John 4:16-24
Notes
Transcript
To help build some context for today’s message I believe we need to start at the beginning of chapter 4.
Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples),
he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria.
Jesus and his disciples on a Journey to Galilee VS 4:3
Had to pass through Samaria. VS 4:4 Not go around.
What’s the deal with Samaria? race & religious half-breed
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.
VS 4:5-6, Jesus makes it to Sychar and is wearied, exhausted is more like it. It’s the 6th hour which is noon our time. It’s in the heat of the day and our Lord is exhausted and thirsty. Fully man!
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.)
VS 4:7-8 A Samaritan woman comes to draw water from this well that Jacob used to use in his time and Jesus asks for her to draw some water for Him and this starts this conversion between the two.
Jesus seeking us and asking for help even though He needs none, amazing God!
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.)
VS 4:9 we see this instant divide come up between Jews and Samaritans. “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?”
And what does Christ give for an answer? The Truth. (Read below, stopping after each set of verses and let the Holy Spirit give!)
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.” 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.”
The gift of eternal thirst quenching water shared!
The start of salvation shared!
This is the context of where we’re at today and now today’s passages of study.
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.
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.” 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.”
Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Pray,
Why the Living Water has been withheld...
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
Why the change in discussion? This seems a bit weird… Living water to go call your husband.
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 truth, the reason we don’t have living water.. 5 different husbands with a new one that isn’t her husband..
What is she doing? Living in sin, point blank.
Sin. This opening phrase right after the living water talk reminds me of the verses in Genesis 3:8-11
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
Living water sounds great, please give it to me!
The Garden of Eden sounds great, please let us have it back!
It’s not that easy...Why?
Sin is destructive. Sin leads to death.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Sin is everything God is not, God is light, God is life, God is Good, God is Holy. Sin is darkness, sin is death, sin is bad, sin is impure/unholy.
but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
We are seperated from our Creator, meaning we are seperated from the one who gives and sustains life.
We are seperated from this living water and Jesus is attacking this problem, point blank.
Your adulterous living, this self serving, pleasure seeking life has brought nothing but a huge wake of destruction.
How many destructive paths of sin through these divorces have caused countless roads of despair and pain.
How many destructive paths have our sins brought into this world?
This is the reason we have no living water that leads to life. Our sin.
Jesus loves enough to share Truth even when it may hurt.
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.”
“Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet” God see’s all and we know that. This means you must be from God somehow.
Jesus see’s behind the mask. Who we really are. No hiding. You must be from God for you to see me.
Then she goes into religion. Our faith says this but yours says this.
Oh, how many times have I fallen into this. Debates with no heart.
Debates with others. What do these debates matter win or lose if we don’t first love. Truth matters but without love it can be brutality.
How about debates with God?
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
Because I’m not these yet, I therefore cannot be saved. Man focused over God focused and what His truths says.
Religion is in some ways like the Old Testament law...in itself is good if it points to Jesus but if not, it’s heavy, burdensome, & weighty. Opposite of the yoke of Christ.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
And this is where she is at...the do’s and don’ts or the legalism of religion without the heart or faith of love for God.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
Changes are coming! No longer will God dwell with His people in places made by man’s hand but with and in His people!
Old covenant = I’m going to show and tell you my holy perfect ways through the Mosaic Law. Have faith in Me by my shown and spoken righteousness and do as I command and I’ll be your God and you’ll be my people.
New covenant = I’m going to show and tell you my holy perfect ways through my Son. Have faith in my son and His righteous ways, which leads to repentance and I’ll be your God and you’ll be my people.
No longer priests, animal sacrifices, single locations to commune with God but with this new covenant in Christ direct access to the Father, One perfect sacrifice that atoned for all sins, past, present, future, and God dwelling inside of man not outside!
Both are through faith but one has been voided by continued sin and the other is still in place. Praise God for second chances.
Listen to the prophecy of the New covenant.
Ezekiel 36:22-32
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.
My Holy name, my perfect, righteous ways, who I am. All good not because of your goodness.
And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.
My holiness will be made known to all! It will be made known to all through you but not because of you.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
True atonement for sins. “I will sprinkle clean water, I will cleanse you, I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you, I will remove the heart of stone and give a heart of flesh, I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.
I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations.
It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.
It is by God and His mercy and grace only that Jesus came. No other reason, it is by His attributes and His ways, not ours!
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
Tradition vs truth!
Why do we do what we do? Truth or...
It is clear that through Israel aka the Jews that the Christ would come.
Oh how many lost souls are out there doing whatever they’ve been brought up in but never seeking truth!
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.”
What is this? True worshipers? Worship the Father in spirit and truth?
The new covenant! Remember the “I will” statements in Ezekiel!
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
No longer a physical type worship of temples, sacrifices, and communication with God through a Priest but now of God’s great doing of Spirit and truth in Christ!
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.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
She knows some truth! Not all is lost!
Mind blown! I am!
This is The Messiah, this is the New Covenant spoke about in Ezekiel, this is God in the flesh, this is Emmanuel - God with us.
Not because of anything we did but because of everything He is and did!
He alone is worthy of praise and worship!
Let’s pray.
