FOURTH QUARTER 2024
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #5
NOVEMBER 2, 2024
"THE TESTIMONY OF THE SAMARITANS"

 

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me to drink.’ You would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (John 4:10, NKJV throughout).

In John 3, Jesus explains the plan of salvation to Nicodemus.  In John 4, we find a weary, thirsty, and hungry Jesus sitting by Jacob’s well.  A Samaritan woman comes to draw water and is very surprised when Jesus asks her for a drink.  

Both Nicodemus and the woman of Samaria share in their need of the Heaven-sent Savior.  He alone can satisfy their thirsting and hungering souls.  And yet these two present such a study of contrast!

He is a Jewish rabbi, a man of wealth and education, a respected Pharisee, and an honored member of the Sanhedrin.  She is a woman, a despised Samaritan with a questionable past.  Nicodemus seeks out Jesus at night, under the cover of darkness.  The unnamed woman comes to the well at noon, in broad daylight.  (Most likely she, too, is attempting to escape notice, albeit for a different reason than the Jewish leader).  The seed of truth, sown in Nicodemus’ heart, will lie hidden for a time.  However, when Jesus announces to the Samaritan woman that He is the Messiah, her first impulse is to share this incredible revelation with her people.  “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29).

Our Sabbath school lessons have been highlighting themes central to John’s Gospel.  I would like to suggest that the theme of this week’s lesson is the Divine-human family.  This grand theme, the marriage of Divinity and humanity, is woven throughout the book of John. 

The gospel of John is replete with sevens, e.g., seven signs, seven feasts, seven I AM statements, seven mentions of “the hour” for which Christ has come into the world, and seven narratives centering on Jesus and women (2:1-11, 4:1-42, 8:1-11, 11:20-44, 12:1-8, 19:25-27, 20:11-17).  

The number seven harkens from the creation story, and John’s gospel tells how the Creator God has come to dwell with His own, and recreate the image of God in humanity.  John’s narratives concerning Jesus and women give us rich insights into Christ’s reason for becoming flesh and His unfathomable love for our lost world.  

Jesus comes as the second Adam.  Just as Adam was put to sleep and Eve was taken from His side, so Christ will die to impart life to His bride.  “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34). “This is He who came by water and blood –Jesus Christ” (1 John 5:6).  “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish…For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.  ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’  This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:25-32).  

Sandwiched between the narratives of Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman are the words of John the Baptist about the Bridegroom.  John is the friend sent to help facilitate the marriage, the union of the Groom and His bride.  “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.  He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:29-30).    

The whole of John’s testimony in chapter 3 harmonizes with Jesus’ words to Nicodemus.  John’s testimony also prepares the reader for what follows in chapter 4, the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman from the town of Sychar. (Suggested meanings for the Hebrew word Sychar include drunken, merry, madness, deceit, disappointment, foolish, ungodly, and wages).  In asking the woman for a drink of water Jesus was seeking access to her heart.  He desired to satisfy her confused, disappointed, and longing soul.  She represents enslaved, sinful, and broken humanity to whom Jesus has come with a marriage offer.

The brides of three of the patriarchs (Isaac, Jacob, and Moses) are all discovered at wells.  It is of interest that the account of Rebekah’s meeting Abraham’s servant (Genesis 24) and the woman of Sychar’s encounter with Jesus in John’s gospel share striking similarities and contrasts.

Abraham’s servant, after a long journey, comes to a well.  It is evening time, the time when women go out to draw water.  Jesus, wearied from His journey, sits down by Jacob’s well about the sixth hour, midday.

Both Jesus and Abraham’s servant ask the women for water from the wells.  Rebekah willingly grants the visitor’s request and additionally waters his camels.  The Samaritan woman forgets to give Jesus the requested drink of water.  First, she is caught up in their conversation.  Then she discovers who has been talking to her!  This is amazing good news that must be shared!

Both Abraham’s representative and God’s Representative come with wealth to share.  Abraham’s servant gives Rebekah ornaments of gold.  Jesus has the gift of living water to bestow.  “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).

Rebekah tells the servant who she is.  The Samaritan woman is surprised that Jesus knows all about her.  He tells her who she is!

Rebekah is a virgin.  The Samaritan woman has been married five times and is currently living with a man to whom she is not married.  Jesus is the seventh in her life.  He will bring her joy and completeness.  She responds to the gift of living water.  The Savior satisfies her thirst which previously she had tried to quench from broken cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13).  

Both Rebekah and the woman run to tell their people about the person each has just met. Rebekah’s brother and the men of the Samaritan city come out to the wells to meet the visitors.

Rebekah’s family offers hospitality to Abraham’s servant and those who have accompanied him on his mission.  The Samaritans urge Jesus and His disciples to stay with them.

Abraham’s servant and the family share a meal.  They eat and drink together. Jesus and the disciples eat and drink with the Samaritans, however prior to this, when Jesus’s disciples return from buying food and urge their master to eat, he replies, “I have food to eat of which you do not know…My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:32,34).  

