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Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”

^11-12 The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”

^13-14 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.” (The Message)

This was the Samaritan woman’s story, and Jesus knew it. She kept drinking ‘water’ that did not, could not, satisfy her thirst. ‘But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for’ could have been written over her life up to this moment. If only she had known who Jesus was, and what He had to offer, her life would have been so different. It was about to be. Watch this space!

There is a profound irony in the question (12): ”Are you greater than our father Jacob…?” We know the answer to be a resounding, ‘Yes’.

Back in 2012, Jilly and I spent a long week-end in Barcelona. On a Sunday morning, we decided to leave our hotel very early, when the air was cooler, and walk to the beach. As we walked through the city centre, probably around 5 a.m., we saw crowds of people, mainly young people, moving out of it. After a night in the clubs and bars, and so on, many looked rough, and some were clearly unwell. Yet we knew, and commented on this, that come the next week-end, probably most of them would be back for more of the same – drinking unsatisying water from a temporal well. This is the human condition: desperately searching for meaning and satisfaction. We are empty inside, and we have to find a way to fill the vacuum. But nothing and no-one can help us, outside of Jesus. St. Augustine, in one of his ‘Confessions’, famously said, ‘…Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.’ Later, in the same confession, he went on to pray: ‘Who will send Thee into my heart to inebriate it, so that I may forget my woes, and embrace Thee my only good?’

PRAYER: Lord, give me a heart to see the crowds as lost sheep without a Shepherd. May I never forget that I was once among them – desperately looking for something I could not find. May I never forget that you came and found me, and brought me home, just like you did with the woman at the well. So I pray for ‘labourers’, and offer myself to serve in your harvest field.

 ^1-3 Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people. So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.

^4-6 To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.

^7-8 A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)

⁹ The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.) (The Message)

This has been characterised as ‘the story of the bad Samaritan.’

Technically speaking, Jesus did not have to go through Samaria on His homeward journey (4). He could have travelled another way. But this was a heavenly ”had”. His Father arranged His schedule, and He had written an appointment with this one lost woman into Jesus’ schedule. It was what we might call a ‘divine appointment’.

She was just one ‘lost’ woman, but she mattered to God. Furthermore, this work which started with one was to spread to many. What a stark contrast we see between John 3 and 4. In the third chapter Jesus encountered the religious and (presumably) morally upright Nicodemus; in chapter 4 He met an immoral woman. Both needed Him.

Are we prepared to do ‘whatever it takes’ to reach lost people? On this hot day in a Samaritan village, our Lord broke with convention in at least two ways: a.) He, a Jew, spoke to her, a Samaritan. According to social custom at that time such a thing was not to happen; b.) He, a man, spoke to her a woman. I found this comment in Bible Hub: ‘Respectable men, especially teachers, avoided public one-on-one dialogue with any woman not of their household. John deliberately notes the disciples “were amazed that He was talking with a woman” (John 4:27). Their silence underscores how entrenched the taboo was; yet Jesus honours her with the longest recorded private discourse in the Gospels.’ Jesus did not hold Himself tightly in some self-protective cocoon. We might say He lived life out on the edge. May we live out there with Him!

I have been listening to a recent interview with John Ortberg. Reflecting, early this morning, on something he said, I was reminded of his book about evangelism from several decades ago, bearing the great title, ‘If you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat.’

PRAYER: Lord, please lead us in our daily interactions with people. Show us how to break down false barriers. Help us to be daring, and willing to take risks to reach the people for whom you died.

 The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, ² and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? ³ And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.’”

⁴ When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, ⁵ and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord. (NIV)

There are moments – indeed there are ‘seasons’ – of God-given opportunity. But we can miss them. The people of Israel could have, should have conquered, but instead they compromised. Sin always has consequences. In this case the Lord was going to stop fighting for Israel, and the very people they could have, should have driven out (and their gods) would cause them no end of unnecessary trouble. May we not miss any opportunities for service God is putting in our pathway through sinful obedience.

‘Only the Lord knows whether their weeping indicated true repentance or only remorse and regret (Matthew 27:3-4). True repentance is always accompanied by the deeds of repentance (Acts 20:21; 26:20) – giving up sinful behaviour and turning to the Lord. Perhaps at this stage the Israelites did repent – at least for a time – because they offered sacrifices to the Lord. They named that place Bokim which means ”weepers.” ‘ Tom Hale

PRAYER: ”Investigate my life, O God,
    find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
    get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
    then guide me on the road to eternal life.” (Psalm 139:23,24: The Message)

After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, “Who of us is to go up first to fight against the Canaanites?”

² The Lord answered, “Judah shall go up; I have given the land into their hands.”

³ The men of Judah then said to the Simeonites their fellow Israelites, “Come up with us into the territory allotted to us, to fight against the Canaanites. We in turn will go with you into yours.” So the Simeonites went with them.

⁴ When Judah attacked, the Lord gave the Canaanites and Perizzites into their hands, and they struck down ten thousand men at Bezek. ⁵ It was there that they found Adoni-Bezek and fought against him, putting to rout the Canaanites and Perizzites. ⁶ Adoni-Bezek fled, but they chased him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and big toes.

