John 4:19-24 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
 
THE first thing I always see in this passage is division. “You Jews”…“You Samaritans” underscores the dialogue between the Samaritan woman and Jesus. We can see this as a universal conversation between sinful mankind and the Holy God.
   The woman represents us all. We grow up hearing the words of our parents, ancestors and culture. What we hear and see around us becomes our beliefs. Tightly we hold these beliefs close to our minds. Conversations with others begin with an assumption our beliefs are true and theirs are not. Life becomes “Me-You”. This division keeps us from a unity with others. More tragically, our cultural, worldly beliefs divide us from God.      
   But when Jesus says, “You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.” his purpose is to unite the woman and us all with himself. His will here is to heal the separation between the woman and himself to ultimately unite the sinner with the Holy God. He guides her out of her cultural belief to teach God’s truth. True worship is not constrained to a specific physical place. Instead, worship is a matter of one’s spirit, heart and mind elevating the Father above all things. Yes, God the Father is even higher than our cultural beliefs. No mountain, city or country can constrain one’s heart to truly worship God.
   Take some time to fully read John 4. See the process Jesus uses to teach the woman. He speaks to her to quench his thirst. He is bold and honest to speak the reasons she is divided from her village and from God. Then he directs her to a restored reunion with God.
   This is God’s pattern. Speak to his creation. Confront the problem. Solve the division with his forgiveness, love and grace. We see this even in Eden when the Father clothes his wayward children. To help people join with Jesus as Savior, we must follow the Savior’s teaching pattern. Help people see a living relationship with God is not, “Me first, then you, Lord”. Instead, it is submitting to his truth and confess, “You, Lord”. To truly worship God is to place him above all – even ourselves.
 
Prayer: Lord I give my heart, mind and soul to worship you. Amen.

John 4:16-18 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
 
IS Jesus loving on the woman at the well in Sychar, Samaria? Or is he accusing her lifestyle? Is the righteous Lord preparing to condemn the woman’s sin? Surely he could make an example of her before the entire village. After all, the Bible records God bringing deadly judgment on many who have broken his commandments.
   Yes, Jesus does want to make an example of her! But it will be an example of his living water. He will show to her and Sychar his rich forgiveness, love and mercy pouring over her tender, broken soul. The all-knowing, just Lord opens the door to her sin. Living water cannot cleanse the soul until sin is confronted, confessed and condemned. The God who is love prepares to demonstrate John 4:4 “If you knew the gift of God”. Jesus will reveal an example of his soul-cleansing living water.
   But let’s ask, “Why are the woman’s multiple marriages an issue for her?” After all, she has a mix of pagan-Jewish blood in her ancestry. Why would God’s law against divorce and remarriage matter to the woman? To the village?
   The apostle Paul helps us understand this as he wrote in Romans 1:18-20 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities –  his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 
   Each of us knows when we sin. Even if one hasn’t heard God’s word directly, there is a level of knowledge in the human heart that understands right and wrong. This is the image of God imprinted on our souls.  
   Even more, this Samaritan village and the woman here have been taught God’s law and history. She has referred to Jacob. If she knows of Jacob’s well, she knows of his deceit. She also knows of God transforming Jacob to become “Israel”, the One who Overcomes. Jacob is her ancestor, just as he is for all born of Israel’s bloodlines. Even as they had been marred by foreign cultures, the Samaritans still knew God’s law.
   Jesus has come to Sychar just as he went to Jerusalem and is bound for Galilee. He will demonstrate and teach God’s just law and the grace of God’s true forgiveness. He desires to awaken the law in Samaria’s heart to repent and call on the name of the Lord.
   In love, the Lord calls out the woman’s sin, so he can prepare the woman’s heart for his forgiveness.
 
Prayer: Father in heaven, forgive me my sins as I forgive those who sin against me. In Jesus’ name, amen.