“As His words to the woman had aroused her conscience, Jesus rejoiced.  He saw her drinking of the water of life, and His own hunger and thirst were satisfied.  The accomplishment of the mission which He had left heaven to perform strengthened the Savior for His labor, and lifted Him above the necessities of humanity.  To minister to a soul hungering and thirsting for the truth was more grateful to Him than eating or drinking.  It was a comfort, a refreshment to Him.  Benevolence was the life of His soul. — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 190-191.

Abraham’s servant states the purpose of his visit.  He is seeking a wife for Abraham’s son.   Rebekah and her family agree to the marriage and she is sent away with a blessing. The servant worships God, thanking Him for granting success to his mission and showing kindness to Abraham.  He gives gifts to the girl and her family- silver, gold, clothing, and precious things.  

Jesus, the promised Heir of Abraham, shares His mission with the Samaritans.  He is the Messiah, God’s Son who has been sent as Heaven’s most precious gift of all.  “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

“And many more believed because of His own word.  Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world” (John 4:41, 42).  

The Samaritan women’s testimony to the men of the city was, “Come see a man who told me all things that I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29).  I believe we can read into her words the following: “This man knows me better than I know myself.  My life has been largely one of shame, guilt, and regret.  Yet He did not condemn me!  He treated me with kindness and compassionate understanding.  He has shared wonderful truth, and offered me life and hope!”  

Oh, the good news of the Gospel for the lost sons and daughters of Adam!

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin:  He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4).

There is another take away from this story.  Unfaithfulness to God during the reign of Solomon led to the rending of the kingdom.  Jesus, the new David, has come to reunite the two nations, to break down the middle wall of partition.  He is our Peace who has come to reconcile to Himself Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:14-21).  The Savior of the world gathers into one all who do not resist His drawing (John 12:32).  

“Thus says the Lord God:  ‘Surely I will take the stick of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand…and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.  They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them.  Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.  David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes and do them” (Ezekiel 37:19-24).

“Jesus had begun to break down the partition wall between Jew and Gentile, and to preach salvation to the world.  Though He was a Jew, He mingled freely with the Samaritans, setting at nought the Pharisaic customs of His nation.  In face of their prejudices, He accepted the hospitality of this despised people.  He slept under their roofs, ate with them at their tables, —partaking of the food prepared and served by their hands, —taught in their streets, and treated them with the utmost kindness and courtesy… 

“The stay of Jesus in Samaria was designed to be a blessing to His disciples, who were still under the influence of Jewish bigotry.  They felt that loyalty to their own nation required them to cherish enmity toward the Samaritans.  They wondered at the conduct of Jesus.  They could not refuse to follow His example, and during the two days in Samaria, fidelity to Him kept their prejudices under control; yet in heart they were unreconciled.  They were slow to learn that their contempt and hatred must give place to pity and sympathy.  But after the Lord’s ascension, His lessons came back to them with new meaning.  After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they recalled the Savior’s look, His words, the respect and tenderness of His bearing toward these despised strangers…

“The gospel invitation is not to be narrowed down, and presented only to a select few, who we suppose will do us honor if they accept it.  The message is to be given to all.  Wherever hearts are open to receive the truth, Christ is ready to instruct them.” —Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 193-194.

“Our Redeemer thirsts for recognition.  He hungers for the sympathy and love of those whom He has purchased with His own blood.  He longs with inexpressible desire that they should come to Him and have life.  As the mother watches for the smile of recognition from her little child, which tells of the dawning of intelligence, so does Christ watch for the expression of grateful love, which shows that spiritual life is begun in the soul.

“The woman had been filled with joy as she listened to Christ’s words.  The wonderful revelation was almost overpowering.  Leaving her waterpot, she returned to the city, to carry the message to others.  Jesus knew why she had gone.  Leaving her waterpot spoke unmistakably as to the effect of His words.  It was the earnest desire of her soul to obtain the living water; and she forgot her errand to the well, she forgot the Savior’s thirst, which she had purposed to supply.  With heart overflowing with gladness, she hastened on her way, to impart to others the precious light she had received.”— ibid., p. 191.

“Jesus gave her water that was not from the well,

Gave her living water, and sent her forth to tell;

She went away singing,

And came back bringing,

Others for the water that was not from the well” (author unknown).

May the cry of each of our hearts be, “Lord, give me this living water.  Let it be a fountain within me springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14).  Fill me with the fullness of Your Spirit.  May the desire of my soul be to know You and to know Your Son.” 

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

We need renewed hearts, burdened with the desire to share the message of Christ our righteousness with a perishing world.

“Everywhere men are unsatisfied.  They long for something to supply the need of the soul.  Only One can meet that want.  The need of the world, ‘the Desire of all nations,’ is Christ.  The divine grace which He alone can impart, is as living water, purifying, refreshing, and invigorating the soul.” — ibid., p. 187.

“And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’  And let him who hears say ‘Come!’  And let him who thirsts come.  Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).

~ Martha Ruggles