John 4:1-30
Jesus & The Woman At The Well • 3.2.08 • Kingsfield Church, Sunday Morning Service
Intro
- We have called this series that we are currently in “Perspective” and have asked the Lord to give us His perspective, while committing to give up our own.
- Often times our own perspectives are colored by the labels or preconceived notions that we have about people. But if we want to gain the Lord’s perspective, we must see people, not labels.
- It’s our nature to see a rich young ruler, and believe that there is nothing that can be added to him. However, the Lord saw a man afraid of death, lacking peace about the subject of eternity.
- Some in this world would never take a moment to look into the eyes of the woman with the issue of blood. Her needs were overwhelming. Jesus looked her in the eyes and called her “Daughter,” healing her not just of a physical ailment, but an emotional scar as well.
- We don’t want to see problems, personalities, issues or idiosyncracies. We want to see people with a need for Jesus. We want to see them as Jesus did.
- He met these people, looked them in the eye, refused to buy into their façade, and offered to set them free. He offered them the life that He offers you, whatever your story might be.
- If we would be like Jesus, we must endeavor to respond the same way.
- Today, we continue this series with another famous story and another awe-inspiring moment. Our outline will play out for us in this fashion as we examine John chapter 4.
- Jesus is in Judea and was going to head back into the Galilean region, which is in the North.
- Between the Judean and Galilee regions lies Samaria. Jews in that time would have normally opted for a more circuitous route, thus avoiding Samaria.
- John notes in verse 4, that Jesus needed to go through Samaria. Obviously, he did not need to go, in that there were no other roads. Rather, He needed to go through Samaria because it was His Father’s will that He do so.
- Often in the gospels, we see this perfect obedience to God’s desire and timing. Here we see Jesus obeying in what must have tested the rest of the disciple’s patience.
- The disciples, being normal Jewish men, shared a common hatred of the Samaritans. To understand why, we need to look back into the time of the Assyrian invasion of Israel.
- The Assyrians took the best and brightest of their conquered into Assyria. The best from Israel, as well as other nations, came into Assyria and added their skills and creativity to the mother land.
- Those that did not fit this description however, were mixed with other conquered nations and dropped off. Guess where? That’s right! Samaria, where there lived an amalgamation both of people and religious beliefs, mixed in with the worship of the “native” God, Yahweh.
• II Kings 17:41 : “So these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children's children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.”
- Because of this admixture, the Jews saw a people who held to some of their beliefs, but also held onto pagan beliefs as well, which made the Samaritans a hated people.
- In fact, Jews would only utter the word “Samaritan” if they wanted to curse!
- Jesus ended His journey, due to exhaustion in a city called Sychar, sitting by a well.
- It’s sometime between 11 and noon.
- First notice that this is one woman. This is unusual for two reasons.
- First, is the social aspect. Yes, just like today, women back in that time would go to the watering hole in groups and during the earlier, less arid part of the day. Yet, this woman comes at a time when she will be alone.
- Second a Jewish man talks with her.
-Jesus is alone, the Disciples having gone on a fast food run. Jesus sees this woman and talks to her. Again, completely abnormal, as a Jewish man would never ask anything of a Samaritan woman.
- For a Rabbi or teacher of the law, It was near unlawful for a man to speak at all to any woman. That included his own wife!
- The Rabbinic law said, “It is better to burn the law than give it to a woman!”
- Jesus speaks to her, and asks her for a drink. She is amazed that a Jew would talk to her.
- Jesus said to her, “If you only knew who I was!” Jesus does not wait for her to figure out who He is. He goes straight for her, opening the door for her to get the revelation of her life.
- Jesus makes an incredible statement. I have living water!
- He tells her that He would offer her more than she could give Him, for He is the source of a water that is living.
- To a person sitting there in this context, one might have believed that Jesus was offering spring water, which was often called “living” water, because it bubbled and came out of the ground.
- Water provides the illustration. Picture this woman. Alone, friendless, during the heat of the day, coming to a well.
- It’s the grind, the visual reminder that this is how life will always be: I’m thirsty, I must return to this well, day after day, never to be satisfied!
- “Sounds like my life,” she thinks. No satisfaction. “I’m burned out, bummed out, and burdened.” There is no end in sight. That is until she meets Jesus, who unexpectedly interrupts her.
- Jesus is offering to satisfy her spiritual thirst. He is sharing a wonderful picture with her and you can tell that she understands.
- The well is the picture of life. It requires you to return, again and again, to regain your fill of water. Eventually though, the water you have collected is gone, and it’s time to refill again.
- It’s a grind, a chore, but a necessity. Jesus is telling this world weary soul that those who keep coming back to the well of life, looking to be satisfied, will continue to do so.
