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“To All Who Are Thirsty" • 6.9.19
• Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- The gospel of John is focused
upon exposing the divinity or deity of Christ. This God who took on human flesh
has come into this world to dwell, to tabernacle with His people.
- His offer to the world is life.
Everlasting, eternal life. That life begins in the new birth, whereby a person
receives in themselves the very life of God.
- We understand from the
terminology that this life lasts forever, but what kind of life is it now? To
what can it be compared? Our author gives us a glimpse into that life here in
chapter 4. Verse 1.
Text
• 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 news had spread across the Judean region that the Lord's baptism numbers
were exceeding those of John.
- Those that were truly accounting
things understood that these numbers were exaggerated.
- John was baptizing alone. Jesus
allowed His disciples to do the actual baptizing in His Name. That report
however, caused Him to leave the region of Judea and to return to the Galilee.
- We noted last week that the Jews
used that information to attempt to discourage John. It may be that the Lord
wanted to remove their fuel.
- Alternately, their attention
might have become an unnecessary distraction from the Lord's usual work. There
would be less involvement in the Galilee region, plus, he was needed elsewhere!
- From where Jesus is, there are
three routes that one could take to the Galilee. You could follow the Jordan river
valley north or you could take the Mediteranean sea coast.
- The distance between the two
areas, depending on where you start or end, could be up to 150 miles and be
nearly a week long journey. Then, there was the third route through Samaria.
- Josephus remarks that it took three
days to traverse this course. It was a direct route, but not one that was
preferred, especially among religious Jews.
- If you have ever had an enemy,
you know why you avoid unecessary contact.
- These two people groups had as
complicated a history as the Jews and the Palestinians have today! The root of
Samaritan society is found in II Kings 17.
- Assyria had taken the northern
tribes into captivity, but wanted to reap the benefit of controlling the
agriculture of the land.
- Their practice was to deposit a
mixed multitude in every conquered nation's land. That is what they did in
Israel to initially terrifying results.
- God released lions among the
people, which motivated Assyria to send an Israeli priest back to teach the
people how to live before God. This was a true case of the blind leading the
blind!
- Israel had been kicked out of
God's land precisely because their priests led the people in the false worship
of the true God! Listen to the results encapsulated in verses 29 and 41.
• II Kings 17:29,41 : "However
every nation continued to make gods of its own, and put them in the shrines on
the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where
they dwelt. . . 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." : It started bad, but then got worse! When the people of God
returned to their land, the Samaritans refused to leave.
- That tension increased over time,
with the Samaritans claiming legitimate relation to the land through their
supposed Father Jacob.
- They even built a temple on Mt.
Gerizim, which the Jews destroyed and then declared a holiday upon so that
nobody would mourn any of the dead!
- That is a little bit of the
background that informs us of the Lord's "need" to go through
Samaria! There were more attractive, less stress inducing routes, but God had a
purpose there.
- Jesus makes His way to Sychar, the ancient city of Shechem,
in modern day Nabulis.
- Jacob had taken a plot of land
from the Amorites with his sword and given it to Joseph there. (Genesis
48:22) It is also the site of this community well which a "weary"
Jesus is sitting by.
- The word expresses the type of
fatigue that a person feels after an extensive bit of labor. The God man tired
Himself out to be there at just this moment. He had to be there by noon. Why? V.
7.
• John 4:7-10 : "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 general rule relating to this
community resource was that you would draw for your needs either in the morning
or in the evening.
- Israel's climate, like our own, is quite
arid. Most would rather be in their homes for the heat of the day. Not this
woman. She comes to the well when the sun is directly over her!
- Jesus is there alone and to her amazement, actually
asks her for a drink of water!
- Keep in mind that the Jews were hyper
sensitive about contact with Gentiles in the first place. Add to that the fact
that in certain rabbinic circles, women were not ususally addressed publically!
- Some Rabbis would not even talk to their own
wives or daughters in public! This simple request to our ears was an earthquake
reality to hers!
- The Samaritans were outcasts to the Jews and
this woman, we'll discover soon enough, was an outcast among her own people! "This
guy has no idea who I am!"
- I can just see the Lord's face cracking an
incredulous smile as He tells her what an incredible moment that this is for
her for the exact same reason!
- She has no idea about the gift of God that is
before her, nor the person who has asked! She is face to face with the person
that created her!
- I would suggest that most days, most people
are unprepared to meet Jesus in one of His followers! They have no idea about
the gift of God and no idea who is really speaking to them!
- If she only knew, she would not have allowed
Him to ask her anything! She would have been the one begging Him for a drink of
"living water."
