Enemy of God Made Bride of Christ

Enemy of God Made Bride of Christ

Lent 3 T John 4:1-30, 39-42

INI

When I went to seminary in Fort Wayne, there was always a joke amongst the single guys, that if they wanted to find a wife, they should hang out by the fountain on the campus. Because on multiple occasions in the Old Testament, men would find their wives drawing water from a nearby well. Isaac’s servant found Rebekah at the well and offered to water his camels. Jacob met Rachel at the well, where she offered to water his flock. And Moses met his wife Zipporah at a well after fleeing Egypt. So, if you wanted to get married, go hang out by the well!
Well, in the Gospel story, we’re presented with another instance of people meeting at a well – Jesus and this Samaritan woman. Right off the bat – marital overtones are at play. Not that Jesus was looking to marry Himself to HER specifically – but she symbolizes an even bigger picture. She’s an image for the church.

            And if you look at some of the details about her in the story, it’s not very flattering. First of all, she was a Samaritan. Which means, she was a follower of a heretical religion. They worshipped at Mt. Gerizim, which they believe was really the place of God’s presence – and not the Temple in Jerusalem. They rejected the prophets and historical writers of most of our Old Testament Bible because it constantly cites that the Kings in Israel did not govern in accordance with God’s Word. In the eyes of Jesus and the His disciples – there was little worse than to be in the presence of a Samaritan.

            Then, we glean some details about this woman’s life from other parts of the story. Not only has she been divorced from five different men – she’s living with a man who isn’t her husband! She’s trying to find love in all the wrong places! And because of the shame that accompanies her life, she’s isolated from her community. Normally, people go in the morning to draw water from the well – because it’s the cooler part of the day. But this woman went at noon –the hottest part of the day! Because she couldn’t face her community due to the shame of her sin – and rightly so. Surely, she wasn’t proud of how her life turned out.

            So, this woman was sexually immoral. She was divorced. She was a heretic. And she had no one. And who comes up to strike a conversation with her? Jesus.

Jesus’ interaction with this woman is loaded. But here’s where the unmistakable love of God shines through this story. The theme verse for this interaction is Romans 5:8 – “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” So, Jesus didn’t approach this Samaritan woman because she lived the perfect moral life. He knew this woman had no peace – she was lonely, unloved, and forgotten. And yet Jesus came to her – To offer her peace. To incorporate her back into the community of His bride, the Church. To wash her offenses clean, for He willingly lays down His life for His bride. The offenses that once made us enemies of God, Jesus took on Himself. And through this, Jesus offers peace to us all.

            This woman was someone Jesus wanted to save – someone he wanted to incorporate into His bride, the Church. He said to her – “Everyone who drinks of this water (that is, water from Jacob’s well) will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” And she responds by saying – “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” At this point, she’s thinking of a physical water that quenches physical thirst. But Jesus isn’t talking about water that comes from a well. He’s talking about water which comes from HIS SIDE! He further alludes to this water in John 7:37-39 – “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, and let him who believes in me drink. The Scripture has said, ‘Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.’ John then tells us that Jesus was speaking about the Spirit, whom believers would receive after His glorification.

            And this gift flows to us through the saving work of Christ. For when Jesus was pierced on the cross, blood and water flowed from His side – a sign of the life and cleansing He pours out upon His bride, the Church.

            But then, Jesus clarifies the disagreement between Jews and Samaritans regarding worship. He mentions to the woman that there will be a day when geographical location won’t determine what’s true worship, which the Samaritans thought it was Mt. Gerizim and the Jews thought it was the Temple Mount. Jesus says that the hour is coming when people will worship the Father in spirit and truth, which is true worship because God is spirit. So, where will people worship?

            True worship is no longer tied to Mount Gerizim or the Temple in Jerusalem. Now we worship at the body of Jesus Himself—the true Temple where God meets His people. And this true worship is brought about through the living water and the Spirit. For Jesus says that we are reborn by water and the Spirit in Holy Baptism. Through this rebirth we become children of the heavenly Father, and we are united with Christ Himself—like a bride joined to her bridegroom. And from this union flows a new life lived by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, in this interaction with this Samaritan woman, Jesus is teaching us about baptism, true worship, and marriage between Christ and His church. Jesus reveals that the living water flowing from His side creates a new people through Baptism, who are united to Him as His bride, and therefore, worship the Father in Spirit and truth.

            As a husband to His bride, the Church, Jesus covers her faults. He absorbs all wrongdoing into Himself – that’s how much God loves you. And there’s a beautiful picture here on earth that’s to imitate this: Husbands – that’s our duty to our wives. As Paul writes – “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to Himself in splendor.” (Eph 5:25-27)

            So, Jesus doesn’t come to us because we are righteous. That’s what we’re supposed to remember in the season of Lent – that we transgress against the will of the Heavenly Father constantly. Yet, He comes to us so that we might be MADE righteous. This righteousness isn’t ours – it’s a result of what the bridegroom Jesus has done for you and me. For there is nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

            So, when we come to the altar, we don’t come as ones who’ve earned the right to approach God. Rather, we approach Him humbly – not as ones who have everything fixed, but as ones who acknowledge our wrongdoings with a repentant heart. And so we bow before Him with palms open to the skies, and wait for out dear Lord to descend to our palms, our mouths, our hearts – through which our faith is strengthened to live as the baptized Christians He’s made us to be.

            We come as beggars – not as presumptuous, entitled sinners. We humble ourselves and submit to our bridegroom, letting go of our sins that they might be washed clean. This is the worship the Lord wants from the Samaritan woman, and from you and me. As John said in His epistle – “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:8-9).”

            If we’re honest, we’re like the Samaritan woman. We too go about our lives, carrying our sins, our shame, and all the ways we’ve tried to satisfy our own spiritual thirst for God. That’s all to say, we’ve made ourselves enemies of God. And yet, Christ still comes to meet us. He speaks His Word to us. He invites us to return to the living baptismal waters that He’s washed us with. And He makes sinners like us into His beloved bride.

            Once the woman at the well left her encounter with Jesus, she went and told everyone who it was that she met. She met the One who offers Himself as the bridegroom for sinners.

            So be like her. Receive Him in faith. Rest in what your bridegroom has accomplished for you. And tell everyone – the righteous and the unrighteous, the saint and the sinner, the most deserving and the least deserving – that though we’ve made ourselves enemies of God, Christ has died for YOU. THAT is true love.

INI

Pastor Joshua Ralston