Woman at the Well

Me

Intro

I’ve shared this before, but I’ve been a Christian, or as I like to say a Jesus Follower for a long time now. And following Jesus has served me really well over the years. In high school it kept me out of trouble. I didn’t party or drink or sneak out, because I knew, or the version of faith I’d been taught told me that Christians didn’t do those things. And so, it served me well in that regard. It kept me grounded during times of transition, and it’s gave me something to hold on to when life was hard. But, in my 20’s, and I’m 28 so I’m still in my 20’s and I’m still young, but most of my 20’s was this time of really just searching. And this searching came out in some strange ways. At first it was very Jesus focused. I remember I was 21, I was studying accounting at USF and I had these dreams of working for one of the Big 4 or one of the top accounting firms. I was also dating someone and we were kind of talking about getting married. Everything looked set for the future. I could see it, I had it planned out, it was all right there, but there was this nagging feeling that there was something more. That I was missing something. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew that I wasn’t satisfied.

So, I thought, okay, this college thing isn’t working out, this accounting thing and this dream is starting to seem empty, my relationship isn’t working, primarily because I’m going through this mid-life crisis at 21, but what should I do? And I started getting this urge to go on some kind of adventure. I wanted to go places and see people and see the world, and I’m like, okay, i can’t really afford to do any of that, so what can I do? Ahhh, I know, I’ll become a missionary. Missionaries get to go everywhere and talk about Jesus, I think I want to do that. And so I’m cooking all of this up in my head and I tell my Mom, and she just looks at me. Speechless. Can’t even think of how to respond to what looks like her son losing his mind.

So after a few minutes of silence, I say soooo, what do you think. And all she says is, Go tell your dad all of this. And I’m no, ohhh no… that is the last thing I want to do… so I call my dad and he agrees to meet me for dinner, and I talk, Dad I’m gonna be, no, God is calling me to be a missionary. Dad looks at me, and is like, I don’t think so. I don’t think God is calling you to do that. And so we argued back and forth during dinner, and then for the next few months, and eventually, I convince them to let me go to Kairos discipleship school and train to be a missionary. So I move to MN, got to this training school, and you know I get to travel, and meet cool people and talk about Jesus, and do everything I thought I wanted to do, I get to have all of these experiences but I still wanted more. I still wasn’t filled.

So, a few months after this, I move to Seattle as a leader for this school, and I’m really struggling with finding meaning and value and purpose. I’m really struggling to be filled. And somewhere during that season, I made this decision, and it wasn’t even a conscious decision, but I decided I’m gonna find fulfillment, I’m gonna quench this thirst with something else, because this whole Christianity thing isn’t really doing it for me anymore. And i tried that for a while. And I woke up every single day with a stronger thirst than the day before.

We

All of us at some point, and a lot of you are here right now, we’ll come to this place where we’re unsatisfied, or unfulfilled, or thirsty. And Jesus in this very familiar story, if you grew up here, you’ve probably heard this story, but in this story Jesus addresses this thirst. So, if you have your bible or your bible app go to John chapter 4, and while you’re going there let me set up the background of this story.

In 722 BC there was an Assyrian King named Sargon and he conquered this area of Israel where this story takes place. So, 720 years before this story, Sargon takes the exiled Jews to different countries and he brings in other people from other countries, and they began to intermarry. They became a mixed race known as the Samaritans. And over time, the Jews who were still in the other part of Israel developed this racist attitude towards the Samaritans. In fact, they hated Samaritans so much that they would often take the long way and travel around Samaria in order to avoid bumping into a Samaritan.

In this story we’re about to read, Jesus, a Jewish man, has a conversation with a Samaritan woman. And this wasn’t just any woman. This was a woman with past. As we discover in the story, she’d been married not once, not twice, but five times. That was extraordinarily unusual for that culture. And she’s now living with a man who isn’t her husband.

And we don’t know why she had five husbands.

we don’t know if it was because of decision she made or because of decisions others made, but what we do know is that she was unsatisfied, she was thirsty, because life had left her thirsty. Life had also left her lonely. There’s an interesting detail in this story that says it was noon when she went out to get water. Normally, women would go out either early in the day or late in the afternoon when it was cool, and they would always travel in groups for company and to socialize. But this woman came at noon when nobody else would be there.

For a moment, let’s just try and put ourselves in her situation. it’s 11:45 am, the well is about a 15 minute walk away, it’s hot, it’s dusty, not many people are around, so she leaves her house and as she’s walking she sees a group of men approaching her (Jesus had sent his discples to get food) and they get clsoer and she realizes it’s Jewish men, and they don’t look at her or speak to her because she’s a woman and a Samaritan. They pass, and she continues her walk and she looks up, and she sees a man sitting at the well by himself. And little does she know she’s moments away from a conversation with the savior of the world. This was a divine appointment made by Jesus, and she has no idea what’s coming. She knew she was physically thirsty and there seemed to be an unquenchable thirst that went beyone that which she tried everythign in her power to fulfill. And right in front of her, in that dusty place int he middle of Israel sat the savior of the world waiting for her to arrive at the well. And she learned and what we’ll see is how God view us and how God views thirsty people. Becuase if we’re honest, life has left us thristy. There’s a thirst we’ve tried to quench over and over again through lots of different things. so, let’s read this story together.

