Let us consider three barriers Jesus had to break down in his encounter with the Samaritan woman.

1. Jesus Broke through the Sexual Barrier: “There cometh a woman”¦” (v. 7).

If you dream about the ideal soul-winning situation, it will never happen. Every soul-winning encounter I have had looked impossible – some more than others.

In many places in the Middle East, there are barriers between men and women. Furthermore, a single man and an adulterous woman alone at a well was an uncomfortable situation. There were only two options for Jesus: to leave, or to witness. Jesus chose to abandon accepted, earthly etiquette, choosing instead to witness. In doing so, he greatly surprised his disciples, for it says, “And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman”¦” (v. 27a).

2. Jesus Broke through the Religious Barrier: “Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” (v. 9).

The Samaritan population arose during the Assyrian occupation, were the children from mixed marriages between Jews and Assyrians. These people had adopted the five books of Moses, they had a messianic expectation, and they expected a temple to be rebuilt in Samaria. The Jews hated these “corrupted competitors.” Hence, no dealing with the Samaritans. But Jesus broke through this barrier also.

The Holy Spirit led so, and divine love did so! When you are walking in the Spirit, you must not allow any barriers to stop you.

Many people start to witness, stepping into the way of soul-winning, but when the barriers come up, they become weary and quit before the battle is won. They quit when they are confronted with blank stares of disinterest, with statements like, ‘I’m a Hindu,” or “I have my own religion,” or “Christians are hypocrites.”

3. Jesus Broke through the Sin Barrier: “¦thou hast had five husbands”¦” (v.18).

The Samaritan woman was an adulteress. She could have been a prostitute, or the town sinner. Scholars tell us that it was uncommon in that day for someone to go to a well to draw water in the heat of high noon, except for the outcasts. This woman was a woman who had no morality. To her, there was no sin – only pleasure and then disappointment.

Why witness to the wicked, to sexual perverts, to the immoral, or to the rebellious? Why witness to a man who has tattoos all over his arms and chest, holding a glass of beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other, with pornographic pictures on his walls?

Friend, is that a barrier to press through, or is it a stop sign to give up and back off? Oh, keep on, my friend. Didn’t Jesus say, “Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matt. 21:31b). Rejecting a religion of escapism, soul-winners see saints in sinners and encounter them at every level of wickedness. So Jesus said, “Go, call thy husband”¦” (v. 16).

On this day...

• Exodus 21 - 2024
• Genesis 20 - 2024
• April 17, 2014 - 2014
• Psalm 24:3-6 - 2011
• Psalms 45:8 - 2009
• Ezekiel 34:26 - 2009
• Job 10:2 - 2009
• Genesis 24:63 - 2008
• John 9:7 - 2007
• volition - 2007