John 4:1–27 Sermon

Scripture

John 4:1–27 ESV

1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people 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 (he 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 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”

John 4:1–45 ESV

1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people 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 (he 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 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him. 31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” 39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” 43 After the two days he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

Introduction

Introduction

It is important to remember the purpose of this book.

John 20:30–31 ESV

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The gospel of John and the accounts found in them of Jesus performing signs, these are written so that we would believe that He is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we would have life in his name.

Our text today is no exception.

We saw in the previous chapter a man named Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night.

We saw in the third chapter that Nicodemus was a man of the Pharisees.

About Pharisees

The Pharisees were a group of particularly observant and influential Jews who lived mainly in Judea.

The Pharisees were a group of particularly observant and influential Jews who lived mainly in Judea.The meaning of the title Pharisee has been difficult to define. It may have meant “separate ones” in Hebrew, which would have referred to their observance of ritual purity laws. Which would have separated them from others. Or it could have meant “interpreters,” referring to their persistent study and teaching of biblical law.

The meaning of the title Pharisee may have meant “separate ones” in Hebrew, which would have referred to their observance of ritual purity laws.

Or it could have meant “interpreters,” referring to their persistent study and teaching of biblical law.

Nicodemus was a studied man and an influential man who knew the Scriptures.

But in our text today we see someone unlike Nicodemus.

This woman was a Samaritan who was not seeking Jesus and was socially despised and immoral.

Nicodemus was according to rejecting the testimony about Jesus.

But we will see what happens to someone who accepts the truth about who Jesus Christ is.

John 3:11 ESV

11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.

One who was socially despised and labeled as an outsider would be found by the One who was sent to save a people from their sin.

Jophn 3:11

And He would put this on display in our passage!

Outline

1. The Savior (v.1-6)

2. The Sinner Saved (v.7-27)

3. The soul winner (v.28-42)

Sermon

1. The Savior (v.1-6)

Read Verses 1-6

John 4:1–6 ESV

1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

Verse 1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John

Verse 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples),

Verse 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.

The setting of our text has Jesus knowing that the Pharisees had heard about Him making and baptizing more disciples than John.

The concern here may have been over the Pharisees coming to him with accusations and possible arrest.

We know that in the beginning of His ministry in , when Jesus heard of John’s arrest, He withdrew to Galilee. Which seems to be the same here in our text.

The distance from Judea to Galilee which Jesus traveled as noted our text today was about 70 miles. Which would have been a journey of about 2 1/2 days.

Judea was south from Galilee. And in between the two was the region of Samaria which in verse 4 we see that Jesus had to pass through in his journey to Galilee.

Verse 4 And he had to pass through Samaria.

About Samaritans

Samaritans were shunned by the Jews because they were a mixed race who came from the Assyrians who intermarried with the Jews.

Their origins stem from the captivity of the northern kingdom under Assyria in 721 BC.

Jews of the northern kingdom intermarried with Assyrians after the captivity and produced the half-Jewish, half-Gentile Samaritan people who we now know as the Samaritans.

Answer: A Samaritan in the Bible was a person from Samaria, a region north of Jerusalem. In Jesus’ day, the Jewish people of Galilee and Judea shunned the Samaritans, viewing them as a mixed race who practiced an impure, half-pagan religion.

Their practices were considered impure and their faith was labeled as a pagan religion.

They are first mentioned in the Bible during the time of Nehemiah when the rebuilding of Jerusalem was taking place after the Babylonian captivity. We see this in Ezra and in the book of Nehemiah.

(; ). Both and a fifth-century BC Aramaic set of documents called the Elephantine Papyri point to a schism between the Jews and Samaritans during this Persian period.

The Samaritans held to the belief that they were the keepers of the Torah were themselves the true descendants of Israel. Specifically from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.

They had a unique copy of the Pentateuch (the first five books of Moses).

They believed that they alone practiced the purest form of the Mosaic religion.

established their primary worship site on Mount Gerizim.

They thought of the Jerusalem temple and the Levitical priesthood as illegitimate and so they established their primary place of worship at the site of Mount Gerizim.

They were avoided and seen as an impure people.

Jews of the northern kingdom intermarried with Assyrians after the captivity and produced the half-Jewish, half-Gentile Samaritan people who we now know as the Samaritans.

That is why in the Jews there sought to offend Jesus by calling Him a Samaritan. Which was suggesting that he was a half breed only. Accusing his mother of unfaithfulness.

This also brings to light Jesus’ use of the parable of the Good Samaritan which would have been extremely offensive.

In New Testament times, the Jews despised Samaritans and would have nothing to do with them. The Samaritans were still living primarily around Mount Gerizim (), but also kept to their own villages (Matthews 10:5; ). Scripture mentions encounters with Samaritans in towns bordering Samaria () and on roads between Jerusalem and Jericho ().