- It is true of every physical experience in this world, that there will constantly be a need to return.
- What Jesus offers to this woman is a spring of everlasting, satisfied life, which comes from a right relationship with the Giver, who is the Lord Jesus. He can give her this satisfaction.
- I love that Jesus is offering this to a Samaritan woman. Any other Rabbi, bound by their own traditions, would simply have cast this Samaritan woman aside to her fate. Jesus offers her life.
- Sinners were comfortable around Jesus. They sat and asked Him questions and enjoyed His presence. Jesus always showed a graciousness to such people.
- At one point, the Pharisees questioned Jesus about His methods.
• Matthew 9:10-13 : “Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard that, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’”
- Before we move on, I will venture to guess that you know a few people like this: Running to the well of excitement, thrills, sexuality, power and on down the line.
- You have seen that they will ever thirst again, always falling short of utter satisfaction.
- Jesus is the one who can give them that, where all other wells have failed.
- He still offers this to the world today.
• Revelation 22:16,17 : “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”
- “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” This is the true cry of every desperate, weary soul in the world. “I want relief! I want to be satisfied!”
- Don’t we all? Isn’t that our hearts desire? Nobody wants to continue to go to the well of worldly satisfaction, day after day!
- It’s really difficult to understand how it is that people can refuse what Jesus freely offers them. Life, forgiveness, joy, eternal life! Who wouldn’t want that? Yet, there are many who will refuse the Lord’s free gift.
• John 3:18-20 : “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”
- Jesus realizes something here that we often forget: Satisfaction in life cannot be attained while we live in unrighteousness.
- Jesus puts His finger on the issue that would keep her from being satisfied. It was her relationship with a man that was not her husband.
- Jesus’ knowledge of her true situation inspires the most obvious comment in scripture! Of course, He is a prophet!
- Then the woman at the well confesses. I know that I am a sinner, but where do I go?
- Her statement about Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal was an issue of deep confusion for her. The Samaritans accepted the Torah, but ended each of the stories ended at their mountain, Gerizim.
- The Garden of Eden, the Isaac episode, etc., ended on the mountain that held their Temple.
- Jesus brings her back to His invitation. Worship is not about locality. It’s about reality.
- You are the temple. Are you His, wholly, and completely? Is your mind, fully and totally focused upon pleasing and honoring God?
- The Father is seeking such to worship, who will worship in Spirit and in truth. He wants people whose life will be consistent with the truth, who will be all His.
- She is looking to a time that she figures can’t possibly be now. Just like the person in the world today, who figures, someday, God will sort it all out.
- The desperate, thirsty soul of this world believes this. Someday! Someday it will all be right, everything will align, and I’ll be satisfied. But it’s not now! No, it can’t be!
- Jesus plainly speaks and tells her that He is the one she has been waiting for!
- Notice that Jesus says very clearly that He is the Messiah. In case anyone, ever tells you that He never referred to Himself as the Messiah, please refer them to this verse!
- What a moment! Imagine if you will the look of Jesus, as the eyes of eternity met hers. She saw truth, kindness, love and forgiveness and knew it was true. How do I know? Because she went and told others.
- She went to her friends and acquaintances and to whomever would listen and imperatively implored them to come to this man. Could this be the Christ? Her testimony was so shocking that they came!
- Let’s look down to verse 39 and see what happened as a result of this woman’s testimony.
• John 4:39-42 : “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.’”
Conclusion
- Today, we can end this sermon with a few very important observations. First, the Lord Jesus is offering life to a woman with a bad reputation, who is seeking to find her life at other wells.
- There are people in our lives, with similar reputations. Will you extend the offer of Christ’s life to them?
- Today, you might be a person with a reputation. God offers you the gift of life. Will you turn from the things that would keep you from enjoying all that God has for you? If you will, you will enjoy the Lord and be satisfied for eternity!
Jesus & The Woman At The Well • 3.2.08 • Kingsfield Church, Sunday Morning Service
Intro
- We have called this series that we are currently in “Perspective” and have asked the Lord to give us His perspective, while committing to give up our own.
- Often times our own perspectives are colored by the labels or preconceived notions that we have about people. But if we want to gain the Lord’s perspective, we must see people, not labels.
- It’s our nature to see a rich young ruler, and believe that there is nothing that can be added to him. However, the Lord saw a man afraid of death, lacking peace about the subject of eternity.
- Some in this world would never take a moment to look into the eyes of the woman with the issue of blood. Her needs were overwhelming. Jesus looked her in the eyes and called her “Daughter,” healing her not just of a physical ailment, but an emotional scar as well.
