At the Well with Jesus

John 4:1–26

A Shared Thirst

Everyone knows what it feels like to be thirsty, especially with the August heat and humidity.

Our scripture lesson today tells of profound thirst. Jesus is weary and thirsty, the woman comes to the well in the heat of the day. But there’s a deeper thirst here, isn’t there?

The longing for love, belonging, forgiveness, and meaning. And that is something we share as well. This woman at the well is not just a character from 2,000 years ago. She is us.

Sermon overview: We’ll see her need, Christ’s gift, her awakening to true worship, and finally Christ’s invitation to us today.

What We Know About the Samaritan: She Represents Us.

She is a Samaritan.

The Samaritans were left behind after the Babylonian Exile. They rejected much of the later writings of Scripture, only considering the Torah, the first 5 books of Moses to be God’s Word. As such, their faith and practice was limited to those books, and it influenced where they worshiped, and what they hoped for. They had no part of the temple in Jerusalem, and looked for a prophet like Moses, not a king like David.

They were forced to intermarry with the peoples who were relocated to Israel. The Jews who returned from Babylon considered the Samaritans half-breeds and heretics.

She is alone.

Getting water for the day was a communal event, the women would go the well together. She came at noon, socially isolated, thirsting for belonging. The fact that she came to draw water in the heat of the day, alone, suggests that other women did not welcome her company, perhaps because of her morals.

She is restless

5 husbands, now living with one who is not her husband. Searching for love in all the wrong places.

She keeps coming back to Jacob’s well

Clinging to heritage, but it cannot satisfy.

Application: We all have our “wells”: success, relationships, money, even religion.

My need for shiny things - the hedonic treadmill

The consuming desire for wealth, seeking the praise of the world, the constant pursuit of new teaching - all because there is an aching void in the soul, something in us that is dissatisfied.

But like broken cisterns (Jer. 2:13), they leak and leave us empty. Over all the cisterns of this world hangs the sign, “Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again.”

Transition: Her thirst is ours, we need what she needed, someone who will come to us in our thirst.

What We Know About Jesus: He Is the Living Water

He is on a divine mission

“He had to go through Samaria,” not because of geography but because of purpose.

If you look at a map, he could have followed the Jordan straight North into Galilee, but he went Westward into Samaria, out of his way.

Isn’t this the way of Christ, going into the far country to seek and to save the lost?

He offers living water/eternal life

In Jesus’ day, the expression “living water” referred to fresh, running water, in contrast to the stagnant water found in wells. But those familiar with the Bible will also see this as a reference to the gift of abundant life through the Holy Spirit that God promised through the Messiah.

Jer 2:13, God describes himself as “the fountain of living waters.”

Isa 44:3 tells of the coming day of salvation: “I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring.”

Ezek. 36:25–27 cleansing, new heart, Spirit poured out.

He exposes sin with grace, not to shame but to save.

Jesus confronted this woman with her sin because he loved her, because he knew her sin, and because her sin stood between her and God’s salvation. She could not receive the gift he was giving unless she let go of the sin she had. He knows her fully, and yet He still offers Himself.

Application. Charles Spurgeon says it best, “Christ did not wait until we were clean before he came to us, but he came to us that he might cleanse us.”

He is the true Bridegroom (John 2 and 3) and here He meets a broken, thirsty bride. He knows everything about you, and He has not turned away. He still offers Himself.

Transition: The woman’s heart begins to awaken. If this is the one who gives living water, then how can she come near to God? That’s her next question.

How the Woman Responded: Seeking True Worship

She seeks guidance

This is not a misdirect but genuine longing: “Where should we worship?”

Gerizim vs. Ebal; the mountain of cursing and blessing (Deut)

What actually happened in Joshua, the blessing from Ebal

Were the people to worship on Mount Gerizim, in the context of their obedience? Or were they to worship God on Mount Ebal, in the context of their spiritual failure in sin? In other words, would they come to God by works or by grace?

Deuteronomy 27:4–5 gives the answer: “On Mount Ebal … you shall build an altar to the LORD your God.” The lesson was that salvation is not by works but by grace. No sinners can seek salvation on Mount Gerizim because they have already failed to obey God’s law, the blessings offered through the merits of works having been lost through disobedience. Therefore, God has mercifully opened a door of grace on Mount Ebal by the blood of Christ, so that those cursed by their disobedience may yet be forgiven and blessed.

Jesus reveals true worship: not about place or ritual, but spirit and truth. Worship is not form or style but heart and truth.

To worship God in spirit is to worship in the very depth of the inner being - authentic worship happens only when the very core of our being is employed in worshiping God!

Sometimes we sing but do not worship. Sometimes we pray with our lips, but worship does not take place. Sometimes we give, but we do not worship.

True worship occurs only when that part of man, his spirit, which is akin to the divine nature (for God is spirit), actually meets with God and finds itself praising him for his love, wisdom, beauty, truth, holiness, compassion, mercy, grace, power and all his other attributes.

To worship God in truth is to worship according to God’s Word, centered in Christ. Kent Hughes observes, “A wrong conception of God is the root of idolatry,” and it is also a cause of all false worship.

Worship in truth requires a right conception of whom we worship, but also of how we are to worship him. It requires right methods that are taught by God’s Word.

Whatever our condition, God wants us to be men and women who really understand how wonderful he is. God wants us to stand at his feet amazed at who he is and adore him in his awesome majesty. He wants to be worshiped in spirit and truth.

She hopes in Messiah

“I know Messiah is coming” even though she was wrong in what she was waiting for, she knew that when Messiah came, he would set everything right.

Like Nicodemus in the previous chapter, she was close, but still couldn’t see clearly

Then Jesus said, “I who speak to you am He.”

I am, the word that God spoke to Moses, Jesus now gives to the woman. I am the one who is speaking to you.

Application:

Given the offer of living water, and having been shown her own sin, the woman sought to worship God rightly, that she might receive the gift of life.

Knowing your need, stop and ask yourself, has your worship just been going through the motions, doing what you want? Do you come on Sundays more concerned about your preferences or about God’s presence?

Transition: The woman came thirsty, she found the Messiah. The question now is, what will you do with Him?”

How Will You Respond?

Come to Christ and Be Satisfied. The woman came with an empty jar; she left with an overflowing heart.

Stop going to empty wells; they will never fill you.

Confess your sins. He already knows. You cannot cling to Christ and your sin at the same time.

Worship in spirit and truth in gathered praise and daily obedience as you live in faith according to his word.

Application:

To unbelievers: You will never quench your thirst in this world. Only Christ satisfies. He knows your sin and still offers you living water.

To believers: Are you going through motions, or delighting in Christ? Return to the fountain of living waters.

Closing Invitation Rev. 22:17: Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

He comes to you even today, saying: “Drink deeply, for I am the water of life.”