An Empty Woman and an Ever-flowing Well

Series: "Bad Girls in the Bible"

Text:

Dictionary of Bible Themes 4278 spring of water

Springs of water were important to the life of Israel, providing fresh water for the people. Both God and the gospel are often compared to springs of living water, on account of their life-bringing and refreshing qualities.

The symbolic importance of springs of water to Israel

Living water as a sign of hope and prosperity Zec 14:8 See also Isa 12:3; 49:10; Jer 31:9

Living water as a source of fertility Jer 17:8 See also Ps 1:3

Living water as a sign of God’s presence and power Ex 17:1-7; Nu 20:1-11

God as a spring of water

Jer 2:13 See also Jer 17:13

The gospel as a spring of water

Jn 4:13-14 See also Ps 42:2; Isa 55:1; Jn 7:37; Rev 21:6; 22:17

Title: An Empty Woman at an Eternal Well

Themes that are threaded through the fabric of this chapter: baptism, eternity, evangelism, family, husband, God, loneliness, sexual immorality, women, and worship.

Introduction

The Setting (1-6)

The Setting

As a young child in the old church our deacons would begin the service with what’s called DEVOTION. The devotion consisted of a scripture, a song/Old 100, and a prayer. One of the deacons would say in prayer, “Lord I come to you as an empty pitcher before a full and flowing fountain.” And they would continue with their prayers. It seems to awful to be in the presence of a full fountain, with an empty pitcher and leave empty. The tragedy is, on any given Sunday, people leave the worship empty in the midst of a full flowing fountain of God’s presence and anointing. The purpose of this sermon today is to look at a “Bad Girl” for a season, who was an Empty Woman at an Eternal Well.

Sychar, a town in Samaria (1-5)

Jacob’s Well (6a)

Jesus’ Weariness (6b)

Sixth Hour - 12 noon - Hottest part of the day (6c)

There are themes threaded throughout the fabric of this chapter: baptism, eternity, evangelism, family, husband, God, loneliness, sexual immorality, women, and worship.

The Situation

The Outline Bible Section Outline Four (John 4)

1. The contact (4:7–9)

a. Jesus’ request (4:7–8): He asks her for a drink.

b. Her response (4:9) : She wants to know why he, a Jew, is even talking to her, a Samaritan!

2. The contrasts (4:10–27)

a. Jesus contrasts liquid water with living water (4:10–15).

(1) Liquid water (4:11–14)

(a) His revelation (4:13–14): Liquid water must be drunk often, but living water becomes an eternal perpetual spring from within!

(b) Her response (4:11–12): First, how can he draw such water without a rope or bucket, and second, is he greater than the patriarch Jacob?

(2) Living water (4:10, 15)

(a) His revelation (4:10) : He will give her living water if she but asks.

(b) Her reaction (4:15) : She desires this kind of water!

b. Jesus contrasts real worship with ritual worship (4:16–27).

(1) The command (4:16) : “Go and get your husband.”

(2) The concealment (4:17a): “I don’t have a husband.”

(3) The correction (4:17b–18): Jesus says he knows she has had five husbands and is now living with a man to whom she is not married.

(4) The cleverness (4:19) : Attempting to change the subject, she says, “You must be a prophet.”

(5) The confusion (4:20) : She asks, “Why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim?”

(6) The clarification (4:21–24): Jesus says that true worship involves not the where but rather the how; that is, God must be worshiped in spirit and truth!

(7) The conversion (4:25–26): She acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah!

(8) The concern (4:27) : The disciples arrive just as she departs and are amazed that he was talking to an immoral woman!

I. The Setting (4:1-6)

The Savior

a. Sychar, a town in Samaria (1-5)

The Outline Bible Section Outline Four (John 4)

1. The faithfulness of the Samaritan woman (4:28–38)

a. As seen by the message she proclaims (4:28–30): She returns to Sychar and witnesses to the entire city!

b. As seen by the model she presents (4:31–38): Jesus uses her as a role model to his disciples on the subject of soul winning.

