The drive from Jerusalem to Galilee took about two hours with a few stops along the way. Jesus walked between these two places many times during his life and ministry. In fact all Jews went to Jerusalem for the annual passover festival and would have made this long journey by foot or donkey over the steep, rocky hills and valleys. The journey must have taken days and been exhausting.
I was reading John 4:1-45 which is the well known story about the woman at the well. Jesus had been in Jerusalem for passover and then had travelled East across the Judean hills to the Jordan river. He and John the Baptist were baptising many people and the Pharisees were concerned that Jesus was baptising many more than John. Jesus and his disciples decided to leave that region and travel back to Galilee, passing through Samaria. They arrive in the town of Sychar and Jesus sends his disciples off to the town whilst he sits at Jacob's well, 'for he is tired'. Jesus, of course, knew the significance of this stop. As Jacob would have used this well to water his family and livestock so Jesus was about to water a women and her town with his own living water and life. Despite his tiredness from the long, dusty journey, he knew that this time was God appointed and would be an act of grace and mercy towards these people. The Samaritans were disliked by the Jews, and the woman, by the account made of her, was one who knew that she had lived a sinful life. The kindness and grace of Jesus is evident in this whole story. Later in the passage, Jesus explains that 'a time is coming when people will worship in spirit and truth' and this gives reference to his plan of salvation for all the world, both Jew and Gentile. The only qualification is, like the woman at the well, knowing that you need the saviour Jesus to save you from your sins!
God's will is mysterious. The disciples had no idea that Jesus, by asking to rest, would lead a Samaritan women and her village to faith in him and they had no idea that Messiah was here for all the world as well as the Jewish race. I am reminded now of Jacob, as Jesus sits here many, many years later and how God chose to bless his promise to Abraham: that his descendants would number thousands upon thousands. Did Jacob know he and his son Joseph would be part of that plan? Did Joseph know that when he was sold as a slave and taken to Egypt that God would later bless him abundantly with family restoration, escape from famine and use the years that followed to greatly multiply his people? Did the disciples realise that God would take their leader Jesus to the cross so that he could invite the whole world to be reunited to him? Just as Joseph's descendants would undergo severe persecution by the Egyptians before God brought them out and into the promised land, the very place where Jesus now sits talking to the Samaritan women about salvation and life, so God often allows troubles and trials, persecutions and sufferings along our journeys of faith and life until we too reach our promised land. His promise doesn't stop there, in eternity, although that is a great promise and one to hold on tightly to. His promise is life here and now, his water that will never leave us thirsty, just as he promised the Samaritan woman all those years before.
It is such a privilege to walk with God in this way, allowing him to be God and trusting him to direct our paths even when they fill up with obstacles. His ways are certainly higher and we may not understand our path, but in light of eternity, just as this story unfolds, we will see that God had a higher purpose, and we will understand that God knew what he was doing and had it all in control.
I was reading John 4:1-45 which is the well known story about the woman at the well. Jesus had been in Jerusalem for passover and then had travelled East across the Judean hills to the Jordan river. He and John the Baptist were baptising many people and the Pharisees were concerned that Jesus was baptising many more than John. Jesus and his disciples decided to leave that region and travel back to Galilee, passing through Samaria. They arrive in the town of Sychar and Jesus sends his disciples off to the town whilst he sits at Jacob's well, 'for he is tired'. Jesus, of course, knew the significance of this stop. As Jacob would have used this well to water his family and livestock so Jesus was about to water a women and her town with his own living water and life. Despite his tiredness from the long, dusty journey, he knew that this time was God appointed and would be an act of grace and mercy towards these people. The Samaritans were disliked by the Jews, and the woman, by the account made of her, was one who knew that she had lived a sinful life. The kindness and grace of Jesus is evident in this whole story. Later in the passage, Jesus explains that 'a time is coming when people will worship in spirit and truth' and this gives reference to his plan of salvation for all the world, both Jew and Gentile. The only qualification is, like the woman at the well, knowing that you need the saviour Jesus to save you from your sins!
God's will is mysterious. The disciples had no idea that Jesus, by asking to rest, would lead a Samaritan women and her village to faith in him and they had no idea that Messiah was here for all the world as well as the Jewish race. I am reminded now of Jacob, as Jesus sits here many, many years later and how God chose to bless his promise to Abraham: that his descendants would number thousands upon thousands. Did Jacob know he and his son Joseph would be part of that plan? Did Joseph know that when he was sold as a slave and taken to Egypt that God would later bless him abundantly with family restoration, escape from famine and use the years that followed to greatly multiply his people? Did the disciples realise that God would take their leader Jesus to the cross so that he could invite the whole world to be reunited to him? Just as Joseph's descendants would undergo severe persecution by the Egyptians before God brought them out and into the promised land, the very place where Jesus now sits talking to the Samaritan women about salvation and life, so God often allows troubles and trials, persecutions and sufferings along our journeys of faith and life until we too reach our promised land. His promise doesn't stop there, in eternity, although that is a great promise and one to hold on tightly to. His promise is life here and now, his water that will never leave us thirsty, just as he promised the Samaritan woman all those years before.
It is such a privilege to walk with God in this way, allowing him to be God and trusting him to direct our paths even when they fill up with obstacles. His ways are certainly higher and we may not understand our path, but in light of eternity, just as this story unfolds, we will see that God had a higher purpose, and we will understand that God knew what he was doing and had it all in control.
