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In this episode of The Defender Bible Study, Blake Wilson, Vice President of Operations at Lifeline Children's Services, walks us through John 4:1-42, where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. Blake highlights how Jesus breaks cultural barriers and sees people as image bearers of God, challenging us to do the same.
LIFELINE CHILDREN'S SERVICES
LIFELINE CHILDREN'S SERVICES
The mission of Lifeline Children’s Services is to equip the Body of Christ to manifest the gospel to vulnerable children. Our vision is for vulnerable children and their communities to be transformed by the gospel and to make disciples.
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Creators & Guests
Guest
Blake Wilson
Blake Wilson grew up in the Athens, GA area and joined Lifeline in July of 2013. He is a graduate of Liberty University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Religion and a Master’s Degree in Discipleship from Liberty Theological Seminary. He has over 20 years of organizational leadership experience in the for profit, non-profit and the local church arena. In his first role at Lifeline, he served as the Kentucky State Director in Louisville, KY and then moved to Birmingham, AL to focus on internal operations in 2014. In his current role as the Senior Vice President of Operations, he leads internal operations, state offices, compliance and human resources. He thrives in seeing others succeed and supporting the Lifeline staff on the frontlines of ministry. Blake and his wife, Shae, met in high school and have three children.
What is The Defender Bible Study?
The Defender Bible Study is a weekly study of God’s Word as we seek to equip the Body of Christ to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children's Services.
Welcome to the defender bible study. A weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children Services where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word.
Blake Wilson:Good morning. It is Monday, October 21st, and this is Blake Wilson, Lifeline's vice president of operations. We're gonna keep studying today through the book of John. Today, chapter 4, the majority of chapter 4, we're gonna get the verses 1 through 42, And it's a passage of scripture that is probably very familiar with many of our listeners, and many of our staff today. It's a passage on the Samaritan woman or the woman at the well.
Blake Wilson:And I have read this passage many times. I have taught on this passage many times, but I will tell you that there is so much truth and application that we can see in here. And I'll just tell you, as I was studying and and preparing for this, I was just challenged in the way that I view other people. It is that truly the way that Christ has commanded us to interact and to spend time with others. And I think the the main theme that you're gonna see through this passage today as we as we study this together is, are we following his commands?
Blake Wilson:Are we following Jesus' commands to see people the way that he sees them? Each and every one of us are image bearers of Christ, but we're also a very diverse group of people. So are we seeing people the way Jesus created them as his image bears? Are we treating them like him? Are we interacting with them like Jesus would interact with them?
Blake Wilson:So what does it actually look like? And today in this passage that we're gonna study this morning on the Samaritan woman, we're gonna see the different viewpoints of of how people, viewed this woman as a Samaritan woman, how the disciples viewed her, how she viewed Jesus, and then ultimately how Jesus viewed her. And what can we learn from the way Jesus interacted with her, the way he started a conversation with her, and at the end, how he used her as a example. So you've got somebody in the very beginning of this passage who was looked at as an outcast, as someone who was overlooked. And what you will see as at the end of this passage is that he uses her as an example.
Blake Wilson:He he says, be like her. He wants people to model her response to the gospel. And I think it's so convicting of opportunities that I have missed as a believer to interact with people that are different from me and to think through gospel conversations that I missed, but how that could snowball and impact so many other people for the gospel of Jesus Christ. So let's pick up in John chapter 4 verse number 1, and it says, now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John. Although, in fact, it was not Jesus who baptized, but it was his disciples.
Blake Wilson:So he left Judea, and he went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria, so he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar. Near the pot of ground, Jacob had given his son, Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon.
Blake Wilson:Then a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, will you give me a drink? His disciples had gone into town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink for Jews do not associate with Samaritans?
Blake Wilson:So this is likely the very first time that this woman had ever been spoken to by a man, let alone a Jewish man. Because in this culture, it was not, it it wasn't a normal interaction for men and women to speak in public. Men likely would not even have spoken to their wives in public, especially a Jewish man and a Samaritan woman. You're looking at completely different size of the socioeconomical scale of of the culture in that day. They would not have ever communicated.
Blake Wilson:And the fact that this Jewish man was communicating with a Samaritan woman was just unheard of. So in verse number 10, Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that asked you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Sir, the woman said, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. How can you get to this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us this well and drank from it himself?
Blake Wilson:As did also his sons and his livestock? So it appears this woman has a little bit of an attitude as she is talking with Jesus in this passage. You know, she's probably off put of who is this who is this rebel? Like, who does she see? She's confused.
Blake Wilson:Like, she she sees him as this Jewish man who is communicating with her, a Samaritan woman, who that's never happened to before. Likely, she's never seen that happen before. She knows internally what a big deal this is. And now she's like, what she's pushing back. She's like, the you don't you didn't bring anything to get the water out of the well.
