Never Be Thirsty Again

Last week we finished off John chapter 3, looking at John the Baptist's response to his own disciples' envy over Jesus growing popularity. Jesus' disciples had begun to baptize as Jesus' fame rose throughout Judea, and now, it seems, more people are coming to hear Jesus than to hear John the Baptist.

John the Baptist responds to this by telling his followers, "He [Jesus] must increase, and I must decrease," indicating that they should not be jealous or envious of Jesus, but that his place was to give way to Jesus, the Messiah and savior of the world.

So we arrive at John chapter 4 this morning, and before we go any farther, I would like to just show you a map of what the region looked like in Jesus' time.

I want to point out three major regions that we will looking at repeatedly throughout this series.

In the south, you have Judea. It is in Judea that we find Jerusalem, and a little bit south of there, we have Bethlehem.

As we travel north from Judea, you find another region also in that green color, the region of Samaria. The major cities of Samaria are Samaria, Shechem, and Sychar.

Then, let your eyes continue north on the map, and you see the region of Galilee. On the eastern side of Galilee, you have the Sea of Galilee, on the western side, you may be able to see the city of Cana labeled. Nazareth, where Jesus grew up, would have been a scarce 3.5 miles away from Cana.

We left off last week that Jesus was going about the countryside of Judea, but now, he begins traveling to Galilee. About this time is when John the Baptist is arrested, something we will cover probably next week. It could be that John the Baptist's arrest caused Jesus to travel north into the area that John was preaching in, or it could be that the arrest happened after the events that we will be seeing today.

Either way, As we open up Chapter 4, we see Jesus making plans to go to Galilee through a specific route.

John 4:1-4 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, 2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. 4 And he must needs go through Samaria.

Turn back to the image of the map. If Jesus is in Judea, and he wants to go to Galilee, which region would he have to go through? If you're thinking Samaria, you would be 100% right.

So why would John make a point of saying, "Jesus needed to go through Samaria." Well thanks, Captain Obvious!! Right?

That's almost like saying, "Jesus ate bread, and he used his teeth."

Well, yeah, that's what you use when you eat food...

But when we look at the cultural context, we find that when John said, "And he must needs go through Samaria," there were some people that would have been a little shocked by this revelation, not because they were unaware of the geography of the region, but because they were acutely aware of the customs and traditions of the Jews.

See, owing to the hatred which existed between Jews and Samaritans, many of the Jews went from Jerusalem to Galilee by turning eastward, crossing the Jordan, and passing northward through Perea. This journey required about seven days, while the more direct route, through Samaria, only took three days.

The Jews hated the Samaritans. The Samaritans are first mentioned in the Bible in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra. When Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem to rebuild its walls, Samaritans in the region oppose the mission. But the Samaritans were already looked down upon by the Jews at this point. The Samaritans, being a mix of spiritually corrupt Israelites and pagan foreigners, started a religion of their own that in many ways looked like Judaism, but had some distinct views. Among those views were that Mt Gerizim, not Jerusalem, was the place that God had designated to be worshiped; they had their own version of the the Pentateuch (another name for the books of the law of Moses, Genesis - Deuteronomy); and they rejected all other Jewish writings, including the writings of the prophets. They saw themselves as the true descendants of Israel and the preservers of true religion. SO when the Jews returned to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, this led to opposition from the Samaritans and a deeper dislike for each other as the two religions were established in the same land in opposition to each other.

To the Jew, a Samaritan was worse than a Gentile (a pagan). Samaritans were half-breeds that defiled true religion. So now we see why Jews would opt for a seven day journey around Samaria rather than a 3-day journey through Samaria.

But as Jesus and his followers begin their journey back to Galilee, he turns to them and says, "We must go through Samaria."

So he does, and this is what happens.

John 4:5-6 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

We can see on our map the city of Sychar. And there outside this city, he sits on the edge of a well. But it is not any old well, this is a well that Jacob had dug. Not far from this well was the place that Joseph's remains were buried after the Israelites left Egypt's captivity and entered into the Promised Land. This well is just a few hundred feet south of Mt. Gerizim. And now Jesus, traveling from Judea, weary from the journey, sits down on the edge of this well. I like the fact that John gives us these small, yet important, details of Jesus' humanity. Having travelled, Jesus finds himself tired, hungry, and thirsty at this well. In a bit, we see that Jesus sends his disciples off to buy food.

