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| The entire AOC Sunday Report is RIGHT HERE! |
The
Sunday called Sexagesima, or the
second
Sunday before Lent.
The
Collect.
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O
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LORD God, who seest that we put not
our trust in any thing that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be
defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
31In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But
he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know
not of. 33 Therefore said the disciples one to another,
Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto
them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent
me, and to finish his work. 35 Say
not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto
you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to
harvest. 36 And he that
reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he
that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and
another reapeth. 38 I sent
you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are
entered into their labours (Mark
4:31-38)
These verses,
taken in isolation, may not open to us as fully as is made possible by reading
the full context in which they occurred.
In order to
know which direction a stationary train will be moving, we need to see on which
end is the locomotive, and which the caboose – merely observing the middle cars
alone will not fully enlighten. So we need to read the preceding account to
fully grasp the present.
1) The Occasion
1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus
made and baptized more disciples than John, 2 (Though Jesus
himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3 He left Judaea, and
departed again into Galilee.
4 And
he must needs go through Samaria. 5 Then cometh he to a city of
Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave
to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus
therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was
about the sixth hour
2) The
Purpose:
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw
water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
We read these
lines as if this meeting occurred by simple chance, but it did not.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in
Christ: 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in
love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will (Ephesians 1)
With God,
nothing happens by chance … all is predestinated and foreordained before of
God.
The last
thing this woman expected was to find a Jew man at the well for Jews avoided
the Samaritans as they would a leper.
3) The
Process:
a - The woman, wanting to avoid the stares and gossip of other more reputable
women (for she was one of ill-repute) comes to the well in the heat of the day.
It was customary to come to draw water during the cool evening hours, but she
comes at noon.
She expects
no company. She does not have the least suspicion that great changes are about
to happen in her heart and in her life.
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto
him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of
Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans
b – The intriguing proposition
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith
to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have
given thee living water.
Do you know
to whom you address your inquiry, madam?
c. the furtive response:
11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou
hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou
that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob,
which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his
cattle?
Not being a
Bible scholar, the woman latches onto her only known Bible knowledge to respond
to the Author of the Bible itself.
She remembers
the account of Jacob. She knows he was the greatest of the ancestors of the
Samaritans (or at least believes this to be true). But her mind and heart is set upon the water located some scores of
feet down in a hole in the ground. She has no knowledge of the Water of which
Christ speaks. The Fountain of Living
Waters is beyond the present vision of this woman, but Jesus draws her closer
that she might, at last, see.
Christ
tickles her curiosity and draws her interst more deeply into His own being: 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall
give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in
him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
This woman, a
castoff of society, has never heard of this beautiful and perpetually satisfying
Water. Christ, the greatest of Fishermen, has carefully set a loving hook in
the woman’s heart: He then makes a seemingly unknowing appeal by asking:
16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
Do you
believe that Jesus did not know all about this woman – her life, her sin, her
need for salvation?
The woman
responds with a technical truth, but a spiritual lie: 17 The woman answered and said, I have no
husband. Jesus said unto her,
Jesus knows
of all the dirt we sweep under the carpet: He responds: Thou hast well said, I have no
husband: 18 For thou hast had five
husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou
truly.
The woman has
failed in virtue and she knows it, but is surprised that Jesus – a total
stranger – also knows it.
She is living
in open adultery and has the equivalent of five husbands – for to sleep with a
man is the same as being united in a marriage relationship.
But God
condemns this kind of sexual relationship.
The Rev S.A.
Brooks beautifully describes the need of this woman in these words: The
woman at the well, feeling about for light, was led to her own Scriptures, and
in those Scriptures to a prophecy—a prophecy of a great Teacher who was to
come—the Messias. The coming Teacher, she knew, would solve all her
difficulties, and make her way quite clear. It is very beautiful, very
comforting, very teaching, to watch this poor, earnest, baffled woman's soul,
gathering itself at last till it centres upon Christ. She was in a great
strait; where was the escape? Messias comes; He makes all things right. As the
key fits into the lock, as the light matches to the eye, or as sweet music to
the ear, so Christ is made for the soul, and the soul is made for Christ. Till
nature has that filling it must be incomplete, and life must be restless till
it settles on that one resting-place; and this that thirsting, confessing,
enquiring mind was finding out, when God took her by the hand and led her, and
put it into her heart to feel, "I know that Messias cometh, which is
called Christ: when He is come, He will teach us all things."
So the woman
relies on the little spiritual and biblical knowledge that she can foster: 19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I
perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in
this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to
worship.
Now Jesus
draws the hooked fish even closer to the Ark of Life: 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither
in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we
worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father
seeketh such to worship him. 24 God
is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
The woman
stills clings to her won limited knowledge of God: she struggles against the
hook - 25 The woman saith unto him, I know that
Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all
things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I
that speak unto thee am he.
Now this
exchange between Christ and this fallen woman is not only for her own benefit,
but also for our own benefit, and the benefit of her village, and for the
benefit of countless millions of sinners count in the net of Satan.
Look at the
impressions the disciples have of this encounter: 27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with
the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
They did not
understand, but they knew Christ well enough not to question His intent. Here
He is talking with a woman whose very appearance revealed that she was not a
righteous and faithful wife to any man.
d – the Catch:
Knowing
Christ changes things. The woman who was embarrassed to come with other women
to the well, is now going into the city shouting to all who will listen the
greatness of Christ! The steady love and purpose of Christ has
drawn the hesitant fish to safe harbor:
28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into
the city, and saith to the men, 29 Come, see a man, which told
me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? 30 Then
they went out of the city, and came unto him
The testimony
of one, even one of ill repute, can have dramatic results.
Sometimes, we
are so overcome with joy that we are not hungry for the food of this world. We
can only think upon that Bread that comes down from Heaven – the spiritual food
of Christ!
e – the Effect!
Now we can
read the sermon text with understanding can’t we?
In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But
he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know
not of. 33 Therefore said the disciples one to another,
Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto
them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me,
and to finish his work. 35 Say
not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto
you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to
harvest. 36 And he that
reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he
that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and
another reapeth. 38 I sent
you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are
entered into their labours.
f -The results of a single soul’s salvation!
39 And many
of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which
testified, He told me all that ever I did. 40 So when the
Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them:
and he abode there two days. 41 And
many more believed because of his own word; 42 And said unto
the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him
ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
So may you
believe!
