In this insightful episode, Tom Cantor dives deep into the extraordinary encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Through examining this narrative, we learn vital lessons about how Jesus expertly navigates through societal divides and personal pushbacks with unwavering compassion and understanding. Tom Cantor elucidates how this engagement signifies the broader mission of reaching out to seemingly unreachable souls, illustrating how patience and humility can transform rejection into acceptance.
This program is brought to you by Israel Restoration Ministries.
SPEAKER 01 :
What are you doing Sunday nights? Come join Friendship with God radio Bible teacher Tom Cantor of the Friendship with God Fellowship Church every Sunday night at 5.30 p.m. at The Vine at 9336 Abraham Way, Santee, California. Watch and listen live around the world to Tom Cantor Sunday evening on youtube.com by searching for Friendship with God Fellowship or by going to our homepage at friendshipwithgod.org. That's friendshipwithgod.org.
SPEAKER 02 :
Welcome to Friendship with God with our Bible teacher, Tom Cantor. Today's message and previous messages can be listened to or downloaded for free at friendshipwithgod.org.
SPEAKER 03 :
And the reason that Jesus never said, so where's my drink of water, was because for Jesus, this was never about a drink of water. This was all about Jesus intercepting a trajectory of a lost woman that was no way that she was looking for God. but because Jesus had set his trajectory to intercept and interrupt her trajectory, the end result of this woman, of this Samaritan nation, and for many others, of this Samaritan nation who came because of the woman, it was all a grand Isaiah 65 one. Isaiah 65 one says, God says, I am sought of them that ask not for me. I am found of them that sought me not. I said, behold me, behold me unto a nation that was not called by my name. Samaritans. He's talking about the Samaritans. And the initial response of the woman to this interruption in her intended trajectory was a pushback. She pushed him back in verse nine. In verse nine, we then say the woman of Samaria unto him. How is it that thou being a Jew askest drink of me which am a woman of Samaria? The Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Basically, when the woman said that to Jesus, she was saying to Jesus, just leave me alone. You, as a Jewish man, are not supposed to talk to a Samaritan woman, so buzz off. from irritating me. Now, that was offensive to Jesus, to say the least. As the woman was telling Jesus, what's the matter with you? Don't you know that Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans? So just go back to your Jewish corner and I'll go to my Samaritan corner. Life will be fine. Now, that was a rough start to a conversation. That was a rough start. And the question is, What would be the response of Jesus to that hand in his chest saying, back off, buddy. Stay away from me. Stay away, stay away from me as a Samaritan woman. Would Jesus say, well, if that's the way you feel about me talking with you, then go on in your life of darkness. Go on in your life of death and sin with an eternal destiny of hell. I'll just do that and I'll leave you alone, just like you asked. What the woman said to Jesus here was offensive. And when the woman said to Jesus, The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. A woman, you know what she was saying? She was saying to Jesus, are you stupid? Are you ignorant or something to not know the very basics that Jews and Samaritans have no interactions? And to that question, we can see Jesus thinking in his mind, I created with my hand every Jew, and I created with my hands every Samaritan. And I know everything about every Jew, and I know everything about every Samaritan. And who is this woman telling me that I don't know anything when I created her also? And I know everything about her. But Jesus did not snap back at that woman. He did not set the record straight. with a statement of, I think I understand the hatreds between the Jews and the Samaritans. And when we see the trajectory of our lives that is interrupted and intersected as life trajectories, as Jesus does the life trajectories, and when we see We interrupt and intersect the life trajectories of the lost, and we want to save them, and they say something offensive to us like, why don't you mind your own business? We don't snap back at them. We don't snap back. Instead, we do what Jesus did, which was to say, okay, all right, look. Her initial offensive statement was just a delayed yes. That's all. And it's just a delayed yes to the invitation to be saved. That reminds me of a time when I spent the day with an Israeli scientist from UCSD. And we went down to Tecate together. And at the end of the day, we had dinner together. And we sat at a table for two, across from each other, the two of us, and I again presented the gospel to him. He said, not a word to me. Instead, he took his hand and he made like he was drawing a line on the table between