Jesus' Heart

OPENING

The heart of Jesus is for the least, the broken and the hurting

He came to demonstrate God’s never ending love for creation

Time and time again in the gospels, we see His heart moved with compassion

Compelled by kindness

Let’s revisit the nucleus of the Bible

The entire scripture revolves around this passage

And full of tender mercy for the sinner, the weary, the poor and the oppressed

This is the entire Bible in a verse

John 3:16–17 TEV

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its saviour.

Time and time again in the gospels, we see His heart moved with compassion

Compelled by kindness

And full of tender mercy for the sinner, the weary, the poor and the oppressed

Again we saw His compassion and kindness from the narrative of the Lord’s chat with the Samaritan lady

Let’s take a closer look on what happened during this encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman that led many Samaritan to believe in Jesus as the Messiah

TEXT: Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman |

John 4:1–26 NIV

1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 4

Judea The southern region of Palestine, essentially the territory of the tribe of Judah, where Jerusalem and Bethlehem were located

Jesus’ popularity is attracting official hostility that’s why He withdrew to Galilee because Jesus decides it is not the right time to be killed or to be put in prison

;-26

Judea is the southern region of Palestine, essentially the territory of the tribe of Judah, where Jerusalem and Bethlehem were located (SHOW MAPS)

4:3 Judea The southern region of Palestine, essentially the territory of the tribe of Judah, where Jerusalem and Bethlehem were located.

Samaria is the central region of Palestine between Judea and Galilee.

Barry, J.D. et al., 2012, 2016. Faithlife Study Bible, Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

This area had been the heart of the northern kingdom of Israel until the Assyrians deported many Israelites in 722 BC.

Jacob’s well is at the foot of Mount Gerizim

Samaritan are the inhabitants of the region of Samaria who was of mixed Israelite and foreign descent

After Assyria conquered the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC and deported most of its people, Samaria was inhabited by a mixed population. This included Israelites left behind after the deportation and foreign peoples relocated to the region from other part of the Assyrian Empire.

They intermarried and thus a distinctly Israelite identity in Samaria was lost, forming the people group the Samaritans.

However, like the Jews, Samaritans worshiped Yahweh and used a version of the Pentateuch as their Scripture

Jews and Samaritans typically had a mutual hostility based on ethnic, religious, and political barriers

Living water - a metaphor for eternal life

Five husbands - she would have exceeded the traditional limit of three husbands in Jewish law

The woman moves quickly to change the subject from her immoral lifestyle to the ongoing religious controversy between the Jews and Samaritans over sacred space

How one worships is more important than where one worships

The Messiah would be from the Jews, a son of David, not a Samaritan or Gentile

Authentic worship involves an inward change of heart, not just outside observance

Real followers of God worship in complete sincerity

Samaritans also expected a deliverer, called the “taheb” or “returning one” who fulfilled the promise of a prophet like Moses

Deuteronomy 18:15 NIV

15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.

Jesus once again had displayed His heart driven by compassion

The Jews didn’t travel through here.

Jesus specifically went to seek and save the lost

Verse 9 said that Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans, but Jesus went to her

No one is beyond the reach of God’s love and mercy

Anyone who receives Him can be saved

As you go to the lost, don’t just go to the ones that are like you or to the ones you have things in common with

Go to the least, to the oppressed, to those who are hurting to those who are broken

Tell the person next to you.. Jesus’ heart is for all people

And the to the other person say.. Jesus’ heart goes everywhere

The Heart of Jesus is Moved by Compassion

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible defined Compassion as the quality of showing kindness or favor, of being gracious, or of having pity or mercy

COMPASSION IS VITAL IN CHRISTIAN CHARACTER

Colossians 3:12 TEV

You are the people of God; he loved you and chose you for his own. So then, you must clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

COMPASSION NEEDS TO BE SHOWN IN ACTION

1 John 3:17 TEV

Rich people who see a brother or sister in need, yet close their hearts against them, cannot claim that they love God.

COMPASSION IS REWARDED BY GOD

Proverbs 14:21 TEV

If you want to be happy, be kind to the poor; it is a sin to despise anyone.

Poor in spirit

Poor in love & care

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinner?

When Jesus heard this He said, it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick

Matthew 9:13 NIV

13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

My Favorite Illustrations The Grace of Understanding

The Grace of Understanding

After several pastors had failed to win a condemned criminal to Christ by preaching down to him, a layman went to visit the man. Entering the death row cell, he sat on the cot alongside the man, took him by the hand, and said, “We are in a bad fix, aren’t we?” The man broke into tears and soon yielded to Christ. He needed somebody to understand and care.

The best way to a person’s mind is through his heart

The mind can resist the truth, but the heart cannot refuse the love

One word may be all it takes to set someone free

One hug may be all it takes to get someone healed

The quickest thing to get rid of darkness is to turn on a light

That’s what Jesus did for this woman

He revealed her deep desire to be accepted, to be loved and to be pursued

Jesus pursued her when all the others had turned away or abandoned her

In a moment shame was broken

With the compassionate heart of Jesus, the Samaritan woman got saved and she begun a new life

Jesus spoke words of life and hope to this woman

God will give you a word of encouragement to minister His love and hope

Don’t be afraid to speak life over others

It all began from a simple conversation with compassion

From the truth, through her testimony, many Samaritans believed Jesus and got saved

John 4:39–42 NIV

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

Question:

Where are the hardest and darkest places near you? Would you go there to share the love of Jesus?

Most of us experienced shame. Will you allow God to use your shame to bring salvation and healing to others?

What could you say to someone to help them understand Jesus’ heart?

Poor in

The mind can resist the truth, but the heart cannot refuse the love

After Jesus recruited Matthew, they had dinner and a many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with them

When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?

When Jesus heard this He said, it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick

Matthew 9:13

Matthew 9:13 NIV

13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

The greek word for “mercy” is “eleos” which also means “compassion”

CLOSING

Let us go back to the heart of worship

Let us go back to the heart of Jesus

Let us go back to the heart of worship