Moments to Ponder

Episode 123: Unveiling Your True Identity in Christ: Lessons from the Samaritan Woman (John 4)

• Betsy Marvin • Season 15 • Episode 123

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Have you ever wondered if the identity you're living is truly yours, or one crafted by societal expectations and past experiences? In today's episode, we promise to illuminate the path to discovering your true identity in Christ, guided by the transformative teachings of Jamie Winship from Identity Exchange. Join us as we dive into the biblical narrative of Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. Through this powerful story, we witness how Jesus defied cultural norms to reveal her authentic self, offering a profound lesson on seeking our true identity from God rather than the world around us. 

Her journey serves as a powerful testament to the liberating power of embracing the identity God has placed within each of us. By rejecting false identities and opening our hearts to the living water Jesus provides, we can overflow with love and service, impacting those around us in profound ways. Don't miss this episode as we explore the depths of spiritual awakening and the freedom found in our true identity in Christ.

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Speaker 1:

Hi friends, welcome to Moments to Ponder. This podcast is designed to help you spend a few moments in God's Word, gain fresh perspectives and find meaningful takeaways to ponder throughout your week. I'm Betsy Marvin and this is Episode 123. I've been listening to the teaching of a guy named Jamie Winship. He has a ministry called Identity Exchange. Jamie and his wife speak on exchanging our false identity for the true identity we have in and through Jesus. If you're curious about him, I put the link to his website in the show notes.

Speaker 1:

This teaching on identity fascinates me. I know my identity in Christ as his child, loved and known and forgiven. But after some study and learning from Jamie, I realized that there's so much more. So I recently asked God who do you say that I am? And he told me, literally. He told me. And he told me Literally. He told me. God is so cool.

Speaker 1:

Ever since you were young, you've had people telling you who you are, both in positive and negative ways. Things like you're loud, you're dumb, you're too much, you're not enough, you're not enough, you move too much, you're shy or you matter. You have a voice, use it, you're loved, you can do anything you set your mind to, and these kinds of statements attach to us like identity, yet God knows exactly who he created us to be. Shouldn't we be listening to him? We learn early on to create a false self, which basically means we pretend to be something we're not. We do it to get approval or to rebel against something. And in the Bible there are so many people that lived under this kind of false identity, lived under a lie, letting other people tell them who they are. And in John, chapter 4, our passage for today there is someone who needed direct connection to Jesus to help her know who she truly was. Today, as we move through this scripture, we're going to bounce in and out a bit just to make sure of the clarity behind where we're headed.

Speaker 1:

Here's verse one. Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he 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. It was time for Jesus to leave Jerusalem and head back home, and there were many different routes to take, but Jesus chooses to walk through Samaria. This isn't something Jews did. Samaritans had a Jewish heritage, yes, but it was one that had intermarried with Gentiles and made them a mixed race. The rift between the Jews and Samaritans goes way back in their history, and they just didn't associate with each other. Yet Jesus leads his crew right through this land, land that had been given to Joseph by Jacob, land we call Shechem. In Joseph's story, god is creating a circular moment here in history, that by this place where Joseph was buried, jesus would meet someone.

Speaker 1:

We'll continue in verse 6. Jacob's well was there and Jesus, tired from his long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus said to her Please give me a drink. He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. We're not sure if the disciples passed her on their way to town and maybe she stepped off the path to let them pass. We're not sure how they treated her, but as we continue in verse 9, we read the woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus you're a Jew and I'm a Samaritan woman, why are you asking me for a drink? John, in his writing here, reminds us that Jesus is human, tired after a long walk and it's noon, so it's hot out, and his request seems pretty simple Please give me a drink. But the woman is so surprised. Give me a drink, but the woman is so surprised.

Speaker 1:

Here's a rabbi who, in her experience, didn't speak to women in public, or even his own wife in public. So she knows this is very unusual. It's also very out of character for a rabbi to ask for anything from a woman, let alone a Samaritan, anything from a woman, let alone a Samaritan. Her words to Jesus give us the impression that she, as a woman, and Samaritan at that, was expecting to be ignored by him. Yet Jesus talks to her with kindness.

