Devotionals
Saints, Reprobates, and Stories Beside a Well
Meditation on John 4:4-6
by Cris Cramer
John 4:4-6 (NIV):
Now [Jesus] had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well.
Here's the beginning of the story about Jesus and the Samaritan woman, told in John 4. As John sets the scene for us, he mentions the town is named Sychar, and it's located near a particular piece of ground, a plot that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. He says it in passing, as it were, and gets on with his story. But I love this tiny incidental note dropped into the beginning of the story, placing the well in history as well as geography. It reminds me that the Bible is a grand storybook, telling us about ordinary humans and their interactions with a not-ordinary God. Stories have such a power to teach and to remind us that we're not alone in fumbling through life. Many others have fumbled through before us, and God was faithful in helping them.
So many stories and lessons are linked in by this off-hand comment. Jacob the con-man, who God had to (literally) tackle into submission. Joseph the proud boy, who was pitched in a well and sold off as a slave and launched into a crazy life, full of struggle and strange reversals and devoted, determined responsibility. An older, humbler Joseph who wept as he welcomed his father and family to his adoptive country, settling them in good land and making provision for their livelihood. The family of Jacob, who grew into a nation and went back to their ancestral home, establishing a country and later a kingdom, and continued writing the story of God's people in battles and feasts, farms and famines, wars and laws, dedication and abandonment.
Jacob dug a well, and then moved to a foreign nation to live out the rest of his life. Eventually his people came back, and the years passed, and many people drew water from his well, until one day his far-removed many-greats grandson sat beside his well and named himself Messiah, to one of his far-removed many-greats granddaughters who had lost her way. I've never drawn water from Jacob's well, but I can read the story of his many-greats grandson, Jesus who still offers living water, and the Samaritan lady who also struggled to understand and believe him, just like I do. The story rolls on, and all of us brothers and sisters of Jesus have a part in it.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 918 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Cris Cramer or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 918 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.
Keith C. Powell