⁷ Then Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have picked up scraps under my table. Now God has paid me back for what I did to them.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.

⁸ The men of Judah attacked Jerusalem also and took it. They put the city to the sword and set it on fire.

⁹ After that, Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites living in the hill country, the Negev and the western foothills. ¹⁰ They advanced against the Canaanites living in Hebron (formerly called Kiriath Arba) and defeated Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. ¹¹ From there they advanced against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher).

¹² And Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Aksah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.” ¹³ Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage.

¹⁴ One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him^[a] to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?”

¹⁵ She replied, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

¹⁶ The descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from the City of Palms^[b] with the people of Judah to live among the inhabitants of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad.

¹⁷ Then the men of Judah went with the Simeonites their fellow Israelites and attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and they totally destroyed^[c] the city. Therefore it was called Hormah.^[d] 18 Judah also took^[e] Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron—each city with its territory.

¹⁹ The Lord was with the men of Judah. They took possession of the hill country, but they were unable to drive the people from the plains, because they had chariots fitted with iron. ²⁰ As Moses had promised, Hebron was given to Caleb, who drove from it the three sons of Anak. ²¹ The Benjamites, however, did not drive out the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the Benjamites.

²² Now the tribes of Joseph attacked Bethel, and the Lord was with them. ²³ When they sent men to spy out Bethel (formerly called Luz), ²⁴ the spies saw a man coming out of the city and they said to him, “Show us how to get into the city and we will see that you are treated well.” ²⁵ So he showed them, and they put the city to the sword but spared the man and his whole family. ²⁶ He then went to the land of the Hittites, where he built a city and called it Luz, which is its name to this day.

²⁷ But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land. ²⁸ When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. ²⁹ Nor did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites living in Gezer, but the Canaanites continued to live there among them. ³⁰ Neither did Zebulun drive out the Canaanites living in Kitron or Nahalol, so these Canaanites lived among them, but Zebulun did subject them to forced labor. ³¹ Nor did Asher drive out those living in Akko or Sidon or Ahlab or Akzib or Helbah or Aphek or Rehob. ³² The Asherites lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land because they did not drive them out. ³³ Neither did Naphtali drive out those living in Beth Shemesh or Beth Anath; but the Naphtalites too lived among the Canaanite inhabitants of the land, and those living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath became forced laborers for them. ³⁴ The Amorites confined the Danites to the hill country, not allowing them to come down into the plain. ³⁵ And the Amorites were determined also to hold out in Mount Heres, Aijalon and Shaalbim, but when the power of the tribes of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor. ³⁶ The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond. (NIV)

The book of Judges covers the period between the death of Joshua and the appointment of Saul as Israel’s first king: roughly from the 14th to the 11th centuries BC. During this time, God was their ‘Invisible King’, but they were repeatedly disloyal to Him. Warren Wiersbe explains:

‘In the book of Joshua, God was with the whole nation as they conquered the land. But in Judges, God turned from the nation and gave victory to individuals He called and empowered by His Spirit (3:10;6:34;11:29; etc.). Thirteen different judges are named in the book. Judges 2:16-19 is the best summary of Israel’s history at this period – and a sad history it is.’

Regarding chapter 1, he goes on to say:

‘After the death of Joshua and the move of the two and a half tribes to the east of the Jordan, the nation did not function as one great army. Individual tribes fought to claim their inheritance, and often the tribes worked together; but something was definitely lost in the transition…What began with conquest (vv.1-26) soon became compromise (vv.27-36) as the defeated tribes gave in to the enemy. If we do not defeat the enemy completely, the enemy will eventually defeat us. Israel learned their ways and worshiped their gods, and the Lord had to chasten His people to bring them back. They forgot the warnings of Moses (Deut.7) and Joshua (Josh.23). It has well been said, ”The one thing we learn from history is that we do not learn from history.” Read 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 and take it to heart.’

The whole of this book is a stark warning about the ever present danger of compromise. It leads nowhere good. In the second section of this first chapter (27-36) we see the beginning of the slippery slope. The prayer below could well be our prayer for this series. Dare we ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us any areas of spiritual compromise? And if He does, are we willing to repent?

PRAYER: ”Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23,24)

If an enemy were insulting me,
    I could endure it;
if a foe were rising against me,
    I could hide.
¹³ But it is you, a man like myself,
    my companion, my close friend,
¹⁴ with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
    at the house of God,
as we walked about
    among the worshipers.

¹⁵ Let death take my enemies by surprise;
    let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,
    for evil finds lodging among them.

¹⁶ As for me, I call to God,
    and the Lord saves me.
¹⁷ Evening, morning and noon
    I cry out in distress,
    and he hears my voice.
¹⁸ He rescues me unharmed
    from the battle waged against me,
    even though many oppose me.
¹⁹ God, who is enthroned from of old,
    who does not change—
he will hear them and humble them,
    because they have no fear of God.

²⁰ My companion attacks his friends;
    he violates his covenant.
²¹ His talk is smooth as butter,
    yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,
    yet they are drawn swords.