- To the ancient mind, well water was good for
certain uses, but spring, or "living water" was far more valuable and
clean because of it's movement.
- Well water could grow stagnant, but spring
water was always clear and refreshing. The Lord is using this as a metaphor,
but the woman, like Nicodemus before her, is confused. Verse 11.
• John 4:11,12 : "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?'" : Can't you hear the woman scoffing at
this man that she has just met? He was sitting there with nothing to draw with!
He didn't have a pail!
- In fact, He had just asked her to give Him a
drink! You can't just lean down and grab some water from the top of the well.
- The well, preserved within the walls of a
church building today is 75 feet deep! One commentator noted that it had been dredged
once to the bottom and measured 138 feet!
- Jesus didn't have a bucket and this well was
not a "living water" spring.
- Where could He get that for her? Listen to
that statement with the emphasis. "Where then do YOU get that living
water?" The worldling does not see Jesus as equipped to meet their need.
- He is offering something that can't be
granted by this well that has been her source for years.
- In order for Him to satisfy her need, He
would need to be greater than the patriarch Jacob who used this very same well
for his family's needs. Her thinking is entirely pragmatic.
- Jesus is offering something that doesn't come
from this well, which has worked for generations. Everyone has been drinking from this well, including Jacob!
It was good enough for him.
- Do you follow her logic? I'm not sure she
even understands it yet! Jesus is talking about true satisfying life. She may
still be talking about water, but her point is instructive!
- This natural life has been enough for people
since the beginning of time. What can Christ offer that is better than that?
Jesus answers her in verse 13.
• John 4:13,14 : "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.'" : The well water that she valued so greatly only provided
temporary relief. This earthly well was
good, but it's effect was not long lasting.
- Jesus is telling her what she already knows:
She will fill up now and always need to return to do the same thing again and
again! That is an excellent picture of the world!
- The well of this world will require you to
return over and over again to receive satisfaction for your soul's thirst! I'm
not sure you have ever been around a well of water. I have not.
- Our experience with water today is far more
convenient. It was not so in ancient times.
- Imagine the grind of it all. The waiting in
the hot sun. The physical expenditure of drawing water from the depths. The
burden of carrying that water home on your shoulder or head.
- Day after day, year after year! The routine
of it all just saps your strength as you plan your life around this simple
daily need. The Lord's water offers a much better draw.
- Jacob's well is temporary, but the water that
comes from the Lord satisfies permanently! Look at this statement closely.
Notice the universal appeal. "Whoever drinks of the water."
- There isn't a person on Earth that would want
to miss that! Anyone who drinks. That is the only limitation. One must drink
from it! Notice also it's fulfilling promise. "You will never thirst
again!"
- Unlike anything on this planet, what Jesus
offers is complete and final satisfaction. How is this possible? The life that
the Lord offers is taken in and then it replenishes itself within!
- The water that a person receives from the
Lord will turn into a fountain that proceeds out from within, which gushes out
toward everlasting life!
- This woman knows now that this conversation
isn't about a better quality well! This man is talking to her about life and
that which is beyond it! Verse 15.
• John 4:15-18 : "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 believes herself to be
sold! She'll take what Jesus is offering!
- She is insistent that she wants the Lord's
water now! She is attracted to the idea of not having to thirst or having to
come to this well any longer. This is typical worldly response.
- They rightly want the benefit of the satisfaction
that God is offering. They want to be free from having the burden of their
watering holes. She wants in.
- It's at this point that I'm convinced that
the Lord looks her right in the eye and asks her to call her husband and then
to return.
- From a societal standpoint, one could say
that this was said to keep a woman out of trouble. She had been gone too long
and a conversation like this with a man, might have stirred controversy.
- That wasn't the Lord's concern. This woman
wants His water, but she has to deal with what was keeping her from it!
- What Jesus offers is life altering, so it
must begin by a person altering their life! Instead of leading her right there
to the water, Jesus makes an issue of her marital status.
- "Bring your husband back with you!"
Imagine the look on the woman's face as she tries to explain what is
charitably, a complicated matter. She reports that she doesn't have a husband.
- That is when Jesus drops the bombshell on her
in a similar way that He did to Nathanael in chapter 1. Jesus has seen
her life. He knows intimate details about her story.
- She doesn't have a husband, but has been
through divorce five times over! What does that tell you about her? Think of
the profile that John has been creating for us.
- This is not a girl, but a woman and likely an
attractive one. She's coming to the well when no other woman was there, likely
because she had been married 5 times!
- She's sociable and smart and our society
might deem her "very progressive."