Speaker 1:

We know a lot of things about this woman because of the timing that she comes to the well and, of course, what we know later in her story. For those of you who know it, she's a Samaritan coming at noon to the well by herself, which tells us, first, that she probably didn't want to see anyone and, second, that there may not have been anyone in her life to go with her, and her surprise at Jesus speaking to her shows us that she does know her place when it comes to speaking to a man, a Jew, and a rabbi at that. I think it's noteworthy also that we're told Jesus was alone. If the disciples had been there, she most likely would have turned around and waited to get water till after they left. Yet with a rabbi alone, she thought maybe I can quick get my water and get out of here and I'm probably safe with him. But Jesus continues to talk to her.

Speaker 1:

Jesus says water 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? She doesn't know that Jesus is very well aware of her life situation. Yet that didn't stop him from saying God has a gift for you. If you would just ask me, I would give it to you. God has a gift for you. If you would just ask me, I would give it to you. But she's taking his words literally, as anyone would. She wasn't prepared for a deep conversation at the well that noonday, and we can also see that she is proud of who she is and her heritage in Jacob, and she actually is questioning him how can your water be better than this water? Because this water has been great for generations.

Speaker 1:

But Jesus continues in verse 13. Jesus replied anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again, 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. Please, sir. The woman said give me this water and I'll never be thirsty again and I won't have to come here to get water.

Speaker 1:

I have to wonder if Jesus had a little bit of a grin on his face at this time. He is about to change her entire world and she has no idea he's speaking of the Holy Spirit and she is still stuck on actual water. He knows the aches that she carries and there's also a sense of you're starting to sound a little crazy in her tone. So Jesus says to her go get your husband. He told her I don't have a husband. The woman replied. Jesus said you're right, you don't have a husband, for you have had five husbands and you aren't even married to the man that you're living with now. You certainly spoke the truth. Now we get to it right. Jesus is aware of her wounds, her broken heart her lifestyle.

Speaker 1:

So often, when this passage is looked at, the woman is seen as a prostitute, but in reality, in this culture, her story was probably more one of deep grief and abuse. Women didn't have license over their own lives, so to have had five husbands speaks to a different kind of situation. Now, there are quite a few reasons why she might have this history. Most likely one or two of her husbands have died. She may have also lost another one due to being unable to have children, and she may have been sold to another because of that. And now she lives with a man that most likely at least gives her shelter, even if not safety. Whatever the cause, she has most likely been seen as an object by men and as less than by women. As she didn't have children or a husband, she would have been seen as a disgrace. So thus she's coming to the well when no one else would be there.

Speaker 1:

She's stuck and lonely, and I wonder how much shame and fear filled her. Her circumstances were dictating her identity and it had become the shadow that she lived under. She believed she was not good enough, used goods, barren, unwanted, trying to survive. Yet she does something important here she tells Jesus the truth. She honestly can't find out who she really is until she faces the truth of what she has come to believe about herself, which, as we walk in this identity element, none of us can come to who we truly are until we tell the truth about what we believe about ourselves. So she says, sir, you must be a prophet, so tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshipped? This question seems so out of the blue, but how many times have you tried to change the subject when it got uncomfortable? But what's different here is that she's pushing in on something. A rabbi would have an opinion on the foundational difference between Jews and Samaritans. Where they worshipped it's like, well, it's like us today. Which church do you go to? Oh, I think you're part of that denomination. Well, what do you think about this denomination? I mean the differences about how and where we worship started a long time ago.

Speaker 1:

Although I'm sure Jesus knew she was changing the subject, he does answer her question, verse 21. Jesus replied Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem? You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem? You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews, but the time is coming, indeed, it's here, now, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father one preference for a place of worship. It's about who is worshiped and how.

Speaker 1:

Samaritans had created a mix of beliefs that they were trying to figure out, god in the midst of, and the Jews had made it all about knowledge and tradition. So Jesus is telling her no, it's about God, who is spirit, and he must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. When we speak of worship in spirit and in truth, this is spirit with a small s and truth with a small t. We know that the capital S is the Holy Spirit and the capital T, in truth, would be Jesus, who is the truth and the way. So, by spirit being a small s, he's talking about in us, in our spirits, in our inner connection, knowing that our worship must come from deep within our souls and that we need to do it out of the truth of who we are and who we believe him to be in our lives, bringing ourselves to him who is capital. T Truth, verse 25.