John 4:7-8 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

There Jesus sits, and along comes a woman, a Samaritan woman. And Jesus does something that is completely out of character for a Jewish man to do, for several reasons, but totally within his character to do. This is one of those uniquely Jesus-y things that we will be used to seeing him do or say as we study through the Gospels.

Jesus asks this woman for a drink. We may not see that as a something that would be out of the ordinary now, but in those days, it was surprising that Jesus, a Jew should ask a Samaritan woman for a drink. This is seen in the woman's reaction to Jesus' request.

John 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Jesus' language and his dress identify him as a Jewish man to the Samaritan woman. She mentions to Jesus that the Jews and Samaritans have no dealings with each other. This is applicable to social dealings. Jews and Samaritans had no issue striking business deals with each other, but to have interactions with each other that were anything besides business related was seen as a disgrace for the Jew.

Later writings would be found that said that Jews accepted no hospitality from a Samaritan, and to eat his bread as a guest was as polluting as to eat swine's flesh, which was an unclean animal that the Jews were forbidden to eat. And yet, here Jesus is, requesting the social courtesy that Jewish men would normally travel 4 days out of their way to avoid.

In the early 1900s there was a man that went to study the Samaritans (there still are a small community of practicing Samaritans in that region even to this day). Dr. Robinson said of them that they "neither eat, nor drink, nor marry with the Jews, but only trade with them."

But then, this woman is not only very aware of the relationship that Jews and Samaritans have (or don't have), she is aware of her status being a woman.

The ancient world was not often kind to women or children. Too often they were treated as property, bargaining chips, or slaves. But nothing in the world has done more for women than the teachings of Jesus Christ, and we see it for the first time right here.

Again, in later writings, different Rabbis were quoted as saying, "Let no one talk with a woman in the street, no, not with his own wife." The estate of women was very low. Socrates, who lived 500 years before Christ, wrote that he thanked the gods daily that he was born neither a slave nor a woman. Roman law gave the husband absolute authority over the wife, even to put her to death.

Jewish contempt for women at the time is made evident by the readiness with which Jewish men divorced them. In certain schools of thought it was perfectly acceptable to divorce your wife if she dared to commit the heinous act of overcooking your meal. The Samaritans did not hold any higher views of women, and this particular woman knew this and was surprised that despite the "two strikes against her," Jesus would still request her hospitality.

So Jesus responds to her astonishment.

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

I love this response. It is so full of truth and revelation. Let's break it down.

"If you knew the gift of God..." Jesus is himself the Gift of God (John 3:16).

But she was not privy to the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, nor had she been at the Jordan when Jesus was baptized. She did not know that God had given a special Gift in the for of his Son, and that that Gift was speaking directly to her.

Jesus was asking for a drink, but even though Jesus physically was the object of her charity, spiritually, their cases were reversed. She was the needy one. She was the thirsty one, spiritually speaking.

Jesus uses the phrase "living water" to describe what he alone could offer. This would be running water or spring water as opposed to the well water that she was drawing from.

Jesus uses this phrase in the spiritual sense. He alone is able to fill us with his grace and truth and grant continual refreshing of our souls. Further, John will record Jesus again using this phrase, "living water", to describe the regenerating effects of the Holy Spirit in our lives (7:37-39).

The Samaritan woman does next that we saw Nicodemus do in the last chapter. She interprets Jesus' words literally.

John 4:11-12 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 -- Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

She makes note that Jesus has nothing to actually draw water with. But notice how she refers to Jesus. She calls him "sir." The word she uses is the Greek work kyrios. This word is aptly translated elsewhere as "Lord." It is important to understand that this word does not ever mean "sir" as we use it today. This was a definite expression of Jesus' superiority. It is the word with which servants addressed their masters. It denotes supremacy and ownership.

In the presence of Jesus, the Samaritan woman had felt his majesty and dignity. Jacob had dug this well centuries before, giving blessings to countless generations after him, but now she is faced with someone who claims he can give even greater blessings than Jacob? Could this stranger possibly imagine himself greater than the patriarch Jacob?

So Jesus clarifies his saying.

John 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

First, he draws a contrast between earthly blessings and heavenly blessings. "Drink water from this well, and you'll have to come again tomorrow to refill that pitcher. Drink from the water I give, and you will never thirst again."

As we just finished seeing on Wednesday nights through our study of Ecclesiastes, no worldly joy ever gives lasting satisfaction, but Jesus the bread of life and the water of life, offers eternal satisfaction for our souls and it starts with eternal life.

