In Between
It’s hard to see what we need to see when there’s something in between.
Just a few weeks ago I was sitting in my office when someone knocked on my door and said, “It’s time!”
It was April 8, 2024. Some of you remember, that was the day of the Solar Eclipse.
I grabbed my solar eclipse glasses, and headed downstairs to join the rest of our staff outside. You may remember this, but on the day of the solar eclipse, it was pretty cloudy here in the Houston area. However, I was able to take these photos with my iPhone.
Ok, so I didn’t take these with my iPhone, but these images from the total eclipse that happened on April 8, are truly amazing, aren’t they!?
A friend of mine left town and went to a location that was in the path of totality and he told me, it was amazing, absolutely incredible to behold.
This moment where the moon passes in front of the sun, blocking out almost all the light in the middle of the day, yet there is a ring of light still visible.
You know the sun is still there, but the moon comes between the earth and the sun and momentarily blocks it. And if you were in the path of totality, there was a moment when the sun was shining but you were standing in darkness.
It’s hard to see what we need to see when there’s something in between.
Living in the Darkness of Totality
And the truth is, there are people all around us who find themselves in the darkness of totality for different reasons.
We live in a world where people often feel hopeless, alone, lost, ashamed, abandoned, forsaken, outcast, unwanted, unloved, like a failure, like they are not enough.
The reason why?
There’s something in between.
Sometimes what is causing the darkness is because of things we’ve done, decisions we’ve made, mistakes that have happened, and situations we wish we could go back in time and change.
And sometimes what is causing the darkness we feel is no fault of our own because of things that have been done to us, because of decisions others have made, mistakes others have made, situations that we had no control of but found ourselves squarely in the middle of.
Different reasons that all lead us to the same place: a world of darkness. We’re in the path of totality.
Now, when you look at the total eclipse, you can actually see a ring of light. You can see the light of the sun on the other side of the darkness of the moon.
And today what I want to suggest is that if you look at your life, if you look closely, you too can see a ring of light, a ring of hope.
And that’s what faith is — it’s seeing light on the other side of whatever darkness you’re facing.
Samaria & the In Between
There’s a sense in which this is exactly what was happening in this moment in John 4.
I want to invite you to join me in this story and what I really want to invite you to do, as much as you are able, is to try and read this story anew.
If you’ve never heard this story before, I’m a little jealous because you have an advantage over the rest of us. You can truly read it for the first time today and see as best you can what it actually says.
For the rest of us, we’re going to have to try and set aside what we’ve thought and what we’ve been taught and try to read this story as if it’s the first time and see what John wants us to come and see. What Jesus wants us to come and see.
John 4
1 Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). 3 So he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
4 He had to go through Samaria on the way.
The Pharisees see what’s happening and Jesus knows it’s not time yet to have a confrontation with these religious leaders. That will come later. For now He needs to leave and head north back to Galilee. And then John says this… he says that Jesus “HAD to go through Samaria.”
I don’t want to call the Apostle John a liar, but just look at this map.
Clearly, the shortest route between Judea and Galilee was through Samaria. But it wasn’t the only route.
Many Jews would actually cross the Jordan River, then head north, then cross back over by the Sea of Galilee when traveling between Judea and Galilee. It was the longer route, but they did that to avoid Samaria and Samaritans.
Generally speaking, Jews and Samaritans didn’t get along. It was a division that went back hundreds of years. Jews considered Samaritans outcast because when Israel had been conquered and taken captive by the Assyrians and Babylonians, those who were left behind intermingled and intermarried with these outsiders. There was a deep division that existed between Jews and Samaritans.
Jesus could have gone around Samaria if he wanted. The reason He had to go through Samaria wasn’t about geography, it was about something else.
Something is Wrong with This Picture
5 Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
Now we know why Jesus had to go through Samaria. He had a meeting to get to no one but Him knew about.
Jesus sits down beside this well because he is hot, tired, and thirsty. John shows us Jesus’ humanity. Jesus knows what it’s like to be hot, tired, and thirsty! Jesus sits down to rest and then this happens… a Samaritan woman shows up at noontime to draw water.
