The Woman at the Well by Gordon Winslow скачать в хорошем качестве

The Woman at the Well by Gordon Winslow

A Samaritan woman comes to the well to draw water. Now this is strange. Nobody goes out in the heat of the day to draw water. That’s a job for the morning or evening when it’s cool. So why would this woman come now? Because she’s a social outcast. She comes now so she won’t have to bear the looks and comments of the other women from the town. When Jesus saw her He made a simple request: "Will you give me a drink?" (John 4:7). What's wrong with this socially awkward situation? (1) Jews weren't supposed to speak to Samaritans. (2) Men weren't permitted to address women without their husbands present. And (3) rabbis had no business speaking to shady ladies such as this one. Yet Jesus was willing to toss out the rules, but our woman at the well wasn't. "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman," she reminded him. "How can you ask me for a drink?" (John 4:9). There are many lessons that can be learned from their dialogue and the outcome of it. Some are: 1) Only through Jesus can we obtain and receive eternal life: “Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life’” (John 4:13–14; cf. John 14:6). 2) Jesus’ ministering to those outcasts of the Jewish society (the Samaritans) reveals that all people are valuable to God and that Jesus desires that we demonstrate love to everyone . . . including even our enemies (John 4:7–9; Matthew 5:44). 3) Jesus is the Messiah (John 4:25–26; 1:41; Matthew 27:22; Luke 2:11). 4) Those who worship God, must worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23–24; Psalm 145:18). 5) Our testimony about Jesus is a powerful tool in leading others to believe in Him: “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world”’ (John 4:39–42). Additionally, we learn from Jesus’ dialogue with the woman at the well three absolute truths about salvation: 1) Salvation comes only to those who recognize their desperate need for the spiritual life they do not have. Living water can be obtained only by those who recognize that they are spiritually thirsty. 2) Salvation comes only to those who believe, confess and repent of their sin and desire forgiveness by submitting to the Lordship of Christ. Before this immoral woman could embrace the Savior, she had to concede the full burden of her sins. 3) Salvation comes only to those who take hold of Jesus as their Messiah. For the absolute truth is that salvation is found in no one other name but in His through the power of the blood (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). This leaves trinitarians out of the picture.