanges with God in a similar fashion are Elijah and Moses and even Jonah.

Of course there are also a number of people who were strongly rebuked when they attempted to enter into dispute with God's messages to them. What I now want to understand better is the real underlying reasons behind these various exchanges so that I don't find myself trying to argue with God when it is likely to only produce problems while at the same time not being afraid to enter into a closer relationship with God by asking legitimate questions that can lead to a deeper appreciation of His wisdom and love for me.

If I live in constant fear of ever asking questions of God, then that may be a clear indicator of a distorted view of God and that my heart would not really want to get very close to Him to begin with. On the other hand, I want to be aware of my need to respect God and trust Him and know the reasons behind why there are times when I need to trust God implicitly without having all the reasons I would like to have to support that choice. I believe that God gives enough evidence to base faith on but also requires that we must take some steps in faith without having all the facts or evidence to eliminate all doubt. But there are times when He is willing and maybe even eager to enter into dialog with those who are sincere and have honest doubts that need to be addressed. He is not offended by such discussions as is illustrated by this one with the woman from Sychar.

Instead of attributing the differences of response from God to a supposed arbitrariness on His part, I firmly believe that what makes the difference is the spirit and attitude of the person raising the questions. This is the most important aspect of the relationship that determines whether God rebukes someone or whether He is eager to engage in a lengthy conversation with them. God is not capricious as Satan would make Him out to be. Neither is He arbitrary or moody or completely unpredictable. And while we will never understand God enough to be able to predict what He will do, that does not detract in the slightest from the solid truth that God is absolutely and unwaveringly worthy of all trust.

At the same time, without taking away from that truth in the slightest, because of our mental limitations there are times when God is willing to humble Himself and answer our questions to assist us in coming into deeper trust of His heart. He does not demand that just because He is always trustworthy that everyone should blindly trust Him without any questions whatsoever. God is not looking for robots to obey Him or He would not have created us the the ability to think and to choose. Robots cannot experience love and God is desirous of a relationship of real love with each one of us, not blind, unthinking obedience. So Jesus did not become incensed when this woman had doubts about His offer of living water for her. He honored her curiosity and her questions by continuing the discussion and drawing her deeper and deeper toward a place of trust and joy in seeing the real truth about God's heart for her.

By contrast, the people in the Bible who were severely rebuked for questioning God harbored a spirit of clinging to their doubts in the face of repeated evidence of God's truth and care for them. They displayed an attitude of stubborn mistrust in spite of God's dealings with them and were in grave danger of resisting truth to the point of no return. Some of them went past that point and no longer were able to repent; a few accepted the warning and pulled back from the brink.

What is very important to note about this is that it is not God who is the variable in these situations, it is always the attitude of the person involved that determines how God responds to their questions. It is actually a comfort to learn that God can be trusted in all situations and never changes even though circumstances may make it appear differently. He may relate to various people very differently depending on the context of their relationship and disposition with Him, but when it all becomes clear it will be seen that God's heart is the great constant that can always be counted on to be the source of love and truth no matter what else is involved in the situation.

Give Me a Drink

Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." (John 4:9-10)

I am listening.

I am thirsty to know God, to know truth.

I want to see and know for myself more of the real truth about God here.

Jesus was thirsty. But here He seemed to use that more as a means of connecting with someone else who was very spiritually thirsty more than trying to satisfy His own need.

Is Jesus going to come along and ask me for a drink in order to draw me out and surprise me with an unexpected encounter with Him? I think I would like that. But what if I don't recognize Him when He shows up?

This woman was taken by surprise because Jesus violated many of the social assumptions that she expected Him to follow. When people meet there are always quite a number of norms and expectations and assumptions that each person expects the other to be aware of and to follow without explanation. Whenever someone ignores or violates our expectations it grabs our attention. Our reaction to that person's behavior and the way they are trying to relate to us outside the norm depends on our own attitude and previous experiences. Our reactions and choices in that moment reveal a great deal about us, much more than we might imagine.

That concerns me greatly. Far too often I find myself giving in to social pressures and roles in my encounters with those who appear in need before me. This woman was willing to engage with Jesus openly and to dialog with Him. I'm afraid that I may not be that bold. It is so much easier to walk past that homeless person, to indulge in the disdain of that pimp or such similar people. The urges to view them and treat them differently often go right past me in my fears of what others might think about me. But am I missing chance after chance to encounter Jesus and experience something new and different because I am living too much from fear and prejudice instead of seeing people as children of God?

This woman revealed a lot about her expectations and assumptions in the words that she used in response to Jesus' request. I suspect that her body language also conveyed even more things about her feelings but we don't have record of any of that except at the very end of the story. But in these initial words she reveals shock or surprise that a man who is a Jew is acting so very differently than men and Jews were always expected to act toward women and Samaritans.

This is unexplainable to her. She cannot come up with any logical reason on her own why this might be happening. She searches all of her internal library of previous life experiences and teachings and comes up empty with anything that would fit to explain this strange behavior. But instead of becoming afraid, intimidated and running away, she further reveals more about herself by choosing to engage in conversation with this person who should never have initiated a conversation to begin with from her perspective. But since He started it she is willing to continue it and launch herself into the fascinating unknown of what might transpire between them.

