John 4:1-26 [NLTse]
4 Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that He was baptizing and making more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself didn’t baptize them—His disciples did). 3 So He left Judea and returned to Galilee.
4 He had to go through Samaria on the way. 5 Eventually He came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. 7 Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give Me a drink.” 8 He was alone at the time because His disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.
9 The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”
10 Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and Who you are speaking to, you would ask Me, and I would give you living water.”
11 “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”
13 Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. 14 But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
15 “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”
16 “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.
17 “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.
Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— 18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. 20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”
21 Jesus replied, “Believe Me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know very little about the One you worship, while we Jews know all about Him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way. 24 For God is spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the One Who is called Christ. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus told her, “I am the Messiah!”
Sermon
She comes to the well at Noon, the hottest time of the day, when she knows no one else will be there to chastise, mock, or shun her. She’s surprised to find a Jew there, since Jews almost always skirt around to avoid Samaria when they traveling. She’s shocked when He asks her to get him water, since Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans, if they can help it! And she thinks He’s talking about giving her the freshest of water – living water – which makes no sense to her, either. After all, what is He going to do, put a spigot in her home so she can just turn it on and off when she wants to get a drink? That’s impossible!
But then He mentions her husband, and somehow He knows her sordid story. And I picture tears coming into her eyes as she tries to redirect the conversation away from her shame by asking Him about worship practices. But what He’s saying to her is so engaging and appealing: And He just said He was the Messiah! Could it be? That would surely explain Him. I must let everyone know! And she runs off. (Or, perhaps, she just took off to tell the man she was living with, but ran into the crowd of villagers on the way.)
Did you notice how she’s been changed by her time with Jesus? The villagers ordinarily wouldn’t have given her the time of day: Adulteress, whore, “easy-woman,” trouble they thought of her. And yet this day, after she’s been with Jesus, somehow the villagers are so taken by her zeal and joy and urgency that they forget who she is and they do as she says and go to the well to meet Jesus.
In the meantime, Jesus’ disciples have returned from the market with lunch just in time to see the woman run off. All of the sudden, Jesus isn’t hungry (which they don’t understand since He seemed famished just a little while earlier), and He starts speaking to them about the harvest being ready and how the Father is giving them a chance to gather in the produce of other’s labors. And it sounds to them like stealing, and, as usual, they don’t get what He’s talking about. And then the crowd of Samaritans arrive.
And a small group of Jews who ordinarily would have avoided Samaria all-together “like the plague” decide to stay a whole ‘nother day to establish the Kingdom of Heaven in Sychar. And the woman becomes a part of the community again with people eternally grateful to her for introducing them to Jesus! But now they know Him personally and not just through her testimony: He is the Savior of the world!
Isn’t that the way Christ is calling out to us – whether we have a good reputation or bad, whether we’re popular or outcast: To invite others to come meet Jesus?
The Elders believe that the way the Holy Spirit is wanting to make disciples of Jesus here at First Church is
To all be together showing our commitment to Christ in WORSHIP;
To GROW in our relationships and understanding of the gospel through a Bible class or small group;
To put our faith into practice by SERVING others and each other by being involved in ministry in the church; and,
To spread the good news by INVITING OTHERS to come meet Jesus themselves, inviting them to Worship or to a Bible class or small group…
This woman is such a great example of the INVITING OTHERS part: So moved by being in Jesus’ presence, and by His pushing her and stretching her, and His asking her to serve Him and offering Himself to serve her, and here she is, telling everyone – those who’ve hurt her, made fun of her, those who’ve ignored her existence, who’ve judged and turned everyone against her – but she doesn’t care anymore; Jesus has offered her living water that will bubble up in her to eternal life! God’s Messiah – the Christ – has come! For her!
Is Jesus’ good news still that good to you, to me, to us, that we can’t help letting those around us know about Him, our Savior, the Savior of the World!, the Lover of our Souls, our Lord and our God?
How excited are you about the Lord? Do you genuinely want people to come get to know Him? When you invite friends and family and neighbors is it just a, “Come, if you want.” Or do you follow up with them, too, “You’re coming, right?” And do you check to make sure they’re coming, “You said you would come!” So that they see our excitement and conviction and can’t say, “No”?
I love that such an outcast woman – and that you and me – a could become known as the evangelist to the Samaritans! That we could be known as the evangelist to our families, or to our workplace, or to our classmates or circle-of-friends, or wherever we share Him and go!