Divine Engagements

"You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." (John 4:12-14)

What caused the woman to bring up the subject of who was greater?

Jesus did not directly respond to her question about being greater than Jacob. He did indirectly, but He allowed her to come to her own conclusion about Him instead of simply answering the question straightforward.

I have noticed that Jesus seldom responded directly to questions under the multiple choice options that people offered Him. Instead, He very often brought up something else that sometimes seemed almost unrelated at first. He was speaking from a very different view of reality and of what is important. If He had responded directly to many of the questions put to Him that would have allowed the other person to determine the direction of the conversation. But He did not allow that, for to determine the direction and content of a conversation is to have great influence over the assumptions of what is most important.

Not answering questions directly is viewed by many as being disrespectful. But Jesus did not convey an attitude of disrespect, while still choosing to decide the direction of the conversation. He also quite often used questions Himself to stimulate others to think more clearly instead of just responding directly to their questions. He would use questions to get people to reexamine their own assumptions inherent in their logic.

In this story He could have been accused of not being willing to face reality, of not being practical. After all, He really was thirsty and He had asked the lady for a drink. She did have the wherewithal to provide it for Him and yet He seemed to immediately steer the conversation away from the very thing that He needed and had asked for Himself. Instead of continuing to encourage her to help Him based on His initial request, He steered the conversation to a completely different plane of existence that He viewed as far more urgent than His own need for a drink of water.

I believe that likely He considered her thirst of much greater intensity and importance than His own, even though hers was not so obvious physically. And being the selfless being that He was He was always eager to provide for other's needs ahead of His own. As He told His disciples a short time later, He was in the process of consuming food by engaging the heart of this woman and offering her the means whereby she could feel much more alive than she had felt in many years. The joy that this kind of ministry produced in His own heart acted as the means of producing so much satisfaction in His soul that His own physical needs nearly disappeared in contrast.

How often do I miss enjoying this kind of overwhelming satisfaction because I remain too focused on meeting my own physical needs ahead of ministering to others? Too often I think that if I could just first get my own thirst or hunger or tiredness addressed, then I would be better situated to offer other people spiritual help. And I am not saying that this may sometimes be necessary. But there may also be times when opportunities only offer a very narrow window of time for me to act instantly, times when a person's spirit is only open and receptive for immediate initiative and the Spirit prompts me to take advantage of it before my own discomfort is dealt with. It is those times when my choices can make the difference between seeing miracles happen or missing out altogether because I allow selfishness to resist the promptings of God. And if I miss those opportunities I may not even know what I could have enjoyed, for many times it is only by allowing the Spirit of Jesus to move without hindrance through my life that I can become aware afterwards of the very existence of some opportunity that at first looked like just another chance encounter with an average person.

I want to surrender myself completely to the indwelling presence of Jesus so that my encounters with others no longer are apparently just coincidences. I want the kind of life where every engagement is ordained by God as an opportunity for Him to offer real life or joy or ministry to another thirsty heart. And as I do so I, like Jesus did here, will experience the overwhelming satisfaction of joy that will eclipse even my own physical needs and bring life and energy into my own being. And more importantly, I can be involved in seeing first hand what God may want to accomplish in the heart and life of some other person by using me as His agent of hope and blessing.

The Gift and The Water

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)

Sometimes I am amazed at how dull I am. But praise God that He is faithful and keeps opening my mind to see things that maybe should be obvious. But because of years of trained filtering that prevents me from perceiving things differently than what I am used to seeing, it sometimes takes more time to become aware of very important links and insights that may be very easy for others to catch.

I am aware that John wrote this gospel by selecting the stories in it very intentionally for very specific purposes. This is not just a nice collection various stories about Jesus' life that John put together to add to the previous gospels. John wanted to reveal some deep, fundamental truths about God that are vital for us coming to know God very personally. So he put together stories that focused on these important concepts and presented them in such a way that the observant and open-hearted reader would pick up these vital messages and be convicted of the love and truth about God.