At this point, if you’re reading this story some 2000 years ago, if you’re a part of John’s original audience, the people he wrote this letter to, you realize something is wrong with this picture.
First, it’s noon. It was normal for women to be the ones who came to draw water for their household and this typically happened twice a day, but never at noon.
Typically this happened in the early morning hours and then right before dusk as the sun is setting. The middle part of the day is normally the hottest part of the day.
Why Noon?
So why is she coming at noon and why is she alone? You probably have some preconceived ideas about this.
You may have heard that the reason she came to the well at noon was because she wasn’t welcome to come with the other women in the morning or in the evening because she was known as an immoral woman. The problem with that is that Jesus never once addresses any sin in her life.
We assume she’s a notorious sinner for reasons we’ll read about in a moment. But if you just read the story Jesus never forgives her sin, He never tells her to go and sin no more, or anything like that.
So what if the reason John tells us the woman came at noon has nothing to do with her sin but with something else John wants us to see?
It’s hard to see what we need to see when there’s something in between.
For many of us, our preconceived ideas may be between us and what John wants us to see.
If you back up one chapter, to John 3, Jesus has an encounter with a man by the name of Nicodemus at NIGHT. Nicodemus was a respected Jewish leader. Yet he comes to Jesus at night, in the dark. And by the way, Nicodemus doesn’t come to faith, at least not initially, after meeting Jesus in the dark.
But here in John 4, Jesus has an encounter with a Samaritan woman at high noon, the brightest possible point in the day. And by the way, by the end of this story (spoiler alert) she comes to faith.
For John, light and dark play an important role in his gospel story. Maybe the point of Jesus meeting this Samaritan woman at high noon has less to do with any sin in her life and everything about what she would see and come to believe in the light.
Another Problem
But here’s the other obvious problem.
9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
Jesus is a Jew, a man, and a respected Rabbi.
The Samaritan woman is, well… she’s a Samaritan, a woman, and in her society she would have had the lowest social standing possible.
These two should never be meeting, should never be meeting alone, and if they were to find themselves in this unlikely situation, they certainly should never talk or have any interaction!
It’s hard to see what we need to see when there’s something in between.
But Jesus has already crossed one boundary put in place between Judea and Samaria.
And now he’s crossing another boundary by starting a conversation with this Samaritan woman.
Jesus is crossing every imaginable boundary people have put in place. Why? Because, if you remember what Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:16… God so loved the world… Jesus is demonstrating what that looks like.
Living Water
10 Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
11 “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”
13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”
When Jesus met with Nicodemus and told him that he has to be born again, Nicodemus thought he was talking about literally being born again. In the same way, this woman thinks Jesus is talking about literal water.
But Jesus isn’t talking about literal water, He’s inviting her into abundant water, living water! Water from a well that never runs dry! Water that doesn’t just give life, but eternal life!
She doesn’t exactly understand, but she wants this water!
5 HUSBANDS???
But then Jesus says this…
16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.
17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.
Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— 18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”
If you’re anything like me, at this point you think this is the sin problem this woman has that Jesus came to address. This is the reason she came to draw water all alone at noon. She’s had five husbands and the man she’s living with now she’s not even married to!
BUT… I want you to think about this woman in her cultural situation some 2000 years ago.
Jewish and Samaritan women living in this day and time could not initiate divorce.
If a woman had five husbands it was probably because of one or two reasons. Either, the man had divorced her. And the number one reason a man would divorce a woman was because she was unable to have children. Women in this day and time had one job, to have children.
So there’s a strong possibility this woman was BARREN. The weight of that, the embarrassment of that, the shame that she felt in her day and time because of that, might have been another reason she went to the well all alone at noon.
The other reason a woman would have had more than one husband is because her husband had died. And according to Leverite law, a law put in place to protect women who were vulnerable in this culture, if your husband died you became the wife of his brother. If he died, you became the wife of his brother. And so on.
So either this woman was five times divorced, or had been widowed, possibly and likely childless since there was no son to take care of her, or some combination of those things.