Jesus met with difficulty when ministering to people in Samaritan villages () and at one point told His disciples not to enter them (). Nonetheless, Christ shared the good news with Samaritans, ministering to a Samaritan woman () and healing a Samaritan leper ().

The most recognized Samaritan in the Bible is the one in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (). A Jewish legal expert had put Jesus to the test, asking Him to explain the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself”; specifically, he asked Jesus to define the word neighbor.

That’s when Jesus told His parable of a man in need, portraying the Samaritan as the hero in the story. In the lawyer’s eyes, the Samaritan was the least likely candidate to act lovingly and compassionately to his neighbor. As intended, the story shocked Christ’s audience of prejudiced Jews. The Lord showed that authentic love must transcend all human boundaries of race, religion, nationality, economic class, and educational status.

In , Jesus told His disciples that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, they would be His witnesses in Samaria. In the prophecy was fulfilled, and Samaria became an early mission field for the spreading first-century church: “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city” ().

Several hundred Samaritans survive to this day in Israel and continue to practice their sect of Judaism. The faith concentrates on five affirmations: there is one God, Yahweh; His chief mediator is Moses; the Torah is the vehicle of mediation; the central worship site is Mount Gerizim; and the Messiah will initiate a future Day of Vengeance and Recompense.

So Jesus traveled in a land considered full of unclean people.

Samaritans observe several holy days including Passover; the Feasts of Unleavened Bread, Yom Kippur, and Tabernacles; and the “80 days of solemn assembly.” They also celebrate regular Sabbath services. Their most solemn annual festival, Passover, is held on Mount Gerizim with animal sacrifices as prescribed in the book of Deuteronomy.

Read Verses 5-6

John

John 4:5–6 ESV

5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

Verse 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

Verse 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

The MacArthur Study Bible Chapter 4

4:5, 6 These verses refer back to Gen. 48:22 where Jacob bequeathed a section of land to Joseph which he had purchased from the “children of Hamor” (cf. Gen. 33:19). When the Jews returned from Egypt, they buried Joseph’s bones in that land at Shechem. This area became the inheritance of Joseph’s descendants. The precise location of “Jacob’s well” has been set by a firm tradition among Jews, Samaritans, Muslims, and Christians and lies today in the shadow of the crypt of an unfinished Orthodox church. The term used here for “well” denotes a running spring, while in vv. 11, 12 John used another term for “well” that means “cistern” or “dug-out-well” indicating that the well was both dug out and fed by an underground spring. This spring is still active today.

These verses recall what happened in .

We see that Jacob gave a section of land to Joseph which was purchased from the “children of Hamor” (cf. ).

Joseph’s remains were buried in that region and the region became the inheritance of Joseph’s descendants.

We do not know exactly where Jacob’s well was but what we do see is the weariness of Jesus from His journey.

The sixth hour would have made it at about noon our time.

Here, we see Jesus. The God man. Wearied from His journey because He was in fact truly man!

But this man was the Savior of the world who would interact with someone who was considered unfit and unclean for fellowship.

We see the interaction taking place in verses 7 to 27.

2. The sinner saved (v.7-27)

Read verses 7 to 9.

John 4:7–9 ESV

7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

Verse 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”

Verse 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)

Verse 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

Notice in verse 7 that it was Jesus who initiated the conversation.

He was by Himself according to verse 8 because his disciples had gone away to the city to buy food.

The Samaritan woman might have been surprised since Jews had no dealings with Samaritans for reasons that we’ve covered already.

The answer Jesus gave will give us the motive for Jesus asking her for a drink.

Read verse 10

John 4:10 ESV

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

Verse 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

2 Things we see here.

First, she didn’t know the gift of God.

This is the only time Jesus would speak of a gift in the gospel of John.

In the gospels this is the only time Jesus speaks of the gift of God.

In other passages we see grace and eternal life being called gifts. And spiritual gifts are also mentioned.

But here we read Jesus speaking of knowing the gift of God as the way that would have enabled her to ask for living water instead of water from the well.

Question: So what is the gift of God that Jesus is speaking of here in our text?

Answer: I believe Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit.

Luke 11:13 ESV

13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

What greater gift could anyone have than the Holy Spirit who gives us saving knowledge?

John 7:37–39 ESV

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

John 4:13–14 ESV

13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

This makes sense since we need to Holy Spirit in order to know Jesus.

If she would have had the gift of God (namely the Holy Spirit) she would have known who Jesus was. And instead of giving Jesus something to drink, she would have seen her need for a Savior.

This is what people need who do not have saving faith!

People do not need

The Second thing we see: if she did know who Jesus was she would have asked for living water instead of the water in the well.

Her response proves that she did not have the gift of God and that she didn’t know who Jesus was.

Read verses 11 and 12

John 4:11–12 ESV

11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”

Verse 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?