The Samaritan woman then asks Jesus for this water. 15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. It seems she is still thinking in earthly terms...

So Jesus tells her to go call her husband. V.16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. She had asked for Jesus' grace, but Jesus does something here. He doesn't immediately give her this water that he offers. Instead, he begins to make her vividly aware of how thirsty her soul really is.

The woman needed to be conscious of how badly she needed this water.

When Jesus commands her to bring her husband, he begins to reveal her life and awaken this woman to the need of repentance.

John 5:17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

Jesus' divine wisdom had brings to light a sad state of affairs. This woman had been in five different marriages. During this period of her life, she had at least some semblance of respectability, but now, she was openly living a sinful lifestyle with a man that was not her husband. All semblance of respectability gone, this would explain to us why she was at the well at noon. This would not have been the common time for women to come draw water. That would have happened in the morning hours, or in the evening. Those times would have been times that the women would have talked and had fellowship with each other. But this woman, she knows that she has lost all respectability with the other women. She's not accepted, she's not wanted, and she doesn't want to be subjected to the stares and the whispers so she comes to the well when she knows no one else will be there, at noon, in the heat of the day.

The number of marriages reflects the character of this woman, and it hints that some of these marriages may have been dissolved because of her own fault, though we have already seen how loose the divorce laws were at this time.

And this woman's next statement is a confession of sorts.

V.19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

In essence, she is stating that what he has said of her relationships is true, acknowledging that she is standing in the presence of someone with divine knowledge.

And in that moment, realizing that she is indeed in the presence of someone with divine wisdom, she asks a question that at first may seem like an attempt to change the subject, but I don't think it is. For centuries, the Jews and the Samaritans have been arguing and hating each other for their differing beliefs. The Jews stated that Jerusalem was the place to worship God; the Samaritans believed that Mt. Gerizim was the place to worship God. Now, having a Jew in front of her, but not just any Jew, a prophet of God, the Samaritan woman decides to settle the great dispute.

John 4:20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

Notice her reasoning for worshipping in "this mountain", Mt. Gerizim: "our fathers." Even today, so many beliefs and practices are held because "that's the way we always did it." Even wrong beliefs and practices are difficult to let go because that's how mom and dad, grandma and grandpa did it.

I spoke to someone the other day that asked about the cajon. It really bothered that person, and the reason it bothered them was because they had been taught all their life that drums or percussion instruments did not belong in the church.

I asked, "Was any Biblical support given to these teachings?" and the answer came back, "Well... no." And that is because there is no Bible verse or precept that would support that teaching. By the way, if you are wondering, Psalms is chock full of references of different percussion instruments not only being used in worship, but commands for the worshippers of the Lord to use these percussion instruments and to use them loudly. Just saying...

But I digress, the woman wants this debate settled once and for all, and Jesus responds.

John 4:21-24 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

"The hour is near," the time is approaching when worship will be able to happen anywhere.

But then, in verse 22, Jesus speaks as a Jew and draws a comparison between the intelligent worship of his people and the ignorant worship of the Samaritans.

Though the Samaritans possessed the Pentateuch, they rejected the revelation of the prophets from Israel. Their worship was neither authorized nor accredited by God. Had they accepted the words of the prophets of the Lord, they would have known that Salvation would indeed proceed out of the Jewish nation. Jesus Christ was born to the Jews, but the prophets came from them, the apostles were Jews, and the inspired writers of the New Testament were also Jews. It is from them that we have the knowledge of salvation.

But then Jesus gives another revelation. He has already mentioned that the hour is near when it will not matter where you worship God, but the hour is now when true worshippers will worship in spirit and in truth.

The woman's attention is currently on the place of worship and the form of worship, but Jesus draws her eyes to the Person being worshipped and the spirit of worship.

God seeks genuine worshipers, not formal worshipers (those that worship in truth). What is the difference? Glad you asked!

You might be a formal worshiper if you only praise God in song during church services. Singing is written in our DNA, our faith is a singing faith. Those songs are meant to be of praise and worship to the Lord, but if you only ever use those songs on a Sunday or a Wednesday, you are a formal worshiper.

If you sing because "you have to", you're a formal worshiper.

If you come to church services or events because "otherwise you might look bad," you are a formal worshiper.

