John 4 devotional

John 4: 7-8

The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

Application: Have you ever been rejected? It hurts doesn’t it! Every one of us has been rejected. If you are human, you can not avoid it. Sooner or later you will be rejected. But, as you grow in your faith, the one thing you must master is how you react to rejection. You see if you let the pain of rejection influence your decision making, you will eventually lose hope in your dreams and God’s ability. This scenario was vividly played out with the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well. Two observations in this text give us insight to her situation; (1) she was a lonely outcast and (2) she had lost hope. Let me explain what led me to these observations. (1) She was lonely. In John 4:6 it said that while Jesus sat by the well a Samaritan woman came to draw water, “It was about the sixth hour.” The ancient Jewish way of telling time was much different than the way we tell time. For us, we might interpret the 6^th hour to mean 6:00, but for the ancient Jew the 6^th hour represented 12:00 noon. Therefore, this woman was out in the hottest part of the day at the well. She was planning on drawing water from it, and then she would have to carry a full bucket of water back to her house. All by herself I might add!! Normally in those days, if a woman had to get water from a well, she would do it earlier in the day to avoid the heat. Additionally, she would not be alone while getting the water because that was very dangerous. Friends, she was truly alone. (2) She had lost hope. In John 4: 7 – 8 Jesus tells her to go and get her husband. She responded by saying, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” Why does this statement suggest she had lost hope? Well, because she was a Samaritan. What does that mean? Well, Samaritans were Jewish descendants with a Babylonian blood line. Pure Jewish people did not consider Samaritans to be ‘real’ Jewish people. However, because Samaritans were half Jewish they were responsible for keeping all of the Old Testament laws. If you look at the whole of Chapter 4 you see she is very knowledgeable regarding the Jewish law. Now look at this Samaritan woman again. You see it is the Law that gives her away. Which Law you might ask? Women were not allowed to divorce men. You see in the Jewish faith, only men were allowed to ask for a divorce, not a woman! Think about what that means for this woman. She had been divorced 5 times by 5 different men. And, THEY ALL DIVORCED HER! What do you think about her now? She was not a harlot; she was just hopeless. This woman obviously wanted to be married or she would not have married 5 different men. What is even sadder is that after the 5^th husband, she gave up on God and His ways! Why do I say that? Because Jesus said that she was living with a man who WAS NOT HER HUSBAND. By this point she is hopeless; she is probably thinking I will take anybody who will accept me, even if I have to be in sin to do it! But, here is where you see the heart of God through Jesus’ actions. Christ offered her what she always wanted but never got and that is acceptance, which equals, satisfaction. Jesus said, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” Let me translate. Jesus is saying, “You have always longed for acceptance and you thought that being accepted by people would bring you satisfaction, but the only way you will be satisfied is if you find acceptance in God. And, you have that. God loves you for who you are not because of what you do. God loves you because you are you! Friends if you feel like you just do not fit in, if you wonder why you keep getting rejected, well, the answer is easy. You are being rejected by a world you don’t fit in to be accepted by Christ who you do. Did you get that! Christ loves you for who you are, not what you do.

Three action steps:

1. Take the time to memorize this verse.

2. How do you handle being rejected?

3. Write down how you feel when you are rejected.

4. Pray and ask God to help you realize who you are in Him.