John 4:1-15 - Jesus and the Samaritan Woman, Part 1
[wrapping up series, next sermon series; read passage; prayer]
Last major event of Jesus’ first year of ministry is an encounter between Jesus and Samaritan woman. Every day we meet people. Some encounters somewhat substantial (e.g. waiter, airplane). Others casual, momentary (e.g. elevator), etc…
Look to learn from what Jesus says and also from what Jesus does. Or to put it another way, learn how Jesus purposefully puts himself in position to say what he says, along with learning from what he does actually say.
First explore background to this encounter. Passage starts off by telling us that Jesus and his disciples traveling from Jerusalem back to Galilee. As travel through region of Samaria they stop off at town could Sychar. Disciples go into town to buy some food while Jesus rests for awhile at the town well when woman comes up. And Jesus begins talking with her by asking for drink.
All sounds ordinary enough. But much more going on here. Get sense of it from certain details in story, biggest one being in v.9 where John writes that “the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans.”
Samaritans and Jews had long and complicated history. Samaritans considered themselves to be Jews, but Jews saw them as being same as Gentiles, non-Jews. This is because of their history. Samaritans the descendants that come from low point in Israel’s history. Back in 722 BC nation of Assyria came, conquered Samaria. Deported most of the Jewish people who lived there, then imported foreigners from other places to take their place. These foreigners intermarried with the remaining Jews in the land. What came out of this union was Samaritans.
So in Jewish eyes they basically racial mutts, not true Jews. Even worse, Samaritans followed a kind of Bizarro alternate Judiasm. They had a Bible, but only consisted of first five books of Old Testament. Built own temple in 400 BC on Mount Gerizim. Jews so offended by this they eventually destroyed it in 128 BC.
Put all this together what got by Jesus’ day was great deal of hostility and outright racism in how Jews viewed and treated Samaritans. Particularly more religious Jews like the Pharisees. Many of these more religious Jews considered anything Samaritans touched to be unclean. Samaritan women, just like Gentiles, were in continual state of uncleanness. Often purposefully avoid going through Samaria. [CLICK - MAP] [CLICK – BACK TO IMAGE] Not everyone did this. If you in a hurry you of course would go through Samaria. But if you were an especially strict religious Jew, would cross Jordan, travel on east side.
So immediately, background to this encounter is peculiar. By intentionally going through Samaria, stopping at one their towns, and then engaging a Samaritan in conversation, in fact being willing to drink from the water jug that had been handled by a Samaritan, well this is something that many Jews would have questioned, and especially religious Jews would have very much frowned at.
But this not only barrier Jesus crossing. Also moral barrier. Remember detail of v.3, that it was around the sixth hour, which means was around noon when woman came up and met Jesus.
Women back then usually came in groups to get water, and they would go early in the morning or later in the day in order to avoid the heat. But this woman comes alone, during hottest part of day. Even most casual observer could easily guess that this was woman with probably low reputation in the community, intentionally coming by herself because not welcome among other women, most likely ostracized by general community. This will be confirmed for next week when we find out more about her sexually immoral background. Morally speaking, this not woman want to form any connection with.
Finally there is also gender barrier. Jewish men did not usually talk to women in public. According to Jewish wise men, Jewish men were to avoid unnecessary conversation with women. Could be accused of being improperly flirtatious.
Ethnic and racial barrier. Moral and social barrier. Gender barrier. All of these at play when Jesus decides to open his mouth and ask this woman for drink.
No surprise then woman’s response is one of shock that touches on many of these barriers that are supposed to be between them. 4:9, 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.) Shock leads to much misunderstanding, at least for the first half of the conversation. She thinks main issue is some kind of new water source of some kind. Or that Jesus is trying to say he’s greater than their Jewish ancestor Jacob!
Jesus not give up. Not mistake that Jesus is here with her. Jesus not talking about superficial things.
Begin to draw some of this out. First, considering just what Jesus doing. [CLICK] [Learning from what Jesus does]
Very simply, Jesus purposefully engages this woman. I believe this purposefulness starts back in v.4 where we told that Jesus “had to pass through Samaria.”