Her first words are those of curiosity and a desire for an explanation of what seems so bizarre to her. She decides not to ignore the strangeness of this situation but to immediately seek to find out from this stranger what motivates Him to act to kindly, so openly, so uninhibited toward someone to whom He should never be doing this according to all social norms. She decides to try to learn directly from Him what makes Him tick, why He is acting so differently than everyone else she has ever known. She seeks to go directly to the source with boldness and see if her question might elicit an answer which she cannot find within her own mind.

In essence, what I am now starting to see here is that she is actually seeking light through a new insight, trying to get information from the outside by acknowledging that she doesn't have a satisfactory answer of her own. She could have simply chosen to fabricate her own explanation for this based on her internal filters by making assumptions based on her own conclusions about people without resorting to getting more information. Sometimes I do that. I decide not to ask why someone did something or treated me in a strange way. I just jump to my own conclusions and run with that without asking for input directly from the other person.

But this woman chose to take the risk of going ahead and talking with this man who was also a Jew and in public. She was not too afraid to experience something different and new and unusual. She chose to express her curiosity and open herself up to a different explanation of this relationship than the only ones she had on file.

“How can you do this? Why are you doing this? Please explain your unusual treatment of me.”

This gives Jesus the opportunity that He wanted – an open invitation to redefine their relationship and roles. He was painfully aware of the deep prejudices and bigotry of nearly everyone else who was both male and a Jew against people like this woman. But He did not share in any of that and was always eager and ready to connect at the heart level with anyone willing and ready to do the same. Being led by the Spirit of God all of the time just as it is our privilege to experience if we are willing, Jesus already sensed that this woman was more ready for the real truth about God than were most other people. Because of that He also knew that she was ripe for allowing Him to reveal to her the radically new kind of relationship that God was seeking to have with any humans who were willing to allow Him to reveal Himself to them. She was ready and unconsciously eager to embrace the real gospel, the incredibly good news about how God felt about her.

So upon her request (and implied permission) to explain why He was treating her with such respect and honor, Jesus takes the opportunity to challenge her assumptions and perceptions of both of their identities. He states rather plainly that her assumptions are faulty, that most everything she believes about how men should treat women and how Jews should treat non-Jews were all up for serious question. If she is willing to suspend her own long-held beliefs based on years of experience through abuse by men and from Jews, then she may see the door Jesus is opening for her to step through and experience a relationship like none she has ever imagined could even exist.

Jesus begins to fill in information about this new potential relationship by talking about God and about a gift and about some strange idea of “living water”. Of course, in her thinking water is generally associated with satisfying fundamental needs in her life. So the idea of living water – whatever that might mean – only fueled her curiosity into an even greater intensity. He also suggests that if she just knew the information that He knows, then instead of expecting Him not to even speak to her she would have initiated the conversation herself and reversed their roles as far as who was asking for a drink.

Jesus entices her to be bold enough to ask Him for a drink instead of the other way around and declares that she will receive what she asks for without hesitation. This may highlight the current situation that she was in fact not doing anything herself to satisfy His request for water while they are standing here carrying on a conversation. But instead of making her feel guilty for not helping a stranger in obvious need, He demonstrates in His own attitude and words that He is willing to share with her something even more satisfying than the water found in this well – at least if she is interested and willing to ask.

But more importantly, Jesus is helping her to see that their identities are not what she has assumed them to be. He is implying that the fact that He looks like a man and is identifiable as a Jew is not the most important thing about their relationship. Also He wants her to know that the fact that she is a woman and happens to be a Samaritan also is not the most important thing about their relationship. Since she invited Him to explain to her why He is treating her so differently, He takes her up on that offer and challenges her to suspend her own assumptions and allow Him to paint a completely different picture of what their relationship and identities might look like if she allowed Him to redefine them.

The implications are pregnant with meaning for us today, for myself. There are so many things I am starting to see in this story about my own relationship with God.

Am I willing to challenge my assumptions and prejudices and preconceived ideas about relationships, especially with God?

Am I willing to allow God to redefine who He is to me and who I am and how we can communicate and view each other?

Am I willing to ask Him to supply something I have never known or experienced before but that promises to satisfy my deepest thirst?

Am I willing to experience such a radical paradigm shift of reality that it appears absurd to everyone else who still lives in the world of social norms and restrictions and prejudices?

Am I willing to enter into a dialog with Jesus and challenge Him to explain Himself to me?

Am I ready to embrace His answers to me even when they may sound so strange and different that they don't fit anything I have known or experienced before?

And am I willing to go even farther and actually think about doing something that might actually bring satisfaction and joy to God's heart – like providing a drink for Him when He is thirsty?

That last one may at first sound absurd until I remember the words of Jesus Himself.

"And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." (Matthew 10:42)

For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in....

The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' (Matthew 25:35, 40)