In Sunday’s Gospel (John 4) Jesus meets an unnamed woman from Samaria who came to draw water from the well. Parched, he asks her to give him a drink. When she questions him, Jesus speaks to her of the Living Water. “Anyone who drinks from this water will be thirsty again; those who drink from the eternal water I will give them will never be thirsty”.
Pastor Nelson illustrated how this gospel text (the longest recorded conversation in the New Testament) shows best who Jesus really is. He highlighted what four “buckets” from the well can teach us…
Jesus breaks the rules by interacting with a Samaritan. This was a strict taboo. It was not customary to converse with Samaritans, let alone a Samaritan woman.
Jesus earns the woman’s trust by humbling himself. He asks for a drink from an outcast, showing not arrogance but vulnerability.
Jesus told the woman, “I see you for who you are and I love you. NOW SEE WHO I AM”. Even knowing of her messy past, Jesus saw the woman without judgement. And in kind, he asked her to see him as the humble Messiah.
Jesus honored the woman’s proclamation to her community. Despite her desire to remain invisible, the woman ran to share the good news with her community, inviting them to come meet the Messiah. Jesus stayed two days so everyone could be with him directly; and many Samaritans became believers because of her.
Pastor Nelson asked us to consider: Who is speaking the good news into our life? Where are we being called to share God’s good news with others?
Click the link below to hear the Gospel reading and Retired Pastor David Nelson’s expanded version of the “buckets” sermon.