Women set Free (pt 1) by Molly Manhanga

It was a privilege sharing God's word with folk at Hope City Church in Bulawayo at the end of August. 

Title: Women set FREE

Main Text : John 4: 4 – 26

·         What connotations do you have when you hear the word FREE? Excitement, Joy, Relief, Belief and so on.

·         The opposite of being FREE is being BOUND. In chains, in prison, physical, mental, spiritual ailment.

·         Are you free this morning? If not, what has you bound? In this digital age we are living in, technology has become an addiction for many people. We are bound by it. Many of us cannot do without the mobile phone. But what is it that has you bound?

      Today we are focusing on 3 women:

                                i.            The woman at the well from John 4: 4 – 26

                              ii.            Esther 4: 12 – 17

                            iii.            A crippled woman who was healed on the Sabbath Luke 13:10 – 17

“NEVER LET WHAT YOUR EYES SEE DETERMINE WHAT YOUR HEART BELIEVES”

The woman at the well John 4: 4 - 26

 v 4 states “Now he had to go through Samaria”  Although this was the shortest route, these words indicate that Jesus was on a Mission and this mission was more important than the geography (Samaria)

The Jewish people often avoided Samaria by crossing the Jordan and travelling on the East Side. Jews did not ‘mix’/ associate themselves with the Samaritans. They were seen as ‘unclean’ because they were a racially mixed group of partly Jewish and partly Gentile ancestry. And yet Jesus – a Jew, HAD TO go through Samaria.

He had travelled a distance and came to a well where he sat down at the sixth hour – approximately 12 O’clock noon. A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water.

Women normally drew water in the morning or at the end of the day rather than in the heat of the day and this Samaritan woman considered immoral, came when it was hot and there was no-one else at the well.

Jesus took the initiative and spoke to the woman first and said: “Will you give me a drink?” This is a break from culture and tradition. It was not common practice for Jewish leaders to speak to women in public. This also shows Jesus desire to save the lost.

What this woman didn’t realize was that this was her “GOD MOMENT”. Her life would NEVER be the same again after this conversation. We all get those “aha moments or an epiphany when we realize that something has changed. I am not the same anymore!

The Samaritan woman didn’t realize WHO she was speaking to. She recognized him as being Jewish. Her level of conversation was superficial as we see in John 4:9 “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” He is British and I am Zimbabwean. What have we got to speak about? He is CEO and he is a farmer – surely not! Surely – YES! We need to get passed this level of communication. Remember Jesus HAD TO go through Samaria and with GOD, ALL things are possible.

V 10, Jesus says: “If you knew the gift of God and Who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you LIVING WATER.” – eternal life  - The gift of God is God’s grace through Christ. Jesus gives life and gives it freely.

What is Jesus asking of you this morning?

The conversation levels that ensue is interesting because it moves from superficial, to real – “Go and call your husband?” v 17 to Spiritual - worshipping God in spirit and truth. The place of worship is irrelevant but true worship is in keeping with God’s nature, which is spirit.

The Samaritan woman’s epiphany came in v 25 “I know the Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”  V 26 “Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”

This was the Samaritan woman’s transforming moment. The woman left her jar, went into town and told people, “Come see a man who told me everything I ever did!” That is the impact that Jesus had on her. Many Samaritan’s believed because of her testimony.

Has your testimony made many people believe? By all standards, this woman was seen as an immoral woman – she had 5 husbands and the man she was with wasn’t her husband. You see, Jesus knows everything about us including our thoughts and speech even before we say anything. He knows the number of hairs on our head and the days we have on this earth.

Jesus had to go through Samaria to set this woman free. That is the God we serve and He is here today.

“NEVER LET WHAT YOUR EYES SEE DETERMINE WHAT YOUR HEART BELIEVES”

Where were the disciples? The Bible tells us that the disciples had gone into town to buy food. Sometimes that is exactly what we need - A one-on-one with the Saviour and not have the distraction of others around or their opinions. When the disciples returned, they were surprised to see Jesus speaking to a woman. 

Stay with us for pt 2 on Women set FREE