Jesus and the Samaritan Woman

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In this text we have a woman who is at a well and she has a run in with Jesus. I say run in but what it really is is a divine appointment. And when Jesus sees this woman who is living in sin, what does he say? Well he says sin is black, hell is hot, so turn and burn, and then he walks away. Well that's not quite what he says is it? Does Jesus say, God is love and you need to love yourself and just feel the love man and everything will work out. I don’t care that you’re living in sin I just want you to have more self esteem. Not quite that either. There are two preachers you need to be on guard against. One is the preacher that just rants about condemnation and how we just need to be more moral and act right all the time. No talk of hope and grace just the wrath of God. The second in the one that will tell you want to hear, tell you things that will make you feel good, but says nothing about sin and repentance. This passage gives us a great example of how to talk to people. Jesus is gentle. He asks questions. He doesn’t ignore the topic of sin but he doesn’t berate her either. In this conversation Jesus speaks of himself as living water. Living water is used in Jeremiah to talk about God in Jeremiah 2:13 “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” and in Jeremiah 17:13 “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.” God is living water, the source of life. And specifically in this passage living water is eternal life, and Jesus is the source of that eternal life. How does Jesus reveal to this Samaritan woman that he is the source of eternal life? He talks with her. He ignores the social barriers between him and her. He talks to her about spiritual things although she is a very earthly minded and practical person. He addresses the sin in her life. And he tells her outright, that he is the Christ, the Messiah. I want to go through those four messages of hope that Jesus gives to the woman at the well so that she may have the eternal life that Jesus offers to freely to us.

The first message of hope is that Jesus breaks through societal barriers.

John 4:5–9 “So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from 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.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)”

One of the first things this passage reveals is the incarnation of Jesus the son of God. When I say incarnation, I mean the mystery of Jesus being both fully man and fully God. When I say mystery, I mean that we know he is both fully God and man, but it can be hard for our finite minds to wrap around that truth. He was exactly where he intended to be because he has divine knowledge of things. But he was also tired and thirsty. He felt hunger, thirst, tiredness, yet not once did he sin. The Samaritans were hated so much that those Jews who were extremely strict would take a longer route just to avoid going through Samaria. Jesus is not just taking a short cut because he is tired though and is trying to conserve energy and save time, Jesus goes through Samaria because he knows a woman is going to come to a well and her life, and the lives of those in Samaria, will never be the same again.

She was a Samaritan. She was a woman. She was living in sin. These were all social reasons for a Jewish Rabbi to have nothing to do with her. She is going to the well in the middle of the day. Woman would not go in the middle of the day, they would go in the early morning, and they would not go alone. This woman is going to the well at noon because she doesn’t want to run into anyone. She is not looking for a Messiah. She is not seeking Jesus. If anything, she wants to be left alone. I’ve been there. You have been there I’m sure. I did not move to Wilkes to do any of the things I am doing now. I moved to Wilkes because I wanted to be left alone. Jesus barged into my life, I did not barge into his. Despite all these factors, Jesus is here at the well.

Even his disciples know Jesus well enough at this point to know the Jesus is not concerned with what the Jewish culture believes about who is in the lower class of society and who is in the upper class. John 4:27 “Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”” Remember that when Jesus is healing those who are sick and blind, there is more going on then just the miracle of healing. Jesus in each circumstance is touching, talking, and associating with people who are considered unclean. In that Jewish culture if you were sick or bad things happened they believed in was retribution from God for your sins.

Jesus breaks through all these cultural barriers in his meeting with the woman. Jesus is more concerned for the lost soul of this woman than he is with how others may perceive him because he is talking to her. This is encouraging and relevant for us. According to society you are a “fill in the blank.” I am a convict. I am an addict. I am a failure. I am murdered, woman abuser, offender, thief, whatever. And these are all things we once were. These are all barriers that society puts between us and them. This person is not apart of our society so they are in this “other” category now. And the state of NC says “OK we’re going to try and get you back to being a productive member of society.” Ok. Well some of that makes sense because if you don’t stop stealing from people its not so great for those living around you. But Jesus’ mission is not to make you a functioning member of society. Jesus walked through all those barriers with the mission to save our very soul. There is no crime that you can commit, no matter how brutal or gross it is that will cut you off from having this meeting with Jesus Christ that this woman is having. On the note of things we once were I want to remind you of this verse in 1 Corinthians 6:9–11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

I imagine that being here you feel a barrier between you and society. Obviously there is a literal barrier. But I mean more than that, the way people here talk to you, treat you, how your life is managed and controlled. I bet psychologically it can feel like you live in this other category. Jesus walks right through all of that. His first question to you is not (name) do you feel rehabilitated. Do you have better coping mechanisms in place? Are you going to do this again and end up back here? Those are good questions. But Jesus’ first question is Do you know me? Do you have eternal water that gives eternal life? He cuts through all the social barriers to ask us.

