6 Йоан - Нов кладенец (бележки)

Нов кладенец

Йоан 4:1-42

**** Different kinds of bottled water***

Introduction

• We meet four people in these opening chapters of John’s Gospel. They are John the Baptist, Nathanael, Nicodemus, and TODAY the unnamed “woman at the well.”
• She is an incredible woman and one of my favorite passages in all of scripture.  And we don’t even know her name.
• John has talked about a new temple (driving people out of the temple), a new birth (with Nicodemus), and now he is going to talk about a new well with living water.
• Let’s take a look.  Read John 4:1-8.

Cultural Expectations (4:1-9)

• In every culture there are cultural taboos [табу].  What to do and not to do.
• In America… go to the refrigerator.
• Here is perfect example of what NOT to do:
• You do not go through Samaria.  Problems between Samaritans and Jews.  The history.  Avoid Samaria.
• You do not talk to women.  Interesting how the Bible portrays women.  Not like the culture. 
• Jewish prayer: Thank you God that I am not a Gentile or a woman!
• So, you definitely do not talk to a Samaritan woman.  Vs. 9. Why are you talking to me?
• Jesus is always doing things we least likely expect of Him.

Living Water (4:10-14)

• Jesus here is not so much asking for something as offering the woman something.  He offers her living water.
• Vs. 9.  “If you knew the gift of God,” [Ако би знаела Божия дар] and “who you are speaking to.” [и Кой е Онзи, Който ти казва: Дай Ми да пия]
• Show water.  Fake bottled water.  Best water is bottled at the source.  An invitation to know the source of this Living Water.  What is the source?  It is a gift of God through Jesus Christ.
• Living water is available to us when we accept God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
• Her basic question in verses 11-12 is, “who are you anyway?”
• He talks more about the Living Water in verses 13-14.  Never be thirsty and become a spring. [Всеки, който пие от тая вода, пак ще ожаднее; а който пие от водата, която Аз ще му дам, няма да ожаднее до века; но водата, която ще му дам, ще стане в него извор на вода, която извира за вечен живот.]
• Never thirst again.  Many things we use to quench our thirst, Sex, drug, sock n roll.   BUT, we will always be thirsty again.  All of these things are temporary.
• Become a spring for others.  We will refresh others.  When we have the Living Water in us, it will also refresh others.  We will become a spring of new life.  People that make you feel better.
•  What is Jesus offering to her?  Everything she has ever wanted in life.  Because he knows something about this woman that we do not.

Please… (4:15-18)

• What does Jesus know about her?  She has had five husbands and is shacking up with a sixth.
• Why does Jesus say this to her now?
• There are some people who have presented the Gospel like a magic antibiotic.  Take this for one week and all of your problems will disappear. 
• “Go get your husband….”  I can’t drink from two bottles at once.  I must choose.
• To drink of the Living Water I must be ready to lay aside all other sources, otherwise we will just make a mess.  People cause problems when they try to drink from two sources of water at once.
• Yes I believe in Jesus, but I need this other woman to fulfill my life
• Yes I am a Christian, but the main focus of my life is money.
• People curse the name of God because we a making a mess.
•  Jesus makes this woman confront her ungodly choices and choose from which well she is going to drink.  “Go get your husband…”

Religion (4:19-26)

• This woman is very intelligent.  She is confronted by Jesus about her personal choices, so she plays the religion card. [CARD GAME EXAMPLE]
• She brings up a religious debate between Jews and Samaritans, but Jesus pays her no attention.  Why?  Because it’s a smokescreen [???]
• People haven’t changed much in 2000 years.  When confronted about ungodly choices in our lives we often become very religious.
• I was baptized in the Orthodox Church.
• You members of a sect don’t know anything.
• Bulgaria has been a Christian country for over 1000 years.
• It is amazing how religious people become when you talk to them about choices that are not very good.
• The Samaritan Woman tries to use a religious argument to change the subject.  She is very intelligent, but Jesus dismisses her remarks.
• How does he answer her?  [23  Но иде час, и сега е, когато истинските поклонници ще се покланят на Отца с дух и истина; защото такива иска Отец да бъдат поклонниците Му.] No of this matters because true followers of God worship in spirit and in truth.
• New life, this new well of living water, does not come through religion, but by having a relationship with the Messiah – the One sent by God so that we don’t have to live in a dessert.  Our lives can be springs of living water.

Conclusion

• Jesus has talked about our bodies as temples.  We must allow him to clean the temple of our bodies by driving out hypocrisy.
• He has talked about a new birth with Nicodemus.  God does not just fix our lives, put back the pieces, but he makes us new when we follow him.
• God is also not trying to sell us something that will be a temporary fix.  He says that when we follow Him daily we will become a SPRING of NEW LIFE for others.
• Through Jesus we have a long-term alternative to the ordinary life.  BUT we must “go get our husbands.”  This is not another temporary fix. 
• We must choose which bottle to drink from.  Is Jesus Christ going to be your source?