Untitled Sermon

just so you know right now in this section were going to gain a lot of information and context

it will help us fully appreciate the other 2 sections…

its time to reap and sow

so if you can make it with me here.... you’re gunna enjoy later!

we got to climb the roller coaster before ride it down

lets read

John 4:1–6 (NKJV)

1 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. 5 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.

Jesus Travels (John 4:1-6)

Here we see,

Why Jesus travelled, & Where Jesus travelled.

show map

There is 2 reasons as to why Jesus left Judea to go to Galilee

Because He knew that the Pharisees knew He baptized more than John. (v.1)

Jesus likely was just creating space because tensions were getting high

especially because a few days later in ch. 5

Jesus will heal a man in Sabbath and the Jews will want to kill him

2. Jesus left because Jesus NEEDED to go to Samaria

The greek word for (needed “ἔδει”) means to be unavoidably determined”

another word it can be translated to is contingent, (binded)

Jesus is unavoidably determined to reach Samaria

which btw Samaria is right over there… in Some area.

At first we reading that Jesus needed to go there its like

awww sweet Jesus need to go there and reach people

its more than that....

This act by Jesus being a Jew is so controversially iconic

we need to understand who the Samaritans are to fully appreciate

Jesus our Lord and Savior here:

Samaria really has a rebellious history:

they are nasty

1. Did you noticed how in verses 3-6 the Bible narrowed in Jesus exact location from

Kinda like a God’s eye view seeing it all

but then focusing on a specific location

it says first from Judea to Galilee, then on his way there to Samaria, then in Samaria a town called Sychar, to a plot of ground, and in that plot of ground a well, Jacobs well.

this is also the area of OT Shechem

this is the area where

show slide of:

The rape of Dinah (Gen 34),

A place of refuge for all the outlaws of Israel. ( a place full of rebels) (Joshua 20:6-7; 21:21)

The covenant renewal (Josh 24),

The burial of Joseph (Josh 24:32).

Where Abimelech reigns (Judg 9),

Where Rehoboam was coronated (1 Kgs 12:1).

Shechem is refortified by wicked Israel King Jeroboam, who then lived there (1 Kgs 12:25)

So the area in much of the OT is full of bad people where some good things happened.

then

Show map

The area of Samaria joined the rebellious 10 tribes of Israel in the North (931 BC 1 Kings 12)

and for the next couple hundred years they would be wicked and practicing idolatry

every single king they had was evil

they would ignore prophets like Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Hosea, Jonah, and Micah

Read about it more in 1 Kings 13 esp. verse 32

but we are building a case as to why the Jews hated the Samaritans...

and their wicked history is one of the reasons

Then during the reign of wicked Israel King Omri

He made Samaria the capital of the 10 tribes of Israel ( 1 Kings 16)

essentially it became the capital of pagan idolatry, and wickedness

which made the Jews hate them more.

3. In 722 BC The 10 northern tribes of Israel get conquered and scattered by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17)

- the king of Assyria sent people from many other conquered lands to inhabit Samaria (2 Kings 17:24; Ezra 4:2-11).

which is why the Samaritans are called half-breeders

being a half Jewish & half worldly.

making the Jews hate them ethnically

Then In 2 Kings 17:26-28 it shows us that the Samaritans also become half religiously Jewish and half worldly

causing the Jews to hate them religiously

In 2 Kings 17:41 says that the Samaritans feared the Lord, yet served their carved images.

Now before we judge them too quickly are you guilty of the same?

Mixing Christianity and idolatry?

Jesus on Sundays mornings but idols addictions, lusts, selfishness rule your heart later?

So The Samaritans embraced a religion that was a mixture of Judaism and idolatry .

Making the Samaritans mixed ethnically and religiously

This really made the Jews really hate the Samaritans

for their mixture of Judaism and idolatry.

in OT language they were blemished and unclean

but the Jews also were guilty of the same

and they also accepted idolatry

The Jews also didn't repent....

or obey what God was saying through the prophets

like Isaiah, Micah, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,

so .....