God

3 So he left Judea (where the previous story took place) and went back once more to Galilee.

4 Now he had to go through Samaria.

Not true. Didn’t have to go through Samaria. He could have gone around like many others had done before, but Jesus went out of his way to go through Samaria. 

talk about the mixed race and how Jews and Samaritans couldn’t stand each other. 

Jesus went out of his way 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.) Think about what’s going on here: When she walks up there probably isnt any eye contact. She’s looking down, at her bucket, thinking, okay, i just need to get in and out real quick. I don’t know why this man and the other Jewish men are here, but I’m not going to be here long. And Jesus breaks the silence: “Will you give me a drink?” From your bucket? And she’s shocked. WHy is he talking to me? Why would he request this of me? A Jew is asking permission to drink after me. This is so strange, so unusualy, Jesus wasn’t so much asking her for something as he was making a statement about how he viewd her: he’s saying “I view you as one who is worthy to drink after, I view you as someone I’m not afraid to touch, or embrace, you’re not someone i’d go out of my way to avoid. In fact, I’ve gone out of my way to have this conversation with you. Look what she says in verse 9:

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, she ignores his request, “You are a Jew (right) and I am a Samaritan woman. I don’t know why you’re talking to me at all. I know the way you Jews think. There are tax collectors, then there are Samaritans, and then there are Samartitan women. Why are you even talking to me? She’s shocked. 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 (not traded) you living water.” Here’s what I think, and these are just my thoughts, but I think that in this moment she probably begins to realize that Jesus is offering her something more than water. Because this is so out of the ordinary. This is so random and so unexpected. Jesus is speaking to her like no one has ever spoken to her before, and she knows he’s offering her something, and I think she pauses, then she kind of pulls herself back together and says:

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?” She knows there’s something going on here, she still hasn’t answered Jesus’ question, she still hasnt said yes or no to giving him water. SHe realizes that he’s offering her something better than she can get for herself, but she knows that this well was given to her people by Jacob, who was big time. You Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob, this is Jacob’s well, and she’s saying do you have something you can offer that is better than Jacob’s well? You’ve got something better than Jacob offered? She knows Jesus is offering something, but she’s not sure exactly what it is he’s offering.

verse 13

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.”

And it’s like you here today and me here today, “okay, i know there’s something to this, and I know I’m supposed to get excited about this, i don’t understand it but i know there’s something to this. There’s more than what youo’re saying. And as you read the rest of the Gospel of John what Jesus is offering when he defines eternal life, he defines it in John : he says, eternal life is that you would know the one trust God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.” That’s what eternal life is. It’s a relationship with your heavenly father through the son. And what he’s saying to her,a nd to us, is if only you understood, if only you understood what I was offering if you would ask for it, I would give it to you and it would satisfy a thirst that goes beyond phusical thirst. It would satisfy something in you that you’ve been trying to satisfy all of your life. And 5 husbands later and 1 lover later, you still havent gotten it quenched. I’ve came to meet with you because I have the ability through a relationship with you to quench that thirst once and for all.

story goes on.

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.” Sir, I’venever met you before, but somethign tells me that you have something to offer me that I need, and I want you to give it to me.

And then the strangest thing happens. Jesus does the most insensitive thing imaginable. No body does this. She’s getting more and more interested in what Jesus has to offer, she’s thinking, she wandering, she’s wrestling with it, she’s beginning to trust Jesus, he’s not like any man she’s ever met, and as she begins to open up to Jesus look at what he does next, the most insensitive thing:

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

Ahhh. He rips the scab off of her wound. Brings up everything about her past, all of the terrible memories, all of the bad situations, all of the shame that she’s spent years and years and years trying to bury, with one command. He brings it all up. and she says:

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, now he’s just pouring salt into the wound. and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

Do you know why Jesus does this? Do you know why Jesus presses hard into the deepest most painful part of this woman’s life? What Jesus does in this moment is what he wants to do with us this morning. Jesus suddenly and painfully and insensitively puts her in touch with her thirst. He’s saying, Come on! Life has left you thirsty! decisions you’ve made, others have made, they’ve made you thirsty, I’m offering you living water, I’m offering you somethign that will quench your thirst, but you need to admit something: your attempts to quench your thirst, your attempts to find fulfillment, have not worked. Life has left you thirsty! Hasnt it?

And look how she responds. It’s a lot like how we respond. She changes the subject.

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Really? What gave it away. And she starts to talk about theology. Our ancestors said this, and we worship on this mountaint, but you Jews do this, and I think this, and she goes on and on, and Jesus goes with. She tries to get him off the subject because she doesn’t want to talk about her past, it’s way too personal, she doesnt want to think through it or feel a type of way about it, so let’s just avoid it. He lets her change the subject, he goes with it, and they talk about theology, and they talk about the jews and the samaritans and they talk about worship, and she thinks she’s off the hook, she starts to feel safe and then she says:

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” And she’s getting ready to leave, this awkward conversation and confrontation is over. Messiah’s gonna explain everything, see ya.

