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John 4:4 Jesus was tempted in all ways as man yet without sin. Hb4:15 Get this picture. Jesus is wearied from his journey. He is alone. It is in the heat of the day and he meets a seductive woman at the well. We know she is seductive because this is the only recorded instance where Jesus reveals someone’s sin to them and that sin was that she had had five husbands and the man she was living with was not her husband. We also know that satan tempted Christ whenever he was hungry, thirsty, fasting, or weary. In this particular case he wants a drink and he is willing to break with custom and speak to a woman and a Samaritan at that, while he is alone. So I would suggest to you that Jesus is talking to a woman while he is weary and isolated and that he is experiencing sexual temptation. How does he deal with this temptation? He stays on his mission to bring salvation by getting into a discussion of living water and more importantly he confesses who he is. The only other time Jesus confesses who he is, is at his trial when he is to be crucified. The temptation of the woman is as strong as the temptation to flee the agony of the crucifixion. I can think of times in my own life that the only thing that kept me from succumbing to this temptation was in recognizing that I was a Christian and keeping my focus on the salvation of the person I was with. Those who commit this sin forget who they are and the purpose for which they were saved because they want to yield to sin. But if they truly wanted to overcome this temptation they would never forget who they are or the importance of bringing one to Christ. They would confess who they are at all costs. Thus Jesus says it is his food to do the will of the Father and finish his work and his work was to be a sinless sacrifice for sin. So instead of Jesus sinning, the woman becomes a believer, a town is converted, and Jesus is victorious. Jesus needed to go through Samaria to face a temptation common to man. If he had not faced this temptation he would not have been tempted in every way and he would not have been the propitiation for our sin. In this story he shows us the way to overcome this temptation. Let us learn from him the way to victory in all our temptations. Amen |