The Morgan County press. (Wartburg, Tenn.) 1916-1926, 1917-02-08

This Is a lesson of one of the way
side ministries. of Jesus. lt occurreu
incidentally while he was on his way
to his great preaching and teaching ex-
perience at Galilee. 1t was by-proouct
IF his very busy life, yet 1t is one OIL
tbe most famous interviews ana one Oh
the best examples of how to do per-
sonal work that is found in the scrip
lures. The larger part Of the trst year
of Chrlsts ministry was spent In Jul
dea. Jesus did not baptize, out AIS
disciples did doubtless for the same
reason. though in less degree, than
WHY Paul refused to baptize converts
IT Cor. 1870. All but one OF the
disciples of Jesus were Gafiieans anu
Jesus spent about year and nine
months of his ministry in that place
|. Jesus Rested wv. 4-6). To reach
Galilee from Judea Jesus must needs
eo through Samaria," not that tnere
we're not other ways that he might
have Travelled, but rather that 1t was
worth while to go out of his way IN
order to bring the water OF llfe TO thla
needful woman. Jacobs we'll was at =
parting of the roadway near to the
c;tv of Sychar. Few places In the lana
save Jerusalem had so much Bible MS
tory connected with them tGen. TO
Joshua 1888; Acts Z :16; I Kings, l2:l'
etc.). The well was originally ABOUT
100 feet deep and III feet in diameter
but II has been filed up with accumu-
,ations of rubbish so it is now only
ahout rs feet deep. Christ was wearleo
IN his work, but not Of it, and sat
thus" (by) the we'll; literally, on the
low wall built around it. The sixth
hour was probably about midday
There is comfort in consideration vi
the fact that as man Jesus was Will
inp to meet this woman Of bad charac-
| ter.
II. Jesus Holds Conversation wv. 4
14. Notice the gentle way in when
Jesus speaks, and that he began Oh Tue
ground Of their common need. nc
asks this needed favor that he mlght
confer a greater one, ignoring the pre-
indice which existed against the Sa-
moritans. Water was the thing upper
most in the woman's mind. She did NOT
grant his simple request, and her reply
indicated that racial differences WERE
n very real barrier. They hinder our
work even yet. The surprise perhaps
Measure. that Jew should ask favor
of her seems to have greatly impressed
the woman, and aroused her curiosity
Tn verse 10 Jesus tells the woman that
there are two things she must needs
know: (1) the wondrous gift OF Coo
that is the Holy Spirit (Luke l1:1o'
Acts 2 :23-39); (2) the wonderful man
who had asked of her "Give me TO
drink" Had she known these things
she would have asked him for the Nv
ing water. All that was needful was
simply to ask. The Holy Spirit is the
living water John 6 :63). The woman
does not seem to have comprehendeu
what Jesus was trying to teach, yet ne
was patient. and won her as convert.
He told her that everyone who came
to that we'll would thirst again ". l3).
The worlds fountains do not satlsIy'
fountains of wealth, fame, pleasure or
carnal qualification, or even learning
He then tells her of the living water
". 14)) of which the drinler should
never thirst, that it would satisfy who
soever drinks, and was to be everlast-
ing John 1880. The one who re-
ceives the Holy Spirit within has
perennial, eternal spring OF life, JOY
and satisfaction springing up WITHIN
him. Before the woman received the
water Of which he was speaking there
! had to come a conviction Of sin wv.
l6-19) hence his remark, go call tiny
husband" This was q sharp thrust
into her life and heart. She tried to
parry the thrust with technical ques-
: tion. vet he comes back with a great
revelation of the nature of God and the
worship which God accepts, revealing
his Messiahship wv. 1920. As is indl-
Gated. she does not seem to have COM
pretended the nature of the request
which Jesus had made ". 15); there
fore he began this searching Of her life
in order to prepare her to reoeiye the
water Of life which he wanted to be-
stow. This knowledge of her secret
life by a perfect stranger who had
never even seen her before was an evil
dence to the woman Of spiritual en-
dowment: "Sir / perceive that thou
art a prophet" She then entered upon
a theological argument ". 2O) which
Jesus answered very simply, saying
tbot tho yrorShiD of the Father IS not