The second message of hope is that Jesus reveals heavenly things to our earthly minds.

The woman at the well has a similar issue that Nicodemus. Jesus starts out talking about deep spiritual and heavenly things and the woman is lost. It is a collision of the heavenly mindset and the earthly mindset. Nicodemus is the clueless Academic proffesor type. This woman is the practical blue collar worker type. She has not time or energy for all the religious mess the Pharasees are obsessed with. She is trying to make it though the day and get some water.

John 4:10 “Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”” Jesus asks her for water and her concern is how that would look to the Jewish culture. She is saying “this is weird. Whats your deal.” Jesus tells her that if you really understood what was happening right now, and who I am, you would not be thinking about what culture has to say about this interaction. You would be the one asking me, not for literal water, but for eternal life. He is so gentle and patient with her ignorance.

John 4:11–15 “The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”” Jesus is talking about spiritual living water and the woman is still thinking about the benefits of literal water. This is a practical woman. I wonder if she was almost a little sarcastic when she asks for the living water. “Hey if you have such a thing, sure, let me have it. Sure buddy.” I don’t know. But she is thinking of practical benefits of water. Give me this water so I do not have to keep coming to this well. If you can take care of that practical need I have, then great. Sure. Even in her comment about Jacob, her concern is not the religious significance of who Jacob is, but he is called great because he built a well.

We meet people with this mindset all the time. We speak to them about heavenly things, and their mind is fixated on the practical and earthly things. People who say “I don’t have time for all that religion, pie in the sky stuff. I don’t have time for church I need to work and pay my bills. I have bills to pay and mouths to feed.” Maybe they come to church looking for an answer for their practical problems. They have an idea that if they come to church, tithe some money, give God an hour or so a week then the financial blessings will start to come in. Jesus is talking about something so much more than our practical problems. He does care for out practical needs. Matthew 6 Jesus tells us not to be anxious about our clothes or what will eat because God knows we needs these things. But he says in Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

If we come to church, if we come to Jesus, and all we come to him for is to fix the practical problems in our life then we need to get our eyes off the earthly things and fix them upon heavenly things. If you do not know Jesus, your biggest problem in life is not that you addicted to something, or that you are a convict, or that you have no money. Your biggest problem is that you are sinful and without Jesus will suffer the wrath of God. Jesus is telling this woman and he is telling us, I have come not to just heal diseases. Not to just feed 5 thousand people. Not to just give us our practical needs. He has come to giving us living water. When we pray, when we come to worship, let us fix our eyes and our minds on heavenly things. I pray for practical things. It is good to bring your practical everyday needs to Jesus in prayer. But lets also be praying for spiritual things like “Lord open my spiritual eyes to what your word says when I read it. Open my eyes to the people around me that need to hear about you. Reveal to me the areas of my heart that are hard, any area of my life that I have been unwilling to give over to you.”

Jesus tells her, if you knew who I was, you would ask me for living water. What are we asking Jesus for in our prayer life? Have you asked Jesus for that living water, that eternal life?

The third message of hope is that Jesus provides grace for our sin and unbelief.

There is a major turning point in the conversation between Jesus and the woman when Jesus reveals to her that he knows something that only somebody with some supernatural ability could know.

John 4:15–19 “The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.”

Jesus is so gracious in this conversation. Not only in how he talks about the sin in this woman’s life but also how he gives her a miraculous sign. In one reply Jesus reveals her sin and that he has divine knowledge. What grace and gentleness. He does so by asking a simple question. She doesn’t lie but she doesn’t tell the full story either. Jesus reveals that he knows about all of it. Her whole complicated past and current sexual immorality. Jesus knows exactly who he is talking to. When we come to Jesus, there is nothing hidden. There is nothing that we can hide in a closet. Some of you may have prayed this prayer when you got saved that sounded something along the lines of “Jesus I am a sinner.” And what does Jesus say to that. “I know. I know all of it. All the ugly details, I saw all of it.” Nobody else alive can say that. The case workers may have a file or something that has the information. The crime you committed, the nature of the crime, some details about it that others don’t know. But nobody knows more than Jesus. He saw it all. He saw it all and he is still revealing himself to you as the source of living water. You may disagree with me on how I phrase this but I don’t believe any of you came to God purely on your own ability. Let me use a verse to show what I mean. John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” God draws us to him. Why? Not because of anything we have done. But because God is love and God loves us. If you came her because you love Jesus. Despite whatever sin you have done, despite that fact that Jesus saw all of it, God still drew you to him. That is amazing Grace. Jesus knows every wicked thing we do and every wicked thing we think and he still offers to us, freely, the gift of eternal life.