Jesus is missionally driven in everything he does. Saw his entire ministry and in fact his entire life as one to be lived purposefully, intentionally. Jesus on purpose went through Samaria because there were people there he needed to purposefully engage.
We don’t live our lives like this to do we? Many of us say we believe there is a God. But live our lives as if there is no God, as if in fact there really was a random Big Bang and we all here by accident. There is no purpose, no direction, no intentionality to anything we do! We just kind of hanging. Hanging out in same places, with same people, talking about same things. All meaningless and purposeless.
Jesus reminds us that there is a God, that he is at work, and that if we are truly Christians we must be at work. We must be involved in God’s mission!
Let’s be challenged here by Jesus and missional nature to his actions. Notice story starts off with Jesus experiencing something very normal. He’s thirsty, and also hungry (that’s why disciples go off to buy food). So Jesus experiencing and living in way just like all of us. Jesus fully God, but also fully human.
Now at this point, if was me here, whole focus on getting water, food. Ruled by those realities – hunger and thirst!
Not so with Jesus. Woman comes and Jesus first engages her, which shows that he not going to ruled by physical discomforts or conditions. Even less will he be held back by racial or social barriers of day.
Jesus then intentionally takes conversation to deeper level. Does this in very strategic way. Subject of the conversation, “water,” is used to convey spiritual truths. Essentially, he uses her language, and her major concerns, to convey his message.
She starts at this basic level, he meets her there, but doesn’t let it stay there. He uses what they talking about to bring deeper, get talking about the deeper needs and the deeper truths.
This what looks like to live life on purpose, a life on mission. Roosevelt, are we a people who live life on purpose? Can our lives be characterized as being missional lives? Or living life as if it’s by accident?
If yes, then ask, is it truly God’s mission? More specifically, does it look like how Jesus pursued God’s mission?
Suggest that for many Christians, our missionness is very segmented. Stays behind the barriers. We’ve accepted the separating labels of our culture and placed them in front of the name Christian and let them define who we will engage. Traditional Christian. Alternative emerging Christian. Black Christian.
We engage people solely on the level of hobbies and personal preferences, refusing to intentionally take our encounters with others to deeper levels, using all sorts of lame excuses for why we don’t do it – “Don’t know them well enough,” “Too tired,” “Someone else will do it,” etc….
Jesus shows us differently, doesn’t he? Here is what missional Christian life looks like. Has purpose and intentionality. Does not use excuses. Instead is strategically wise, connecting with people at their level and their terms, then always always always looking to go deeper, getting to the things that matter most!
Reason I press us on this is because we have something that totally worth going deeper with people. Being missional means nothing if core of your mission stinks. Fortunately it doesn’t! For there anything more essential than life? That’s subject worth getting deep into - how to live an eternal life.
Let’s dig into now what Jesus actually says. [CLICK] [Learning from what Jesus says]. v.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." Then v.13-14. 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 forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Jesus tells us that got something to give to us. Note, verb “give” occurs seven times between 4:7 and 4:15). It is gift from God and Jesus will give to those who ask him for it. In fact, his mission in this world involves making it possible so that can give this gift to people.
This why true Christian can cross any barrier. What he or she is engaging people with is a message that not dependent on any type of cultural or social qualifications. Jesus’ message is that there is gift that he wants to give, and that is truly a gift, not something to earned, not something requiring initiation fees. It is entirely a free gift from God.
What is this gift of God? It is “living water.” Now might ask what is meant by “living water”? Helped by first looking back to Old Testament. There we read in [CLICK] Jeremiah 2:13 - for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Verse points out some relevant facts about human nature. “Hewed out cisterns from themselves,” etc.…But note result of self-hewn cisterns. Become “broken,” unable to hold water, etc.…..
What really needed, what’s always been needed, is “the fountain of living waters”! We need the refreshing waters that only God can provide. And Jesus is telling us that he is the one who can give it us. And thank God, his express purpose in coming to earth was so that through him we might be brought to the fountain of living waters, to God, and might drink deeply of him.
That it is God who we drinking in clearly seen when look forward to John 7:37-39. [CLICK] John 7:37-39 - 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.
