The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Then they went out of the city and came to Him. (John 4:28-30)

To get the full impact of the encounter that Jesus had with a Samaritan woman by the well, you need to take into consideration the cultural and historic traditions that are interwoven in the narrative.

John addresses this squarely when he reports her words: “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” He follows it up with a word of explanation for his mostly non-Jewish audience: “For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”

The Jews considered the Samaritans to be heretic half-breeds. They had compromised the purity of their race by marrying Gentiles. And they worshipped God, not in Jerusalem, as the Jews did, but at a temple they built on Mount Gerizim.

For this reason, Jews did their level best to avoid travelling in Samaritan territory, as they were sure to be treated with hostility.

That is why the woman was so surprised

a. to see a Jewish man in town and

b. to hear him say: “Give Me a drink.”

Yet that one conversation initiated by Jesus in what was likely an awkward situation led to the transformation of that entire city.

You will notice that Jesus does not get “spiritual” with her to get the ball rolling. He just uses what is appropriate in that context to start a conversation.

She is there to draw water from the well. He is tired from walking all morning. (What the Bible calls the sixth hour of the day is noon, when the heat is intense and thirst is a natural consequence).

In other words, there was nothing out of the ordinary or inappropriate about his request for a drink.

That opening request from Jesus gets her talking. They go back and forth. As a matter of fact, she proves that she can hold her own in a theological discussion with Jesus. Of course, as time goes on, Jesus gets a revelation about her married life and turns the conversation around by asking her to go get her husband.

When she discovers that Jesus had access to insider information that a total stranger would not be expected to know…she calls him a prophet. Then she goes back into town and invites everyone to come and meet Jesus.

Here is what Holy Spirit is highlighting in today’s DWOD. It all began with a simple conversation starter on Jesus’ part. One response leads to another and before you know it, a whole city has come to Jesus.

There are times when we think we have to do something really great, complex or complicated to accomplish great results. We put pressure on ourselves to come up with the perfect opening line, the next three possible retorts and appropriate responses. Or we draw up a great plan and worry ourselves silly over everything that could go wrong.

Sadly, sometimes this results in us doing nothing at all, when all we have to do is obey the Holy Spirit’s nudge, open our mouth and say something that is not all that profound as: “Give Me a drink.”

Or “Can you please tell me how to get to the park?” Or “Is there a restaurant around here that serves fish?”

That one conversation that Jesus initiated with the Samaritan woman changed her entire city.

That one opening sentence you say to a total stranger could not only change their life, but also the life of their family and friends. Even their city!

Pastor Jeeva

P.S: Have you had any experiences such as this? Please share with the rest of your DWOD family.

His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” (John 2:5)

The life and ministry of the prophet Elisha is replete with astounding miracles that are unlike any other in the Old Testament. You may wish to read chapters 2-6 of 2 Kings in one sitting to get the full impact of how the Double Portion of Elijah’s spirit manifested in Elisha’s life.

Although these miracles are so different from one another, there is one characteristic that many of them have in common. They require the recipients of the miracle to do something rather unusual.

Here are a few that will catch your attention:

• Counselling the kings to get their soldiers to dig ditches, when they were already suffering from dehydration. Shouldn’t they be conserving their energy to fight the enemy instead of expending it on excavating?
• Urging the widow of the prophet to borrow vessels from all her neighbours. I mean you can explain why you need a bowl of sugar, but can you see the awkwardness she would’ve experienced in borrowing bowls only, no sugar?
• Commanding Naaman, the Commander of the Syrian army, to go dip seven times in the muddy waters of the Jordan so he could be cleansed of leprosy. Could you really blame Naaman for bristling at this unorthodox prescription?

As you can see clearly, no obedience to the prophet’s words, no miracles!

In John’s account of the very first miracle done by Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus, tells the servants: “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

The key word here is WHATEVER. No matter how ridiculous it may seem, no matter whether it makes logical sense or not, no matter whether it makes you look bad or not…WHATEVER He says, just do it. No questions asked.

Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.  

Can you imagine how the servants would have felt when they were told to take the water to the master of the feast? The water had not yet turned into wine when they took the pots over. Ah, but, Mother Mary did say: “WHATEVER.” So they simply obeyed.

It was only when they started pouring it for the master of the feast that they discovered that the water had turned into wine.

Without the obedience of the servants, the water does not get changed into wine.

Go back and read the miracles that Elisha did. Do they not resemble the miracles of Jesus when it comes to requiring obedience?

He tells a man with a withered hand: “Stretch forth your hand.” What a ridiculous request! Jesus, can’t you see that’s his problem? He cannot stretch it forth because it is withered, hello! Yet, when he obeys, his hand is made whole. (Luke 6:6-11)

In John 9, we read about a man who was blind from birth encountering Jesus. He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” Pray tell, what does a mud plaster have to do with curing blindness? So he went and washed, and came back seeing. Obedience is the key that unlocks his miracle.

It was only when the servants filled the pots with water and then took it in faith to the master of the feast that the miracle happened. Water + “Whatever” leads to a miracle.

Dear DWOD friend, how good are you at obeying the Lord? Do you only obey when it makes sense? Or, like the servants in Cana of Galilee, do you obey commands which absolutely make so sense whatsoever?

The difference could be as dramatic as that between water and wine!