Speaker 1:

The woman said I know the Messiah is coming, the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us. Then Jesus told her I am the Messiah. Then Jesus told her I am the Messiah. Can you imagine Her eyes must have opened wide while her heart threatened to beat out of her chest.

Speaker 1:

Jesus is telling her straight up I am the Messiah, not a prophet, but I am the one you are looking for. So you can believe me what I say about true worship. And when we look back at verse 10, jesus had told her if you only knew the gift has for you and who you are speaking to, then you would ask me and I would give you living water. If you only knew how many times does Jesus say that to us? If you only knew, then you would ask. If you only knew, then you would know that I am a gift sent to you by God, the one you think has abandoned you and doesn't see you. If you only knew, you would know you are worthy of God's gift to you and God's love for you, and you would know that I came here to get you and meet you and you would see yourself differently. And you would know that I came here to get you and meet you and you would see yourself differently and you would let me serve you and let me redeem you.

Speaker 1:

In this moment, jesus is redefining her identity from what she thought as victim, unworthy, sinner, alone and abused. She needed to stop living in these false categories and see him and receive the living water and let him redefine who she is through redemption and cleansing and truth. Verse 27. Just then, his disciples came back and they were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask what do you want with her or why are you talking to her? The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could he possibly be the Messiah? So people came streaming from the village to see him.

Speaker 1:

In Isaiah 11, we learn that the Jews believed that the Messiah would have one essential characteristic he would be able to tell the secrets of the heart with wisdom, knowledge and understanding from the Spirit of the Lord, as this woman says. He told me everything I ever did. She's proclaiming the Messiah. It's monumental. She heard the truth of her heart and something amazing happened. Maybe you didn't quite see it clearly, but she has stepped into a new identity in Jesus. Leader of men. When she runs back to the village, she just goes and does it and she becomes the leader that is within her.

Speaker 1:

The first evangelist, a woman with a hard past, is sent to lead men and women to Jesus. She had left the village earlier that day with her head down covered, spoke to no one, carrying empty jars. As she walked the well, she most likely received snide remarks, leers, and she believed every one of them. And then she returns no water jars, but her spirit of joy is running over, her eyes are bright and her head is up as she speaks to everyone no grudges, no judgments, no shame. It was such a transformation that they had to go and see the man she was speaking about. Unlike Nicodemus, who stays silent about Jesus, this woman runs to share who she has met. Imagine the men and women who had treated her harshly and here she is forgiving them, loving them and leading them to Jesus. Wow, it's such a crazy transformation. Transformation. And, just as a side note, she's seen as one of the greatest women in the history of the Samaritans. A statue of her is there in a museum today.

Speaker 1:

Just like the Samaritan woman, we often struggle with the lies of what we've been told or experienced and the true identity that God has placed in us. Our false identity locks us into self-protection and self-preservation mode. It's all about doing things for ourselves, but our true identity isn't connected to doing. It's connected to being, and when we know who we are, that is the most transforming renewing of our mind that we can have. Throughout history, we see case study after case study of false identity, and the Samaritan woman is just one of them who, after a spiritual encounter with Jesus, moves into walking into who she truly is, and that's his desire for us as well. No person's sin against you can define you. That's about them. We need to let the one who knows us and made us define us.

Speaker 1:

Dear one, if you only knew the gift God has for you the fresh, bubbling spring of the Holy Spirit that brings life. Although Jesus was weary, he now gives rest to the weary and although he is holy, he speaks to Samaritan women and he speaks to us and even though he asks for a drink, he is the living water. He is both God and man, bringing healing, honoring faith and offering life. Imagine Jesus bumping into you in the middle of your day, wanting to serve you, wanting to tell you who you are. Jesus didn't come to be served, but to serve. Our job is to listen and receive, and from the overflow of what we receive, overflow of the water, we can in turn, like the Samaritan woman, overflow to others. Dear one, may you, as you walk through this week, seek to know who you truly are in him. All you need to do is ask father, what do you want me to know? Amen.