Tavern Talk #93 - Well, well, well...

Some Bible stories feel like they happened in another world.

The woman at the well doesn’t. She meets Jesus carrying a complicated history, belonging to a group his people had distrusted for generations, and not fully understanding what He was saying half the time. In other words, she sounds a lot like us. Well, well, well, indeed.

At the well, Jesus asks her for a drink, and before long they are talking about water, marriage, religion, history, and one of the oldest arguments around: Who is worshiping God the right way?

Jews said Jerusalem. Samaritans said Mount Gerizim. This was not a friendly disagreement. Their people had been arguing about it for generations. And when the woman raises the issue, Jesus does something remarkable.

He basically says: Because of me, that argument is becoming beside the point.

A time is coming, He tells her, when worship will not be about this mountain or that mountain. True worshipers will worship God “in spirit and in truth.”

That seems like something worth hearing today.

We humans have an impressive ability to spend enormous amounts of time arguing about the proper way to have a relationship with God. This church or that church. This denomination or that denomination. This worship style or that one. This tradition, this building, this liturgy, this music, this rule.

The truth is that many have claimed and proclaimed the Truth have gotten it wrong.

As He explains to her, a truth that continues today, because of Jesus, access to God is not limited to a mountain, a temple, a building, a religious system, or a denomination.

It is spiritual. And that is good news for people who have sometimes wondered whether they fit inside somebody else’s religious box.

That was good news then and is good news today.

But that’s not all. The story has more good news. The woman does not completely understand Jesus, yet He keeps engaging with her. Her life is complicated, and He keeps talking to her. She is from the “wrong” group, and He continues their conversation. Then He uses her to bring other people to Him. She does not become a theologian overnight. She does not suddenly have all the answers. She still doesn’t get it.

She basically says: “I met somebody – somebody who blew my mind. You need to come see for yourself.” Maybe that is enough.

You don’t have to understand everything before you can talk to Jesus or have a relationship with Him. You do not have to have everything figured out before Jesus can use you. And your life doesn’t have to be squared away before you can have a relationship with God.

There is a lot packed into John 4 - living water, Jacob’s well, ancient grudges, religious arguments, complicated lives, and a very unexpected messenger.

But don’t just take my word for it. Read John 4:1–42. You might be surprised by who Jesus talks to. You might be even more surprised by what He tells her.