0:00
"In John chapter 4 we have the story of the Samaritan woman, at the well. And so I'm going to continue on that.  Turn with me to John chapter 4, verses 16-26. Last week I talked about how Jesus had to go through Samaria. The Bible tells us that Jesus had to go through Samaria, and yes, geographically speaking, he had to traverse through the Samaritan lands, but it was the custom of the day, because the Jews were so, uh, how do I say it? They did not like Samaria, they did not like the Samaritan people, so instead of going through Samaria, for many Jews if they had to go back to Galilee, they would rather go around the long way, than to go through Samaria. But in Jesus' case we're told Jesus had to go through Samaria, and as he went through Samaria, he stopped at a little town called Cecar. In Cecar, there was a well there, it was called "Jacob's Well." And at a certain time in the noon day heat, Jesus waited, sat there at the well, waiting for one particular person to come to that well. It was the Samaritan woman. And Jesus, as she approaches, Jesus says, "Woman, can you give me something to drink?" And the words were very, respectful, they were a very polite way that Jesus expressed himself. The woman is kind of alarmed and she says, "How can you, a Jew, and a man, ask me for water?" Jesus says, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." We talked about all of that.
2:09
Somehow in the plans and purposes of God, God had predetermined that Jesus Christ would go through Samaria, would end up in this city of Cecar, in this town of Cecar, and that he would meet this woman. Why? Why? It's not just geography. It's not just about the time of the day. I believe that it is about the eternal plan of experiencing God's compassion and mercy. Jesus Christ had made it his point to come because he wanted to speak to this one woman. Out of all the other Samaritans in the town, he wanted to speak to her. So we continue, verse 15: "Sir... We talked about the difficulty of this woman's situation. She was number one a Samaritan. The relationship between Jews and Samaritans was not very good. Think about the US during the pre-civil right era, when segregation was the rule of the land. Blacks had to use bathrooms, separate. They could not enter into the same restaurants, or use the same doors. If they sat on the bus, they had to sit on the back of the bus. And if there weren't enough seats for the white bus riders, then the blacks would have to get off and walk. The relationship between the Jews and the Samaritans was not all that much better. And for many of you South Africans, you know the pain, the sting, of Apartheid, and the effect that it had on so many people. The Jews would call the Samaritans, dogs. When a Jew would pass through Samaritan territory, and as he crossed the border and would take a step in to Jewish land, he would take his cloak and shake the dust off of his feet, of the Samaritan land, and step over. And he'd take his other foot, and shake the dust off, of the Samaritan dust, and step across into Jewish land, and then spit at the Samaritan soil. Because the Jews hated Samaritans. They were a mixed breed of people, partly Jew, partly, um, Gentile. Not only were they mixed in blood, but they were also mixed in religion. And this the Jews hated. They hated, they had pollute-these people had polluted God, and polluted the worship of God. And so, when Jesus approaches this woman and says, "Can you please, give a drink of water?" the woman is a little suspicious. "How can you, a man and a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan, to give you a drink?"
4:57

......

Transcript in Progress...

I am currently in the process of transcribing these sermons to a text file to post on the web. As this is a very time-consuming process and I don't have a lot of spare time on my hands, any help would be appreciated. If you are interested in helping me to transcribe (listen, and write the exact words in the sermon) this, or any of the additional sermons that have now been posted, please use the Contact Form to contact me.

Thanks,

Aaron Snowberger - webmaster

| 05.25.2008 | Contact Pastor Bill | Print |