“Bridging the Gap Like Jesus: Week 2 Crossing the Divide”

Announcements:

Offering box is in the back

2. August bible reading plan is on the back table

3. No nursing home today.

Worship:

I Know A Name

Holy Forever

Chorus of Power in the Blood

What He’s done

Introduction:

[Setting the Scene]

Imagine a hot, dusty afternoon in ancient Samaria. Jesus, tired from His journey, sits by a well. A woman approaches—alone. She’s carrying more than a water jar; she’s carrying shame, broken relationships, and the weight of being unwanted.

To us, this may seem like a simple conversation at a well. But in Jesus’ day, this moment was culturally shocking.

Three Major Cultural Barriers Jesus Crossed:

Ethnic Barrier – Jews and Samaritans hated each other. Centuries of conflict, racial mixing, and religious division made them bitter enemies.

Gender Barrier – Men, especially rabbis, did not speak publicly with women. It was socially unacceptable, even scandalous.

Moral Barrier – This woman had been with five men and was now living with a man who wasn’t her husband. She was likely a social outcast in her own village.

Yet Jesus—a Jewish man, a respected teacher—initiated this conversation. He didn’t avoid her. He didn’t judge her. He didn’t wait for her to change. He met her where she was—with love, truth, and an offer of living water that would satisfy her soul.

This was not just a casual chat. This was a radical act of grace, a divine appointment that shattered social norms.

Let’s look at this Divine encounter in John 4 with fresh eyes and see how Jesus uses the foundation of love and compassion from last week to bridge this great divide.

Transition: First of all…

Body:

I. Jesus Crosses Barriers to Reach the Broken (vv. 1–9)

John 4:1–9 CSB

1 When Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were), 3 he left Judea and went again to Galilee. 4 He had to travel through Samaria; 5 so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from his journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. “Give me a drink,” Jesus said to her, 8 because his disciples had gone into town to buy food. 9 “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.

Context: Jews didn’t speak to Samaritans. Men didn’t speak publicly to unrelated women. And rabbis didn’t associate with women of poor reputation.

Jesus goes through Samaria (v. 4). That wasn’t the usual route. He intentionally goes through a place Jews avoided. (The Jews would go around Samaria which added about 30 miles to their trip) In other words, it was about 3 days travel to go through Samaria to get to Galilee from Judea and about minimum 5-7 days travel to go around Samaria to get to Galilee from Judea. Talk about going out of your way to avoid someone!

He initiates the conversation, showing love and dignity to a woman the world dismissed.

Galatians 3:28 CSB

28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Application:

Who are the "Samaritans" in your life? Who is easy to avoid or ignore? Those you don’t agree with? Those you used to attend church with?

Jesus didn’t wait in the synagogue—He met people on the margins. In other words, Jesus was outside of the synagogue and, like this case, sometimes went out of His way to build a bridge to someone else who was, most of the time, unlikely and forgotten. We’re called to do the same!

Play “David Wilkerson and TC” video

Illustration: In the 1950s, a young preacher named David Wilkerson felt compelled to minister in New York City after reading a Time Magazine article about teenage gang members on trial. A country preacher in a small town, Wilkerson knew nothing of city life. But he showed up, Bible in hand, walking into courtrooms and gang hangouts. People thought he was crazy, but he kept showing up. He crossed social, racial, and cultural lines—and thousands were impacted by the gospel.

Question: Jesus crossed barriers to reach the broken. How are we reaching out to those who are broken? Hurt? Who is the Holy Spirit telling you to reach out to?

Transition: Not only did Jesus cross barriers to reach the broken, but…

II. Jesus Meets People Where They Are (vv. 10–20)

John 4:10–20 CSB

10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.” 11 “Sir,” said the woman, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this ‘living water’? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.” 13 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.” 15 “Sir,” the woman said to him, “give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.” 16 “Go call your husband,” he told her, “and come back here.” 17 “I don’t have a husband,” she answered. “You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’ ” Jesus said. 18 “For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

Jesus doesn’t start with a sermon. He starts with her need—thirst.

He doesn’t shame her for her past (five husbands). He speaks truth gently and offers something better.

Jesus speaks in everyday language about water, drawing her into deeper understanding.

Romans 5:8 CSB

8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Application:

We don't have to clean ourselves up before coming to Jesus.

Jesus meets people at the well—not in a temple, not at a revival service, but in the middle of normal daily life.

Play “Jewish Man” video

Question: are we so quick to meet people where they are by attacking what they believe or anything we don’t agree with instead of meeting them at their point of their need? Do we focus on the common ground we have with someone rather than tear others down because they don’t agree with us?

Transition: Jesus not only crossed barriers to reach the broken and meet people where they were, but lastly…

III. Jesus Offers Living Water and True Hope (vv. 14, 21–26)

John 4:14 CSB

14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.”

He shifts the conversation to worship—true, Spirit-filled worship that’s no longer bound by location.

John 4:21–26 CSB

21 Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”

Jesus reveals Himself plainly—“I am He” (v. 26). This is the first person in John’s gospel He directly reveals Himself to as the Messiah.

The woman, once ashamed, becomes a bold witness to her community (v. 29, not covered here but powerful follow-up).

Revelation 21:6 CSB

6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life.

Application:

Are you thirsty for something more? Jesus still offers living water.

You don’t have to live stuck in the past. There’s hope for the brokenhearted.

That hope is the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Play Nicky Cruz and the gospel video

Transition: “Now let’s bring this story into our world today…"

Conclusion:

If Jesus were walking through America in 2025, who would be the woman at the well?

Let’s translate the barriers Jesus crossed back then and see what it looks like in 2025:

Ethnic Division Then: Jews vs. Samaritans Now: Ongoing racial tension, immigration debates, fear of "the other"

Religious Division Then: Disputes over worship between Jerusalem and Mount Gerizim Now: Evangelicals, Muslims, agnostics, ex-vangelicals—each in their own corners

Gender & Moral Judgment Then: A woman with a broken relational past, isolated by shame Now: A single mother, a person with a criminal record, a recovering addict, someone in the LGBTQ+ community—often judged before being loved

In 2025, this encounter might look like:

A white Christian talking to a Muslim refugee/the Jewish man talking to the former white nationalist in the video clip

A suburban pastor reaching out to someone in addiction recovery

A church leader sitting at a table with someone who's deconstructed their faith

A believer building friendship with someone others call “too far gone”

The question is: Are we willing to cross those lines like Jesus did?

Will we:

Step into uncomfortable places?

Talk to people others avoid?

Offer hope instead of judgment?

See individuals instead of categories or inconveniences?

Jesus didn’t wait for people to clean up their act before He loved them. He sat by the well and made the first move. And He’s calling us to do the same.

Invitation: Do you feel like an outsider? Are you tired of carrying your past alone? Jesus offers you living water today.

What barriers has Jesus crossed in your life to reach you?

Who in your community is considered an outcast or outsider? How can you reach them?