“Living water” then is represents God the Spirit, i.e. the Holy Spirit. Believing in Jesus means having Holy Spirit come pouring into your life. What kind of effects will this have? Or better way but this, what benefits are there to drinking in the living water of God the Spirit?[CLICK] [Benefits of living water]
[CLICK] 1. Experience fully satisfication.
Thirst is primal desire. To survive we need water – it is the most basic human need. We can appreciate that here well, living in the desert. Without water Phoenix and in fact all cities in this valley would die, and die quickly.
However, greatest desire is spiritual thirst. David in the Psalms describes this well. Psalm 42:2 - My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Psalm 63:1 - O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 143:6 - I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.
This common touchstone for every person. There is this soul thirst within every single human being. Sadly, we attempting to satisfy this thirst along self-guided paths. Self-guided paths never lead us to full satisfaction. Oh, they can partially satisfy. Those of you who non-Christians here, yes would affirm that many of paths may be currently pursuing give you some satisfaction, perhaps even a great deal of satisfaction.
But cannot last. Eventually run out, and will find that your soul thirst will come back harder and stronger than ever. Or eventually your self-driven path will smack right up against death. Life guided entirely by self will be seen to be the empty shell that it truly when comes up against death. As said before, it is a broken cistern.
Reason for this is because this soul thirst is an eternal thirst. It can’t be satisfied by conventional means. What we need is an eternal being to satisfy our eternal thirst.
This where Jesus comes in. Jesus promises to give us that which will fully and completely satisfy this most deep need, which is God himself. This is exceptional quality. Like taking us from drinking dirty polluted salt water our whole lives and finally being given pure, 100% natural, fresh spring water.
Notice the emphasis that the person who receives the living water of the Spirit will never thirst again. v.14 - “never be thirsty forever” Intentionally redundant phrase here, meant to emphasize how fully satisfying God is in the life of the believing Christian.
Makes sense. Eternal thirst can only be satisfied when with eternal being. And the way this eternal being satisfies this eternal thirst is by giving us eternal life. God the Spirit creates within us an eternally flowing spring of life.
Do you see eternal life this way? Always replenishing, always renewing, always fully satisfying. When you get living water of God into your life, you get all that you ever need spiritually.
Every thirst you have in this life – this means every need, every disappointment, every anxiety, every desire – we have means now to met them rightly and truly, to have be addressed and tamed and ultimately satisfied. How is that possible? Because God offers us himself. More drink in of God’s grace and beauty and love and compassion, a grace and beauty and love and compassion that is most purely displayed in the gift-giver Jesus, more find that our soul thirst been fully met, that come to source of full satisfaction and contentment.
Not temporary satisfaction though. Second benefit of living water. [CLICK] 2. Ever flowing
Never need more of it. Jesus makes it so that you will always have all that could ever spiritually need or want spiritually.
In fact, “living water” more literally means flowing water. Idea of a fresh continually flowing stream or spring. As says in v.14 - The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
This is exceptional quantity. Holy Spirit becomes within us constantly flowing spring. Idea here is that there is no danger of us running out of divine grace and love and power. Never run out of fresh encounters with the beauty and the glory of God. Never need feel as if God’s presence is absent in your life.
The gift of God is God himself constantly flowing within us, refreshing us, renewing us, empowering us. “welling up” – i.e. leaping, jumping. This is no passive, stagnant pond within us. It is active, moving, abundant, life!
It is because we have this ever flowing divine stream within us that we in turn able to be missional in ways we talked about earlier. We can wholistically engage with people, showing with our lives and telling with our words that Jesus does truly give life, and he gives it abundantly to those who come to him. We can wholistically engage our city and culture, with God using our lives and our words to bring his divine life to the thirsty and dying places in our city and culture.
Do you see your life in this way – full of ever flowing living water? Is your life this way? Have you come to get what Jesus freely gives?
The truly stunning thing is that this possible in any one of us. This morally dubious, racially inferior Samaritan woman, in Jesus Christ, can become flowing stream of the holy pure presence of God. She can now be full of life and promoter of life within her village.