If you complain that the worshiping God through singing or prayer just takes too long and that time would be better used doing something else, you have become a formal worshiper.

If you are more interested in ceremonies, traditions, and rituals than in opportunities to presented to worship, you are a formal worshiper.

So Jesus draws the focus to worshipping God in spirit, from the heart, and from a base of truth. Why? Because that what God seeks in those that worship Him.

Why? Because God is a Spirit.

This is one of the simplest and yet most profound revelations to ever grace our ears. God is a Spirit. He is free from all limitations of space and time. Therefore, he is not localized in temples. We can worship him here, and the churches across town and across the world can worship him at the same time.

God is not material, we don't need an object on which to focus our worship, like an idol or a painting.

God is not an abstract force, but he is a Being. He is lifted high above all need of temples and sacrifices. Those things were a benefit to man, but not to God.

So for men to truly worship God, their worship must correspond with the nature and the attributes of God: they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

In her partial understanding of Scripture, this woman responds the following way: V. 25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Remember, the Samaritans had the Pentateuch. They could see in those passages that there would be a coming Messiah (a name that they borrowed from the Jews). Modern Samaritans still believe that the Messiah will one day come; they believe that it will be the return of Moses. Had they accepted the writings of the Jewish prophets of God, they would have been able to access a more complete understanding of the Messiah.

However, this woman viewed the Messiah in a better understanding than the Jews of her time did, for she viewed him as a teacher rather than a world-conquering prince. And as she spoke with Jesus, her longing is revealed.

John 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

This is the first recorded time that Jesus makes a reference to his Messiahship. He has confessed to being the Son of God, John the Baptist has revealed him as the savior of the world, but this is the first time that Jesus explicitly says to someone that he is the Messiah. And he does it to a Samaritan woman.

Had he made this revelation to the Jews, those that believed him would have rushed to make him a king, but to the Samaritans, the Messiah was one who would come to teach, so they would simply listen to him.

It is at this time that the disciples return.

John 4:27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?

And though they are as astonished at Jesus speaking to a Samaritan woman as the woman was, they don't ask why even though they don't understand it.

As the Disciples approach, the woman leaves, and look at what she does.

John 4:28-30 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? 30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

She leaves her waterpot out of joy and excitement, and she runs to the city. She acts on one of the first impulses of someone who gets saved: to publish Jesus. Notice how she does it. She says, "Come and see!" Does it remind you of anyone? Philip told Nathanael, "Come and see."

Then she tells what Jesus did for her. She is not exaggerating when she says that Jesus has told her everything she ever did, because if you think about it, her five marriages and her current relationship have encompassed all of her adult life to this point.

Then she asks a question, not out of doubt or uncertainty, but a question meant to provoke the thoughts of others. She is letting her neighbors come to their own conclusion about the matter. "Is this not the Christ? Don't you think that this could be the Messiah?"

And the people begin to flock from the city to see Jesus.

In the meantime, Jesus' disciples are encouraging Jesus to eat some of the food that they have brought. John 4:31-34 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

But Jesus tells them that he is not hungry. The disciples wonder if someone has brought him food while they were gone, but Jesus corrects that thought process by saying, "My meat, my food, my satisfaction is in doing the will of the one that sent me."

Why did Jesus come? He has answered that question in chapter 3, he alludes to it here, and John will record it at least 3 times that Jesus has come to be the light of the world, to give life, and Luke records Jesus as saying that he came to seek and to save that which was lost. Over and over again Jesus said that he came to glorify the Father. Doing this is what satisfied him, so much more than food or drink ever could.

When you start serving God in spirit and in truth, you will find that it is more satisfying than food, more satisfying than sleep, more satisfying than anything. When you come to a Wednesday night Praise and Prayer service with the intentions and the heart to worship God and to honor him by serving others and praying for others you'll feel more satisfied at the end of that than you ever would elsewhere.

And here is another way to tell if I am a formal worshiper of God or a genuine worshiper of God. At the end of my worship and service to Him, am I left satisfied or do I have complaints?

You know what Jesus wasn't saying when the disciples got there? He didn't say, "Well it's about time! How ling does it take to get a cheesesteak sandwich man? I'm fixin' pass out here. I asked this lady for water, and she didn't even give me any. Instead, we just sat here and talked the whole time, she bombards me with questions, and then, after I give her eternal life, she doesn't even give me water! Please tell me you brought some ice cold Coca-Cola with my sandwich!"

