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Messiah, The Christ
He Found the Messiah!
He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ).
John 1:41
Here, as soon as Andrew learns he has been with Jesus, The Messiah, he seeks out to find his own brother and brings him back to meet Jesus. That is a whole other chapter to write, right there!
He meets The Messiah and wastes no time finding his brother to introduce him to Jesus. This is the way most of us find the Lord, someone introduces us to Him.
Do you remember who introduced you to Jesus Christ? Are you, and am I, seeking out others to introduce them to our Messiah? Oh how the world needs to meet Him.
She Found the Messiah!
Andrew went and found his brother; he brought him face to face with the Messiah, with Christ (there’s just something about that name: Christ!).
There was a certain woman at the well, and she also found the Messiah!
First, let’s read the entire scripture from the fourth chapter of John. This is from the American Standard Version.
When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples), he left Judea, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs pass through Samaria. So he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph: and Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman therefore saith unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, who am a Samaritan woman? (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said unto unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life.
The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said unto him, I have no husband. Jesus saith unto her, Thou saidst well, I have no husband: for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: this hast thou said truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father. Ye worship that which ye know not: we worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh (he that is called Christ): when he is come, he will declare unto us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
Disciples were Speechless
And upon this came his disciples; and they marvelled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why speakest thou with her? So the woman left her waterpot, and went away into the city, and saith to the people, Come, see a man, who told me all things that ever I did: can this be the Christ? They went out of the city, and were coming to him.
In the mean while the disciples prayed him, saying, Rabbi, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not. The disciples therefore said one to another, Hath any man brought him aught to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to accomplish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white already unto harvest. He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. For herein is the saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye have not labored: others have labored, and ye are entered into their labor.
Samaritans Believe
And from that city many of the Samaritans believed on him because of the word of the woman, who testified, He told me all things that ever I did. So when the Samaritans came unto him, they besought him to abide with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his word; and they said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy speaking: for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.
John 4:1-42
Don’t Go There
Jews didn’t go where Samaritans were. It wasn’t permitted and they didn’t get along together. It was bad news. Following a youth event, my husband was -per the norm- taking one of the teens home. He was pretty much orphaned, for all intents and purposes, living somewhere among the city projects, without a ride, this young man would have to walk a long way in the cold. I’d have to ask again to know if it was day or dark, regardless, when they pulled through the neighborhood the teenager told my husband to duck down because it wasn’t safe for him to be there with him. Problem was, he was driving and couldn’t really hide himself or his car. If you’ve ever lived in a city where a gang has claimed territory, you know how volatile it can be to be on the wrong turf. Just don’t go there.
The Samaritans and the Jews rivalry was just that, it wasn’t a mere preference; they hated one another.
I love how scripture acknowledges all that it means for Jewish Jesus to be walking the “wrong” path in verse 4: He had to go through Samaria on the way.
Man at the Well
Not only was Christ on the wrong path, He was in the wrong place. A man at the well wouldn’t be there to draw water. But Jesus was tired from all His walking and He physically needed a drink of fresh water, and He needed it badly.
So, He waited. But this wasn’t happenstance, He knew who was coming. He was waiting for her. Without relinquishing His physical need for some water, He had an eternally life changing message for her-this certain woman.
Woman at the Well
If I could show up here with nothing said prior, give everyone a notecard and pen, then ask you to write down the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear, “The woman at the well,” what would you write?
I can tell you what most first think when they hear this title and it concentrates on her adultery; the fact that she’d had so many husbands and was not married to the man she was living with now. And, I can’t fault anyone there, because that seems to be exactly who meets Christ at the well.
A Thirsty Jew
There’s Christ sitting on Jacob’s well, a thirsty Jew. Not only should He not have been in Samaria, He shouldn’t have been at the well, and He certainly shouldn’t have been speaking to a Samaritan woman. But He was. Jesus wasn’t about societal norms, ever.
Jesus Wasn’t About Societal Norms
–Hey, let’s be sure to make note of that in this day and age; as we desire to become more like Christ we’re going to be walking the same path against society’s approval just as He did here.
If we desire to become more like Christ we’re going to have to walk against society’s approval.
tamara henion
Back at the Well
Now back at the well, He asks her for a drink. She is taken aback, as to be expected, but what happens next shakes up her world.
Why was a Jewish man at the well? She knew things were not as they should be.
To her rebuttal, Jesus tells her it’s actually her own error in need of adjustment. While Jesus desired a drink of water for His body’s sake, in fact, she was in the greatest need. That’s what He was doing there; HE had just what she needed.
Questions
Ms. Samaritan was asking a lot of questions, most of them perfectly normal and acceptable considering the circumstances:
- Why is a Jew asking me for water?
- Why is it you have nothing to draw from this deep well; so where is this living water You’re going to give me?
- Are you greater than Jacob who gave us, and drank from, this very well?
Jesus isn’t uncomfortable with her questions and He answers them with the truth that still stands today:
Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life.
