JOY by Beth

“The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called the Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’” (John 4: 25-26)

I was recently asked to speak on the topic of “Joy” for a ladies night out at a local church here in South Carolina. As I began to pray about the direction the Lord would have me go in regards to what the Scriptures tell us about joy, the Spirit led me straight to John 4. I thought, but Lord, that’s about an outcast! Not only an outcast, but an outcast who longs for contentment and fulfillment found in the world.  It talks about the disciples arguing over who brought Jesus’s lunch! Where is joy in that Lord? 

Do you recall the story in John 4:7-30? 

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her,?“Give Me a drink.” For His?disciples had gone away to?the city to buy food.?So the?Samaritan woman said to Him, “How?is it that?You,?though?You are a Jew, are asking me for a drink,?though?I am a Samaritan woman?” (For?Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)?Jesus replied to her,?“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you?living water.”? ^?She said to Him, “Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do You get?this?living water??You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who?gave us the well and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?”?Jesus answered and said to her,?“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again;?but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him?shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to?eternal life.” 

The woman said to Him, ^“Sir,?give me this water so that I will not be thirsty, nor come?all the way?here to draw?water.”?He said to her,?“Go, call your husband and come here.” The woman answered and said to Him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her,?“You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’;?for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this?which?you have said?is?true.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are?a prophet.?Our fathers worshiped on?this mountain, and?yet?you?Jews?say that?in Jerusalem is the place where one must worship.”?Jesus said to her,?“Believe Me, woman, that?a time is coming when you will worship the Father?neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You?Samaritans?worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, because?salvation is from the Jews.? ^?But?a time is coming, and?even now has arrived, when the true worshipers will worship the Father?in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks?to be?His worshipers.?God is?spirit, and those who worship Him must worship?in spirit and truth.”?The woman said to Him, “I know that?Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.”?Jesus said to her,?“I am?He, the One speaking to you.” 

And at this point His?disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What are You seeking?” or, “Why are You speaking with her?”?  So the woman left her waterpot and went into the city, and said to the people, “Come, see a Man?who told me all the things that I have done;?this is not the?Christ, is He?”?  They left the city and were coming to Him.”

Do you see the JOY found in this passage? 

I love what John 15:16 reminds us, “I chose you, you did not choose me.” Look at Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them,” and Ephesians 1:4, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world…” Long before the outcast was ever born, Jesus saw her and knew her. He chose her before the foundation of the world. So, on that day, at high noon, this outcast coming to draw water alone, was not alone! Jesus was there. He saw her before she saw Him. He already knew her whole life! He knew her beginning and her end and everyday in-between. 

True JOY came after she confessed her sin in verse 17. Even after arguing with Jesus about what true worship is in verses 19-20, the Spirit begins to draw her to the Father! He begins to open her spiritual eyes, begins to give her understanding, and she cries out to Jesus in verse 25 saying, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called the Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” Then Jesus (the only place in Scripture that He declares Who He is) replies, “I who speak to you am He.” Talk about JOY!  She could hardly contain the joy! She had met the One true Christ! The Messiah, her Savior! Christ the Messiah had found HER!   

The Scriptures go on to tell us in verse 28 “so the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all the things I have done; this is not the Christ, is He?’” She could not contain her joy! She couldn’t hold it in. She exuded the joy of Jesus because she had been found by Him and forgiven of her sin. 

Have you experienced this Joy in your life? Have you confessed and repented of your sin? Romans 3:23 tells us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and I John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” What is keeping you today from experiencing everlasting joy in knowing Jesus?  

What is your response?