Blake Wilson:Do you even know what you're talking about? This is my you know, our ancestor Jacob and Joseph. And who are you? Like, who are you to have this conversation with me? So she's got a little bit of an attitude.
Blake Wilson:Jesus answered in 13, everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Jesus turns that conversation quickly into his into a spiritual conversation at the end of 14. He begins talking about eternal life. The woman said to him, sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to come here to draw water again in verse 15.
Blake Wilson:So her immediate response to this passage is like, well, give it give it to me. I don't I don't wanna keep coming back here in the middle of the day to get water. Give me this living water. It's gonna make my life easier. Right?
Blake Wilson:It's gonna be a quick fix. Give me this water that you speak of Jesus. So again, little bit a little snarky. In 16, he told her, go call your husband and come back. So Jesus turns the table super quickly on her, and she goes from a chatty woman of just maybe even a little pushback to now she is quiet.
Blake Wilson:He pegged her. He knew this area of her life, what she was hiding because he says, well, go go call your husband. She's like, what do I say? What is my response? How can I say this?
Blake Wilson:He this Jewish man, what what he's talking to me about eternal water and eternal life, and what what am I supposed to say? Go call your husband. I don't have a and she knows internally. Like, I can just picture her mind going a 100 miles a minute of what in the world am I supposed to say back. She responds in verse 17.
Blake Wilson:I have no husband. So she responds in transparency. I have no husband, she replied. Jesus said to her, you're right. When you say you have no husband, the fact is that you have had 5 husbands and the man you are now with is not your husband.
Blake Wilson:What you have just said is quite true. So you've got Jesus that just pegged her. He hit he hit at the core of who she is. And, you know, I I think here's the shift. Right?
Blake Wilson:You've got this woman who the culture and the society and others in Samaria would have viewed as a sinner, as, have lived in lived in adultery, cohabitating. And we know because Jesus just called around and said the man you're living with now isn't even your husband. There's all these stigmas that were around this woman that would make her a social outcast. And the fact that Jesus, the Messiah, was having a conversation with her was just truly earth shattering. So Jesus didn't see her the way that the society saw her.
Blake Wilson:He saw her as a image bearer of himself. He saw her of someone that he had created, someone that had tremendous potential, someone that he wanted to invest time with, which was opposite of what the culture had labeled her. So the big question for us even as we continue to study is how often do we do this? We see one small piece of someone's story, and we draw a conclusion about them. Just because maybe the way they look, maybe the words that have come out of their mouth, maybe even their accent, could be numerous factors that play a role in this.
Blake Wilson:But how many times do we write somebody off and draw conclusions just because of what others say about them? There are so many layers to people that at the surface, it's easy to label them and write them off instead of looking at them as created in the image of God and taking time to invest in them, to spend time with them, to get to know them. And this is what Jesus modeled for us in this passage of scripture. She responds in verse 19, sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped in this mountain, but you Jews claim to have a place where we must worship in Jerusalem.
Blake Wilson:What did she do? She quickly changed the subject. She got really uncomfortable because he called her out and said, you're right. You got 5 husbands. You're living with somebody who's not your husband.
Blake Wilson:Everything just got brought out into light and this poor woman is just humiliated, uncomfortable, and she begins to talk about anything she could talk about. Let's just change the subject. You know, obviously in this season, in this time, the debate over where to worship was a big deal. You know, the the submit Samaritans had intermarried with the Assyrians and there was a different group of people that were, that had, corrupted, the culture, the pure Jewish culture. So they had intermarried.
Blake Wilson:They were looked at as less than, like how dare you hurt our lineage and our line by intermarrying with the Assyrians. So they had their they had created their own temple in Samaria. And there was this whole debate over, should can you only worship in Jerusalem? Is there an option to to worship in Samaria? And she's just like, let's just talk about this.
Blake Wilson:It's a big issue. It's a big debate. What are your thoughts on this Jesus? So she changes the subject. He responds and says, woman, believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
Blake Wilson:You, Samaritans, worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and now has come when true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth for they are the kind of worshipers that the father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth. And the woman said, I know that Messiah called Christ is coming.
Blake Wilson:And when he comes, he'll explain everything to us. So as Jesus begins to explain this to her, her response is kinda like, you know, you have you have your thoughts. I have my thoughts. You're a Jew. I'm a Samaritan.
Blake Wilson:You can think what you think. I'll think what I think. Let's just all settle this later. And her response is just when, well, when the messiah comes, he'll tell us what's right. You know?
Blake Wilson:Like, let's just not talk about my my previous life. Let's not talk about the man I'm living with. Let's not not talk about the things that I'm struggling with or the sin that you've called me out on. Let's talk about where to worship and what's right and we'll agree to disagree. When the Messiah comes, he'll make it all right.