So it is not at all out of line to look for close connections between the stories assembled here in the gospel of John. I knew that, but it still remains that there are so many of them so tightly packed in here that sometimes they still catch me by surprise when they suddenly are brought to my attention.

When Jesus talked with this woman about the gift of God, I just realized that this is a direct reference back to the previous story about Nicodemus. In that discussion He very plainly shared what the gift of God is. In fact, if I read this phrase in English a slightly different way with the emphasis on God instead of the word gift, it becomes also obvious that the identity of the gift is literally God Himself. God is the gift in the person of Jesus Christ.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Then when Jesus adds the second part and mentions the identity issue of Himself, He is really amplifying the answer to the first part – what is the gift. In essence He is saying, “God has a gift for you. That gift amazingly is God Himself. And furthermore that gift of God is right now standing here talking with you. Can you believe it? Will you believe in me?”

The third item mentioned by Jesus in this initial answer to the woman is also linked back to the previous story with Nicodemus. When Jesus tells her that He is waiting to give her something called living water He is again referring back to His mention of water to Nicodemus.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)

When I compare these two stories I find something interesting and informative. With Nicodemus He talks about water and Spirit. With this woman of Sychar He talks about truth and spirit. As I pondered this another verse was brought to my attention that helps to connect these together.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. (Ephesians 5:25-26 NIV)

In this verse the Word of God is associated with the symbol of water. John often refers to Jesus directly as the Word made flesh. Clearly the Bible is also the Word of God simplified into human languages that is not quite as clear as the demonstration of God in the life of Jesus. But God has given it to us as a means to reveal truth about Him as we immerse ourselves under the guidance of God's Spirit in this symbolic water that has such powerful cleansing properties.

According to this last verse, this kind of water will lead us to be sanctified – made holy – whatever that really means. As part of that process we are cleansed in some important way to bring us into this condition of being holy. So if the Word has power to cleanse us from something and the Word is symbolized by water, which clearly in physical life is very much used for cleaning purposes both internally and externally, Jesus is offering this woman a great deal more than is at first apparent from just a casual reading of this story.

But in His interaction with this woman of Sychar, Jesus focuses more on the other aspect of water that is so necessary for life. He talks about water that we drink, that brings deep satisfaction to the thirst that we all were created to experience. Thirst is part of the makeup of our bodies that God designed in us to motivate us to search for and partake of something that our bodies must have in order to maintain life. Likewise, we are also wired to experience deep spiritual thirst whenever our souls feel a lack of the water of life. However, this kind of thirst is very often misunderstood or misdiagnosed because Satan has blinded our minds and hearts to what we really need to satisfy this thirst.

These two uses for water are not really separate. Drinking water to satisfy a deep thirst accomplishes the very same work as drinking water to cleanse ourselves internally. God designed water to be the most effective element of cleansing for us internally as well as externally. It is extremely important for very many reasons that we keep ourselves well hydrated by regularly drinking pure, clean water. Our bodies are designed to utilize this water partly to flush out toxins from our body to keep us in a better state of health. When we do not intake enough water we are liable to experience serious problems. And the same is true even more so in our spiritual nature.

In very many ways our bodies are actually given to us as metaphors of the even greater realities that we find difficult to comprehend in the spiritual realm of life. As we study the analogies that God has given us in nature and in our own bodies we can begin to comprehend better the spiritual truths that God wants us to understand so we can respond to His drawing power of love and perceive revelations about the spirit that are otherwise quite obscure to us. In fact, the Bible is filled with illustrations of the spiritual from the natural world to help us better understand what is actually quite plain to those living on the other side of the barrier that sin has created in our perceptions.

Father, I choose to accept the gift of God in the presence of Jesus abiding in me today. I want to know much better who it is that offers me this drink and I also want to experience the rich satisfaction that you have for me as I learn how to keep drinking of this living water. I want Jesus to be the well of water that continually springs up from inside of me and produces eternal life in my soul and spirit. Thank-you for these insights and revelations about yourself to my heart and mind. Dwell in me today, sanctify me, cleanse me and make me an instrument of your peace.

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.