4. In 586BC the Babylonians conquer the 2 southern tribes of Judah

in this time the Samaritans build a Temple to God on Mt. Gerizim in Shechem

Show picture of mt. Gerizim temple ruins

no doubt the Jews wont be happy about especially with them not having their own temple

The Samaritans believed mt. Gerizim was blessed by God

because in Dt. 11:26-29

God said that when the Israelites

cross the Jordan river from their 40 years in the wilderness

that half of Israel will stand on Mt. Gerizim,

and the other half would stand on MT. Ebal. (a neighboring mountain)

point to mt. Ebal

which was separated.... but right next to mount Gerizim

t

I actually have been to Samaria,

and climbed mount Gerizim

it takes about 15 minutes to climb

here is a picture of me on Mt. Gerizim praying blessings for the group I co led with the guys next to me.

today there is just ruin of the temple…

5. Around 538BC: the Jews returned to Jerusalem after their Babylonian Captivity

to rebuild their Temple and the city of Jerusalem

the Samaritans actually offered to help rebuild the Temple,

claiming to have same God however we read

in Ezra 4:1-5 the Jews reject the Samaritans help..

and from that point on the Samaritans make rebuilding for the Jews difficult

making the Jews hate them even more

6. Around 332 B.C. Alexander the Great conquered the Holy Land and it became Greek.

The Samaritans denied their Judaism to fit in,

while the Jews rebelled against the Greeks

Making the Jews hate the Samaritans even more

7. In 113 B.C. the Jews (the Hasmoneans (kingly descendants of the Maccabee family)) war’d against the Samaritans & the Jews destroyed the Samaritans’ temple on Mt. Gerizim

the Samaritans still thought that Mt. Gerizim is the holy mountain

& to this day this still do.

Making the Jews hate the Samaritans even more

This is the environment of Hate between the Jews and the Samaritans Jesus was in

show pic of land

So:

The Samaria has always been a place of rebels and idolatorss

the Samaritans were ethnically half Jewish and half worldly (unclean)

the Samaritans were half devoted to God and half devoted to idols

The Samaritans made their own temple on mt. Gerizim which was founded on theological heresy

The Samaritans tried to stop the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem

The Samaritans sided with enemies of Jerusalem

The Jews destroyed the Samaritan Temple

The Jews warred with Samaritans

The Samaritans claim Jews worship God on the wrong mountain.

The Samaritans were hated, idolaters, posers, disrespectful, rebellious, biblically inaccurate.

Samaritans were the worst people

yet verse 4 of John 4 John 4:4

John 4:4 NKJV

4 But He needed to go through Samaria.

Jesus sinless, perfect God.

to the worst people

and not only that but verse 6 of ch. 4 says that

the travel made Him weary.

Show Map of Holy Land: 1st century

Samaria is 44 Miles from Jerusalem and would take just over an hour to drive

however it is hill country so walking it will take about 12 hours to walk today

so we can understand why in verse 6 it says that Jesus was weary

verse 6 also says it was the 6th hour

when you compare with verses: Matthew 20:1-7; Matthew 27:45; Acts 10:9

the 6th hour is noon

In the noon time in Biblical days

show that John Walton quote from Zondervan OT

“Farmers typically rise at or before dawn to take advantage of the cooler morning temperatures. In preindustrial societies and especially in a hot climate like Israel’s, it would be normal to take an afternoon break or siesta during the heat of the day and resume the field work in the later afternoon.’ - John H. Walton Scholar of Ancient Near Eastern backgrounds from the Moody Institute

Noon was a time to rest & eat.

They worked much in the morning and evening

but the afternoon was given to reenergize like

with Ruth gleaning in the fields in Ruth 2

so with it being around noon

its time to eat

and in verse 8 in John 4

The disciples are looking for food then

So just to paint the picture that our Jesus

full of righteousness is sitting next to this woman

at the well…

He is tired and hungry.

if we jump a little ahead in ch. 4 verse 36 we see that Jesus is fed by doing God’s will.

in other words Jesus is fed by doing what we are about to read right now.

So now you know how radical Jesus was needing to go to Samaria

It get better: