Hands of The Potter
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Posted: May 20, 2023
Author: Leslie Wittenmyer John 4:7-18, 25-26, 28-29, English Standard Version “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 whoever 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 five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.’ 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.’ So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’” |
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Outcast- someone who has been rejected by society or a social group. (Oxford languages) She was an outcast, at least that is what the world labeled her as. Have you ever felt labeled by the world as an outcast, like you didn’t belong or fit in anywhere? So did she, until she met Jesus, the story written on John 4.
Though this scripture is lengthy, there is so much in here that we need to know and fully let sink into our spirit. First things first, the Samaritan woman knew that the world labeled her as an outcast and she made this known to Jesus when she questioned Him of why a Jew was talking to a Samaritan woman. According to the blueletterbible.org the Samaritans were known as half-Jew, half-Gentile. The Samaritans had their own temple and religious system. They used the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) and used their own religious system with debate of where to worship God. Yet Jesus was not afraid to approach the Samaritan woman. He knew the plans of the Father. Jesus was sent to seek and save the lost, not to condemn them. That was true for the Samaritan woman at the well, and it is true for you and I regardless of where we have been or what we have done.
Jesus knew this woman at the well, but His words to her were, “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.” If we do not know Jesus, how then can we receive this living water that will make us never thirst again? Jesus wants to have a personal relationship with each one of us. He doesn’t just want us to know about Him, but to know Him. He wants to dwell within each one of us and make His home with us. Are we willing to let Him in? Are we willing to allow Him to be the Savior of our heart and lives?
The third thing we must understand is this. Jesus comes with a message of hope. He comes to give us living water, eternal life for Jews and Gentiles alike. This includes you and I. What we need to understand is that it takes something on our part. You see, Jesus knew this woman’s sins and yet spoke to her of eternal life and that He was the Christ. When Jesus first started His ministry, His message was clear, “...Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17, ESV). With repentance comes submission to the Lord and a deeper relationship with him develops. Our lives are changed because we love Him and allow Him to do His deep cleansing work within us that sets us free.
The fourth thing we must notice is that the woman at the well was not shamed and condemned for her sins. She ran to town to tell the people of Christ the Messiah, a man who told her all she had ever done. Christ knows each one of us better than we know ourselves. He does not come to condemn us and make us live in shame or guilt or regret. He came to set the captives free. That means, He came to set us free from our sins and an eternal death that leads to weeping and gnashing of teeth. When we are submitted to Jesus fully, He can use what the enemy meant for bad, and He can turn it for good! This is made known in His word found in Genesis 50:20, the story of Joseph.
In the eyes of Jesus, we are not an outcast. We are His masterpiece. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV) Take off the label the world assigns, outcast. Come out of agreement with it! Turn from it and turn to Jesus! Accept and receive who He calls you to be!
You are chosen, adopted as sons and daughters, redeemed and forgiven, united in Him, and sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit! I encourage you to read the word of God. There are so much more than just these few things that the Lord says that you are. When you know who you are in Christ, the things of this world no longer matter. You are not defined by this world, but by who Christ says you are. You are a child of God! And whom the Son sets free is free indeed!
Though this scripture is lengthy, there is so much in here that we need to know and fully let sink into our spirit. First things first, the Samaritan woman knew that the world labeled her as an outcast and she made this known to Jesus when she questioned Him of why a Jew was talking to a Samaritan woman. According to the blueletterbible.org the Samaritans were known as half-Jew, half-Gentile. The Samaritans had their own temple and religious system. They used the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) and used their own religious system with debate of where to worship God. Yet Jesus was not afraid to approach the Samaritan woman. He knew the plans of the Father. Jesus was sent to seek and save the lost, not to condemn them. That was true for the Samaritan woman at the well, and it is true for you and I regardless of where we have been or what we have done.
Jesus knew this woman at the well, but His words to her were, “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.” If we do not know Jesus, how then can we receive this living water that will make us never thirst again? Jesus wants to have a personal relationship with each one of us. He doesn’t just want us to know about Him, but to know Him. He wants to dwell within each one of us and make His home with us. Are we willing to let Him in? Are we willing to allow Him to be the Savior of our heart and lives?
The third thing we must understand is this. Jesus comes with a message of hope. He comes to give us living water, eternal life for Jews and Gentiles alike. This includes you and I. What we need to understand is that it takes something on our part. You see, Jesus knew this woman’s sins and yet spoke to her of eternal life and that He was the Christ. When Jesus first started His ministry, His message was clear, “...Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17, ESV). With repentance comes submission to the Lord and a deeper relationship with him develops. Our lives are changed because we love Him and allow Him to do His deep cleansing work within us that sets us free.
The fourth thing we must notice is that the woman at the well was not shamed and condemned for her sins. She ran to town to tell the people of Christ the Messiah, a man who told her all she had ever done. Christ knows each one of us better than we know ourselves. He does not come to condemn us and make us live in shame or guilt or regret. He came to set the captives free. That means, He came to set us free from our sins and an eternal death that leads to weeping and gnashing of teeth. When we are submitted to Jesus fully, He can use what the enemy meant for bad, and He can turn it for good! This is made known in His word found in Genesis 50:20, the story of Joseph.
In the eyes of Jesus, we are not an outcast. We are His masterpiece. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, ESV) Take off the label the world assigns, outcast. Come out of agreement with it! Turn from it and turn to Jesus! Accept and receive who He calls you to be!
You are chosen, adopted as sons and daughters, redeemed and forgiven, united in Him, and sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit! I encourage you to read the word of God. There are so much more than just these few things that the Lord says that you are. When you know who you are in Christ, the things of this world no longer matter. You are not defined by this world, but by who Christ says you are. You are a child of God! And whom the Son sets free is free indeed!