(1) He talks about the real food (4:31–34): When urged to eat some food they have brought him, he says his food is to do God’s will!

(2) He talks about the ripe fields (4:35–38): He says that the fields of human souls are ripe for harvest!

2. The fruitfulness of the Samaritan woman (4:39–42): At her urging, many townspeople agree to hear the Savior and believe in him!

b. Jacob’s Well (6a)

i. The setting for Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman is historic: Jacob’s well. But their conversation has to bridge several major gulfs.2 Ethnically, the history of Samaritan-Jewish relations was strained. The Samaritans had built a temple on Mount Gerizim (cf. ) about 400 b.c., which was destroyed about 128 b.c. by the Jews, who claimed that proper worship must be conducted in Jerusalem. Religiously, the Samaritans’ Scripture consisted only of the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses); the Jewish canon also included the Writings and the Prophets. Morally, Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, stands opposite the Samaritan woman, who had had intimate relations with five men and was not married to her current partner (4:17–18).[1]

c. Jesus’ Weariness (6b)

d. Sixth Hour - 12 noon - Hottest part of the day (6c)

II. The Situation (4:7-27)

a. The contact (4:7–9)

i. Jesus’ request (4:7–8): He asks her for a drink.

ii. Her response (4:9): She wants to know why he, a Jew, is even talking to her, a Samaritan (and a woman)!

b. The contrasts (4:10–27)

i. Jesus contrasts liquid water with living water (4:10–15).

1. Liquid water (4:11–14)

a. His revelation (4:13–14): Liquid water must be drunk often, but living water becomes an eternal perpetual spring from within!

b. Her response (4:11–12): First, how can he draw such water without a rope or bucket, and second, is he greater than the patriarch Jacob?

2. Living water (4:10, 15)

a. His revelation (4:10): He will give her living water if she but asks.

b. Her reaction (4:15): She desires this kind of water!

ii. Jesus contrasts real worship with ritual worship (4:16–27).

c. The command (4:16): “Go and get your husband.”

d. The concealment (4:17a): “I don’t have a husband.”

e. The correction (4:17b–18): Jesus says he knows she has had five husbands and is now living with a man to whom she is not married.

f. The cleverness (4:19): Attempting to change the subject, she says, “You must be a prophet.”

g. The confusion (4:20): She asks, “Why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim?”

h. The clarification (4:21–24): Jesus says that true worship involves not the where but rather the how; that is, God must be worshiped in spirit and truth!

i. The conversion (4:25–26): She acknowledges Jesus as the Messiah!

j. The concern (4:27): The disciples arrive just as she departs and are amazed that he was talking to an immoral woman!

III. The Savior (4:28-42)

a. The faithfulness of the Samaritan woman (4:28–38)

i. As seen by the message she proclaims (4:28–30): She returns to Sychar and witnesses to the entire city!

ii. As seen by the model she presents (4:31–38): Jesus uses her as a role model to his disciples on the subject of soul winning.

1. He talks about the real food (4:31–34): When urged to eat some food they brought, he says his food is to do God’s will!

2. He talks about the ripe fields (4:35–38): He says that the fields of human souls are ripe for harvest!

b. The fruitfulness of the Samaritan woman (4:39–42): At her urging, many townspeople agree to hear the Savior and believe in him!

Conclusion

Springs of water were important to the life of Israel, providing fresh water for the people. Both God and the gospel are often compared to springs of living water, on account of their life-bringing and refreshing qualities. The symbolic importance of springs of water to Israel Living water as a sign of hope and prosperity See also ; ; Living water as a source of fertility See also Living water as a sign of God’s presence and power ; God as a spring of water See also The gospel as a spring of water See also ; ; ; ;

2 On the moral, gender, and ethnic barriers separating Jesus from the Samaritan woman, see Keener 2003: 593–601.

[1] Andreas J. Köstenberger, John, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), 141.