The Woman at the Well, Pt.2
Notes
Transcript
Intro; Last week we saw Jesus go through Samaria as He went to Galilee. He made the journey where others would not go to offer salvation to a despised people in the eyes of the Jews, not pure Samaritan’s, half-breeds.
We also discussed this being outside the norm of Jewish culture, but Jesus remember shows no partiality in salvation or judgment. While having a discussion about “living water” with this woman, Jesus is breaking down barriers, finding common ground with water, and moving to the next phase of helping her see who He is and what she needs, salvation!
I believe this could be the greatest example of lifestyle evangelism in the scriptures. Meeting a person where they are and leading them to where they need to be!
Text; John 4:15-39
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’
18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”
28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men,
29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
37 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’
38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.”
1. Conviction of Sin; 15-18
1. Conviction of Sin; 15-18
This woman’s attitude began to change when she heard about water that she would not have to thirst again or come back to the well in the heat of the day to avoid those in the city that knew her reputation. “She went from being shrewd to Sir”. Though she was still thinking physically, Jesus was opening her eyes spiritually!
[v.16] Why would Jesus change the subject from water to her personal life? A sinner will never be convicted of their sin if they don’t know they are a sinner! You can’t be saved until you know you are lost!!
[v.17-18] The woman responds in a half truth because she was living with a man, but you can’t hide anything from Jesus. He knows all about us.
Notice that Jesus commended her for being halfway honest. He didn’t condemn her. [That is the way we need to be when trying to lead one to salvation in Christ]
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
2. Changed the Conversation; 19-20
2. Changed the Conversation; 19-20
When a person is confronted with their sin the first thing we do is change the conversation to something else to take the spotlight off our failures.
Prophet- spokesperson for God, mediator.
She asked Jesus where was the right place to worship so she could get this “living water” and not have to come back to this well. She is now bending towards what Jesus is telling her as truth instead of what she has been taught.
One of the hardest things for a sinner to do is leave the traditions they have been taught, whether they are worldly or religious, and trust the Truth!
5 And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Paul was blinded by his religion and traditions until Jesus opened his eyes. He explains this before King Agrippa;
15 So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.
17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you,
18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
When you are sharing Jesus with someone and they change the conversation, stay focused and on track to the truth!
3. Confession to Conversion; 21-26, 28-29
3. Confession to Conversion; 21-26, 28-29
The conversion of a sinner cannot happen without the confession of sin!
Conversion is when you change a course you are on [from sin to salvation]
Confession is when you realize you are off course and need to get on the right one
Jesus explains to the woman it’s not where you worship, it’s “Whom and how you worship!”
[v.22] Salvation is of the Jews; There is a twofold meaning
First, the revelation of salvation came first to them and then to the rest of the world
1 What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision?
2 Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.
3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,
4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;
Second, the source of salvation is Jesus, the Messiah, a Jew
5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
[v. 23-24] True worship of God is not a place, but an attitude of heart!
Spirit and truth- Spirit does not refer to the Holy Spirit but the human spirit. Worship must be internal, not external conformity to ceremonies and rituals. It must be from the heart. Truth calls for this heart worship to be consistent with what Scripture teaches and centered on the Word, Jesus Christ!
When the minds attention and the hearts affection is solely focused on the “Person of Jesus Christ!” Voddee Baucham
[v. 25-26] Jesus has brought her full circle to the point of confession to conversion to understand what “living water” is and “Who gives it!”
She makes a confession of the Messiah, what He knows about us all, and she is wanting Him. Jesus says here I AM!
Her confession is much like that of the thief that will be on the cross beside Jesus. It’s not the words of a prayer, it’s the attitude of the heart!
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
[v.28-29] The confirmation of her faith in Christ is that she left the physical water pot by the well. The very thing she had carried for a mile to fill, no longer had value in her life. She left with “living water” and went to share it with others!
Close;
ARE YOU SATISFIED?
Spiritual functions often parallel physical functions. Our bodies hunger and thirst; so do our souls. But our souls need spiritual food and water. The woman confused the two kinds of water, perhaps because no one had ever told her about her spiritual hunger and thirst before. We would not think of depriving our bodies of food and water when they hunger or thirst. Why then should we deprive our souls? The living Word, Jesus Christ, and the written Word, the Bible, can satisfy our hungry and thirsty souls.
Barton, B. B. (1993). John (p. 82). Tyndale House.