Question: Jesus was wearied when at the well. Why was He there?

He didn’t have anything to draw the water with. That was the observation made by the Samaritan woman. The well was deep and Jesus had nothing to draw the water.

Question: So what was Jesus doing there?

I believe it was for her. He did start the conversation and it was the woman who had the means to get the water.

He didn’t have anything to draw the water. But she did.

Jesus asked her for water from the well. But if she knew who He was, she would have asked Him for living water.

In verse 12 she asks,

John 4:12 ESV

12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”

Verse 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”

Jesus was greater than Jacob! Which is what she didn’t know. Because if she did, she would have asked Him for living water.

Question: Is Jesus greater than Jacob?

Answer: Yes.

John 5:36 ESV

36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.

They asked him in John 8:53

John 8:53 ESV

53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?”

In short, Jesus would say yes!

In Jesus said,

Matthew 12:41–42 ESV

41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

Question: Is Jesus greater than Jacob?

Answer: Yes!

She would have known this by the grace of God. Which is given by the gift of the Holy Spirit who reveals this truth to those who come to saving faith!

But apart from this saving truth one is left thirsty and in need of living water which only Jesus can give.

Jesus says in verses 13 and 14,

John 4:13–14 ESV

13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Verse 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,

Verse 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,

Verse 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,

Question: What water leaves one with a continual thirst?

Answer: The water that everyone knows they need to live an earthly life.

Jesus points to the obvious. Namely, to the temporal and familiar need that everyone has.

But He would transition to something far more significant.

Read verse 14

John 4:14 ESV

14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Verse 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Remember what Isaiah said?

Isaiah 12:3 ESV

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

John 7:37–39 ESV

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Jesus is speaking of the gift of the Holy Spirit!

This is the water that Jesus gives! Living water that will become a spring welling up to eternal life.

Without this, one is left with earthly thirst. Water that can only satisfy temporarily.

This is what the Samaritan woman had.

Read verse 15

John 4:15 ESV

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

Verse 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

She asked for the water that Jesus spoke of but still she didn’t have the gift of God. She didn’t know who Jesus was.

So Jesus knowing this goes into what the living water would satisfy.

Read verses 16 to 18

John 4:16 ESV

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”

Verse 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”

John 4:16–18 ESV

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

Verse 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”

Verse 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’;

Verse 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’;

Verse 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

This is what the earthly cannot provide.

This is similar to what Jesus said to Nicodemus in

John 3:2–3 ESV

2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Jesus is not giving her what she thinks she needs. Which was water that would quench her physical thirst.

I would add that she didn’t know that without the Holy Spirit she was left with pursuing men. Leaving her with having husbands.

She didn’t see this.

Jesus is giving her what she needs. Namely, the reality of her need for a Savior! Which is always the root cause to our sin.

This is always the root cause to our sin.

This is why we seek satisfaction in relationships

This is why we seek satisfaction in worldly success

This is why we seek satisfaction in lust and in the things of the world

This is why we seek satisfaction in positions in society and work

This is why we seek satisfaction in ministry

This is why we seek satisfaction in a worship experiences rather than in Christ

This is why we seek satisfaction in the applause and accolades of men

This is why we seek satisfaction in people and in their acceptance of us

It comes from our need for a Savior! Without Him we will always be thirsty!

This is what Nicodemus needed. This is what the Samaritan woman needed. And this is what everyone needs who has not come to saving faith in Christ.

They need Jesus Christ and His seal which is the Holy Spirit!

It is a great evil to know Jesus Christ and act thirsty!

We should all repent for acting like Jesus Christ isn’t enough!

What she needed is what we still need even after salvation.

We need to know and remember who Jesus is!

Jesus here is revealing to her who He was.

Verse 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

Read verses 19 and 20

John 4:19–20 ESV

19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

Just as what a Samaritan would believe she believed that true worship only happened at Mount Gerizim.

She did admit Jesus to be a prophet but that was not enough.

Verse 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

Verse 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

Just as what a Samaritan would believe she believed that true worship only happened at Mount Gerizim.

She did admit Jesus to be a prophet but that was not enough.

Jesus would speak of something greater than what the Samaritans and the Jews believed.

Read verses 21-24

Verse 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.

John 4:21–24 ESV

21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Verse 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Verse 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

Verse 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Verse 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”

Verse 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”

Verse 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”

Verse 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Verse 27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”

3. The soul winner (v.28-42)

Verse 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,

Verse 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

Verse 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

Verse 31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

Verse 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”

Verse 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”

Verse 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

Verse 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

Verse 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.

Verse 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’

Verse 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

Verse 39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”

Verse 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.

Verse 41 And many more believed because of his word.

Verse 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Verse 43 After the two days he departed for Galilee.

Verse 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.)

Verse 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.