No, instead, when the disciples get there and offer Jesus food, he says, "No thanks, I'm good. I am so satisfied right now, I couldn't eat."

See, Jesus was a genuine worshiper of the Father. If Jesus came to church here physically, he'd close the place down. He'd be the last to leave. He'd be the first here. When parents got caught up talking to each other and forgot to pick their kids up from the gym until 20 minutes later, if Jesus were in there, he wouldn't be looking at his clock, he wouldn't say "well it's about time." He would be the worker playing games with them, telling jokes, praying with and for them for school the next day, helping them memorize the verse for next week.

When the parent would say, "I am so sorry, I got caught up talking with someone," he'd respond with, "Sorry for what? Letting me spend some extra time with these little guys? That's alright, for of such is the Kingdom of God!"

Jesus' delight was because he had done part of the work that his Father had given him to do. This delight overcame his desire for food for a time. Food provides several things for us: 1. enjoyment; 2. satisfaction of desire; 3. refreshment and strength. God's work had these characteristics to Jesus, whose life fulfilled the principle that man shall not live by bread alone.

V.35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

Around this area of Sychar, there were fields that had been sown. Fields that in just a few months would be ready for the harvesters to come in. But Jesus tells his disciples, look, the fields are white unto the harvest. I can imagine that as he is saying this, Jesus draws the gaze of the disciples to the outlying city of Sychar where people, dressed in white and light color garments to combat the noonday sun's heat are starting to pour out in their direction to come see the Messiah.

That was the field that was ripe to the harvest. That is why he must needs go through Samaria. Doing his mission in that place was what was going to honor God the Father and was going to give Jesus satisfaction that food could only hope to bring.

John 4:39-42 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. 40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his own word; 42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

Did you catch that first verse? People believed in Jesus before they ever met him simply because of the testimony of this lady. What had happened? She was thirsty. She went to get water, and found Jesus instead. She didn't draw from the well, she didn't drink from the well, but by the time she got done talking with Jesus and believing in Him she was thirsty no more!

Not only that, but she had a new thirst in her life. And the only thing that could satisfy that thirst was to go tell others about Jesus. She left her pot forgotten at the well and ran back to town, not satisfied until she had announced Jesus to everyone in the city. She found her satisfaction in the true and genuine worship of the Savior. A satisfaction that water from the well could not have satisfied.

Because of her testimony, many believed. But many did not. But in those who did not believe from her words, she caused an interest to pique. They went to Jesus and heard his words, and when they did, many of them believed.

The incident we have just read about in this section presents amazing attributes of Christianity: 1, we see it breaking down the walls of racial prejudice; 2, we observe it elevating woman, and certifying her fitness to receive the very highest spiritual instruction; 3, we see it lifting up the degraded and sinful, and supplying them from the fountains of grace. This is real Christianity—the Christianity of Christ.

Invitation

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Life Groups

The passage highlights the cultural context of Jesus' decision to go through Samaria despite the tensions between Jews and Samaritans. How do cultural backgrounds and prejudices affect our interactions with others today?

How can we overcome such barriers?

Jesus broke societal norms by engaging with the Samaritan woman. Are there any societal norms or prejudices that you believe need to be challenged or broken down today in order to spread the message of Christ's love more effectively?

Jesus talked about worshiping God in 'spirit and in truth.' What does this mean to you, and how can we incorporate this concept into our worship practices today?

Jesus found satisfaction in doing God's work, even more than in food. How can we find satisfaction in serving God and fulfilling His mission in our lives?

When we complain about "having to serve God" or when we complain about the inconveniences that are brought about in serving God, what does that indicate?

As we continue to study the life of Christ, you will notice something. Jesus never begs people to follow him. He makes no bones about what he is asking from his followers: A complete change of lifestyle.

There is one characteristic that stands out about those twelve disciples- They left everything and didn't look back.

Those that wanted to follow Jesus on their own terms, Jesus basically told them to not even bother. Luke 9:57-62

In a couple more chapters in John, we will see that there were many disciples, more than just the 12, that when Jesus said some hard truths, they were offended by it and never followed him again. They murmured and complained about Jesus' sayings and ultimately left him.

The number one danger of a complaining spirit is that it leads to eventual abandonment.

Complaining causes us tho lose focus.

If we lose focus, the most important part of the harvest, the actual harvest, will go to waste.

Jesus said, "Lift up your eyes." It is time to lift our