The Power of Purity

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God is holy. God is pure. God is perfect. God's people are to be holy as He is holy. They are to be pure in heart and seek holiness and peace. They are to be perfect as God is perfect. There is blessing in having a pure heart: seeing God (Matthew 5:8). There is power in purity. God is looking for worshippers who worship Him in Spirit and truth from a pure heart. Worship with false motives or hypocritical religious ritual is of no value before the God of heaven. Worshipping God with hearts far removed from Him is useless. The omniscient God (all-knowing) sees the heart of each human being created in His image. Scripture has both good and bad examples to illustrate these points. 

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The Woman at the Well 

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Tired from a long journey, Jesus took a rest next to a well (John 4:6). It was the well of Jacob, the third of Israel's patriarchs. This had symbolic significance. In general terms, a well of water is a source of life for humans, animals and agriculture. Ancient civilisations were established alongside rivers. In ancient times, notably Egypt along the Nile, or the Fertile Crescent in ancient Mesopotamia ('land between two rivers') along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; large modern cities like Paris along the Seine or London along the Thames are also examples of the importance of water. Water is a source of life. Israel's ancient fathers, as all others not living near rivers or lakes, dug wells for sustenance. At times, there was dispute over these sources for existence (e.g., Genesis 26). The wells were important. 

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When Jesus took a rest, John notes that it was a parcel of land Jacob had given to Joseph near the city of Samaria (John 4:5-6). A woman came to draw water and Jesus asked for a drink (v 7) while His disciples went to buy food in the city (v 8). John explains the woman's surprise that Jesus, a Jew, would talk to her, a Samaritan: these two groups had no dealings with one another (v 9). There was religious animosity between Jews and Samaritans, going back to the time some Jews intermarried with Gentiles. Culturally, it was also not appropriate for a man to speak to a woman in public. Jesus crossed all the acceptable norms of His day to reach out to a woman in search for meaning and satisfaction in life. Jesus offered her 'the gift of God,' the 'living water' of eternal life (v 10). The woman still perplexed, asked about who He was. Jesus offered her 'water' that would truly and eternally satisfy: the 'water' of the Spirit of God unto eternal life: ​

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Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life" (John 4:13-14).

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The woman was eager to receive this water, but still didn't fully understand what Jesus offered her. She thought of natural satisfaction, so that she wouldn't need to return to this well of water again (v 15). Jesus then asked her about her private life. She had been with several husbands, but we don't know all the details. But we do know that the woman was honest with Jesus and that He did not reject her despite the failure in her past and present (vv 16-18). Jesus' nature is such that He reaches out to broken people, sinful people and rejected people. He came to seek and save what was lost (Luke 19:10). He is 'the good Shepherd' who came to seek the lost sheep, those suffering as 'sheep without a shepherd' (John 10:10-14; Matthew 9:35-36). The woman realises that Jesus is a prophet (John 4:19), and immediately asks Him important religious questions: what the right way to worship is (v 20).​

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