Come See A Man...! - Part One
SCRIPTUREJohn 4:7-26
A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but kwhoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are q prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that, Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
LESSON
One is almost overwhelmed these days with the sense of the need of the human race. Round about us we find men and women whose hearts are failing them for fear. One of the leading surgeons of the country has pointed out in an address before the convention of the American College of Surgeons that more than half of all hospital beds are now occupied by mental cases. Great numbers who are not mentally sick enough to be in institutions are passing through nervous breakdowns. Myriads of others are haunted with fear and despair.
A greater burden of responsibility rests upon the true Christian today than at any time within our generation. While there has been no change in the cause of world conditions, there is an ever increasing number of people who are willing to admit that they have need. We who have passed out of darkness into light and from death unto life know we have the remedy that can meet the need of men and women today. A most solemn obligation is upon us to speak to those round about us words which will bring the light of God to focus upon the need of those we meet.
There is a wonderful story in the Gospel of John which teaches us lessons that are most fitting for our time. It is the story of the Lord Jesus Christ and the woman who came to Jacob's well to draw water. In this story there is something for the Christian and something for the non-Christian. There is that which can give release from worry and that which can set on fire for service of others. Above all, it pictures the entrance of eternal life into the human being so that we can be possessed, here and now, by a power and a presence more wonderful than any thrill which life can give.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the center of the picture. Though other characters come upon the scene they shine with no light except that which is reflected from Him. The woman herself would never have been known to another generation had it not been for this passing conversation, but because of this contact with Him she enters that class of which Daniel the prophet spoke, "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever" (Dan. 12:3).
STUDY QUESTIONS
- What might be the cause of all these hospitalized individuals mentioned by Dr. Barnhouse be? What is the origin of mental health illness, is it genetic malfunction, chemical imbalance or sin? Explain your answer.
- How does Christ teach us to care for those around us in this story?
- What can you do to apply these lessons to your relationships in your family, friends and neighborhoods.
