May 19, 2024
Morning Service

John continues his gospel with a purpose.  He is trying to convince us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and through believing in Him we are given life.  He has hand-picked events that he feels will help him to accomplish his goal.  Today we meet a woman from Samaria who seems an unlikely candidate to be chosen to follow Jesus.  All Samaritans claimed to descendants of Jacob, but the Jews looked at them as a half-breed nation who were only worthy of their disdain.  Also she as a woman, an adulteress even, would have been twice less likely to draw Jesus’ attention.  But Jesus seeks her out to offer her salvation and to use her as a tool in spreading His Word.  This reveals what Jesus said in John 3:17; that He did not come to condemn the world, but to save it.  In Matthews’ gospel Jesus said it this way:

Mat 9:12-13 When Jesus heard that, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  (13)  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."

            To call someone to repentance, or to be healed, they must first realize they are a sinner needing to repent or to be healed.  This is exactly what Jesus does in John’s account of their encounter.  He seeks her out and then brings her to a point of admission of sin and opens her eyes to her need of a Savior.  This is the first step towards salvation.

 

Joh 4:1-4 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (2) (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), (3) He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.  (4)  But He needed to go through Samaria.

            Most Jewish travelers going from Judea to Galilee would take a route that avoided going through Samaria, but Jesus “needed to go through.”  The need was to meet one particular woman at a very particular time.

 

Joh 4:5-9 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  (6)  Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.  (7)  A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink."  (8)  For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.  (9)  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.

            Even the woman saw the oddity in Jesus speaking to her in any way at all knowing that she as a Samaritan woman would have two strikes against her already.  Notice also that the woman is coming to well at the heat of the day instead of the morning like all of the other woman to avoid any interaction as she is even an outcast from her own people. 

 

Joh 4:10-15 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."  (11)  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?  (12)  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?"  (13)  Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, (14) 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."  (15)  The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."

            Jesus speaks to her on a spiritual realm about His Living Water which satisfies completely unlike well water.  She does not grasp this yet and asks for His water so she won’t have to come to the well ever again.  Jesus now begins to reveal to her his identity and also her own sinfulness that needs a Savior.

 

 

 

 

 

Joh 4:16-23 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."  (17)  The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,’ (18) for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."  (19)  The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.  (20)  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."  (21)  Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.  (22)  You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.  (23)  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."

            Jesus inquires about her husband and she recognizes Him as perhaps a prophet but changes the subject quickly from her to being able to worship God.  The Samaritans were a “spiritual” people, but at that time true worship could only come through the Jews at the Temple in Jerusalem.  They tried to at least do something and worshipped in their own way on the mountain near them but God did not recognize them for that at this time.  But He tells her the “The Father is seeking true worshipers to worship Him in spirt and truth.”  Jesus fulfilled the Law and made it possible for all to be saved.  Worship now is not restricted to a certain lineage, location or culture, but to the one we can truly worship God in spirit and truth.  This means not only with going through the motions and following the rules, but by giving God our heart.  Is that the source of your worship or do you catch yourself just going through the motions?  God help us to worship is spirit and truth from our heart.  It takes more than just the action of following the rules, but we must give ourselves to Him as a “living sacrifice which is our act of worship towards Him.”  (Rom. 12:1-2) This finally opens the eyes of this woman to her sinfulness and her need for a Savior.  She now speaks of the one hope she has in the coming Messiah.

 

Joh 4:25-26The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things."  (26)  Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

          This is incredibly out of character for Jesus to openly proclaim to one outside the disciples tight circle His true identity.  He sought out this woman.  Arranged a time to meet her alone and revealed to her both that she needed a Savior and He was her Savior.  He did not condemn her of her sin, but simply revealed to her that she needed a Savior and He was there for her.  He offers her “living water” which is a restored relationship with her Creator through Him; a chance to start over (born again).  Think about how that shows Jesus cares about everyone in that way.  He came to save not condemn us. His will is that none should perish, but all come to repentance (2Pet 3:9).   He seeks each one of us with the same passion.  The Father is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and truth and He wants you. 

 

Joh 4:27-42 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?"  (28)  The woman then left her water pot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, (29)” Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"  (30)  Then they went out of the city and came to Him.

            The disciples also quickly noticed the oddity of Jesus speaking to a Samaritan woman, but did not ask Him about it.  Notice that she “left her water pot and went her way into the city.”  John includes this for a reason.  It is symbolic of her commitment to leave the things of the world behind and to worship God in spirit and truth.  She now was seeking most what would satisfy her soul rather than what would satisfy her physical body. This is the change that occurs in us as well as we truly believe who Jesus is and choose to follow Him.  As John the Baptist taught us, “I must decrease and He must increase.”

            Today we learned no one has sunk so deep in sin that they are beyond conversion.  A Jewish religious leader would not have even acknowledged her existence, but Jesus sought her out just as He sought you.  We see also that Jesus did not come to condemn us, but to save us.  He is our biggest fan and desires us to believe and to build a strong personal relationship with Him.

 

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Jesus to save us and for granting us the opportunity, no matter how deep we are in our sin, to come to You for forgiveness and restoration.  Have us to walk courageously knowing that You are for us.