me and him. And the message was very clear. You stay on your side of the line, and I'll stay on my side of the line. Israelis are very good about lines, borders, and frontiers. They understand this. Now, that was a temporary obstacle that I saw. And so what did I do? I ignored it. Just as Jesus, when this woman drew a line and said, you stay on your side with the Jews and I'll stay on my side with the Samaritans. And that didn't stop Jesus from pressing on. And that was not the only offensive thing that this woman said to Jesus as the woman again talked down to Jesus. In verse 11, verse 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? That was offensive. That was offensive to Jesus because in verse 11, she was again saying to him, you are really stupid. You don't have anything like a bucket to draw up this living water out of the well. And let me be the first one to tell you that this well is deep. And you don't know the first thing about bringing up water from a well. And you're really dense. That's what she's saying. And I don't see any living water. So where do you have this living water? In your pocket? You seem to have a loose screw upstairs. This is what she's saying to him. Now, those were even more offensive statements, again, that the woman made to Jesus. And again, we can ask the question, did Jesus say, look, lady? I made water. I put the water in the well. I made the water of the Red Sea stand up like walls to allow the Jewish people to walk through water. I think I know a thing or two about getting water. So who are you to teach me about getting water? That's not what Jesus did. Again, Jesus just overlooked the those offensive statements where the woman was teaching Jesus about how to get water and insinuating that Jesus didn't have this living water. Jesus just let her offensive statements roll off like water on a duck's back. Then he moved forward. And again, the woman said some offensive things to him again. She didn't let up in verse 12, verse 12, where she said, So our doubt greater than our father Jacob gave us the well, drank thereof himself his children as cattle. Now here again, the woman is saying to Jesus, you seem to know nothing about history. Do you know that Jacob dug this well? Are you aware of that? Have you ever heard of Jacob? You think that you are greater than Jacob or something? Don't you know that Jacob gave the well, drank from himself, his children, and the cattle? Maybe you ought to just maybe take your shoes off because this is some pretty special ground around this well. Now here again, Jesus did not say, do I know Jacob? Do I know Jacob? I made Jacob. And I'm the God of Jacob. I saved Jacob. I brought Jacob to heaven. I directed Jacob to dig this well. I think I'm greater than Jacob. So who are you to teach me, you Samaritan woman? He didn't do any of that. Not at all. Because... Because, again, he let all that offensive words just fall to the ground. He ignored what the woman had said offensively to him. And the reason was because Jesus set his trajectory to save this lost woman. And he sacrificed winning arguments in order that he might win this soul. And so as we see how Jesus handled personal issues offensive statements, we learn that we should keep the main goal, the main goal of saving souls, keep it central, and every distraction like arguing, like defending ourselves, like setting the record straight, let it all go, let it fall to the ground, in order to pursue the higher purpose of seeing a lost soul be saved. And the answer that Jesus gave to this woman to all of her personally offensive statements about Jesus was in verse 13. Verse 13, Jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh this water shall thirst again. Now here we see Jesus in this position, in verse 13, he's like a dentist. He's like a dentist who knows that a patient's tooth is infected and can be painful. And in the case of this woman, he knew that the infected tooth was this deep thirst inside of her, this emptiness, this longing in her heart, like a thirst. And he knew that with each of the woman's five husbands and the man that she was currently shacked up with at this time, he knew that with each new man in this woman's life, that The woman never opened the door to a new marriage or whatever, to a new home together and said, well, she never did this. She never said, well, I'll give this man a little try, then I'll throw him out for the next one. She never did that. And Jesus knew that every time she opened the door of her new house together with her new husband, this woman said to herself, finally, this is it. This is the man. I finally found the man who I will stay with permanently, who will stay with me permanently. This is the man that will love me unconditionally in spite of my past, will not bring up and throw in my face my past. This is the man who's going to be faithful to me, and I'll be faithful to him. Those were her initial thoughts with each new man. And Jesus knew how for each of her five husbands, how all those dreams, all