- We don’t want to see problems, personalities, issues or idiosyncracies. We want to see people with a need for Jesus. We want to see them as Jesus did.
- He met these people, looked them in the eye, refused to buy into their façade, and offered to set them free. He offered them the life that He offers you, whatever your story might be.
- If we would be like Jesus, we must endeavor to respond the same way.
- Today, we continue this series with another famous story and another awe-inspiring moment. Our outline will play out for us in this fashion as we examine John chapter 4.
I. The Context (v.1-6)
II. The Conversation (v.7-14)
III. The Confrontation (v.15-24)
IV. The Conversion (v.25-30)
TextII. The Conversation (v.7-14)
III. The Confrontation (v.15-24)
IV. The Conversion (v.25-30)
I. The Context (v.1-6)
• John 4:1-6 : “Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.” : The Lord’s ministry was thriving, eclipsing the ministry of John the Baptist. John’s ministry is going on during this time, letting us know that Jesus has only recently begun His public ministry.- Jesus is in Judea and was going to head back into the Galilean region, which is in the North.
- Between the Judean and Galilee regions lies Samaria. Jews in that time would have normally opted for a more circuitous route, thus avoiding Samaria.
- John notes in verse 4, that Jesus needed to go through Samaria. Obviously, he did not need to go, in that there were no other roads. Rather, He needed to go through Samaria because it was His Father’s will that He do so.
- Often in the gospels, we see this perfect obedience to God’s desire and timing. Here we see Jesus obeying in what must have tested the rest of the disciple’s patience.
- The disciples, being normal Jewish men, shared a common hatred of the Samaritans. To understand why, we need to look back into the time of the Assyrian invasion of Israel.
- The Assyrians took the best and brightest of their conquered into Assyria. The best from Israel, as well as other nations, came into Assyria and added their skills and creativity to the mother land.
- Those that did not fit this description however, were mixed with other conquered nations and dropped off. Guess where? That’s right! Samaria, where there lived an amalgamation both of people and religious beliefs, mixed in with the worship of the “native” God, Yahweh.
• II Kings 17:41 : “So these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children's children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.”
- Because of this admixture, the Jews saw a people who held to some of their beliefs, but also held onto pagan beliefs as well, which made the Samaritans a hated people.
- In fact, Jews would only utter the word “Samaritan” if they wanted to curse!
- Jesus ended His journey, due to exhaustion in a city called Sychar, sitting by a well.
- It’s sometime between 11 and noon.
II. The Conversation (v.7-14)
• John 4:7-14 : “A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink.’ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, ‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?’ For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?’ Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.’” : At first glance, this seems like a normal scenario. However, this meeting is anything but normal.- First notice that this is one woman. This is unusual for two reasons.
- First, is the social aspect. Yes, just like today, women back in that time would go to the watering hole in groups and during the earlier, less arid part of the day. Yet, this woman comes at a time when she will be alone.
- Second a Jewish man talks with her.
-Jesus is alone, the Disciples having gone on a fast food run. Jesus sees this woman and talks to her. Again, completely abnormal, as a Jewish man would never ask anything of a Samaritan woman.
- For a Rabbi or teacher of the law, It was near unlawful for a man to speak at all to any woman. That included his own wife!
- The Rabbinic law said, “It is better to burn the law than give it to a woman!”
- Jesus speaks to her, and asks her for a drink. She is amazed that a Jew would talk to her.
- Jesus said to her, “If you only knew who I was!” Jesus does not wait for her to figure out who He is. He goes straight for her, opening the door for her to get the revelation of her life.
- Jesus makes an incredible statement. I have living water!
- He tells her that He would offer her more than she could give Him, for He is the source of a water that is living.
- To a person sitting there in this context, one might have believed that Jesus was offering spring water, which was often called “living” water, because it bubbled and came out of the ground.
- Water provides the illustration. Picture this woman. Alone, friendless, during the heat of the day, coming to a well.
- It’s the grind, the visual reminder that this is how life will always be: I’m thirsty, I must return to this well, day after day, never to be satisfied!
- “Sounds like my life,” she thinks. No satisfaction. “I’m burned out, bummed out, and burdened.” There is no end in sight. That is until she meets Jesus, who unexpectedly interrupts her.
- Jesus is offering to satisfy her spiritual thirst. He is sharing a wonderful picture with her and you can tell that she understands.
- The well is the picture of life. It requires you to return, again and again, to regain your fill of water. Eventually though, the water you have collected is gone, and it’s time to refill again.
- It’s a grind, a chore, but a necessity. Jesus is telling this world weary soul that those who keep coming back to the well of life, looking to be satisfied, will continue to do so.