Blake Wilson:But, you know, just really uncomfortable. And what he says in verse 26. And Jesus declared, I, the one speaking to you, am he. Can you imagine what it would have been like to be there in that moment where he directly shows them that he is the messiah? I am he.
Blake Wilson:So he discloses who he is to the Samaritan woman. And as he does it, the disciples come up. Alright. So the disciples return from town. Remember, they had gone there to get food.
Blake Wilson:And it says in verse 27, just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with with a woman. Alright. Remember, it's not just a a woman. It's a Samaritan woman. So they're surprised and they're stunned.
Blake Wilson:But listen listen to what happened. No one asked. No one said anything. What do you want? Why are you talking to her?
Blake Wilson:No one said a word. Because what did they see? They saw a Samaritan woman. They didn't see an image bearer. They saw someone who was riddled with sin, with brokenness, with cultural stigma and a label and said, mm-mm.
Blake Wilson:I'm not getting involved with this. They probably begin to question, who is who is this? Who is Jesus? Right? Who's the mess messiah that's really doing this?
Blake Wilson:What in the world? There's probably a lot of thoughts going on in their mind, but they chose to say nothing. Then leaving her water jar in verse 28, she went back into town and said to the people, so she is excited. Right? He told her, I am the messiah.
Blake Wilson:She leaves her water jar. She runs back in the town. Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the messiah? They came out of town and made their way toward him.
Blake Wilson:Meanwhile, his disciples urged him, rabbi, eat something. So she's in the town. She's told everybody about Jesus immediately. They come back to him. And during this this waiting of the time she's in town telling people about Jesus, he begins to have a conversation with his disciples.
Blake Wilson:Rabbi, eat something. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you know nothing about. Then his disciples said to each other, could someone have brought him food? My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me to finish his work. And don't you have a saying?
Blake Wilson:It's still 4 months until harvest. I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields for they are ripe with harvest. Even now, the one who reaps draws a wage for his harvest of a crop of eternal life so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. You see, the disciples were just looking for a systematic response. They were asking him, what why why aren't why aren't you eating?
Blake Wilson:And he throws it back at them and says, well, don't you have a saying it's still 4 months until harvest? You see the disciples were just looking for step by step systematic approach to the gospel of it's not time for the harvest. It's not time for the harvest. 4 months to the harvest. And what Jesus is saying, open your eyes in verse number 35.
Blake Wilson:Open your eyes and look at the fields. They're ripe with harvest because he just modeled this in his conversation with the Samaritan woman. He's teaching the disciples to not look at people on the outside with the labels of society. The harvest is in front of you. Take action now.
Blake Wilson:Even now, there are opportunities. So he uses this as a teaching moment for the disciples and and look what she she ran into town. He's saying be like her. Be like her. The harvest is ready.
Blake Wilson:I told her who I was as the messiah. She immediately responded, ran into town telling people about me. Look at verse 39. Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. He told me everything that I ever did.
Blake Wilson:So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay and he stayed for 2 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 hurt ourselves, and we know that this man really is the savior of the world. Jesus takes this woman as a social outcast and elevates her as an example of faith to his disciples because they were missing what was right in front of their face.
Blake Wilson:And I think the challenging part of this whole story is to look in the mirror and ask ourselves the same question. Who are the people that the Lord has put right in front of us who we haven't seen? Who are those people that we have brushed by, the people that we haven't interacted with, the people that we may see multiple times a week that we have never introduced ourselves to that could be lost in need of a savior? Because we are blind to what is right in front of us. Let's not be like these disciples and miss opportunities.
Blake Wilson:Let's learn from this lesson that Jesus is teaching his disciples. Let's model looking at others as an image bearer of Jesus Christ. And let's be intentional in sharing the gospel with those around us. We cannot make judgment calls on people before we truly know who they are. So the challenge for us this week is to slow down, be intentional in meeting people who are different from us that the Lord has allowed us to cross paths with, and intentionally sharing the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Blake Wilson:Let's close out our time together in prayer. God, you have been so good to us today. Lord, you've given us many opportunities, as Lifeline to interact with so many different people around the world. And, Lord, we have seen different cultures and communities and unreached come to know you from the intentionality of our brothers and sisters and believers, to share the gospel with those in need. So, God, I pray that we take this story as a reminder to not cast judgment on those that are different from ourselves, but may we take advantage of those people that you have put right in front of us.
Blake Wilson:Lord, may we see them for who you created them to be and not what society has labeled them to be. Lord, help us to not overlook people, but to be intentional in sharing who you are. So, Lord, give us opportunities this week to be intentional in the gospel and open our eyes to see what you see. We all see things in your name. Amen.
Herbie Newell:Thanks again for joining us for the defender bible study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the Defender Bible study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info at lifelinechild.org.
Herbie Newell:We look forward to seeing you again next week for the defender bible study.