those hopes, all came crashing down with a divorce and treachery. And he knew, Jesus knew how all her shattered dreams and hopes left her with this tormenting thirst in her soul. And she thirsted for the answers to the questions, where is love? Where is the one who will be dedicated to me and faithful to only me? Where is the one who will forgive me for my past and not throw up my past in my face? Where is the one who will be kind and caring and loving to me? Where's the one who's going to comfort me, protect me, and stand up to defend me? And Jesus knew that after each one of her broken five marriages, those questions kept coming back to her like a thirst. And just like the dentist who presses on the infected tooth and asks, does that hurt? As the patient practically jumps off the chair. And Jesus said to this woman in verse 13, thirst again. It was like Jesus was pressing on the infected tooth and saying, does that hurt when I say to you, thirst again? Does that hurt? And when Jesus said those words in verse 13, thirst again, Jesus had put his finger on her infected tooth and the woman thought to herself, I don't know how he knew that this is my life problem that I keep thirsting again after each shattered relationship. And with that statement in verse 13 about thirsting again, we can see the woman starting to think to herself, I asked him if he was greater than our father Jacob, and I think maybe he is. I think he knows me. It reminds me of a time when I was at my friend Avi's house in Jerusalem. Avi has two daughters, and they were in Tel Aviv. And Avi's wife, Tammy, Avi and Tammy married for a long time. And I was there when her daughter, one of the daughters, who I was staying in her room with, when I was visiting them and she took her lipstick and wrote on the mirror of her bathroom, drop dead gorgeous. That's what she did. Anyway, she called her mother when I was there and she had broke up with some fellow and she asked her, she says, mom, how do you do it? How do you stay with the same man? She had a thirst again, just like this woman. And now, because Jesus was speaking right to the heart of this woman when he said in verse 13, verse 13, whosoever drinks this water shall thirst again. The picture was just as a person comes to a well thirsty and he lets down the bucket and he hears the bucket splash in the water below and hope is really stimulated. And then he looks at that cool, refreshing water as he's pulling up the bucket, splashing back and forth. And the best is that first drink. That's the best. The best when that bucket is raised to the mouth and the cool water runs down the cheeks and the neck and is swallowed and thirst is quenched. But it's also temporary. It's also temporary because thirst returns and there's a repeat of this again and again. And the woman has gotten the picture of her life is like a continual going to this well for a new marriage where she looks at the man with such a thirst to be loved and the first intimacy is the best. But it doesn't last. As the thirst returns, the divorce comes again and again and again, five marriages. My father was married five times. He could have been the Jewish man at the well, but anyway. And so those words, thirst again, again, Jesus has put his finger on the infected tooth and she feels the shooting pain of thirst again. Now in verse 12, The woman has again been offensive to Jesus by insinuating Jesus was no greater than Jacob who gave the well and honored the well by drinking from the well. His children drank his cattle drink. By saying the woman, by saying that the woman was saying to Jesus, you never gave us any well. Jacob did. And verse 13 is the response of Jesus to these offensive statements. And again, we see Jesus, gingerly picking his way through a minefield of offenses and saying, as he's kind of very carefully walking, he says, I won't step there on that explosive mind about whether I'm greater than Jacob, and I won't step there on that explosive mind about whether I did anything as great as provide a well as Jacob did. And as Jesus is being humble and carefully avoiding arguing with the woman, He is able to make his way to the woman's heart. And the next thing that Jesus says to the woman in verse 13 is, Jesus answered and sent her, whosoever drinketh this water shall thirst again. So verse 13, it says, Jesus answered and said unto her. Now, when we read those words, we're expecting an answer, right? We're expecting response to the woman's questions. We're expecting Jesus to give an answer to the three questions that the woman has asked Jesus, which are in verses 11 and 12. Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with. The well is deep. From whence hast thou living water? Art thou greater than our father Abraham? Et cetera. So verses 11 and 12, the woman has asked Jesus three questions, which are, number one, what are you going to use? to draw up the water, the living water. Second question, where is the living water? Third question, are you greater than Jacob? So verse 13, Jesus answers the woman, but in the response of Jesus in verses 13 and 14, he doesn't answer one of the questions that the woman has asked, but it says he answers. And this shows the artful skill of Jesus the soul winner. At this point the question is who is going to control this conversation? Will the woman be controlling the conversation or will Jesus be controlling the conversation? If the woman We'll be controlling the conversation, and then the response of Jesus that starts in verse 13 will answer the question of what Jesus is going to use to drop the living water, where this living water is going to come from, and if Jesus is greater than Jacob. Now, by the way, I do want to say this. By the time Jesus is finished speaking to this woman, the woman will have received answers to these questions, but she doesn't receive any of the answers to her questions in the immediate response of Jesus, because the issue is, who is going to control this conversation? The woman, by saying, now you will answer these questions, or Jesus? And Jesus has determined that he's gonna control the conversation. And this question of who's going to control the conversation is important for us because we come to Jesus and we got problems and we got troubles and we feel hurt and we come to Jesus in prayer and we want answers. We want to control the conversation with Jesus. We want him to direct his answers to our prayers and speak to us directly about the problem we brought to him. And so what happens? We open the Bible, and we're impressed with something that on the surface has nothing to do with what we want to hear from Jesus. What is that? That's Jesus controlling the conversation. Now we see that when Jesus is taking control of the conversation, he does not give an immediate answer to her question, but he says to the woman, In verse 13 and 14, he says to the woman, whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. What's so instructive for us is that Jesus says to the woman, whosoever, whosoever, and he didn't say, he did not say these words. You drink of this water and you will thirst again. but you drink the water that I'll give you and you will never thirst again. He didn't do that. He did not use the word you in his response as that would be too direct for Jesus, too forceful for Jesus. Instead, he uses the word whosoever, whosoever, whosoever is a beautiful word. Now, the first response of this woman might be, who is this whosoever? Who is this whosoever in him? I'm a her. And we've been talking about me and you. So where did this whosoever person come from? Whosoever is a beautiful term because by using the term whosoever instead of you, Jesus has put the living water a little far away from her. And now, if this woman wants this living water, she's got to jump out. She's got to jump out. She's got to pursue it. She's got to grab it, which she does, by the way, in verse 15. In verse 15, when it says, the woman said to him, sir, give me this water. It reminds me of a new system that I got for my fishing boat. The system's called a live scope. Live scope It's very popular and it's used a lot by freshwater fishermen. You know, lakes. But it's not used, it's practically unknown by saltwater fishermen. No saltwater fisherman uses it. I'm a saltwater fisherman. So I got the LiveScope. This is fantastic. The LiveScope is a video camera. where you can direct it. Got a little thing you can point it around. Zoom in on a fish or a group of fish. And when you got the fish, it's got a little screen that you carry around the boat with a wire attached to it. So where are you? You cast your bait out there. And the LiveScope enables you to see the interaction of the fish with the bait. And you can see with the LiveScope, if you drop your bait right over the fish or too close to the fish, the fish gets spooked and he moves away, he gets scared. But you can see that if you cast your bait a little distance away from the fish and just give a few little twitches on your line and then make it seem as though the bait is trying to get away, a little injured, trying to swim away, Then you can watch the fish and it's very interesting.
SPEAKER 02 :
Tom Cantor's messages can be listened to and downloaded for free at friendshipwithgod.org For other free resources, email us at tomcantor at friendshipwithgod.org or call us at 800-247-3051. Join our live services on YouTube by searching Friendship with God with Tom Cantor every Sunday at 5.30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
SPEAKER 01 :
What are you doing Sunday nights? Come join Friendship with God radio Bible teacher Tom Cantor of the Friendship with God Fellowship Church every Sunday night at 5.30 p.m. at The Vine at 9336 Abraham Way, Santee, California. Watch and listen live around the world to Tom Cantor Sunday evening on youtube.com by searching for Friendship with God Fellowship or by going to our homepage at friendshipwithgod.org. That's friendshipwithgod.org.
SPEAKER 03 :
This program is brought to you by Israel Restoration Ministries.