- She's tried the marriage thing, but has now
settled into a cohabiting relationship. Perhaps, she's realized that marriage
was not for her.
- Incidently, notice, that Jesus makes a distinction:
He is not her husband! "But we're living together and married in the sight
of God."
- Friend, that is not you spouse until they are
legally your spouse. Until then, you are only married in your own sight! God
does not acknowledge cohabitation as a marriage.
- Jesus acknowledges however, the little way
that she sought to honor the truth. At the very least, she told the truth about
her current relationship. For her part, she is incredibly impressed. V. 19
• John 4:19,20 : "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.'" : This
woman is no fool. She knows that something is out of the ordinary. The word
"perceive" gives us our word "theory.
- She has been considering this stranger and
she has come up with a theory. Undoubtedly, Jesus was a prophet! All of a
sudden, she's very interested in a theological conundrum!
- "Forget about my serial marriage
history. What's really bugging me is where a person should worship the Lord!"
I have witnessed this repeatedly in my attempts to share Christ with people.
- "You must be born again. You must repent
from your sin." The response comes back, "So, what do you think about
the end times?" Sometimes, in those conversations, it's good to answer.
- She
wanted to know if she was to worship upon Mt. Gerazim or Mt. Zion, Jerusalem.
Why would she believe that to be the site for worship?
- As we have already mentioned, there had been
a temple there not too long ago. Additionally, Mt. Gerizim was the mount that
God commanded Israel to proclaim blessings from! (Deut. 27)
- Jesus looks at the woman and all such people
who seek to ignore their sin because of seeming difficulty in religious
observation. "These people say this and those people say that!"
- If you are ever in a conversation like this,
take note of the Lord's response. Verse 21.
• John 4:21-24 : "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.'" : He lovingly lets her know that that
isn't the point! I can almost hear Him chuckle. "Woman, believe me!"
- We might translate this, "Woman, you
must believe me!" Jesus is the authority. Whatever anyone has taught before
can't touch the truth that He is unveiling to her now!
- Worship of the Father is not tied to
locations. Mt. Gerizim and Jerusalem are special, but they are not centers of
the kind of worship that God will expect from His people.
- This statement of hers reveals what had
always been true about the Samaritans. They did not know the Lord God. The Jews
were the ones that knew God intimately.
- Soon, however, the location of worship will
be irrelevant. It's the heart that will matter! God is not seeking a place, but
a kind of person, those that He evaluates as "true worshippers."
- They are designated by worshipping in spirit
and truth. A person who reveals their value of the King of Kings will do so
from his very being.
- The Jews were already experts in
"external" only ritualism. That doesn't move God's heart! He wants a
person's spirit involved!
- "Spirit" here refers to what makes
up a man's breath, the air which flows from him. It's not external to him, but
flows from within him and accords with the truth.
- This was where the Samaritans missed the
boat! They presumed that they could appoint a place for God to be worshipped.
They had no grounding in truth!
- When you worship the Lord, you're whole being
is to be involved! It is to be a matter of your spirit connecting to the Lord
Jesus! It must be in the way that is prescribed by the Lord!
- We gather His truth from the Word! We sing
because He commands it. We submit to His ordinances because it brings Him
pleasure.
- We surrender our will and the direction of
our lives, not because we feel like it, but in obedience to His Word. That is
what the Lord is seeking from you and I! Verse 25.
• John 4:25,26 : "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.'" : In
some respect, the woman is entirely taken with this concept. What a joy it
would be for a Samaritan outcast such as herself, to be free to worship God.
- You can almost hear her say this wishfully:
"I know that Messiah is coming!" Everything Jesus was saying to her
now was good, but, mostly, in her mind, it just stirred her heart!
- "Someday all of this will be clear.
Someone will come and make it clear to all of us. He'll just announce what He
wants us to do." That is our rationale. We'll wait for more information.
- Jesus was happy to tell her and you should be
happy to tell your loved ones, "Look no further!" The Messiah has
already come! You don't need to wait for clarity!
- He has turned "someday" into this
day! Today is the day of salvation! Today, He invites the world to drink from
His well of living water!
Conclusion
- When you look
back upon this passage, remember that the God of the Universe rushed to meet a
heathen woman at a time when she would be alone at a well!
- He talked
with her lovingly, respectfully and truthfully. She longed for what He was
offering.
- He alone has
water to satisfy thirst for eternity! He alone can give this to those that
would come to Him.
- All they must
do is be willing to leave their well of sin behind them and trust that the
Living Water is worth the price of admission!
- May we heed
His example and make His offer to those that are thirsty!
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