John 4:13-14
She’s Convinced
Ok, hand it over, she’s convinced and ready to drink of this water Jesus has to offer.
The Samaritan woman first sees Jesus’ offer of eternal life like so many of us see salvation today: it sounds perfect, I’ll take it! But Jesus doesn’t just invite her to drink up, does He?
I want to be careful and clear here, I’m not adding to scripture, I’m not saying we have a penance or cost to pay where eternal life is concerned, (we don’t!), but I am pointing out, what happens here in the first person account with The Messiah at the Well.
Jesus could have ignored the truth of who she was, left it alone to be only her secret, (because, no matter, He loved her!). He could have simply showered her with His eternal life, His everlasting water and left it at that, but He didn’t. Why not?
Who are You?
Jesus knew who she was… of course. Yet, He persisted.
Verse 16: Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
The Bible doesn’t indicate any hesitation in her response. Actually, she settles deeper into the conversation the two of them had been having to this point and seems to fully reveal who she is. I don’t see anyone else in the New Testament who Jesus has this long of a one on one conversation with, and this one must have fostered some sort of comfort in her.
As if talking to a Jewish man at Jacob’s well wasn’t bad enough, she was about to tell Him the secrets of her life that were no small consideration in Ancient Samaria. I would surmise that she was trusting of this man at the well of whom she had no earthly reason-either in her community or in her flesh- to trust.
And so she lays it all out: there is no husband to go get, not even the man she was living with currently.
When Jesus realizes her honesty here and reveals the rest of her story of past marriages to her, she knows He is not just some man. Unsure of who He is, she supposed Him to be a prophet.
Who am I?
How does He know so much about her? In her surprise we hear, “Who ARE you?”
Isn’t that just like us? Don’t we also look from the outside when our own sin is on the line? Could she have instead said, “Who am I…what am I doing living like this?”
“It would have been better if she had perceived that she was a sinner.”
Spurgeon
Nevertheless, their ongoing conversation isn’t over yet. Jacob’s Well? Her ancestors mountain? Jesus tells her that it’s not on that mountain where followers of Christ would find Him and truly worship.
She leaned in closer and listened.
Jesus succinctly wraps up their long visit:
God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”Jesus answered, “I who speak to you am He.”
Then the woman left her water jar, went back into the town, and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” So they left the town and made their way toward Jesus.
John 4:24-26, 28-30
No Secrets
We kid ourselves to think we have any secrets from God. With Him there are no secrets.
HE knew all about her. Now that her eyes had been open to her own sin, she understood who she had been talking with. The Messiah, Christ!
The Messiah, Christ
She went running back to everyone she knew and proclaimed all she knew of Him, personally. Many of them came to the Messiah because of her testimony of what He’d done in her life, because she shared who she knew Him to be.
And when they met Christ the Messiah personally, they too believed.
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
John 4:39-42
Share Christ
Like Andrew finding his brother and brining him to Christ, Ms. Samaritan went right away back to those she knew and shared the Messiah with them.
What they reported was immediate, earnest, and urgent, but yet it was a simple witness. Neither of them made Jesus out to be someone He wasn’t, and they didn’t have to defend who He was.
All they did was bring others to Him by sharing with them what they’d witnessed and known of Him in their own lives; He was enough.
Jesus’ words and His person stood alone. We need to remember that as we share Christ. He is still the Christ, Messiah, and He will always stand alone. Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ Messiah
He stands worthy. He stands anointed. There at the well He stood Jesus Messiah foretold for thousands of years…she was waiting for Him, and now, she was present with Him in the flesh.
Messiah comes from the Hebrew word mashiach and means “anointed one” or “chosen one.” The Greek equivalent is the word Christos or, in English, Christ. The name “Jesus Christ” is the same as “Jesus the Messiah.
Gotquestions (https://www.gotquestions.org/what-does-Messiah-mean.html)
Convinced of our Sin
Before we see Christ Messiah, we need to recognize our sin, just as the women at the well did.
When we know Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we need to share Him just as she taught us, too. But we should be cautious not to meddle in the business of Christ.
Though we should willingly and proudly share who He is and what He has done in our lives, just as this certain woman at the well taught us to.
But, we should not try to do His job. Just as He did with the Samaritan woman here, He will convict others of their sin and their need of a Savior.
We are just to share Him with others. His Heavenly Father will bring them to Himself, the anointed and chosen One: Jesus Christ the Messiah.
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.
John 6:44
Find, Know and Wait for the Messiah
The woman at the well was waiting for Christ the Messiah, and she found Him. If you don’t know Him, isn’t it time? He’s waiting for you.
If you know the Lord, you’re my Sister in Christ, let us often remember, we’re waiting for the Messiah. He’s coming again.
Find Him. Know Him. Look for Him. Wait for Him.
Friends, this, finding, knowing an waiting on Christ the Messiah IS what living is all about. Praise the Lord for this beautiful life He’s given to us.
I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.
Psalm 7:17
