Encountering the Truth

What do you think are the joys and challenges of encountering Christianity? Perhaps you can already think of many joys about living in loving relationship with God. One of the challenges is it may be difficult to truly understand what exactly the ramifications are of one identifying as a Christian. There is an account in the Bible where Jesus creates opportunity to explain the simple basics of Christian faith.

It would be helpful to read the entire account first before digging into it (John4:4-42), but hear are some of the highlights of Jesus encountering a woman at the well.

Jesus and the woman speak honestly and freely with one another. You can read the actual account of the dialog but here is a summary and paraphrase of what they were saying.
Jesus takes the initiative to strike up a conversation by asking for a drink of water (7).

The woman feels judged by the members of the community in which she lives. She avoids them as much as she can (9).

Jesus says He has something much more valuable to give than just a drink of water. It’s supernatural, in fact. (13-14 )

The woman wants what Jesus is offering, even though she doesn’t understand what it is. (15)
Jesus first wants to start with the woman’s current life and situation to help her understand her need for what he is offering. He honestly describes her challenges with relationships. (16-18)
The woman realized how accurately Jesus described her past and this was probably making her uncomfortable. In the Jewish culture she may be guilty of offenses whose consequences could result in death. Perceiving Jesus is a prophet, she changes the topic of conversation, to a distraction about worship protocol. (19-20)

Jesus isn’t distracted by this, but instead uses her comment to bring them right back to the heart of the matter: the faith and hope that both Jews and Samaritans are seeking is an honest, unencumbered relationship with God. It is possible, and it comes through a relationship with Christ, the Messiah. Then He adds, I am He.” (23-26)

The woman may not yet fully understand, but she knows enough to cause her to drop her water jar, and, going back to the people in town, she exclaims, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (28-29)

Later on in the story we learn that many people became believers in Jesus because of His words to them at the invitation of the woman. They declared, “we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” (31-42)

This account is a beautiful illustration of clear and honest dialog leading to the truth about Jesus. We can do this too. We do not make up our own version of truth. As we learn about our relationship with Jesus through God’s word, we can look for, and create opportunities to engage in dialogue with others and extend an invitation to learn more.

4832 Ponderings:

• What are some specific things you can do to stay or get re-focused on God’s truth?
• As you look at how Jesus interacted with this woman, what are some things He said or did that you might be able to incorporate in discussions with people about faith?