All of which would likely not have been her fault.
She probably wasn’t a sinful woman. Not in the way many of us, including myself, have often thought about her. But she probably did feel lost, alone, abandoned, hopeless, ashamed, and hurt.
The 1 She was Waiting For
As soon as Jesus tells her things about her life that he couldn’t know unless he was some kind of prophet, she shifts gears and begins asking questions about God and about where to worship. These were important questions to her but also for those first readers of John’s gospel.
More than likely, by the time this gospel was written the Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed. An important question these first century Christians and original readers were asking was, “Where do we worship and how do we worship?”
Jesus tells this woman and John is telling his readers….
23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
After hearing this, the woman responds…
25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!”
Seven different times in the gospel of John Jesus is going to make seven different I AM statements. He’ll say things like, “I AM the bread of Life.” I AM the Light of the World.” I AM the Good Shepherd.”
But before He makes any of those I AM statements, Jesus reveals His true identity to this Samaritan woman. He says, “I AM the Messiah!”
Jesus wanted her to see, in the LIGHT of DAY, who He really is and the abundant life He brings.
28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him.
It’s hard to see what we need to see when there’s something in between.
But now, Jesus has removed the “something in between.” He’s taken down all the barriers, all the obstacles, He’s removed her shame and all the things that might keep her from seeing what He wanted her to see.
And when all that is cleared away she sees Jesus, she sees God’s Messiah. And she tells everyone who she has seen, and they come streaming from the village to see Jesus for themselves!
Which is interesting, isn’t it? If this woman had been a notorious sinner all her life, an immoral woman, would the whole town have come out to see Jesus based on her testimony?
But if she had lived a hard life and been the victim of circumstances beyond her control, maybe her witness carried a little more weight.
Why Jesus HAD to Come through Samaria
Jesus declared over her at Jacob’s well in Samaria…
You are worthy of love, you are worthy of connection, you are worthy of belonging, you are worthy of my time, you are worthy of relationship, you are worthy of salvation.
And I will never forsake you, I will never abandon you, I will never leave you.
God loves you. God so loved the world.
That’s why I HAD to come through SAMARIA today!
To tell you that you are not alone. Let the river of God, the Living Water, come into your heart and life and let it overflow in you.
39 Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!”
This woman and many in her town came to see and BELIEVED because of what this woman said about Jesus.
What’s In Between For you?
What would it take for you to come and see and believe?
It’s hard to see what we need to see when there’s something in between.
What is it that’s between you and Jesus that makes it hard for you to see God?
On the day the solar eclipse happened, I was standing outside with our staff. For just a moment, the clouds broke. And when they did, we saw the eclipse. We were not in the path of totality. So what we saw, what you may have seen, was just a small sliver of the sun peaking out around the moon.
There was the light of the sun shining on the other side of that darkness. It got dark that day, but there was still a little light shining.
And no matter how dark the darkness is that you’re facing today, here’s what I want you to know… The LIGHT of Christ is still shining for you. And whatever darkness is between you and Jesus, it doesn’t have to be permanent. Like the solar eclipse on April 8, it can be temporary.
It’s hard to see what we need to see when there’s something in between.
But like the woman at the well, when you allow Jesus to remove your shame, to meet you where you are as you are, and you see Him for who He really is, you too can say, “Come and see Jesus…”
Jesus will meet you as you are where you are so you can believe just how loved you are by God.
Come & See, Go & Tell
Like the woman at the well, true belief always results in two things: Words & Action. You can’t help but TELL people what you believe and what you believe CHANGES the way you LIVE.
And that’s my prayer for you today. That when you come and see Jesus, and when you believe that He is the Savior of the world, that you will TELL others your testimony and your LIFE will be forever CHANGED!
There is light on the other side of darkness.
Jesus will meet us as we are where we are, but He loves us too much to leave us as we are. He will invite us to believe, to step into abundant life, abundant light, and abundant water.
But it is our choice to live into the abundant life, to step into abundant light, and drink deeply the abundant water.
It is our choice to believe.
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