26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” And she sat down her water jug, looks at him, and she just knew he was telling the truth. All of a sudden, she got in touch with her thirst. She realized who he was and what he was offering.

And this is so powerful. Jesus has confronted this woman’s shame. He’s confronted her brokenness but he didn’t call her out for it, or just pass judgement on her, like everyone else probably had done or would have done. He saying, how’s all of this working for you? five husbands, this sixth man isn’t even your husband. How’s it working for you? Are you satisfied? Has your thirst been quenched? No? Because, I’m the Messiah you’re talking about. I’m the Messiah your people and my people have been talking about and waiting for. And I’m offering you living water. I’m offering you something that will quench your thirst. I’m offering you me, I’m what you need. You’ve been trying the same thing over and over. Didn’t work the first time, second time, thirds time, fourth, fifth, 6th? Maybe it’ll work this time, Jesus? Maybe he’s the one, maybe she’s the one, maybe this thing is the thing that will make me feel this way, I’ll finally be filled. I’ll feel like someone. I’ll have meaning and purpose and value. Wait, you’re the Messiah? And she just knows it’s true.

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

They stay quiet. They’re probably shocked, but they recognize that something’s going on.

28 Then, leaving her water jar, leaving the thing that represented her ongoing thirst, the thing she used over and over to temporarily quench her thirst, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

He told me everything I ever did. He knew me. He knew about my past, he knew about my shame, he knew my sinfulness, my brokenness, my loneliness, my thirst, and he still spoke to me. He waited here for me. He sat with me. He brought up the pain, I tried to avoid it, but I couldn’t because by bringing up the pain he revelaed my thirst. He revealed that all of this time I’ve been searching. He told me everything I ever did, everything i ever did to fill that void, to fill that loneliness, to fill that emptiness that i just never could fill, and then he said he could fill it. Could this be the Messiah?

The peole of the town here this. The people that she avoided and who likely avoided her. They hear her testimony, they hear what this random Jewish man has done, the hear and see the freedom that she’s experienced,

And it says: 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him. And skipping down to verse 39

Many Samaritans Believe

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” This is so powerful to me. A group of people, many people, come to check out Jesus because of this woman’s testimony. Jesus set this woman free from a life of thirst, from a life of dissatisfaction, and she goes and she shares it. This is a little side thing, but girls, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t speak, or you cant lead, or you cant share, or you have nothing to offer. Jesus has undone all of that. Your voice is powerful, and your voice matters, and your voice your testimony can lead someone to Jesus who can lead them to freedom. 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; (what she said got them to come meet Jesus) but now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

You

This story is so powerful because it reveals what all of us know about ourselves. We’re looking for something. We’re searching for something that will quench our thirst. And we do everything we can to try and fill it. We try it with a little bit of relationship, a little bit of experience, a little bit of travel, more experience, more relationship, a little more relationship. okay this time thsi one will work out and i’ll be filled, we add another extracurricular, we add another achievement, we master another skill, we accomplish and achieve, and go after and the thirst keeps growing. We need more and more and more and we get thirstier and thirstier and thirstier. It’s like we keep drinking sand hoping that at some point it will quench our thirst. How much sand does it take to quench my thirst? Sand won’t quench it. Here’s the thing: you, me, we were created with a thirst for a relationship with our heavenly father and only that can satisfy our thirst.

Do you find yourself on this endless search? Have you come to the place where you’re willing to admit that life has left you thirsty? Because if you have, know this, Jesus can quench your thirst, and only Jesus can quench your thirst. Here’s how I know this. Anytime I move away from following Jesus and I try to place him with something else, I’m miserable. I’m angrier, I’m lonelier, I’m jealous and prideful because nothing outside of a relationship with my heavenly father through Jesus will satisfy me. Nothing outside of a relationship with your heavenly father through Jesus will quench your thirst.

you were created with a thirst for a relationship with your heavenly father and only that can satisfy that need.

We

Let’s imagine for a moment a church, a community, a family where every person has had their thirst quenched by a relationship with Jesus. When this happens, we’re just better. We’re more loving, we’re more welcoming, we’re more inclusive, and like Jesus, we reach out to all people. And I think this is something that is especially important for us today in the middle of a world-wide pandemic. We need to be cautious, we need to be wise in our decisions and in our choices, and we need to be extra sure that we aren’t risking our health or the health of others, but we don’t need to fear. See, a people who have had their thirst met have no reason to fear. And what we’ve seen these days is that when people are afraid they panic and they begin to focus only on themselves and only on their needs, i mean.... they buy toilet paper… and they hurt others in the process, and they look at other people as less than human. Their fear drives them towards racism. And if you’ve experienced that, I’m sorry. That’s not okay, it’s not excusable. Thirsty people are fearful people and fearful people are dangerous people. And it’s times like this that we see the sinfulness and ugliness that people have, it’s times like these we see the thirst that people have for a savior.

 Not on the basis of her past but on the basis of God’s calling - she becomes foundational to a new community of faith and obedience. 

He told me everything I ever did

We