Jesus is gentle in how he turns the conversation to her sin, but he does address it. We cannot skip the part about us being sinners when we come to Jesus. We can’t ignore it. We can’t downplay it. Listen. Do not ever let somebody tell you sin is not a big deal. Sin is why there are people in hell. Unforgiven sin is what separates us from salvation. When we come to Jesus we come and repent. We turn away from sin. God hates sin. Psalm 1:5 “Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;” Psalm 5:5 “The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.” God is love but God is a Holy God. He hates sin. Which is why it is so amazing that Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The good news is not that sin isn’t a big deal, the good news is that even though sin damns us to eternal death, because of Jesus we can have eternal life. Jesus does not ignore sin. He never ignores sin. To the sinners Jesus says in scripture “Go and sin no more.” We diminish the love of God when we water down what sin is. When we realize how much God hates sin, how truly evil all sin is, then we see more how amazing is God’s grace that instead wiping us all off the face of the earth he sent his own sin to die for our sins.

Later she says John 4:25 “The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”” It is an interesting response considering that she also calls him a prophet. Samaritans believe the last prophet was Moses and that there is another prophet coming who will be the Messiah. They reject all the prophets after Moses. So whether she is still confused, or whether she is wondering if Jesus is the Messiah, I am not sure. But in any case, Jesus uses this statement to reply that he is the Messiah.

The really is the climax of their conversation. If we want eternal life there are two things we have to come face to face with and admit. That we are a sinner. That Christ is the Messiah. There is no other way to obtain eternal life. There are many who admit they are a sinner, but they will not make Jesus Lord of their life. I have heard people say “I know I am not living right.” But they do not confess Christ as the Messiah of their life. There are those who may talk a lot about Jesus. But they skip the sin part and make Jesus out to be some sort of free love hippie. We all need to admit and confess that we are sinners and that Christ is the Messiah and Lord of our lives.

The fourth message of hope is that Jesus and the Father can be worshiped in Spirit and Truth

If we look back at verse 19 again and keep reading the woman brings up an issue involving worship. John 4:19–24 “The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.””

It almost appears as if the woman is changing topics away from the issue of her sin and her living with a man that she is not married to and is redirecting it to a theological topic. Many interpret it that way but my take on it is that now that she sees that Jesus is a prophet, she brings up an important issue. The Jews worship at the temple in Jerusalem. The Samaritans claims the place of true worship is at another location at Mt. Gerizin. These differences in belief created some of the friction that was between the Jews and the Samaritans. So she is asking, who is right? Who is worshipping at the right temple? Jesus gives a two part answer. First, he clarifies that salvation is coming from the Jews and that the Samaritans have been worshipping what they do not know. Their theology as Samaritans is incorrect in rejecting the temple in Jerusalem and rejecting the prophets after Moses. Most important is that Jesus says the time is coming when the true followers of God will not worship at either place. A time is coming when the children of God will not worship at a specific temple and do specific rituals, but will worship in Spirit and truth. What does Jesus mean by Spirit and truth? In Spirit because now we all have access to the Holy Spirit if we are followers of God. We do not have to perform an sacrifices, rituals, or go to a temple. God is not limited by those things and neither is our worship. In truth because the important part of our worship will not be where or how we worship, but the condition of our heart. True worship is done from the heart.

You go to Christian Churches all over the world and you will find all sorts of different styles of worship. Even in this area, some people prefer hymns, some more contemporary. One of the dumbest things churches argue over is Music genres. The words matter, I do not want to sing a song that says things that are not true. But whether we have drums or not is not important. What is important is the state of our heart when we worship. When we come to church we worship from our heart. People sometimes look at church like a gym membership they just swipe their card at once a week. Ok I went to church, I checked in, I did my religious thing for the week. That is not worshipping in truth. We do not worship in truth If we worship a false God. If we go to a church that says all religions are true or that Jesus is not God, then we are not worshiping in truth. The only way to worship in spirit and truth is through Jesus Christ the Messiah, the son of God, part of the trinity.

In Conclusion I want to address the question of ok, so now what?

If you are have not come to Jesus and admitted that you are a sinner and the He is the Messiah, you do not have eternal life. You are not worshiping in spirit and truth. That is our starting place. If there is anything about what I just said that you have a question about please talk to me after. ABC.

For those of us who say we are followers of Christ lets look at what the woman did in response. John 4:28–30 “So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.” Her reaction to Jesus saying that he is the Messiah is that she went and told everyone. She even left her water jar behind. When you read Luke you need to read slow. He gives details that are important, no word is wasted, but its not obvious. She is not fixated on the earthly thing. Now she is fixated on the heavenly things. If this is the Messiah. If this is the source for eternal life, I need to tell people.

The disciples here are also fixed on earthly things. Why? Because they're hungry. They went to get food and have returned and now they are urging Jesus to eat. Jesus replies that he is not thinking about that right now, he is focused on doing the will of God. John 4:31–36 “Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.”

We need to lift our eyes off ourselves and see the harvest is plentiful. Meaning, there are lost people that live among us everyday and sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own lives we forget all about them. You want to get your mind of yourself all the time? You want to rejoice like never before? Start seeing the world as a field ready to be harvested. Lets pray.