John 4:1-42
Chang'E and
the Samaritan Woman
The
most famous Mid-Autumn Festival story is Chang’E flying to the moon. The story
goes like this…
Long,
long ago, there were ten suns in the sky. The suns burnt all the plants and
people were dying on Earth, until one day, the excellent archer Hou Yi used his bow and
arrows to shoot down nine of the suns. Earth was saved, and people flocked to
learn archery from Hou Yi.
The
Western Queen Mother gave Hou Yi a bottle of elixir that could make one person
immortal. Although Hou Yi did want to become immortal, he wanted to stay with
his wife Chang’E more. Therefore, he just kept it at home.
Pang
Meng, one of his students, tried to seize the elixir when Hou Yi wasn’t at
home. Faced with greedy Pang Meng, Chang’E decided to drink the elixir. It made
her fly to the moon where she would stay forever.
To
remember her and pray to her, Hou Yi and others started to worship the moon
with many offerings.
Chang’E’s
image usually appears on Mid-Autumn Festival pictures. Children in the ancient China
were told that Chang’E was still living on the moon. And on the night of the
Mid-Autumn Festival, when the moon was bright, children tried their best to
find the shape of Chang’E on the moon.
Chang’E’ story emphasizes people have long
wanted to be immortal and free from
bondages on earth. They could achieve that by consuming the ‘elixir’ from
heaven. But immortality will only come with a great price which they cannot afford to pay, that is “parting
with their loved ones”! Indeed it is such a misery or agony if we live in
eternity but without love!
In comparison to Chang’E story, the Bible also
tells us a story of a woman who received salvation from bondage of life. By her
faith in Jesus, she was granted total freedom and loving relationship in eternity.
New Testament, Gospel of John chapter 4
records that, Jesus once came to Samaria. He was tired from the 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.”
The woman was surprised, for Jews refused to
have anything to do with Samaritans. There were harsh racial and cultural
conflicts between Jews and Samaritans.
She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a
Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for
you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,”
she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water?
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, “gives me this
water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get
water.”
If she were given the kind of water
that she requested, she would forever escape from the crowd, cut-off from
relationship of love, like Chang’E! Consequently, she would be thirstier,
isolated and lost! Of course, Jesus would not grant her that kind of water.
Instead, Jesus wanted to grant her the
living water that can truly quench her soul forever. So, Jesus addressed her
sin prophetically.
“Go and get your husband,” Jesus 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 you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”
Jesus saw right into the heart of this
woman and knew what was going on. This nameless Samaritan woman was divorced
five times, obviously by five different husbands. And she was currently deprived
of a marriage life by another man.
Now we know, she did not go in the morning or in the evening to draw water because there
would have been many women drawing water during those hours. She did not want
to be seen by others in order to avoid the gossips.
Her irregular marriage status caused her to feel shame and guilt. She
expressed this by avoiding people. She was lonely, rejected and was
having an identity crisis. She knew her life was in a mess, and she knew that
Jesus knew all that.
Jesus knows your needs too. He accepts
you for who you are. When you are avoiding the crowd, feeling lonely, Jesus is
on your “Samaria” to lead you out of your helpless predicament.
“Sir,” the woman said, “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
worshiped?”
Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman; the time is
coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that
way. For God is
Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in Truth.”
What is the meaning of “worship the
Father in Spirit and in truth?”
Jesus wants to grant us the living
water. This living water is no ordinary elixir, it is God’s own
Spirit—the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit indwells in us, He will reveal
to us the Truth and prompt us to receive the Truth. What is this Truth then?
In fact, Jesus Christ is the Truth. For
he says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”
So, the Holy Spirit will prompt us to receive
Jesus as saviour of our lives. Then we will be able to obey to truly worship
God and receive a blessed and abundant life from God!
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!”
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 the people came streaming
from the village to see him.
Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had
said, “He told me everything I ever did!”
When they came out to see him, they begged Jesus to stay in their
village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message
and believe.
Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what
you told, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is
indeed the Saviour of the world.”
Conclusion
After meeting with Jesus, the Samaritan woman had
found the ‘living water’ which could truly quench her thirst. So, she left her water jar beside the well. She could then leave all her
burden—“hurts, bitterness, disillusion, and estrangement with people”, to
Jesus.
Then she went back to her village and gave her testimony. Previously, she
dared not come into contact with others, but now she ran to meet them. She was
no longer living in fear and shame.
Clearly, she overcame sin and broke its power through Jesus Christ. She
became a new creation. She gained a new life. She was transformed. The Bible
says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has
passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:17).
At first, we see a picture of
estrangement, loneliness, criticism, condemnation, identity crisis and
rejection. But at the end, the Samaritan woman returned to her people, and the two
communities: Samaritans and the Jews were connected. This transformation could
happen because they received Jesus as saviour. Jesus had granted them the
living water—the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is indeed the Saviour of the world.
Salvation is to reach outside Judaism to be embraced by the world. Now with
this incident in Samaria, the process of reaching out to heal many lives has begun.
Application
God the Father loves us and He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, from heaven to
the earth. Jesus paid a great price by leaving the Father, and died on
the cross for our sins. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, he conquered the
power of sin and death so that those among us who place our trust in Him would receive
the forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
More than this, we also become overcomers by the power of the Holy
Spirit. For Jesus has promised us, “Anyone who is
thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and
drink! Rivers of living water – the Holy Spirit will flow from his heart.”
So, today let’s leave all our ‘water jars’ and turn to Jesus. With Jesus
indwell in us through the Holy Spirit, we will taste the true meaning of freedom, which is to worship God and bring
glory to Him. We will live a rich, abounding, and meaningful life, like the
Samaritan woman, and become a witness of God.
Prayer and Calling
Nothing in this world can save us from the power of sin. Education,
wealth, and social welfare cannot deliver us from our bodies of death. But
through Jesus Christ, we can be saved!
If anyone among us is convicted that he or she is bound and made captive
by the power of sin; experiencing all sort of abuses and miseries; do cry out
now to Jesus, “What a miserable person I am! Jesus, please help me overcome! Jesus,
save me! Forgive me of my sins. Grant me renewed strength by the Holy Spirit. Heal
me of all sickness and bondage. Give to me the eternal life. Help me to live
the abundant life that is full of hope and purpose.”
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