October 20, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.” (Zechariah 13.1)

“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.‘” (John 4.13-14)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

If only everyone could hear the story of the Judeo-Christian faith in its finely woven tapestry of salvation history. Too many have been exposed to the legalistic, rule-oriented, works righteousness ethic which is an extreme of the faith to which we have been blessed and by which we are called. Life is and will remain a choice between two posits. How far apart they are depends on the extremism mentality a person proposes and projects. It is not so neat a clean as an all or nothing decision-making model. Nor is it the model of majority rules. The gospel story itself is a proposal of consensus with people working together to find the obtainable and sustainable middle ground. So, a far left is counter to a far right and vice versa. A middle right is counter to an extreme right as well as the middle left and extreme left and vice-versa and so on and so forth. There is a danger of believing that there is a middle ground to which everyone should attain. Such a position is in contradistinction to all other aspects on the spectrum and nullifies the dynamic and creative element out of the which God create all life both animate and inanimate. So, what is that measure of faith by which we all can find ourselves in agreement? It almost seems counterintuitive to say it because it is a focus on just one point which encompasses a breadth of the spectrum both right and left. That sounds terribly much like a “middle ground.” Of course, mighty ones of God, we know that focal point is Jesus Christ. We know that believing in Him to be the only begotten Son of God, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world (that is, the people who live on earth; and elsewhere if there is indeed life beyond this planet) and accept Him as the Son of Righteousness who is King of kings, Lord of lords, Savior and fellow servant in the accomplishing of the will of God. He is the measure by which all religions, philosophies, tenets, ideologies and politics are evaluated against. Many may not believe so in this day and age, but as we have been reading in Zechariah “on that Day” it will be the final and ultimate truth.

All people are in the search for truth. We all have a desire to know what authentic truth is, its value and how it pertains to us individually and corporately. Because we are such a diverse people there seems to be many truths. The volume of truths can be easily explained by what is needed and what is wanted in one’s own life and in the life of a community-at-large. That would be perceived truth. But is perceived truth actual truth which is universal and undeniable? Christ followers would say yes to certain issues which, in the words of the Apostle Paul, are indisputable truths. But what of the disputable truths which will vary in content, intent and intensity based on the person’s knowledge and experience? As followers of Christ we will hold to the teaching of Jesus concerning His own identity was recorded in the 14th chapter of John’s gospel where He said, “I AM the way, the truth and the life; only by this can one reach heaven to spend eternity in the presence of Almighty God.” What is THAT truth? In the midst of other perceived truths, what is the most spiritual truth of all? Perhaps the answer to that question is given in today’s text from Zechariah 13.1 which says, “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.”

We will hear it again in John’s remembrance of the day when he and his colleagues returned from Sychar with supplies and lunch. They had left Jesus as Jacob’s well around noon. They had apparently travelled a significant distance and it was a hot day. As was the case with most wells throughout Israel, it was a sheltered place with a pergola of sorts built over it to provide protection from the sun and the rain. While they were gone, a Samaritan woman approached to draw water. We would learn she came in the heat of the day to avoid others, especially other women, who would come to draw water themselves. She did not draw water only for herself but for others. It was her livelihood and means of supporting herself in her life condition. As she approached, perhaps hesitantly as it was obvious it was a Jewish man sitting by the well, Jesus asked her for a drink of water. He had nothing to lower into the well to get a drink. She probably had several jugs or skins to fill for herself and her clients. She was taken aback. The truth was 1) it was rare that a Jewish man would talk to a woman he did not know 2) it was even more skeptical when a Jewish man would speak to a Samaritan woman. It just wasn’t done. That was the truth. It was a truth which the disciples espoused upon their return finding Jesus speaking with an unknown woman, at least to them and Jesus. It was in the conversation between Jesus and the woman whose name we are never told, that we learn of the greater and more pertinent truth. That truth was the basis for understanding other truths which Jesus taught. What was it? The truth was “living water.” Truth is not brackish, dirty or contaminated. It was clear, clean and free from impurities and satisfied the thirst a person has for the meaning and purpose of life. Jesus declared that He was living water. Jesus suggested if the woman knew who He was she would be asking Him for “this water.” “This water” would yield eternal life welling up to the fullness of God Himself. (John 4.13-14) It was not truly understood by the woman until Jesus revealed Himself as the Messiah. Before that she thought Jesus was privileged to know of a well that produced water that would cure physical thirst. She may have even considered it a miracle tonic that would resolve so of life’s “other” problems which she faced. How the world is in search of such a tonic and Satan is always ready to convince you there is one.

The disciples often misunderstood what Jesus taught in a similar way. They saw things more “black and white,” two-dimensional as in “here and now.” Jesus, on the other hand, understood that life had height, depth, breadth, length, volume and time. Life was more challenging than even they thought out of their own finite experiences. Jesus continued to pique their spiritual curiosity with such infinite dimension. It would not be until they finally tasted that “living water” which became apparent to them in the truth of the resurrection. That truth bore witness as well to the fact that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Messiah, the evidence of God’s mercy and grace. For the disciples it was evidenced in the Upper Room on the third day (save for Thomas who would learn of the truth later.) For the rest of the world that wouldn’t believe in His resurrection witness and the disciples’ witness because of the resurrection, “the Day” was coming when such “living water that wells up to eternal life” would again present itself. How would it be presented? For that we only have to return back to the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. In her conversation with Jesus the truth came out that “one day, people will neither worship on this or that mountain but in spirit and in truth.” It will be in the true and authentic worship of God that the living water would be finally and completely known. It will run from the very throne of God and water the heavenly environs. Alongside the banks of the river of life would grow trees bearing spiritual fruit. It would flow continuously and steward life without bounds. Well, there would be one boundary and that we know from the evidence of the Dead Sea which is where the Jordan River stops flowing. It is harsh and brackish undrinkable water in the midst of a land of burning sand. The image could well be fitting to Hell where unbelievers and non-believers will spend their eternity hungering and thirsting for truth they can never access. Worse, they will know the truth but refuse to live in the way that truth abides and abounds. What can be worse than to refuse the truth that you know is good, right and perfect? I hope you, mighty one of God, will never know.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.