Saturday 7 January 2012

The Samaritan Lesson

When we read the book of John chapter 4, the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman, the lesson we mainly get is that of repentance and forgiveness among some other lessons. But yesterday night as i looked at some of this verses, it came to my mind something i had not seen clearly before. When Jesus told her in v10  10 Jesus answered her, “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.”(NIV), The Samaritan woman was like: 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”


Which was in fact true, looking at the face value of the situation, what she did not know or realize at the moment was the potential and the power of who was promising to act.  Jesus was of course not referring to the physical water at that moment, but we know if He wanted to provide her with the physical water, He would, based on all the miracles He had done and later did. The point here is, The woman looked at the physical impossibilities and never at the power of whom promised, basically because she was ignorant of the capability and power of Jesus.


This may not be the "actual" or the "intended" lesson of the passage, but i tend to draw a parallel between her response and my response to many situations that i gone through and am going through, when i am called to trust upon God for provision and tend to wonder how He will come through for me. When i cannot find a way, i feel so desperate wondering if He will actually deliver me.


The lesson i am learning is, He is capable of doing what He promises, whether we can see how or not, it faith to believe onto His promises without physical evidence.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (NIV) 
[Bible Readings taken from bible gateway]