Live Like It's True {Bible Podcast}

Why You Might Be A Better Gospel-Sharer Than You Thought {John 4:1-42}

• Shannon Popkin • Season 1 • Episode 5

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Do you feel pretty inadequate, as a Gospel-Spreader?

In this retelling episode, we're looking back to the story from John 4, where Jesus interrupts his trip to Galilee to have a conversation with the least likely Gospel-Spreader: A Samaritan woman who had been repeatedly divorced and was now living with another man. 

John is the only Gospel writer to include this story. Why? He wants us to see that Jesus came for everyone, and that anyone can help share the good news. 

 

Bible Passage: John 4:1-42

Referring Back to Episode: The Truth About Your Thirstiness for More with Mary Demuth

Transcript

Mentioned: Storyrunners with Cru.

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Music: Cade Popkin Music 

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Learn more at ShannonPopkin.com.

Speaker 1:

In this retelling episode, i'm going back to an earlier episode, a very popular conversation I had with Mary DeMuth, titled The Truth About Your Thirstiness for More, and this is a story about a thirsty woman who met the only one who could satisfy her. She met Jesus at a well, and in this retelling episode I'll start by retelling this story from John 4 so that it's fresh in your mind. I'll use my own words and my own way of telling the story. I'll be leaning heavily, though, on the story runner's way of telling this story. I went through training with story runners and I will link to that training so that you can check out their website and have access to their recording of different Bible stories. But I'll retell the story and then we'll look at the story elements that John, our author, is using as he tells us this story, like what is he trying to get across with, including the story and the way that he tells it. And then I'll close by retelling the story once more, and this is where I'm encouraging you to see if you can retell the story, either after I'm finished or pausing along the way. And just a reminder these stories are so packed with rich theology, especially this one, and it has such power to transform your thinking and your life. It takes a little bit of work to store up these stories in our hearts and in our minds, but this is one you're going to want to return to over and over, both retrieving it for your own reflection, but also in conversation. You're going to want to have this story ready to give away to somebody else.

Speaker 1:

So let's start with the retelling of the Woman at the Well from John, chapter 4. On their way to Galilee, jesus and his disciples traveled through Samaria and they came to a well And Jesus was tired, so he sat down by the well and he sent his disciples on into town to get food. Well, at about noon, a woman came to draw water from the well and Jesus asked her for a drink. Well, the woman was surprised, because there was a lot of racial tension between the Jews and the Samaritans at this time, and so she said you, a Jew, you're asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink. And Jesus said if you knew who was asking you for a drink, you'd be asking me and I would give you living water. The woman said, sir, you don't even have a bucket. Where are you going to get this water. And Jesus said anyone who drinks from this well will get thirsty again, but anyone who drinks from the water that I give will never be thirsty again and they will live forever with God. The woman said, sir, give me some of this water so I don't have to come back to this well anymore. And Jesus said okay, first go get your husband and bring him back here. And the woman said well, i don't have a husband. And Jesus said you're right. You've had five husbands and the man you're living with now isn't your husband. The woman said, sir, i can see that you are a prophet, so why is it that you Jews say that we should worship in Jerusalem? but we've always worshiped here, where our ancestors did. And Jesus said that doesn't matter anymore. What's really important is that God is looking for people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. And the woman said I know that when the promised Savior comes, he is going to explain all of these things to us. And Jesus said that's me. Well, the woman dropped her bucket and ran to town and she started proclaiming to all of the people come and see, come and see a man who's told me everything I ever did. Could he be the promised Savior. So the people asked Jesus to stay with them and he stayed with them for two days and many people believed And they said to the woman we believe now, not just because of what you said, but we have seen for ourselves that this man is the promised Savior for the whole world.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so let's talk about some of the story elements here, and John's Gospel, unlike the others, is written for really the whole world. Did you know that over 30 times John uses the word whoever? He wants everyone to know that Jesus came for them. And so this is an important story. It's only included in John's Gospel, it's not included in the other Gospels, and it's kind of sandwiched between a mention that Jesus is going to Galilee. So at the beginning and the end of the story it talks about Jesus going to Galilee and it alludes that there's some trouble in Galilee with the Pharisees. And then at the end of the story, john reminds us that Jesus isn't welcome. He's a prophet not welcome in his hometown.

Speaker 1:

And so then in between these mentions of Galilee, we have this conversation in Samaria. Jesus does a shortcut through Samaria. Everybody else goes the long way to avoid the Samaritans, but not Jesus. He cuts through and he has the longest theological conversation recorded in the Bible with the least likely candidate. She's a Samaritan, she's a woman. And she's not just a woman, she's a social outcast. She's been repeatedly divorced. She's probably coming to the well at noon to avoid the crowds And Jesus starts the conversation by asking for a drink. In the conversation with Mary DeMuth, we talked about how this was so taboo. It was like think of the times when there was segregation. There were different water fountains for different groups of people before the civil rights movement. So Jesus asking for her for a drink, it was like asking to use the wrong drinking fountain during segregation.

Speaker 1:

And the woman is completely surprised. He's caught off guard, and we should be too. This is unexpected. Jesus is not who we think he is And the responses to his ministry are not what we expect. I mean, he's the Messiah. He's the one that the Jews have been faithfully waiting for. There are prophecies and promises that are all being fulfilled in Jesus, and now he's here. And yet the religious leaders, they're not impressed with Jesus, they're shunning him. And, in contrast, this woman is quite impressed with Jesus And through the course of their conversation, he reveals to her I'm the one. I'm the Messiah that you've been waiting for. I mean, like, this is astonishing. And the woman drops her bucket, she runs off to town and she becomes the first missionary.

Speaker 1:

And then, after the interaction with Jesus, the disciples come back And this is where Jesus says you know, the fields are white with harvest, it's time to harvest. And they're thinking like here. Now, i mean, we're not even among the Jewish people, you're like here. And so the juxtaposition is stunning. The Jews who are supposed to welcome Jesus are the ones who are blind to him. They're rejecting and shunning him, and the ones that the Jews would walk twice the distance to avoid, they're the ones who are recognizing Jesus and repenting and receiving him. So what does this mean for us? You know, just like back then, we tend to typecast people, don't we? There are those that we think of as the least likely candidates to being open to Jesus in his gospel message, and yet those are the ones that Jesus often uses, not to only receive the gospel, but to spread this good news about himself. Like, just think of the woman in this story.

Speaker 1:

So do you see yourself as a storyteller, one who tells the story of Jesus? One of my goals for this podcast is that we would become better storytellers, that we would know the story and share the story and live the story. Do you ever struggle with that? Do you ever struggle with sharing the story of God or his gospel message with other people? Do you feel like maybe you're not sophisticated enough, you don't have the right words, or maybe your life isn't cleaned up enough to be able to tell other people this good news? If that's the case, i want for you to picture this conversation. Jesus is a great man. I want for you to picture this conversation Jesus is having with this woman at the well. She doesn't recognize him immediately And really nobody does. His identity is largely hidden. The majority of the people do not realize that Jesus is the Messiah, and yet here it is being disclosed at this well. The secret is being shared, the mystery is being whispered, the treasure of the gospel is being spread out and laid open for the eyes of not a theologian who has studied the scrolls and lived this pure, honorable life. No, the identity of Jesus and the mystery of the gospel is being shared with a thirsty woman from the Mary Friends.

Speaker 1:

I was recently in an audience where a theologian was giving an address that made the gospel seem really complicated and sophisticated and inaccessible to simple people. And as I drove home, i didn't feel like some new sense of wonder and awe at the gospel, but instead I felt like this new doubt and confusion, like the thoughts in my mind were who do you think you are, shannon, teaching the Bible to women? How could you possibly understand? It's only people like this guy, with a PhD and a brilliant mind, people like him, can unlock these ancient texts of the Bible. Only people like him are skilled enough to get on a platform and share it with other people. And for a moment, there in my car, i felt really scared and even ashamed.

Speaker 1:

And then you know what I remembered. I remembered the woman at the well, and I remembered that she wasn't a sophisticated woman, she didn't have a PhD, she wasn't someone that you would think of as an obvious choice for Jesus, the Messiah, to reveal his identity to. No, she wasn't somebody you'd think of as a missionary candidate either, but to God she was the perfect choice. Why? Because she was thirsty. She saw her need for him. So if you feel inadequate or ill-equipped as one of God's storytellers, remember this woman at the well. Remember that she had a theological conversation with Jesus that was longer than any other conversation recorded in the Bible, and after just that one conversation she went. She left her water pot behind and she went and began telling her story, which was now part of the story of God.

Speaker 1:

Will you do the same? I hope you'll go back and listen to that episode, The Truth About Your Thirstiness for more. It was a conversation I had with Mary D'Amuth and it was such a fabulous conversation. So even if you have listened, you might want to circle back and listen one more time. So many interesting things that Mary shared with us. But right now I'm going to circle back and retell this story from John 4.

Speaker 1:

I'm doing this with no notes. I'm just telling you the story that I have stored up in my heart, though I'm just wanting to inspire you that you can learn these stories also, on the way to Galilee, jesus and his disciples came to Samaria and Jesus was tired, and so he sat down by a well and he sent his disciples on to town to get food. Well, at about noon, a woman came to the well and Jesus asked her for a drink, and she was surprised, because at this point there was lots of racial tension between the Jews and Samaritans. And she said you, a Jewish man, you're asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink. And Jesus said if you knew who was asking you for a drink, you'd be asking me and I would give you living water. And the woman said well, where are you going to get this living water? You don't even have a bucket.

Speaker 1:

And Jesus said anybody who drinks from this well is going to be thirsty again, and whoever drinks the living water that I give will never be thirsty again. And the woman said sir, give me some of this water so I can stop coming back to this well time again. And Jesus said okay, we'll go get your husband and bring him back. And the woman said well, i don't have a husband. And Jesus said that's correct. You've had five husbands and the one you're living with now is not your husband.

Speaker 1:

And the woman said oh, sir, i can see that you are a prophet. So tell me, like, why do the Jews say that we're supposed to worship in Jerusalem when we just worship here, where our ancestors did? Jesus said that doesn't matter anymore. God is looking for people who will worship in the spirit and in truth. And the woman said I know that when the Savior comes, he's going to explain all of these things to us. And Jesus said that's me. And the woman dropped her bucket and she ran into town and she said come and see the man who told me everything I ever did. Could it be that he is the promised Savior? And the people came and asked Jesus to stay with them. And so he stayed for two days and many of them believed And they said to the woman we believe, not just because of what you have said, but we have seen for ourselves that this man is the promised Savior for the whole world.

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Shannon Popkin

Host