提要
我很喜歡耶穌與撒瑪利亞婦人談道的故事。我喜歡它的理由很多，首先，因為耶穌的心靈很自由，祂不會因為與一個婦人在平等的地位上交談而感到不安。更叫旁觀者吃驚的是，那位婦人是撒瑪利亞人，而耶穌是猶太人。猶太人與撒瑪利亞人向來彼此仇視。
其次，我喜歡這個故事是因為它是猶太教師教導風格的絕佳範例。猶太教師擅於引發學生的胃口、出題誘導學生思想，到一個地步，曙光乍現，學生自己道出了老師要教導的功課，好像他們一開始就知道一樣。希臘哲學家柏拉圖就深得此法精髓。與此種風格比起來，平舖直接的陳述就顯得笨拙多了。
在這個故事裡，耶穌激發婦人的胃口。或者更正確的說祂製造飢渴感。祂很有技巧的向那婦人要水喝，好像是，祂自己口渴一樣。然後祂就一直引導她前進，到最後，談到彌賽亞時，祂可以對婦人說：「這和妳說話的就是祂。」太奇妙了！
我喜歡這個故事最主要的理由是這個婦人的誠實。她大可對耶穌隱藏自己的婚姻狀況，但她沒有。她直說：「我沒有丈夫。」她的誠實在這場對話裡十分重要。耶穌能對誠實的心說話。向耶穌敞露你的心，祂就會對你敞露祂的心，相反的，封閉的思想將永難開竅。
這就是為什麼我選擇廿四節作為鑰節。毫無疑問的，我們與上帝的關係是屬靈的層次，但我們的心若有不誠實，我們的靈就蒙上烏雲。我們對上帝必須坦白。
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Overview
I love this story – for several reasons. Firstly, because Jesus was such a free spirit that He had no qualms about talking to a woman on equal ground. That ground, in this case, was at Jacob’s well near Sychar in Samaria. But what made it even more astonishing, as far as onlookers were concerned, was the fact that this woman was a Samaritan and Jesus a Jew. Jews hated Samaritans, and the feeling was reciprocal.
Secondly, I love it because it’s such an excellent example of Jesus’ Semitic teaching style. It was a style that saw clear, concise, easily understood assertions as artless. In Semitic teaching you whet the appetite, you baffle, you lead your student on – to the point where the light suddenly dawns and he asserts the lesson himself. Almost as if he’d known it all along. The Greek philosopher, Plato, had some insight into this method as well.
Jesus whets the woman’s appetite here. Perhaps, more accurately, He creates thirst. He does it artfully, by asking for a drink, as if He’s the one who is thirsty. Then He leads the woman on, until finally He is able to say to her, in reference to the Messiah of Israel, “I who speak to you am He.” It is marvelous!
Maybe one of the reasons I most love this story, though, is the woman’s honesty. She had every reason to hide her marital status from Jesus, but didn’t. She told it like it was, “I have no husband.” I think this honesty was critical in the conversation. Jesus can speak to honest heart. Expose you r heart to Him, and He will expose His heart to you; hidden hearts. On the other hand, remain hidden.
This is why I chose verse 24 as the key verse. No question, we relate to God on the spiritual level, but our spirits are clouded as long as there is untruth in us. With God you’ve got to tell it like it is.
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