²² Cast your cares on the Lord
    and he will sustain you;
he will never let
    the righteous be shaken.
²³ But you, God, will bring down the wicked
    into the pit of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful
    will not live out half their days.

But as for me, I trust in you. (NIV)

David’s assertion in verse 22 (one of the most well-known statements in the Bible) was forged in the fires of hot, bitter personal grief. As we saw when we looked at the first part of this psalm, it may well belong to the time of Absalom’s rebellion and Ahithophel’s treachery. But whatever anyone else did; however they might behave, David’s personal stance was one of trust in the Lord. He remained a man of prayer. In fact he gave himself to intensive prayer (16,17)

I guess we have all known the person (people?) who on the outside seemed one thing, but on the inside were another (21). God forgive us, maybe, at times, we have been that person. We can all be capable of hypocrisy.

Few things hurt more than the disloyalty of friends – especially when we have done them no harm. If there’s something we can apologise for, and put right, all well and good. But when there is nothing we can put our finger on that’s another matter altogether.

‘Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer.

In His arms He’ll take and shield thee. Thou wilt find a solace there.’

Such was David’s experience, and he encourages us, by example, to look up in all circumstances.

Warren Wiersbe writes: ‘David wanted wings like a dove so he could fly away from the storm. What he really needed were wings like an eagle so he could fly above the storm (Isa.40:31)…You cannot fly beyond the storm because you will find problems everywhere, but you can fly above the storm. God permits the burdens you face today to help you ”win your wings.” ‘

 After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. (The Message)

‘Every Christian knew that sooner or later he might have to testify to his faith at the cost of his life…’ (Stephen Neil writing about the growth of the early church)

It is relatively easy to miss the little detail about John’s imprisonment (24). I want to draw attention to it, however, because we who live in freer cultures can lose sight of what a dangerous thing it is to be a Christian. Probably there are many more believers who know this as a daily reality than those who don’t. Christianity is a threat to the dark spiritual powers in the heavenly realms, and it is regularly perceived as a threat by earthly powers.

In reading a short biography of the translator, William Tyndale, I was quite shocked, amidst many stories of persecution, to read that Bishop Tunstall burned a translation of Scripture, in London, in 1526. John Piper observes: ‘The church burned the Word of God. They burned the Bible in public.’

What is it about the Bible that it has been so hated? Why have there been so many (let it be said futile) attempts to destroy it? It has been regarded by multitudes as the most dangerous Book in the world.

It would go against nature to want to be imprisoned, but may we never try to protect ourselves by denying the ‘dangerous’ truth we firmly believe. May that very demonic loathing of Scripture kindle in us an unquenchable fire of love for God’s Book.

“The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth.

^34-36 “The One that God sent speaks God’s words. And don’t think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn’t see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that.” (The Message)

John continues with his theme of the greatness and superiority of Jesus. I believe every preacher – indeed, every believer – needs to be increasingly gripped with the wonder of this truth.

If I could, I would like to look every person in the world in the eye, and say to them (if they would give me a hearing), ‘Please will you take as open and honest and sincere a look at Jesus as you can, and then tell me what you think.’ As Michael Green observed in a great book about the resurrection of Christ, ‘Sherlock Holmes would never make up his mind about a case before thoroughly examining the evidence to see where it led.’

Another famous Christian author wrote that, in his experience, it was rare for an adult to take a serious look at Jesus and not be converted.

Eternal destiny is at stake in the acceptance or rejection of Jesus: ‘To reject the Son’s witness is to rebel against the highest authority in the universe…To reject Christ’s witness is to sin against love and light.’ Warren Wiersbe

After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing. At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant. This was before John was thrown into jail. John’s disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism. They came to John and said, “Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he’s now competing with us. He’s baptizing, too, and everyone’s going to him instead of us.”

^27-29 John answered, “It’s not possible for a person to succeed—I’m talking about eternal success—without heaven’s help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom’s friend, his ‘best man’—that’s me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start?

^29-30 “That’s why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines. (The Message)

How do we cope when God blesses someone else’s ministry more than He blesses ours? John the Baptist points the way:

”A person can receive only what is given them from heaven” (22, NIV).

John recognised that true success is God-given. In His Sovereign purposes, the Lord does give to some more than He gives to others. That is His business.

Richard Baxter of Kidderminster, who saw a huge turning to God in his town, once said, ‘O what am I…that God should thus abundantly encourage me, when the Reverend Instructors of my youth, did labour fifty years together in one place, and could scarcely say they had Converted one or two of their parishes!’

John, of course, had no problems with the ‘success’ of Jesus because he knew his place. He did not confuse his own role with that of the Messiah. When I got married, I trusted my best man implicitly. I knew he would do his job well, and I never expected for one moment that he would run off with the bride! If people were moving in the direction of Jesus, then that was what John wanted. It was what he lived for. His words, in verse 30, should be written on the heart of every preacher: ”He must become greater; I must become less” (NIV).

After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. (The Message)

A lady who spent much time in prayer was asked what she was doing when she prayed. She replied, ‘Oh, I look at Him, and He looks at me!’

Thought for the day: I am prone to focus on how much I want, and need to spend time with Jesus, and am liable to forget how much He longs and loves to spend time with me.