- It is true of every physical experience in this world, that there will constantly be a need to return.
- What Jesus offers to this woman is a spring of everlasting, satisfied life, which comes from a right relationship with the Giver, who is the Lord Jesus. He can give her this satisfaction.
- I love that Jesus is offering this to a Samaritan woman. Any other Rabbi, bound by their own traditions, would simply have cast this Samaritan woman aside to her fate. Jesus offers her life.
- Sinners were comfortable around Jesus. They sat and asked Him questions and enjoyed His presence. Jesus always showed a graciousness to such people.
- At one point, the Pharisees questioned Jesus about His methods.
• Matthew 9:10-13 : “Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard that, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’”
- Before we move on, I will venture to guess that you know a few people like this: Running to the well of excitement, thrills, sexuality, power and on down the line.
- You have seen that they will ever thirst again, always falling short of utter satisfaction.
- Jesus is the one who can give them that, where all other wells have failed.
- He still offers this to the world today.
• Revelation 22:16,17 : “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”
III. The Confrontation (v.15-24)
• John 4:15-24 : “The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’ The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You have well said, 'I have no husband’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’" : Here we have come to the moment of truth. This woman wants to be satisfied. She wants what Jesus is offering to her.- “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” This is the true cry of every desperate, weary soul in the world. “I want relief! I want to be satisfied!”
- Don’t we all? Isn’t that our hearts desire? Nobody wants to continue to go to the well of worldly satisfaction, day after day!
- It’s really difficult to understand how it is that people can refuse what Jesus freely offers them. Life, forgiveness, joy, eternal life! Who wouldn’t want that? Yet, there are many who will refuse the Lord’s free gift.
• John 3:18-20 : “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”
- Jesus realizes something here that we often forget: Satisfaction in life cannot be attained while we live in unrighteousness.
- Jesus puts His finger on the issue that would keep her from being satisfied. It was her relationship with a man that was not her husband.
˚ “One of the reasons that she was not so popular with the women was because she was very popular with the men!”
- This woman is caught in her sin and the Lord bids her to give up her sin, in order to get the living water. Will she? J.Vernon McGhee
- Jesus’ knowledge of her true situation inspires the most obvious comment in scripture! Of course, He is a prophet!
- Then the woman at the well confesses. I know that I am a sinner, but where do I go?
- Her statement about Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal was an issue of deep confusion for her. The Samaritans accepted the Torah, but ended each of the stories ended at their mountain, Gerizim.
- The Garden of Eden, the Isaac episode, etc., ended on the mountain that held their Temple.
- Jesus brings her back to His invitation. Worship is not about locality. It’s about reality.
- You are the temple. Are you His, wholly, and completely? Is your mind, fully and totally focused upon pleasing and honoring God?
- The Father is seeking such to worship, who will worship in Spirit and in truth. He wants people whose life will be consistent with the truth, who will be all His.
IV. The Conversion (v.25-30)
• John 4:25-30 : “The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’ And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, ‘What do You seek?’ or, ‘Why are You talking with her?’ The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, ‘Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’ Then they went out of the city and came to Him.” : This woman senses that God is in this conversation. She resigns hopefully, saying, “I know that the Messiah will come and He will carry the answers.- She is looking to a time that she figures can’t possibly be now. Just like the person in the world today, who figures, someday, God will sort it all out.
- The desperate, thirsty soul of this world believes this. Someday! Someday it will all be right, everything will align, and I’ll be satisfied. But it’s not now! No, it can’t be!
- Jesus plainly speaks and tells her that He is the one she has been waiting for!
- Notice that Jesus says very clearly that He is the Messiah. In case anyone, ever tells you that He never referred to Himself as the Messiah, please refer them to this verse!
- What a moment! Imagine if you will the look of Jesus, as the eyes of eternity met hers. She saw truth, kindness, love and forgiveness and knew it was true. How do I know? Because she went and told others.
- She went to her friends and acquaintances and to whomever would listen and imperatively implored them to come to this man. Could this be the Christ? Her testimony was so shocking that they came!
- Let’s look down to verse 39 and see what happened as a result of this woman’s testimony.
• John 4:39-42 : “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.’”
Conclusion
- Today, we can end this sermon with a few very important observations. First, the Lord Jesus is offering life to a woman with a bad reputation, who is seeking to find her life at other wells.
- There are people in our lives, with similar reputations. Will you extend the offer of Christ’s life to them?
- Today, you might be a person with a reputation. God offers you the gift of life. Will you turn from the things that would keep you from enjoying all that God has for you? If you will, you will enjoy the Lord and be satisfied for eternity!
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